Bizarre Land situation - please help

[switlikbob]

I moved into a new house 2+ years ago. The previous homeowner bought the house after it was foreclosed upon. The reason it was foreclosed upon was because the person living there (Jeff, an alcoholic) was unable to pay his property taxes. For some reason, the township allowed Jeff to keep a strip of land between my house and the property next door. Jeff's property is approximately 15 feet wide and 100 feet long that was originally part of my property lot. He pays taxes on this lot. Shortly after I moved in, I contacted him and asked if I took care of the land, would I be able to use it. He agreed and allowed me to move my fence over to the property line between his lot and the historic building lot next door. I have taken care of this land ever since then, and I store my boat there. Also, I found that there is a drainage cistern on his land the holds all of the water that drains from the gutters on my house. Here's where it gets weird:

The property next to my house is a historic building, currently unoccupied. 5+ years ago, a voodoo religious church purchased the historic building with plans to convert it into a church. The township would not allow this due to inadequate parking. The historic building owners asked Jeff if they could buy his lot to convert it into a parking lot. Jeff refused to sell it to them, and nothing has been done with the building ever since (other than a few repairs, and some stucco work).

I wrote Jeff a letter last year asking him if I could buy the land form him, for fair market value, as I would like to build a garage there. He never responded to my letter. I called him and left a message on his answering machine asking the same thing, to which he never responded.

Basically, I would like to know what I need to do in order to acquire this lot from him. From what I understand, he is not allowed to do anything substantial with the land he owns (ie: he can't build anything on it). Also, he is not permitted to sell the land to anyone other than the historic church owners or myself. Does the fact that I am the caretaker of the land give me any leverage? Would it be possible for me to argue that it would cause me undue hardship to modify my gutter drainage system that was originally designed to be on the land that is now his property? Do you think it is worth it for me to talk to an attorney about this?

[switlikbob]

This is a rough digram of what I am talking about:

See attached picture.

[switlikbob]

Doesn't anyone have any advice? Or someone they can refer me to?

[KC405]

When you say that the town allowed Jeff to keep the strip of property do you mean that it was a separate lot that Jeff purchased previously? Or did the town somehow give him the lot.

Also, has Jeff been paying taxes on this lot?

[switlikbob]

Thanks for the reply...

Jeff has been paying his taxes on the lot...I went to the municipal building and checked up on that. Concerning how Jeff acquired this land, I am not 100% sure. From what I gather, he was not paying his taxes on the property (my house, my lot and his current lot). So, I can only assume that he did pay the township some money, and in return, they allowed him to keep that small lot of land. I don't think that it was originally zoned as 2 separate lots, but rather re-zoned that way after the foreclosure.

[KC405]

Ok, in order to get solid answers on this situation I think you need to do some investigative work. You should go to the country clerks office in the county you reside and do a deed search on your property. Deeds in your county are usually in a big room inside the county courthouse or in a building nearby. Workers there are usually very helpful and they can show you how to search your property records. By doing this search you shold be able to discover the story behind this small lot and how it became a separate from any of the adjoining lots. Once you find these facts I think I can help you more and tell you how or if you can acquire the lot.

I would also call the tax collector's office and see if Jeff has been paying taxes on this lot because this may make a difference in your ability to acquire the lot.

[switlikbob]

OK...I'll head down there when I have some time off work...What question should I ask them? Should I ask to see the history of my property?

as far as Jeff paying the taxes, I asked them, and they told me he is paying.

[KC405]

Tell them you want to do a title search on your property. They will show you how to find the right deed book.

[switlikbob]

doesn't a title search cost money? I'll ask them anyway...

[KC405]

You can do the search yourself when you are there. It is very easy. Hopefully you will be able to find out how, when and why this small lot was partitioned from a larger lot.

[switlikbob]

OK...I am pretty sure that I found out what happened with the land situation after my visit to the local municipal building:

Since my home is 100+ years old, there is a possibility that there were 2 seperate land deeds. Meaning, that when my house was owned by Jeff and was foreclosed upon, the bank could only take the property that was insured. Being that the second lot did not have any insurance coverage, and was paid for, it was not taken by the leinholder. Therefore allowing Jeff to retain ownership, provided that he pays the property tax.

Now, can anyone help me with this situation? How can I go about obtaining ownership of this land?

[KC405]

I would make one more attempt to contact Jeff, maybe by certified mail. Be polite and make him an offer. By the way, I don't think this small piece of property can have much value becuase obviously you can't build anything on it.

If you get no response then there are a few things you can do. First, you can propose to Jeff to enter into a long term lease for 10, 15 or maybe 20 years. Offer to make lease payments for the amount of propery tax he pays plus a little more. Explain to him that he is just throwing money away on property taxes for a useless piece of land.

Legally there is now way you can go to court compel him to sell the land.

If he does not respond to your proposals then you are dealing with a very irrational person. However, along with propery ownership comes duties and obligations. For example, lets say the weeds on the lot are overgrown or there is refuse and garbage on the lot. An anonymous call can be made to Town Hall complaining about the situation. Now, every town has ordiances against such things and I'm sure the town would gladly issue him a summons for not keeping his lot in acceptable condition. Now lets says Jeff gets a summons every few weeks for this type of thing and has to go to court a few times. Do you think he may reconsider retaining ownership of the property? Or, lets say you or someone else walks on the property and injure an ankle due to a dangerous contition on the property. Jeff then gets sued. Do you think Jeff carries liability insurance on the property? If he does not do you think he is willing to pay huge attorney fees to defend the case? Or does Jeff just throw up his hands and say "I'm going to sell the f**king piece of property asap".

Get my drift here?

[switlikbob]

KC...thanks again for the reply...I will try to contact Jeff again via certified mail. But I doubt that he will answer me. He's probably not drunk enough by the time the mail arrives at his apartment.

You propose a lease...I don't understand that? My primary reason for wanting his land is so I can build a garage. Leasing the land will not give me that luxury. Basically, I would need to purchase the land from him, then have my lot re-zoned in to a single lot. I also want the land so when I sell my house, I will get more for it.

What do you think a fair price would be to pay for his land? Since he can't sell it to anyone else besides me or the church owners (who have already been denied), I think he should take what gets. How about $8,000 for it? Or is that insulting? I have no idea...

Concerning the weeds etc., I am the person who takes care of the land. He told me, that I could move my fence over and use his land if I took care of it. So, that's currently what's going on. Plus, the church owners never mow their grass, and the place looks like sh*t over there. I have complained about it, but nothing has been done. So, I doubt that they will do anything to Jeff. I live in a small town, with small town ideals. In other words, the people who run the town are redneck idiots. The cops are even worse.

So, it looks like my only option here is the accident that happens on his property. Does the fact that I am the current caretaker of the property make me liable in any way fro what goes on there?

[KC405]

A long term lease if written correctly will allow you to build a garage. This is not unusual with long term leases. Also, if written correctly the lease could be transferable with the sale of your house to a new owner.

As for fair price, I don't think the land is worth much at all becuae it is too small to build on. You really can't do anything with it. I think $8,000 is generous and could buy Jeff hundreds of bottles of Jack Daniels.

As far as taking care of the property I don't think this gives you any advantage at all. If you had something in writing it could be construed as an easement but it is a verbal agreement and any contract concerning land has to be in writing to give you any enforceable rights.

If you have an accident on the property and are injured make sure you haven't tended to the property for a few months. Then you could legitimately claim that there was an unsafe condition that you were not aware of. I would call Jeff and tell him you unable to maintain the property anymore.

[switlikbob]

Thanks for the reply. The whole leasing idea still doesn't sit well with me. I want to own this land. Anyway, I am going to send Jeff another letter, asking him to sell me this lot. If he does not want to sell it, then I am going to let him know that I will no longer take care of the lot. Also, I will tell him that if I don't the grass being mowed once a week, and trash picked up, I will have him in court every week. We'll see what he has to say about that.

[switlikbob]

I sent the letter out to Jeff this morning...I'll be interested to see if he sends a reply.

[switlikbob]

Well, I have sent Jeff multiple letters, and he has yet to reply. I am half tempted to just build a garage on his property, and see if he has anything to say about it. I really need to do that title search though.