I noted the truck, white, no markings, a local contractor plate. I photographed it. I wrote everything down. When I got home, I did not approach them. I did not speak. I just watched. 3 days later, I received a letter. It was printed on Maplewood Estates HOA letterhead. The return address listed a board president named Richard Thorne.
The letter was brief. It welcomed me to the area. It mentioned that the community had historically relied on a shared water source near the property boundary and expressed hope that I would continue to honor the existing arrangement. I read that letter four times. There was no mention of any legal agreement, no reference to an easement, no documentation attached, just the assumption stated plainly that I would continue allowing them to take water from my land because that was how things had always been. I set the letter on my
desk. I photographed it. I scanned it. I sent the scan to Patricia that same night with a single line. They’ve acknowledged the pipe in writing without citing any legal basis. Patricia replied within the hour. She said, “Save everything. Do not respond yet.” So, I didn’t. Patricia’s strategy was simple. Build the record first, respond second.
She had seen cases like this before. Not identical, but similar. A landowner arrives. A neighbor has been using something, a road, a well, a drainage ditch without permission. The neighbor assumes silence means consent. The longer the silence, the stronger their eventual adverse possession claim could theoretically become.
But Patricia explained that adverse possession on a newly purchased property where the new owner had already documented the encroachment within weeks of taking title was extremely difficult to argue. I had moved fast enough. The survey was dated. The photographs were timestamped. The HOA’s own letter was now in my file.
