They Thought It Was Their Land… Until I Proved Them Wrong
I’m using a throwaway for obvious reasons. Last year, I bought a property at auction, mostly sight unseen. It’s about 14 acres in total, and the main thing that drew me in was this old farmhouse that clearly hadn’t been taken care of in years. After everything was finalized and I officially owned the place, I hired a surveyor to map out the exact boundaries. That’s when I found out something unexpected, there was also a barn, a patio, and even a firepit area included in my property. A few months ago, I decided to walk over to that section for the first time. When I got there, I was honestly surprised. The barn was in great condition, fully updated with electricity and running water. That whole part of the land was actually in much better shape than the farmhouse itself. It’s kind of laid out like a big “L” shape, with the house on one end and the barn area on the other. While I was inside the barn looking around, a sheriff’s car suddenly pulled up. The deputy approached me and started questioning what I was doing there. I explained that I owned the property and had just bought it. Not long after, another car pulled up and two people got out, I’ll call them Ken and Barbie. They had called 911, saying someone was trespassing on their property. I tried to explain everything to both them and the deputy, but Ken and Barbie kept interrupting, insisting that the barn, the patio, all of it belonged to them. Thankfully, I had the survey documents with me in a folder, and the deputy took a close look at them. He told them that I likely wasn’t trespassing and that this would probably need to be sorted out by real estate lawyers. After that, I had two separate surveys done and got opinions from two different lawyers. Both confirmed the same thing, that entire section is legally mine. Apparently, Ken and Barbie bought the neighboring property about four years ago. They believed that this part of the land was included in their purchase. Since then, they’ve renovated the barn and turned it into an event space. They’ve been hosting weddings, birthday parties, and other events there. The problem is, everything they’re using for that business is actually on my property. Multiple surveys confirm it. I was also told that adverse possession doesn’t apply here because they haven’t used it nearly long enough, and they don’t have any proof that the previous owner ever gave them permission to use it. The thing is, I don’t want to own or deal with an event venue. So I tried to work something out. First, I offered to sell them that portion of the land at what both I and my real estate agent believe is a fair market price. They said they couldn’t afford it. Then I offered to lease it to them, where they’d pay me a percentage of their revenue and handle all insurance and liability themselves. They said they couldn’t afford that either. Their last offer was to pay me a few hundred dollars a month, which honestly wouldn’t even cover insurance, let alone maintenance. I said no. They then told me they already have a lot of bookings lined up for spring and summer and that if they lose access, they’ll have to refund deposits. At this point, I’ve made it clear that either they lease it properly and take on full responsibility, including insurance, or I just let the property sit unused. So now I’m wondering… do i am AITA?
