VIC Adverse Possession Defence

[LZ112]

Hello all,

My neighbour has filed an adverse possession claim on a part of my property. He has claimed he received permission from the previous owner to have the land in which case there is no 'adverse possession'. There has also been other dodgy dealings with him playing with the fence etc... However, he went ahead with his claim with his solicitor.

I have been keeping a close eye on the Land Titles Office (LTO) and any letters i receive from them. I have not received any notice from the LTO and there has been no displays of a notice to possess my land. However the LTO has received a claim back in January when i called. The ATO has informed me the case won't see a case manager for at least 9 months.

My question is, was i suppose to lodge a caveat within 30 days of the claim or 9 months after a decision has been made? I have a feeling i was suppose to lodge within 30 days of the claim being received, however no notices has been put up on the either of our properties as we don't have a fence to post it to and i have not received a letter from the LTO in the mail.

Can someone inform me of the formalities? If i did miss the caveat date, is there anything i can do?

 

[Rod]

He has claimed he received permission from the previous owner to have the land in which case there is no 'adverse possession'.

You are well informed. Do you have evidence of this statement?

I do not know the procedure for defending a claim however the LTO should advise you of the correct procedure. Have you read this: Adverse possession

 

[LZ112]

Hello Rod,

Thanks for the input. I have read the application to obtain adverse possession in addition to other briefs from property law firms. When the neighbour said he obtained permission, he was in the prescence of me and my father, however this may not be looked upon favourable as my father is not a 'disinterested party' per se. On top of all this, the neighbour has damaged my garage roof when making an illegal scaffold.

The land that is being claimed is less than 4 meteres squared. It was claimed that the neighbour had erected a pailing fence where plants can be hung since 2003 in one of the statutory statements from his nephew while in possession of the land. However, from the time i have purchased the house, this pailing fence for hanging his plants was not installed until recently ~ 6 months. He has taken photos of this recently and submitted it with his applcation. His lawyer has sent me a copy of the application.

The dodgy fence that is in place to fence me off my land appears to be highly manipulated and has been cut and rebolted. However, he was able to obtain a survey.

To add more context, the lady who i purchased the property from was 95 years old and recently passed away in November last year (2017). I am appalled, he would take advantage of an old lady and steal part of her land. I could have made a fuss prior to settlement (August 2017) however i would feel morally wrong to do so as it is of no fault to the owner which at this stage was in a nursing home.