Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Legal question...shared pond

Ego, I think what JKB is saying, with fewer, very blunt words, is just what I had said in my first post after you posed this thread question.

Jointly owned ponds can be a non-issue for most people when the owners are able to discuss any issues that may arise and come to amicable decisions. The "problems" that can often become expensive, angering and frustrating, frequently occur when there is an ownership change.


Allow me to paint a fairly extreme, yet known scenario that applies to your upcoming purchase directly.

Imagine the previous owner got along with the other pond owner and the remaining neighbor was a good friend of the people that got forclosed on. Also suppose that neighbor feels his friend got royally screwed by the bank that foreclosed and is now selling you that property and pond. You may have every intention and even are a "good" neighbor, yet the remaining neighbor has a chip on his shoulder and hates you as much as the USA hated Bin Laden after 9/11....Not hard to imagine the war you could be walking into on day one of ownership.

Granted, this is extreme and probably unlikely, but makes the point crystal clear.

The common scenario is that the original owners got along fine and the new owner chooses to do things "his own way" and royally pisses off the other owner.

Without WRITTEN agreements, it is not a matter of IF a dispute arises, but a simple matter of not knowing WHEN the inevitable dispute arises. Good will and manners are meaningless when someone feels there property rights are being violated...right or wrong don't mean squat, the disputes get real ugly, real expensive and happen REAL fast!!!

Even WITH the agreement, there can be issues that can get ugly.


This is one of those true Buyer Beware's that no one ever expects and is almost always blind sided by the level of anger and expense they create.

I'll bring back up my current $75K+ dispute. I live in Missouri where the State Constitution guarantees access rights. It is illegal to be land locked. After 3 years of court proceddings, depositions, etc. a home town Judge LANDLOCKED us and made it nearly impossible to appeal with a defective order and retired 2 weeks later...clearly as a favor to the defense counsel.....Wrong as it can be, but it is what it is and I am paying double what I payed for the land to a lawyer for no valid reason other than a pissy neighbor.