How to resolve the issue of violation of the boundaries of a plot of land by neighbors?

A plot of land is the surface of the earth, which, according to objective criteria, can be attributed to an individually defined thing. Each allotment has its own limits, which are established both in fact and in documents. But violation of land boundaries is a fairly common problem among owners.

When citizens cannot agree among themselves peacefully and an article of the law is an empty phrase for them, there is only one way out - to go to court, and in this case the help of an experienced specialist is needed who will help not only draw up a statement, but also organize the necessary examinations and provide current sample documents on this issue and will tell you what to do next.

Here you can >> To resolve your issue, you can ask a lawyer .

Examples of boundary violations from life

Disputes about the boundaries of land plots are currently one of the most common categories in district courts. Owners of plots located in the neighborhood often cannot agree on the location of the fence that divides their property, or it is a question of violating the boundaries of part of the plot when installing a fence or building a balcony.

There are several reasons for this:

• mistakes made by the cadastral engineer when carrying out land surveying work;
• unauthorized seizure of part of the territory by a neighbor;
• contradictions in old documentation or inclusion of irrelevant information.

Read more >> Why do such miscalculations occur ?

Only in 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation brought judicial practice to a uniform opinion regarding the location of the boundaries of land plots.

This story began with the fact that the neighbor was outraged by the fence, “advanced” by the owner of the neighboring plot of land 4.8 m deep into his plot. The citizen wanted to consider the case in court and demanded that the neighbor remove the fence and move it to its original location. However, the court did not take the applicant’s side; Moreover, the appellate court also rejected the claims.

But the owner of the site, thirsty for justice, did not give up, but went with his application to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. And, oddly enough, the judges overturned the decisions of the lower authorities and issued a new act.

The essence of the dispute was as follows: there were 3 adjacent plots; two owners decided to carry out land surveying work and invited a cadastral engineer. But for some reason they “forgot” to invite the owner of the third plot to the meeting.

The engineer established the boundaries based on the actual location of the fence, which, as it turned out, did not coincide with the actual dimensions of the land area indicated in the documents, which the engineer could not have been unaware of. From this, the court concluded that failure to agree on the boundaries of the land plot during land surveying indicates its invalidity.

Therefore, the court’s decision was categorical - to return the boundaries of the land plot to the position that was before land surveying (in accordance with Article 60 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation).

Where to contact?

Before taking specific actions, it is necessary to determine what caused the violation of the boundaries of the land plot. If we are talking about an error in the USRN information about a land plot, then the procedure is as follows:

1. Contacting the cadastral engineer to obtain an act of approval of the boundaries of the land plot, which is drawn up on the reverse side of the graphic part of the boundary plan. To do this, it is necessary to notify all owners of adjacent plots and obtain their consent to establish boundaries. All claims and comments of the owners must be included in the deed.
2. Initiation of re-negotiation of allotment boundaries. It is quite possible that during land surveying the boundaries of the land plot according to the boundary plan were violated. To correct the error, you need to contact the territorial division of Rosreestrai to write a statement about violation of the boundaries of a plot of land.
3. If it is not possible to resolve a land dispute with neighbors voluntarily, the interested party must go to court with a statement that the neighbor has violated the boundaries of your property. Moreover, such actions are subject to liability in the form of a fine under Art. 7.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation - for illegal occupation of someone else’s land or part of it.

What to do if a neighbor violates the boundaries of the land plot?

Occupying someone else's land is an illegal procedure. But the parties do not always know about the illegality of their actions. A situation may arise that a tree has always grown in adjacent areas, and the neighbor thought that it was from this tree that his fence would begin.

But in practice it turned out that he ended up on someone else’s site. In this case, the parties must understand the current situation and resolve the border dispute. This can be done either through negotiations or, if consensus is not reached, by going to court.

Resolving the dispute peacefully

If disagreements arise between the owners of adjacent plots regarding the establishment of the real boundaries of the plot, first it is necessary to negotiate and find out the reason for the change in the size of the plot. This could be inaccuracies in documents, incorrect installation of fencing on the site, etc.

After this, the interested party can contact the registration authority and write a statement that he asks to determine the real boundaries of his site according to the law and attach all the necessary documents to it. In this case, a second agreement will be held and the parties will be able to express their opinions.

But if, for example, a house is built in violation of boundaries or there are other structures that stand on someone else’s property, and the neighbor does not want to demolish or move them, then the case should be taken to court.

Going to court

If the issue of violation of the boundaries of the plot cannot be resolved peacefully, the party whose rights have been violated has the right to file a claim to establish the location of the boundaries of the plot with the district court at the location of the plot.

The owner of the adjacent plot will act as a defendant in the case; a cadastral engineer and a representative of the rights registration authority should be involved as third parties.

The second important point is the formulation of claims. They may be as follows:

• recognition of the established border between plots as a technical or registry error;
• establishment of a new adjacent border.

We enclose a package of documents with the claim to the court:

• copies of the claim by the number of parties involved in the case (defendants and third parties);
• receipt of payment of state duty;
• title documents for the site;
• a copy of the boundary plan, if available;
• information from the Unified State Register of Real Estate about the neighboring plot;
• other documents that support the arguments set out in the claim.

After the court decision comes into force, the applicant must contact the registration authority with an application for registration of the plot or with an application for registration in connection with updating the boundaries of the plot.

Read more >> If you don’t stop your neighbor in time, he can easily legitimize the squatter and will be right according to the law.

How can a lawyer help?

Let's look at 4 situations and decide what kind of legal assistance you may need.

1. Dispute about imposing boundaries. It arises if one plot was previously registered, for example, under the “dacha amnesty”, and land surveying was carried out on the other. In this case, the lawyer must find documentary evidence of the boundaries of the plot or confirm that the fence that has been on the plot for 15 years is the very line dividing the property. It would be useful to conduct peaceful negotiations and clarify the circumstances of establishing the boundaries of the site. For example, earlier in this place there was a tree, a bridge, a pillar, according to which the edge of the earth was determined.
2. Dispute about squatting. There is an unauthorized occupation of the land plot by neighbors who moved the border of their land and “went in” to the neighbor, thereby reducing the area of ​​his allotment. In this case, the lawyer must prove that:

• that the seizure was indeed unauthorized;
• determine the old boundaries of the allotment (either by documents or by identification marks);
• find witnesses or conduct a notary inspection of the site to establish boundaries;
• identify persons who are responsible for trespassing.

3. Dispute with the registration authority about entering information about land into the state real estate cadastre. In this matter, the main thing is to be prompt, since you can challenge the cadastral engineer’s conclusion within 3 months from the date he signed the document. You need to prove 2 things:

• the boundaries from the boundary plan correspond to the title documents;
• denial of cadastral registration is illegal.

4. Conducting land management examination. This procedure is the main one when establishing the boundaries of land plots. A lawyer will help you correctly formulate the questions posed to the expert, on which the decision of the court case will depend.

The main thing a lawyer can help with is to draw up a sample statement of claim for trespass.