Neighbor within his rights to remove path

I live in a gated community. About 12 years ago, I asked my neighbor if he’d be interested in putting a gravel path from the front to the back between our properties, as it is impossible to grow grass in this shaded area. His response was: “Do whatever you want. I never go on that side of the house.” Now he sent a certified letter telling me part of the path is on his property, and he wants it removed. Must I remove it? Two issues are at play here. The first is if you need to remove the path from his property, and the second is where his property line is. We’ll take the second issue first.

The legal concept of “adverse possession” states that if someone uses someone else’s property under certain conditions, he or she becomes owner of the property. The reasoning is that all property is supposed to be productive, and if someone takes over and works abandoned property he or she will eventually own it. To become owner of the path, you would need to fulfill five conditions. Possession must be hostile, actual, exclusive, open/ notorious and continuous.

In plain talk, this means use of the property would need to be without his permission, actually used only by you and in no way hidden for a specific period, usually between seven and 10 years.

Your neighbor gave you a “license” or permission to put the path over a portion of his property and made no requirement that you remove the gravel if he changed his mind. Since he has now changed his mind, he can re- move the path to his property line, plant a tree over it, or whatever he wants, as long as it’s within community rules.