land boundary dispute Jamaica

Boundary disputes between neighbouring landowners are among the most common and most expensive property conflicts in Jamaica. Errors in historical surveys, missing or removed boundary markers, and informal agreements that were never registered have left many landowners uncertain of exactly where their land begins and ends. This report examines the causes of boundary disputes and the remedies available.

Water access is a critical but often overlooked dimension of land ownership in Jamaica. Disputes over the right to draw water from rivers, streams, and catchments on or adjoining private land have generated conflicts between neighbouring landowners, farmers, and communities. This report examines the Water Resources Act framework, riparian rights, and how disputes over water access intersect with property ownership.

Easements — rights to use another person’s land for a specified purpose such as access or the passage of utilities — are a frequent source of disputes between Jamaican landowners. Neighbours who block established rights of way, obstruct drainage easements, or deny access to landlocked properties create legal and practical difficulties that require court intervention to resolve. This report examines how easement disputes arise and the remedies available.

Adverse possession allows a person who has occupied land without the owner’s permission for the limitation period under the Limitation of Actions Act to acquire a legal right to that land. Fraudsters have exploited this doctrine by manufacturing false evidence of long occupation to make claims against land they have only recently entered or never actually occupied. This report examines how fraudulent adverse possession claims are constructed and how legitimate landowners can defend them.

Many properties in Jamaica trace their title through colonial-era grants, old deed systems, and pre-registration instruments that predate the modern Torrens-style title registration system. Gaps, errors, and inconsistencies in these historic chains of title generate disputes that can be extremely difficult and expensive to resolve. This report examines the nature of historic title defects and the process for regularising problematic titles.