bordering my lot, there is a very small piece of land (0.02 acres). from what i can tell, it was a small parcel leftover from the development of the land and is still in the name of the people that used to own it all. i'm not sure why this little corner was left. my best guess is it was for the sign to the entrance of the neighborhood, as that's what's on it now. why it wasn't set up in the developers name, as some sort of common area, or even attached to my lot i have no idea. there is no hoa though.

my question is what, if any, procedure would there be for me to claim this? the taxes haven't been paid in years, and there is no contact information that i can find for the listed owners and the county has no current record. i can only assume that they have passed away and it's either tied up in an estate, passed along to someone else who hasn't bothered to do anything about it, or simply forgotten. it's not a big enough piece to be of any use by itself, so i can't imagine it being of any real value to anyone else. i'm definitely willing to pay a fair market price, back taxes, or whatever.

12/7/2007 2:40:01 AM

Holla atcha boy

12/7/2007 6:02:46 AM

Squatter's Rights!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatter%27s_rights

12/7/2007 2:23:32 PM

contact the city/county tax office.


interesting tidbit along these lines:

You can still homestead land in Alaska.

12/7/2007 2:28:11 PM

yes you can but you have to increase its value in some way (i.e. build a house on it)
and then when your done YOU GET PAID FOR OIL TOO! hahah

12/7/2007 2:38:14 PM

IF that first part is true, i can easily prove that. i've landscaped with bushes/flowers around the sign and i maintain the area. other neighbors will cut the small amount of grass on it occasionally, but that's it.

12/7/2007 3:12:20 PM

have you been maintaining that peice of property? and if so, how long?

12/7/2007 3:23:07 PM

http://www.lawchek.net/resources/forms/que/advposs.htm

12/7/2007 3:26:06 PM

^^

Quote :

"i've landscaped with bushes/flowers around the sign and i maintain the area"

i've been doing it since i bought the place. about 1.5 years.

^so if i'm understanding that correctly, it's saying you have to have "owned" it for seven years before you can make a claim?

12/7/2007 3:38:07 PM

no, you wiould have to maintain it for 21 years. If you had a deed that included that 0.02 acres incorrectly, you could claim it after 7.

12/7/2007 3:49:57 PM

i think hes right. I was helping my best friend study for a law exam a week ago and property law was the stuff i was helping her with. I couldn't remember the name of the statute, only the terms of it.

12/7/2007 3:58:24 PM

We learned about this in Real Estate class but I cant remember all of the specifics.

Can you find it on the tax records? If the taxes have not been being paid then (like we learned on the lake Lynn story) the county can auction it. I think chances are if it went to auction no one else would bid since its such a small tract it would only be useful to an adjacent owner you could buy it for the amount of back taxes.

You can find tax bills online in Wake County and it shows you if they are delinquent.

12/7/2007 4:49:00 PM

^yeah, like i mentioned in the original post the taxes haven't been paid for as long as the online records show (6-8 years iirc). there is also no known contact information for the listed owners.

maybe if prompted, the county/city would go ahead and auction it? it's such a small tract, the only people it would be useful to is myself or my neighbor. i'm in negotiations with him to buy a 0.75 acre section of his lot that borders mine, so i know he doesn't care about it. that's another reason i'd like to get the ball rolling, that way i can do all the planned survey, map recording, etc. work at once.

12/7/2007 5:26:00 PM

Maybe write a letter to the tax assessor to see when they are going to auction it. They probably have not done anything if they think no one would buy it or something.

Make sure this lady does not show up when it goes to auction.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/story/814331.html

12/8/2007 11:04:47 AM