Fence on build line (vs. property line) (Post, West: real estate, HOA)

[Aquitaine]

Hi C-D,

We discovered recently that the fence on one side of our tiny Mueller property was not built in the correct place -- that our yard is effectively smaller because the fence is more 'inside' the property than the plan called for. Since we closed over two years ago I don't expect the builder to care (though we're asking them anyway just to find out if they made this change on purpose versus just screwing up).

My question is: should we decide to remedy this, is it acceptable to build a fence on the build line (i.e. the 2.5' set back from the property line)? On this side of our property, it's just a grass strip and then a street, so our "neighbor" is the city and there are no easements on this side.

Two pictures attached: One is the original plan (where the fence is the solid but light line with the squares on it -- the thick black line is the landscaper's delineation of the build line)

The other is the survey that was done after construction (i.e. how it all turned out). The light line with the double hashes is the fence; the longer dashed line designated '2.5' BL' is the build line, and the thick black line is the property line.

There is no scale on the landscaping plan ... possibly why this happened ... but as best we can tell, it calls for the fence to be almost but not quite out to the build line. If we have to pull it up and fix it, we'd prefer to maximize the space and plop it right on the build line.

As best I can tell, our HOA doesn't care about this because we're not changing the style or erecting a fence that wasn't there before, and at any rate they signed off on the original landscaping plan anyway so we'd just be restoring that. But I don't know about city ordinances and what you can and can't do with a build line.

I'm also assuming that there's really nothing we can hold over the builder to get them to fix it or pay for our fixing it; we'll ask but as we didn't bust out a measuring tape for the fence location prior to closing I guess we missed the boat there.

Thanks Internet Experts!

Aq

[FalconheadWest]

You should put the fence on the property line, not the build line. The build line is about permanent building structures, like an add-on to the house. You cannot add a room passed the build line. A fence should be on the property line, encompassing your entire property. Otherwise, you're basically "giving up" your claim to the property on the other side of the fence... unless you have something written into your documents that you must keep X" from the property line, like some corner lots have.

[Aquitaine]

It is a corner lot but I'll check with the HOA. Thank you!

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

You should put the fence on the property line, not the build line. The build line is about permanent building structures, like an add-on to the house. You cannot add a room passed the build line. A fence should be on the property line, encompassing your entire property. Otherwise, you're basically "giving up" your claim to the property on the other side of the fence... unless you have something written into your documents that you must keep X" from the property line, like some corner lots have.

Not entirely true. It's traditional here to build perimeter fences on the property line, but you aren't giving up your property if you have a fence inside the property line - many houses of varying ages have fences that are not on the property line. Our house in Barton Hills, for example, had a fence that was inside the property line on one side about 12-18" depending on where along the property line it was. The survey, however, was quite clear that the fence was inside the property line. There was no problem with the neighbors at that point, and the most recent purchasers put their own privacy fence in right on the property line as indicated by the survey (she was a real estate broker and very much went by the rules, which was nice because everyone was on the same page).

HOA rules may vary on this, of course, as to where you "have" to fence, but that's not a legal giving up of your property.

[Aquitaine]

I read what he wrote as 'giving up' in the practical sense, not the actual, legal surrender of a portion of your property.

[Novacek]

Is the corner to a road intersection? If so, they may have had to keep the fence clear of sight lines.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest
You should put the fence on the property line, not the build line. The build line is about permanent building structures, like an add-on to the house. You cannot add a room passed the build line. A fence should be on the property line, encompassing your entire property. Otherwise, you're basically "giving up" your claim to the property on the other side of the fence... unless you have something written into your documents that you must keep X" from the property line, like some corner lots have.

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

I read what he wrote as 'giving up' in the practical sense, not the actual, legal surrender of a portion of your property.

Perhaps. The reference to giving up your "claim" to the property on the other side and to something written into your documents would seem to mean legal and that's how I took it, but I could be wrong and she meant what you say.

[Aquitaine]

It's the corner to an alleyway, not a road, and there's a giant street lamp on the corner anyway (which isn't in the way of the fence either as planned or as actually built). There are also other fences along the alleyway that are definitely built right on the property line (also on corner lots).

[MLP1]

What did you end up deciding to do and did you receive any more information or insight? I am in a similar situation and trying to figure it out. Thanks!

[Aquitaine]

We moved it back a bit but I don't remember how far as we sold the place last year!