Fence encroacment on Property (Chicago: sale, assessor, lender)

[Margo101016]

Got a question and would like to try and get an answer. My brother-in-laws neighbor put up a fence. He asked my brother in law if it was OK to put a private fence in the front & back part of the property, and my brother in law agreed. What the neighbor failed to tell him was that he was placing the "post" on the in-laws sidewalk instead of the middle part where it should be. Now the in-law doesn't have access to his side of the house where the electrical meter & phone cables are. The only way to access the side of the house is by opening the neighbors fence door and going in because they blocked the whole side of the house. Does anyone see a problem here because I sure do. Should my in-law have the neighbor sign some kind of agreement where if requested, he would have to remove the fence? This is a recent problem, about 2-3 weeks.

[chet everett]

You are absolutely correct that is a problem.

Always a very BAD IDEA to allow anything too close to the property line, the situation with the neighbor's fence blocking access to the b-i-l whole side of house is unacceptable, down the road b-i-l could lose that portion of his lot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession

Since fence posts have been set it may be tricky to simply ask that they be moved, might be good idea to split costs.

Also might be good idea to have attorney draft a little contract to clarify access and have section that upon sale of either house fence will be removed and new one constructed well inside property line.

Failure to do this NOW could be HUGE headache down the road Easement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Chi-town Native]

you generally need a permit to put up a fence (regardless of the fact almost nobody bothers), so I'd imagine a phone call to your bldg dept might help.

[Houston3]

If the fence in on your brother in laws land it needs to be moved RIGHT NOW.. Did anyone do a survey first? Or at least look for the old surveyors markers?

[hank0604]

Originally Posted by Houston3

If the fence in on your brother in laws land it needs to be moved RIGHT NOW.. Did anyone do a survey first? Or at least look for the old surveyors markers?

Definitely. If he waits too long, that part of his property will no longer belong to him. For example, if you and I are neighbors, and I build a fence 2 feet onto your lot but you never contest it to be moved, after a period of time (variable by municipality, but generally 5-10 years) that portion of land will become mine.

[Intergalactic]

Originally Posted by hank0604

Definitely. If he waits too long, that part of his property will no longer belong to him. For example, if you and I are neighbors, and I build a fence 2 feet onto your lot but you never contest it to be moved, after a period of time (variable by municipality, but generally 5-10 years) that portion of land will become mine.

Could be as long as 20 years, but not longer. This rule dates back to 1086.

It is easier to contest if one has a mortgage; a phone call to your lender and a survey crew will be there lickety-split.

[Chi-town Native]

not to belittle the annoyance/seriousness of this specific situation, but has anyone ever actually heard of a Chicago lot being redrawn to give someone 2 feet due to a fence encroachment?

I just can't see this happening in Chicago, lots are written in stone, it would be so much work for the City, County, etc to redraw the official surveys and change the assessor info, etc.

I think it's more likely a building inspector would fine the bejeebuz out of the offender and make them tear down the fence.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

not to belittle the annoyance/seriousness of this specific situation, but has anyone ever actually heard of a Chicago lot being redrawn to give someone 2 feet due to a fence encroachment?

I just can't see this happening in Chicago, lots are written in stone, it would be so much work for the City, County, etc to redraw the official surveys and change the assessor info, etc.

I think it's more likely a building inspector would fine the bejeebuz out of the offender and make them tear down the fence.

The work is paid for by the person who brings suit. It is not uncommon at all, especially in the areas that were originally developed as more "genteel" portions of the City. You'd be surprised how much of a premium a developer might place on an extra couple of feet, and it makes perfect sense -- those extra couple of feet mean you can have a MUCH large deck for entertaining and such without having your fence but up against the sides.

[Chi-town Native]

What you mean by "not uncommon"? Personally, I think this is a really, really stupid concept. Lot lines are lot lines, and Chicago lots are small enough that nobody can claim they don't really know where their property ends - I could see a lot of poor senior citizens getting rooked by neighbors who said they were doing them a favor by installing a new fence.

[chet everett]

If we are talking about some section of the City where EVERY lot is basically 25 ft wide it ain't gonna happen, but there are all kind of variations in different parts of Chicago. Kenwood, Beverly. Morgan Park have many lots that are odd width, if the reason is because some previous owner decided to subdivide then years pass and people forget what side of the garden REALLY is on the plat and somebody decides to get a survey and it is clear that things were built that allowed for adverse possession and therw was no evidence of a contestment than the court will likely allow the lot to be redrawn to reflect the possession. Nothing stupid about it, you have to DEFEND YOUR PROPERTY RIGHTS, same concept is at work with authors and copyright and other firms with trademark. Apple sues bonehead offshore manufacturers that try to sell mp3 players as "any"Pod and authors don't let college profs photo copy all their good points into a class packet without paying a fee. If either of those things were allowed to happen the VALUE of the investment is diminished. Clear?

If some scamster tried to stick HIS fence too close a eldery neighbor and the elderly part did not complain they too would be abrogating their rights to the property. Maybe the just don't care, or want to have some one else enjoy the yard, but either way if they DO NOT OBJECT and the adverse possession continues the scamster could widen his lot through court action. If another party decides to object the burden would be to show that the scamster was being deceptive and/or the eldery party was incapacitated and then you could get the Public Guardian involved. There are safeguards, this is not a "snap your fingers" kind of thing...