should we move our fence?

[luvnature]

When we moved into our house about five years ago, we put up a fence in the backyard. On the right side, the fence is 5-10 feet within our property line. We weren't exactly sure where the property line was, and we didn't want to make our neighbors mad--they weren't exactly thrilled about the fence in the first place. Obviously, our neighbor on the right side is mowing grass that is ours. My question: Can our neighbors eventually claim that part of our land as theirs since they've been mowing it? Should we have our property surveyed and move the fence? We don't want to alienate our neighbors--we're on very good terms--but we clearly don't want to lose part of our property. We live in Maryland. Thanks for any guidance on this.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Originally posted by luvnature
When we moved into our house about five years ago, we put up a fence in the backyard. On the right side, the fence is 5-10 feet within our property line. We weren't exactly sure where the property line was, and we didn't want to make our neighbors mad--they weren't exactly thrilled about the fence in the first place. Obviously, our neighbor on the right side is mowing grass that is ours. My question: Can our neighbors eventually claim that part of our land as theirs since they've been mowing it? Should we have our property surveyed and move the fence? We don't want to alienate our neighbors--we're on very good terms--but we clearly don't want to lose part of our property. We live in Maryland. Thanks for any guidance on this.

It will be difficult for them to claim that they own the property unless they openly and adversely lay claim to the property exempting you from the property for a significant period of time. It sounds like they aren't doing anything of the sort.

If it were me I would want to have the fence on my property line to avoid any dispute at any time.