Types of violations of land boundaries and how to eliminate them

Uncertain or contested boundaries are a common source of land ownership disputes. For property owners, these problems can result in a great deal of stress and financial hardship. For property management to remain lawful and peaceful, it is essential to comprehend the various forms of land boundary violations and the procedures involved in their correction.

An example of a typical boundary violation is when a landowner inadvertently extends buildings or landscaping past their actual property line. If this is not resolved right away, it may result in disputes with neighbors and possibly legal action. To prevent these conflicts, it is imperative that all improvements made to real estate remain inside their proper bounds.

Entanglements, or the illegal encroachment of a building, fence, or other structure onto a neighbor’s land, are another common problem. This may occur as a result of misinterpreted property lines or erroneous surveys. Early intervention can stop encroachments before they become bigger, more intricate legal issues.

Easements and rights-of-way, which are areas of land set aside for the use of third parties like utility companies or nearby property owners, can also give rise to boundary disputes. Serious disputes can arise from misunderstandings regarding the boundaries and permissions for use of these areas.

Property owners should review their property deeds and hire a surveyor to start resolving land boundary violations. Having open lines of communication with your neighbors and, if needed, obtaining legal counsel or mediation can also aid in the amicable resolution of disputes. In the long run, it can be cost-effective and relationship-building to take proactive measures to recognize and honor land boundaries.

Types

Actually, there are just two categories of infractions:

• Overlapping or crossing real boundaries on the ground;
• Overlapping boundaries in documents (registry error).

The actual borders of land plots on the ground may overlap for four reasons:

• Error in information stored in the Unified State Register of Real Estate;
• Error of the responsible person when establishing boundaries;
• Unauthorized seizure of territory;
• Changing the coordinates of the turning points of the site due to changes in the landscape.

Boundary Overlay

Boundary imposition is the act of shifting the site’s actual boundaries to one side; in this instance, the new border is superimposed on the surrounding area.

Due to this, there are issues with allotment registration in addition to disputes between neighbors.

As long as the plot overlaps with other plots, which is defined by paragraph 20 of Article 26 of Federal Law No. 218 of 2005, EGRN will not register the plot.

Unauthorized land seizure owned by municipalities is a prevalent instance of boundary imposition.

For instance, the owner of a very large dacha plot may choose to increase the size of his property and shift the fence a few meters in the direction of the "ownerless" land. The municipality will eventually decide to set aside a portion of the same land for the holiday village’s expansion.

Plots can be redrawn starting from the fence of the plot owner at the outermost point, which is the current picture. It turns out that this means that every section after this will be moved 2 meters to the side.

The new plot owners won’t be allowed to register their land until the borders are straightened out if an error is found.

The fact that there might be buildings, trees, and communication items (such as an electrical panel or sewage well) belonging to another area within the moved two meters complicates the situation. And in the event that all legal procedures are followed, these items have to be disassembled and relocated.

Imposing boundaries

Boundaries may occasionally cross over into areas that have already been defined.

This is due to a few factors:

• Verbal agreement between neighbors. Two owners of adjacent plots can agree among themselves to slightly modify the boundaries. For example, when one neighbor is ready to transfer part of his land to another. Such a transaction must be formalized by an easement. Without proper formalization of the transaction, it will be considered invalid, and accordingly, one of the owners can at any time force the second to put the boundaries in order in accordance with the survey. The same situation applies to the alignment of the curved line of the boundary between two adjacent plots.
• Unauthorized seizure of land. One of the neighbors can deliberately or unknowingly take away part of the land from the adjacent plot and install his own fence there. The situation is similar to the one described above. If, at the initiative of the second owner, legal proceedings begin, the second owner of the adjacent plot will have to move the fence to the proper place.
• Error in data, stored in the Unified State Register of Real Estate. Documents may contain erroneous information. For example, when a cadastral engineer carried out land surveying and submitted a site plan to Rosreestr, when in fact the boundaries were set incorrectly.
• Error when setting boundaries. As already indicated, when carrying out land surveying, an error may be made, which will lead to the imposition of boundaries.
• Terrain changes. When carrying out land surveying, turning points are often tied to natural strongholds: a ravine, a hill, etc.d. Over time, the landscape may change (due to heavy rains, floods, earthquakes, etc.).d.). Thus, the turning points of the site will be changed, which may lead to overlapping boundaries.

Property rights and communal harmony depend on the understanding and resolution of land boundary violations. Common boundary dispute scenarios are covered in this article, including inadvertent trespassing, encroachments, and inaccurate land surveys. In addition, it offers workable solutions to these problems, such as professional surveyors’ involvement, litigation, and negotiation. Understanding how to handle boundary violations can help landowners and homeowners alike avoid stress, wasted time, and financial loss.

Pre-trial settlement

Only when the owners of two adjacent plots are prepared to communicate with one another can a pre-trial settlement be reached.

They must order the delineation of land plot boundaries as their first priority.

Paragraph 10 of Article 22 of Federal Law No. 218 states that boundary clarification takes place in accordance with the following characteristics:

• The boundaries of the allotment are determined from the information specified in the documents of the owners, defining their right to own the land;
• If there is no such document or it does not contain the necessary information, the boundaries are specified in accordance with the document defining the boundaries of the site when it was formed (when the site was first registered);
• If this document is not available, the boundaries are determined in accordance with the established urban planning plan of the territory;
• In the absence of all the specified documents, the boundaries of the plots are determined based on the actual boundaries that have been observed between the plots over the past 15 years.

If the results of multiple surveys (i.e., boundary clarification) are accepted by both owners of adjacent land plots, the necessary updates to the Unified State Register must be made.

In order to accomplish this, you must submit an application using the template provided by Ministry of Economic Development Order No. 722 of 2013.

Several documents will also be required, both originals and copies.

The following must be sent with the application:

• A copy of a civil passport;
• Title documents for land;
• Cadastral extract, which displays incorrect information about the site;
• Corrected boundary plan.

Paragraph 3 of Article 61 of Federal Law No. 218 mandates that an error in the Unified State Register be fixed within 5 days of Rosreestr receiving the pertinent documents.

Neighbors only need to consent to moving the fence in order to put the boundaries in order if the USRN has accurate land surveying data. No separate application needs to be sent there.

What to do in different cases

Error in USRN

Using the previously mentioned method, the registry error was fixed:

1. Owners of adjacent plots order clarification of boundary boundaries from a geodetic company and receive a corrected, correct boundary plan.
2. The same owners fill out an application in the form established by Order of the Ministry of Economic Development No. 722 of 2013, and attach to it the drawn up boundary plan, their personal passport, cadastral extract and title documents for the land.
3. The application is submitted to the MFC or the local branch of Rosreestr.
4. Within 5 days after receiving the documents by Rosreestr, the responsible person corrects the registry error in the Unified State Register of Real Estate.

Land surveying error

When it turns out that the boundaries set by the cadastral engineer do not align with those defined by the boundary plan for the adjacent plot, it is frequently possible to detect a land surveying error even at the time of boundary approval.

The neighboring plot owner in this instance is perfectly free to decline to sign the Border Agreement Act.

It is necessary to invite outside experts to set boundaries in order to determine who is correct (essentially another surveying company).

The Rosreestr website contains a list of cadastral engineers who possess the required certificate to carry out cadastral activities.

The site owner may recoup the full amount of the money used by the cadastral engineer to conduct the initial land survey from him if it is determined through resurveying that the engineer made an error.

The plot owner will need to discuss the adjacent boundaries of the plots with the neighbor if additional surveying validates the findings of the initial survey.

Simultaneously, in the event that a survey results in an overlap with a land plot that has already been registered but whose boundaries were determined incorrectly, the registration error must be fixed in the Unified State Register of Real Estate before Rosreestr will register the new plot.

Unauthorized seizure

You must request a boundary plan or other documents from a neighbor who has taken part of someone else’s land, whether on purpose or accidentally, that show the boundaries and area of his land plot. The neighbor is not required to do this, though.

In this scenario, you will need to order a survey of your plot or, if one has already been created, a plot boundary clarification.

A boundary clarification through land surveying needs to be agreed upon with the neighbor.

He must move the established fence if he signed the document, indicating that he acknowledges the boundaries.

If not, you have to appear in court.

You should refer a neighbor to Article 7.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses in order to persuade him to sign the act of coordinating boundaries.

The minimum penalty for land squatting in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offenses is 5,000 Russian rubles.

The neighbor will also be responsible for paying legal fees if he loses the trial.

Landscape change

If the terrain changed and turning points were no longer located where they once were, boundary clarification orders would need to be placed in order for the Unified State Register to be updated. The above description covers the process for making changes.

Going to court

It is essential to settle the disagreement in court if a peaceful resolution is not achievable. The claim needs to be submitted to the court at the site.

Documentation

The following paperwork must be ready before submitting a claim:

• A copy of the applicant"s (plaintiff"s) civil passport;
• Documents on the basis of which the owner owns the land: deed of purchase and sale, certificate of inheritance;
• Certificate of the owner of the land plot;
• I put my passport on;
• Current boundary plan;
• The plan drawn up when clarifying the boundaries (if any) and the final conclusion of the cadastral engineer expert;
• Cadastral extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate about the established boundaries (even if it contains incorrect information);
• Certificates and documents confirming that the owner tried to resolve the issue without judicial intervention: a receipt for payment for the services of an independent examination and the conclusion of the same examination, a written refusal of the owner of the adjacent plot to coordinate boundaries, etc.d.;
• Any other documents that may help in the investigation of the case.

A receipt for the state fee paid to file the claim must also be included with the claim. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation’s subparagraph 1 of paragraph 1 regulates the amount of state duty, with a minimum of 400 rubles.

Statement of claim

As previously mentioned, the claim needs to be submitted to the court; in that case, Article 125 of the Russian Federation’s Arbitration Procedure Code governs the details of its preparation.

The following is the general guideline for submitting a claim:

• Name of the court where the application is filed;
• Information about the plaintiff;
• Information about the defendant;
• Certificate number of the owner of the land plot;
• Time of land ownership;
• The main essence of the disagreement (the circumstances of the case);
• Information about attempts at pre-trial settlement;
• A list of claims and demands against the defendant with reference to specific legal acts;
• List of attached documents.

Using the link, you can download a sample statement of claim along with an example form to complete.

Trial

A decision to start a case is made within five days of the court receiving the application, provided that the claim is prepared in compliance with Article 125 of the Russian Federation’s Arbitration Procedure Code.

Depending on the specifics of the case, the responsible judge establishes the time for both case administration and trial preparation.

A judge may base their decision in a court case on the plaintiff’s submitted documents as well as documents the court has specifically requested.

Should that prove insufficient, an impartial land management assessment will be appointed by the court to ascertain the precise limits of all contested plots.

Making a decision

All parties involved must abide by the court’s ruling.

Thus, in the event that the claim is true, the following occurs:

• The defendant is required to move the fence to a specified distance. If any buildings or communications interfere with this, they must be demolished.
• The defendant is required to cover legal costs, including payment for the services of an independent land survey.
• Information on the newly established boundaries is transferred to Rosreestr, which must make changes to the Unified State Register if the data stored there does not correspond to reality.
• If the defendant is proven guilty of unauthorized seizure of land, he may be brought to administrative liability under Article 7.1 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The plaintiff must order the creation of a boundary plan from a geodetic company if he does not already have one in his possession, which shows the actual boundaries of the allotment. Subsequently, he must register the site and amend the cadastral passport by sending Rosreestr the boundary plan.

Useful video

Watch this fascinating video where a lawyer discusses how to safeguard a land plot’s boundaries.

Type of Violation	How to Eliminate
Encroachment by Neighbor	Discuss the issue with the neighbor and if unresolved, involve local authorities or seek legal assistance.
Incorrect Boundary Marking	Hire a professional surveyor to re-establish correct boundaries and update records accordingly.
Unauthorized Construction	Report to local building authorities for assessment and possible removal of illegal structures.
Disputes Over Shared Boundaries	Use mediation services to reach an agreement or pursue legal action if necessary.
Natural Boundary Changes	Regularly monitor natural boundaries and document changes to prevent future disputes.

Keeping your land’s boundaries correct is essential to keeping good relations with your neighbors and staying out of trouble with the law. Boundary violations can take many different forms, including unauthorized use, encroachments, and property line disputes. Early detection of these problems and knowledge of how to resolve them can save you a great deal of trouble later on.

The first thing to do when dealing with a boundary violation is to compile all relevant paperwork, such as surveys, maps, and deeds. To settle disputes with your neighbors in a cooperative manner, you must maintain open lines of communication. A straightforward discussion can frequently result in a mutual understanding and a quick fix.

It might be necessary to seek professional assistance if an agreement cannot be reached. Clarity and support can be obtained by consulting a lawyer and hiring a surveyor to precisely identify property lines. In addition to being useful alternatives to judicial proceedings, mediation and arbitration can also help resolve disputes more quickly and amicably.

Many boundary disputes can be avoided by being proactive. Some examples of this include reviewing your property boundaries on a regular basis and keeping lines of communication open and clear with your neighbors. It’s critical to maintain awareness of your rights and obligations as a landowner in order to safeguard your property and guarantee peaceful neighbor relations.

Video on the topic

Land boundaries. How to resolve conflicts?

Changing the boundaries of a land plot. Redistribution of land plots, what is important to know?

Disputes about land boundaries. Which exit?

Land law in brief | Categories of land and types of permitted use

Land surveying. How to find out the boundaries of the site and not quarrel with neighbors?

Invalidation of survey results