The Basics of North Carolina Property Line Laws

Overview of North Carolina Property Lines

Introduction to Property Line Laws in North Carolina
When it comes to property rights, the old adage that "good fences make good neighbors" has been replaced with the more contemporary version of "neighbors who abide by the property laws." Every property owner must be aware of and follow laws that are in place and affect his or her property rights. These laws have evolved from both common law and statutes over our 220+ years of statehood. However, violations of these laws occur with alarming regularity. This article provides a refresher course in property lines for both established and neophyte North Carolinians.
You can’t just put your fence wherever you like it, nor can your neighbor. If you were to ask your neighbors if they know exactly where their property lines are, they would probably give you an answer. But would that answer be correct? Moreover, do you really know where your property lines are? If confirmation of that information were sought, most people would go to a surveyor for confirmation of their property lines . The surveyor would probably come up with the same answer.
However, this would result in a lot of expenses for surveys and fence construction if your property lines were only a matter of opinion. Fortunately, property owners know that when two people own adjacent property and there is a dispute as to the ownership of what they believe is property of each, they can go to court and have the court decide where their property lines actually are. It is this process which has developed our system of common law property boundary doctrines. This seems to be a simple enough process of filing a lawsuit, having a surveyor resurvey the property, and have the judge declare who is the rightful owner, but the result is not as simple. It is this process which results in all of the most complex property border disputes which came before the courts or been the subject of legislation. Results of these cases and statutes appear throughout this book. A close familiarity with these property doctrine decisions is required for the practice of real property law.

How Property Lines are Determined

When it comes to determining property lines in North Carolina, things are not as straightforward as one might expect. North Carolina has a number of ways for property owners to determine their lines, and for the most part, most people will correctly determine property lines without the need to hire an attorney or surveyor. However, for the people that need that help, our system generally accommodates those needs.
Most people determine property lines from a survey if one exists. Alongside the deed to a property, most people will have a survey from when they purchased the property to define the boundaries of it. As the survey is usually prepared by a licensed professional surveyor, it will take precedence over the description contained in the deed. For example, if the deed describes the property as "the southern 50 acres of parcel X" and the survey shows an easement encumbering the property and using 5 acres of the land for that easement, the landowners can move forward with their plans to build on the remaining land without worrying about the whole of the parcel X.
However, not every survey will be prepared by a licensed surveyor. When purchasing a property, people will often hire someone to walk the property with them and mark its boundary. This person need not be licensed. We refer to the property measured and staked as a "trees only" survey. That survey will not always provide the best measurement, but generally they are not a problem. However, this form of survey can become problematic if the property at issue is being sold or divided. Only professional licensed surveyors can undertake subdivision. In those instances, the survey provided to the buyer will likely be the survey prepared by the subdivision surveyor. Some aspects of the trees only survey may be incorporated into the final survey for the subdivision, but the trees only survey cannot prevail over the final survey.
In another example, houses, barns, fences, etc., put up in violation of the covenants for the subdivision can also become an issue in the view of the registered land office. The recorded map will take precedence. The fences may be "inside" the property, violating all of the restrictions of the subdivision, but the house violated the restrictions as well. A surveyor will be able to incorporate the trees only survey into the survey for the subdivision. However, the registered surveyor or register of deeds is not obligated to do this for you. This is clearly a situation where spending a little money to get a proper survey can net great rewards later.
It is worth noting that our laws make it possible for how the boundary is to be determined. For example, if you own ten lots, but the survey shows that they were mistakenly combined in the deed, law allows the owner of the property to divide the lots without regard to the inaccurate legal description. While that may seem counter-intuitive, that would also be like saying someone could never build on their property because they missed the building code when they built their home. North Carolina simply works through that issue through its methods of trying to determine what the property owners intended.
The moral of the story is that you should determine what your survey says and heed what it says.

Common Property Line Disputes

While some cases brought to court involve property lines that can only be seen by an expert on maps and surveys, the vast majority fall into one of four categories:

• (1) One neighbor simply builds over the line or makes some other encroachment. This is usually resolved by paying for the cost of moving or changing the encroachment.
• (2) In areas where land surveys are not routinely done, neighbors often rely on some other physical feature on the land to establish the property boundaries. For example, a pasture fence may appear to have divided the properties for years, but it actually run straight for only a short distance. The line the fence appeared to follow may not actually be even close to the real property line. That kind of misunderstanding can lead to significant disputes over who really owns not just a strip of land but high value improvements such as a lake or a pasture. This problem often occurs when a family member is involved in a property dispute with someone who claims title to land by agreement or some kind of inheritance.
• (3) In cases of adverse possession, or "color of title," where someone claims title by continuous use of another person’s property for 20 years (ten years in some situations), the law accepts certain facts as true. One of those facts is that the person claiming title intends to possess the property. If it is clear that the person who claims title really doesn’t want to possess the property, the claim can fail.
• (4) Where the property lines or boundaries have changed over the years as a result of certain events such as erosion, flooding, construction or the like, the presumption is that the owner of the affected property has made a gift of the land to the other affected property owner, especially if the change has benefited the other owner.

Property Line Laws in North Carolina

North Carolina has a very specific statute dealing with property lines (i.e. fences). Statute § 41-10 provides that a landowner may have a fence built or repaired, and neighbors can be forced to pay for any other fence that is built on the property line. This statute provides a very clear guideline for property owners when building or repairing a fence, as well as what to do if a neighbor refuses to share the costs of the structure.
Adjoining landowners can also be required to share the costs of a partition fence under G.S. 42-14. To do this, one party must be able to prove and/or convince the other landowner that they need the partition fence to keep out (or in) animals or to keep out neighbors from "encroaching on their land."
Another relevant statute is G.S. 42-25. This statute allows an adjoining landowner to sue for damages if his/her land is occupied and/or the value of his/her land is reduced in some manner by another’s fence. With all statutes dealing with fencing or property lines between two neighbors, it is clear that the landowner wishing to force a neighbor to share the costs of building a fence has to make a strong argument as to why they feel that a fence is necessary at all. Moreover, even after a neighbor is forced to build a fence, they are not required to build a good fence, but only one which serves a practical necessity.

Disputes Over Property Lines

When a property line dispute arises, the first and best course of action is to reach an agreement with your neighbor on where the property line lies. But given that many disputes arise because an agreement is not possible, we’ll first cover the ways in which a property line dispute can be resolved through legal action or other means.
Try a Neighborly Agreement First
The vast majority of property line disputes are resolved through agreement between neighbors, particularly ones that arise from "fences make good neighbors" constraints or where property lines lack clear markers on the ground. The neighbors meet, compare title deeds (or surveys if they exist) and agree on a resolution.
The key to quickly agreeing on a disputed property line is to get both property owners involved. In many cases, disputes will be far more costly and disruptive to settle through legal action than informal negotiation among the neighbors.
When negotiations stall, your next best option could be mediation. Mediation is an efficient, affordable, organized process which allows property owners to try to reach a voluntary resolution of the boundary dispute , with the benefit of guidance from a disinterested third party.
Legal Action Against Your Neighbor
If an agreement cannot be reached, the parties may need to protect their interests through formal means. An owner who is clearly encroaching on a neighbor’s land may have to be restrained from doing so while the Court determines the actual location of the common boundary through a lawsuit that should be filed in the local district court in the state or district where the land is located. This action also provides that the Court will divide the costs of the dispute between the parties, with each side bearing its own attorney fees.
In many cases, the process can also be expedited through a preliminary injunction, restraining the encroaching neighbor from altering the property in any way during the dispute. Although this can be an efficient first step against a neighbor who may be encroaching with no regard for the property encroachments of his predecessor, the Court expects that this remedy not be used frivolously. The neighbor being restrained may have a counterclaim against the party that sought the preliminary injunction, and the Court expects only that a party must be prepared to proceed to trial in order to resolve a property line dispute.

Avoiding Property Line Disputes

Taking Steps to Prevent Future Property Line Disputes
Monitoring your property line is just as important as addressing any present issues. This is especially true for homeowners in North Carolina, where major development fluctuations and a lack of geographic features can lead to serious fence and structure encroachment and property line issues. From sealed boundary agreements to regular land surveys or the use of satellites and drones, there are several steps property owners can take to ensure any border disputes are addressed before they happen. For example, maintaining an open dialogue with your neighbor regarding any future plans they may have for property development is an excellent way to keep tabs on your property line and their proximity to your home. If you’re looking for something a little more concrete, subscribing to satellite imagery software is a good place to start. As programs capturing Google Earth locations get updated annually, you’ll be able to see if your neighbor has broken ground closer to your home than they may have revealed during any conversation about plans for their property. Some neighbors utilize drones to inspect and maintain their property lines, and can be hired at an hourly rate to map lots and pinpoint features on adjacent land. These drones give homeowners a detailed view of their property to prevent potential encroachment or boundary issues before they escalate into larger disputes. You can also invest in a certified land surveyor yourself to take formal measurements of both your land and that of your neighbor. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, these experts create surveys "that represent the land and the existing and future projects on that land." This survey serves as the rightful property of both parties and may be needed as evidence in court if future issues arise.

Attorney Resources

A word of caution here: even if the neighbor is acting like a jerk, don’t let that stop you from contacting a lawyer. One of the best ways to prevent a situation from escalating into something worse is to have a plan. Before you start calling in surveyors and engaging in any kind of physical confrontations with the neighbor (which are always regrettable), it is sometimes best to first talk with a real estate lawyer to walk you through the options available, to get the lawyer’s perspective on your situation , and to follow a plan based on this advice.
These land problems can go on for years, so it is also good to keep an eye on the problem while being civil and cordial to the neighbor because you may at some point have to prove what the property looked like before there were any problems with the boundary – build a fence or a driveway, take a photo or video, paint the property line on the ground, pin and flag the property line where it has become blurred. We see these kinds of cases about once a month in our practice. So we feel your stress, we know the frustration, but we can help you.