OT-Property rights/usage

A friend has land with frontage on a cross road far from the house. He just noticed that one neighbor has dug a drainage ditch onto friends property to drain the nieghbor's land. Friend is worried that the neighbor now has rights to this land as he has made changes/improvements and friend is not sure how long the neighbor has been doing this. My thought is that the land description at the township is the final say on ownership.
Does the neighbor have any rights if he has been using this land?

Dave

Anywhere I know of you don't have any right to cross the property line. He may have thought he was doing a favor extending the drainage ditch. It would create an eyesore to abruptly stop the ditch at the property line but he should have asked permission.

It depends (not a lawyer) on the state laws on "adverse possession". Jim

I can?t give any legal advise but I?m of the opinion that the guy does not have any legal rights to go on to or use someone else?s property without permission or a legal binding....

Thank you Jim, I have been reading about "adverse possession". Very interesting.

Dave

In my county in Iowa you can't stop the natural flow. If the water should have naturally flowed that way before the road was there then that's the way it should flow now. It has created many enemies among neighbors.

Clearing a pre-existing ditch would be fine, but digging a new ditch would be questionable.

JMHO

Areo

I doubt any township land description has any bearing on the matter. Same goes for tax-maps. Same goes for surveys unless they have been upheld in a court. As far as use by Adverse Possession? The time-frame varies all over the USA. Main idea though comes from Old English Law and is pretty standard. "Adverse" means a person uses your land AGAINST your desires. You have to know about it and do nothing to stop the person. Might be more apt to claim an "Easement by Prescription."

now its a drain and the county will claim its a drain,, so now you have lost rights. I would fill it it and tell the other guy to drain some other direction before the wildilfe department declares it a wetland.

Had a house get sold down the road about 25 years ago.City boy bought in,Never had septic tank in his life.Had some issues with the drain field so instead of having it repaired he cut the sewer pipe coming out of his house and adds some pipe to the end of it to get to the end his yard and shot his raw sewage across the neighbor hay field a into a creek.This went on for few weeks until the neighbor cut the hay and found it.His excuse was I move from the city to the country and though it was OK to do it.

Correct...water runs downhill. Don't see how the locals can change the law of gravity, even though they may think they can.
That water has been flowing along a natural path a long time. Just because there was no man-made ditch does not mean it was not flowing that way for hundreds or thousands of years.

Probably fifty years ago my neighbor to the south cut through the sod in a fencerow to let a pond in his field drain into the east road ditch. The water went down the ditch, through a culvert under the road and into the west road ditch. Then the water drained into another neighbor's field from the west ditch. The other neighbor got out of sorts and sued but lost because the water was flowing the way it naturally should flow. Those two guys were bitter enemies till the day they died. In my neck of the woods, in the prairie pothole area water drainage issues have been the biggest cause of neighbor arguments.

Dave, you ask "Does the neighbor have any rights if he has been using this land?"

As an attorney I can answer and the answer is, it is indeed "LEGALLY POSSIBLE" in the future if the practice continues, but very difficult and subject to a lot of factual issues and time and state and local laws regarding "Adverse Posession" AND Riparian Rights (may include laws of certain easements) which is mostly based on "Common Law" although some jurisdictions may have codified it to some extent.

At Common Law in order to bring an action based on Adverse Possession the use must be Hostile,,,,,,,,,,Open,,,,,,,,,,Continuous,,,,,,,,,,Exclusive,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Adverse,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Notorious,,,,,,,,,and for a certain prescribed time period.

NOTE it is certainly possible to preclude one from acquiring legal rights under the doctrine of Adverse Possession, I advise that you (the neighbor) consult a local trained competent attorney for advice how to do so. Don't bet the farm on anything posted here, lay or professional.

NOTE I'm NOTTTTTTTT saying the neighbor has acquired any rights as of yet whatsoever IM ONLY SAYING that under the law in many jurisdictions such IS LEGALLY POSSIBLE (and/or the related doctrine of acquired easements) for the neighbor to over time subject to local laws and facts and time and necessity and a whole lot of other factors, acquire some rights.

IMPORTANT my professional legal advice to you is DO NOT make any important decisions or take advice based on non attorneys or even attorneys here (including me) unless and until all state and local laws, both common and statutory, have been thoroughly researched by a competent trained professional and all the facts determined........

ALSO consult a competent trained professional attorney (NOT Billy Bob or Bubba or the know it all brother in law) who specializes in riparian rights as there are strict laws concerning changing the natural flow of water and drainage ITS OFTEN NOT LEGAL to make changes !!!!!!

John T BSEE, JD Attorney at Law

It is my practice to start out with cheap easy simple methods if at all possible. In a similar situation (and if per the law) I might start with a letter demanding Cease and Desist and if that doesn't work I may look at restraining orders and other such relief.

BUT ONE CANT LET THINGS GO ON IF THERE IS A RISK OF ANY EASEMENTS OR ADVERSE POSSESSION OR RIPARIAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS

John T Country Lawyer