Arkansas family wins $12,000 after neighbours removed old fence and trees
An Arkansas family was awarded $12,000 after a court ruled that a long-standing fence line serves as a legal property boundary. The ruling clarifies that 'boundary by acquiescence' can override precise survey lines if neighbors have treated a fence as the boundary for decades.
Why it matters
This case sets a legal precedent for property disputes involving historical boundaries and the rights of landowners in Arkansas.
A fence that had been treated as a property boundary since 1967 has been upheld as the dividing line between two Arkansas properties, after a dispute over trees and fencing reached the state Court of Appeals. The ruling in Floyd v. Bowlin-Lemon, reported by Justia, Leagle and Case Law Wire, affirmed the Bowlins’ boundary claim, a $12,000 treble-damages award and an order requiring the neighbouring owners to rebuild the fence. The case involved adjoining properties in Crawford County and centred on a fence line that the Bowlin family had treated as its southern boundary for decades. According to the Arkansas Court of Appeals, Joy Bowlin-Lemon’s family acquired the property in 1967. The family was shown the existing fence lines when it purchased the land and subsequently used those fences as practical boundaries.
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