Encroachments include buildings, fences, driveways, and overhanging structures crossing a boundary. Remedies include removal, damages, and in some circumstances a court-ordered easement compensating the burdened owner.
Innocent encroachment may affect the remedy.
Alternative Names:
Structural Encroachment, Property Encroachment
Why it Matters?
Balancing the equities determines whether removal is ordered, since courts weigh the cost of removal against the harm from continuation and frequently decline to order demolition of a substantial structure encroaching slightly. That analysis favors an innocent encroacher and disfavors one who built with notice of the boundary. Surveys obtained before construction are what establish innocence.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Is removal always ordered?
What establishes innocent encroachment?
