Bill would mitigate property disputes

Land developers would have more time to reclaim ownership of their property under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Feb. 26.

LB1049, introduced by Lexington Sen. John Wightman, would change the statute of limitations for initiating recovery of property from 10 to 20 years for platted and subdivided lots. Current law permits a person to use a process called “adverse possession” to claim title to land by proving that he or she openly has been using and maintaining the land continuously and exclusively for 10 years.

Wightman said the bill would address instances in new subdivisions where lot line markers disappear over time. Problems arise, he said, because landowners who encroach on neighboring vacant land may leave the true property owner with parcels of land too small to meet city building codes.

“We need to allow entrepreneurs who take a considerable risk to develop and build homes more time to build communities without a person taking property without paying taxes and ignoring lot lines,” Wightman said.

He said the centuries-old rule regarding adverse possession causes unnecessary litigation.

“The purchaser of the lot should not be put in the position where they must pursue costly litigation to determine if they really own the property described in their deed,” Wightman said.

Jeffrey Nix, representing the Home Building Professionals of Greater Omaha, testified in support of the bill. He said land developers sometimes purchase property that has been vacant for many years and have had no opportunity to designate or maintain lot boundaries. The bill gives developers necessary time to avoid costly delays caused by property disputes, he said.

Ward Hoppe of the Nebraska Realtors Association testified in opposition to the bill, saying situations the bill hopes to mitigate are too rare to warrant a policy change.

The committee took no immediate action on LB1049.