Walk It Through: The Strip And The Dog
A neighbor who mowed a strip for years, an honest belief, and a dog that attacks.
A neighbor has mowed and fenced a strip of the next lot for years and now claims it.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One neighbor and one dog. Boundary agreements and quiet title, easements by use, the penalty for maintaining a dangerous dog and a civil claim for the bite are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Adverse possessionAcquiring title to land by actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile and continuous possession for 10 years, begun and kept with an honest belief of being the actual owner that had an objective basis and was reasonable, each element proved by clear and convincing evidence.
- Clear and convincing evidenceThe standard a court applies before appointing a guardian, and the one a forfeiting agency meets to forfeit real property.
- Hostile possessionPossession under a claim of right or under color of title, a written conveyance or a claim by operation of law from one.