Prescription of Land: Legal Advice and Information

Questioner

House on land on public water, is burdened with a right of attachment. More than 30 years ago, the municipality placed a new walkway in the water, outside the old revetment, and constructed a sewer between the old and new and finished it off with soil. Resident may use the 80 cm wide plot across the width of the garden with the restriction, no buildings or trees and space for any sewer maintenance. This extension is not recorded in the land register, but subsequent measurements show that the border lies on the old quay wall (underground). And the new quay wall is therefore somewhere in the water of the water board. The water board's by-laws state that they are required to maintain the waterway in question, but that this maintenance does not extend beyond keeping the waterway clear, so a broken quay wall does not bother them, as long as the drainage and waterway are secured. Municipality now says the water board is the owner of the revetment and probably by prescription has been transferred to the residents by operation of law. Replacement maintenance costs > 25% of the WOZ value, unaffordable for a resident. Can the resident be forced to accept ownership? Can that be rejected? Because the financial consequences are incalculable. Everywhere I read about prescription it is about a desired interest regarding ownership for the user. In this case the user does not want ownership. Considering that it concerns a total of 25 homes, contiguous plots and the protected city view. Isn't there at least a 3 party interest: Municipality, water board and resident?

Lawyer

This is not a question that can be answered appropriately, as this is a heavy and complicated matter, and I would also have to delve into it, which unfortunately I cannot do for free. In this case it must be clear where the boundaries lie, who is responsible for what, etc. It is therefore wise to act as neighbors in this if they are all involved in this. If you would like further help and/or advice, please feel free to contact me.

Questioner

My question is explicitly about limitation. If I use a piece of land outside my plot as my own for decades, I can claim ownership by prescription. But in this case it is different: I am allowed to use a piece of land outside my plot of land that I know is not mine. (This was recently confirmed by cadastral measurements.) Can the landowner then force me to accept ownership, for example, because of prescription. Or can ownership not be enforced... Is there any case law on this?