Golden Press, Inc. v. Rylands
Supreme Court of Colorado
235 P.2d 592 (1951)
Golden Press (defendant) built a commercial building whose foundation, unbeknownst to either side despite both using surveyors, encroached two to three-and-a-half inches onto Rylands's (plaintiff) residential property, extending seven to nine feet underground; the encroached strip was used as a driveway and iris bed and was worth only about $55. Rylands and Reid never sought any legal action until after the foundation and upper wall were fully completed, then sued for an injunction to remove the footings; a jury found for Golden Press on trespass damages, but the trial court granted a mandatory injunction requiring removal anyway.
Whether a mandatory injunction requiring removal of a building encroachment may be denied where the encroachment is unintentional and slight, does not affect the plaintiff's use of the land, causes minimal damage, and removal would be so costly as to cause grave hardship or be otherwise unconscionable.