Neighbor / Real Property Mediation
Cheaper, faster, and altogether less unpleasant.
Neighbor disputes can be remarkably stressful. Simple disagreements over, for example, a tree or a fence line can grow into an everyday sort of hassle, and can even escalate to court filings. It’s not uncommon to see civil harassment cases come out of neighbor disputes, as well as more complex and expensive cases, like quiet title filings, or even criminal complaints.
Neighbor disputes often sort out into arguments over what the law calls real property, meaning something like a fence line, a building that one party feels goes over the property line, or the classic example, a tree that falls from one property to another. However, below the surface, a dispute often relates to a lot of things, like who cleans up fallen fall leaves, or when loud music is played in the neighborhood. Mediation is a chance to get to the bottom of all these disputes, and try to find a solution that works for everyone.
In the beginning of mediation, the parties will lay out all of the disputes, and potential disputes, between themselves. The mediator will help work towards a resolution that addresses all these concerns, while staying neutral between the parties. The mediator will also explain to the parties what the likely process would be if either party went to court on any of their claims, which is an excellent way to convince people to come to a reasonable solution instead. The vast majority of people, when they learn how slow and expensive court actually is, are well motiavted to mediate their disagreements with a neighbor instead. At the end, we often have a complete agreement that both parties are happy with, and both parties helped write.
The Process
Like normal mediation, divorce mediation is confidential, voluntary, and your mediator will be neutral. The process of getting started is simple: you tell us what your dispute is, and we work with both parties to find a solution. We’ll let you know how a court would handle any of the issues here, and try our best to help both parties understand what the other party wants, and why.
We’ll contact you and the other party to see where the parties agree on the basic facts, and then the real work begins, as we help both parties move towards a complete agreement. Agreements in neighbor disputes or real property disputes have to be very personalized to work; our goal is to have an agreement that’s realistic and which both parties feel good about, so you won’t have to come right back or, worse, go to court. Sometimes that means agreeing on a fence line and making sure both parties have enough space to use their backyards for the things important to them, sometimes that means agreeing to a survey by a third party that will confirm or deny the tax lot line. Sometimes there’s even an agreement on what kind of music is played after 8 pm; there’s a great deal of flexibility in mediation, and that’s what helps us help you to put a dispute behind you once and for all.
If this sounds good to you, please fill out this form, and we’ll get right back to you to let you know what we can do to help. All submissions are of course confidential.