I have a piece of property. It is titled to me. I pay taxes on it. I have a warranty deed and title insurance to it.

My neighbor who's has built an encroaching structure is claiming adverse possession even though it was less than the State's minimum occupancy requirement. They have never paid taxes on the property they have encroached upon. They never had their property surveyed prior to building the addition even though the bank required it. I had a survey done and they are indeed encroaching. I have filed a lis pendes.

Can they take out a loan on this property? Should their bank be notified of the lis pendes and the fact that I have title? What can I do?

CanNot Bee:

You need to contact a local real estate attorney to find out what is the best way to fight this. As you may already know, time is of the essence in fighting these kind of situations. I can not really give you advice this is out of left field for me. I do know that the length of time varies from state to state, but do not even know how long it is in my own state.

They never had their property surveyed prior to building the addition even though the bank required it. This might not be that important to the bank. If it had been, it would have been a preclosing condition.

Should their bank be notified of the lis pendes and the fact that I have title? What can I do? You need to ask the attorney this question. It might be a good tactic to pressure your neighbor. However, the bank did not care enough to require a survey so this tells me that they are not really counting on this addition. Depending on the actual situation, the bank might just take a wait and see attitude on the dispute.

Good luck.