Real Property Disputes

Comprehensive Real Estate Litigation

At the law offices of Muller & Mannix, our Real Property Litigation practice is devoted to protecting your private property rights. We handle disputes between private land owners as well as disputes with federal, state and local municipal and government entities, utility companies, or commercial development firms.

Experience With All Types of Real Property Disputes

Your legal team at Muller & Mannix is experienced with all types of Real Property Disputes, including:

Title Issues and Boundary Line Disputes: Issues with property titles and boundary lines often arise days, months, or years after the property closing. Title Issues involve disputes over right-ofways, easements, encroaching fence lines, conflicting surveys, misplaced or moved survey markers and pins, or inaccurate legal descriptions in deeds. Having represented both private land owners and title insurance companies, your legal team at Muller & Mannix has the experience necessary to handle your title disputes.

Adverse Possession: Adverse Possession is a method of gaining legal title to real property that is owned by another person through the actual, open, hostile, and continuous possession of that other person’s real property for the statutory period of time (10 years). Under a theory of Adverse Possession, you can actually lose the title to your property if you fail to enforce your legal rights to your own real property.

Homeowner’s Associations: If you own a condominium or property located within a Homeowner’s Association, you are subjected to contractual rules, regulations and requirements that other property owners do not face. You may be charged money for common area maintenance fees or special assessments for capital improvements to the Association’s property. You may have Association Rules and Regulations that can prevent you from fully using your property in the manner that you desire. You may simply need an explanation of your legal rights as a member of a Homeowner’s Association. Our attorneys at Muller & Mannix have represented Condominium Associations, Homeowner’s Associations, as well as individual property owners who are members of such an association. Whether you need to form or create a Homeowner’s Association, or to defend your rights against an aggressive HOA Board of Directors, contact your legal team at Muller & Mannix for a private and confidential consultation.

Nuisance and Trespass: A nuisance is a property intrusion that interferes with a private property owner's use and enjoyment of property. Nuisance issues may include noise, pollution, odor or flooding. Trespass is an illegal physical intrusion onto private property. Trespass disputes may arise from encroachments across boundary lines, unlawful water discharge or other illegal use of another's property.

Riparian [Water] Rights: Riparian rights are generally the rights of a property owners to use lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, waterways, and water that adjoins or abuts the owner’s property. These water rights include such things as the right to access for recreation, swimming, boating and fishing; the right to wharf or moor boats; the right to erect structures such as docks, piers, wharfs and boat lifts; the right to use the water for domestic purposes; the right to use the water for commercial purposes, such as hydroelectric dams, marinas, boating and sailing clubs. Often, disputes arise between neighboring property owners, land developers, governmental agencies [such as the Lake George Park Commission or the Adirondack Park Agency] concerning your right to make reasonable use of these lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and waterways. Issues arise concerning the need for permits, variances, or an alleged violation of some law, code or rule concerning your use of your riparian rights. When these disputes occur, you will need qualified and experience real property litigators and attorneys to aggressively represent and protect your legal rights.

Municipal Zoning: Your private property rights are often affected by local municipal zoning and land laws. Your ability to subdivide your property or create a subdivision, construct an addition to your home, landscape your property, erect a fence on your property, enter into a boundary line agreement with your neighbor, is often affected by municipal zoning laws. When this occurs, you may need a permit, area variance or use variance to proceed with your proposed land use. Our legal team at Muller & Mannix can assist you in resolving your legal issues concerning your local zoning and land use laws. When a resolution cannot be reached, your legal team at Muller & Mannix will aggressively pursue litigation, such as an Article 78 Proceeding, when needed to protect and defend your real property rights.

Easements, Covenants and Restrictions: Easements, covenants and deed restrictions define the level and degree of access or control that other people may have over your private property. Easements and rights-of-way grant access across your property, or provide for the location of utilities. Deed covenants and deed restrictions define the types and manner of use that you can make or your real property or define the types and manners of use that you are prohibited from making of your own real property. Easements, rights-of-way, deed covenants and deed restrictions are often the source of legal disputes between neighboring or adjoining landowners. The lawyers at Muller & Mannix have the experience and skill necessary to represent you when disputes arise concerning your legal rights to your real property.

Schedule Your Consultation

It is crucial for landowners to consult with a property dispute lawyer as soon as possible after a potential real property dispute is discovered. Delays could cause you to lose rights in your own real property. Our legal team is extremely knowledgeable in land use and real estate litigation involving residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural property. Contact Muller & Mannix today by calling (518) 793-6238 or contact us online to schedule your prompt and confidential consultation to review your real property dispute.