"David Hale" wrote:

> The neighbor sounds really lame. What are the adverse
> possession laws like in Florida?

This evening, I found out just how lame.  They had somebody putting their
fence up.  At it's most significant encroachment, it was a bit over a foot
into my property.  Previously, I had about 20 feet of fence extending up to
a line even with the front corner of my house.  Their contractor suggested
that they simply continue their fence up to the original point.  Since,
previously, that was my fence, I indicated that I was agreeable and that I
would pay for the extension if they chose to do that.  Unlike them, I asked
first since that would put my fence on their property even if it would be in
line with the fence they just reinstalled.  They declined.

Funny thing is, when I asked them to move the fence when they put it back
up, they tried to make me feel guilty.  When I mentioned that I thought they
would do the same, their comment was "I don't think we would."  Guess they
were wrong.  It was obviously OK for their fence to be in my yard for years,
but not for mine to be in theirs.

Interestingly, the neighbor is a salesman for Rooms To Go furniture.  Every
piece of furniture I've purchased in the last 18 years, he sold to me.  In
fact, I bought a couple thousand dollars worth from him just a couple of
months ago.  I don't know what his commission on furniture sales is, but I
know who he's not going to get them from in the future.

I tracked down Florida's adverse possession laws.  I think I would have been
OK, but I'm not entirely certain.  According to my research, "in Florida,
the duration of possession under color of title is 7 years.  To claim real
estate by adverse possession without color of title, a person must have
possession for a period of 7 years and pay the assessed taxes."  I've always
paid the taxes.

Lee