neighbor dammed my yard (Roma, Trenton: real estate, HOA, lawyer)

[jmshelby]

We just purchased raw land in Trenton, TX. We are outside city limits. There is no HOA and no sewer/storm drain system, only ditches that eventually flow into a creek. This is a "build on your own lot" area, not a subdivision.

Our neighbor recently put a discarded rock pile (from when they dug out for their septic tank) 2ft from my lot line. Yes, it is on their land. It is roughly 3ft tall, 4ft wide and 25ft long. They have no intention of having the rocks dispersed or removed as they are moving and don't want to pay for it. The rocks now cause my property to flood. It is completely dammed and is swampy with standing water.

We only became owners of the land 2 weeks ago but we face fines if we don't mow it soon. I met with my tractor guy today and he won't mow until it drains. Also he said the longer we wait, the more it'll cost.

Since my neighbor made an unnecessary change (the rocks were not put in place to alter water flow on their land, it was just to get them out of the front yard view) to their landscaping that causes my land to flood up to where my front door will be and cause water to flow into my garage, do I have any legal ground to make them remove the rocks?

Thank you for any advice you can give. This is a new experience.

[Rakin]

Time for an attorney. Start out with a demand letter.

[ImpartialBias]

Let me google that for you

[Grainraiser]

Have you talked to your neighbor about this issue. It's the first thing you need to do.

[Aceraceae]

Your neighbor may not know about the problem. I'd speak to them about it first. In a neighborly way.

[jmshelby]

Thank you all for your help. Yes, I spoke with them twice. Once asking simply of it would eventually be removed from the property (it is 2ft from my property line and about 10ft from the street and their backyard is my front yard) and the second time, last night, I mentioned it was causing my yard to retain water and prohibiting it from draining. The response was, "oh that's too bad". She stated they put the rock there to keep water out of their yard but that it was not near her house. Not the "country welcome" I am used to...

[EDS_]

Could you use the rocks on your property as leveling fill? Are any of the rocks big enough to use a landscape accoutrements?


1. Call the city/county and explain why you can't mow.
2. The guy who won't cut your grass is doing you a favor - if it's really wet/boggy a tractor will tear the area up badly.
3. As that's somewhere around 11 or 12 yards of material it'll likely need to be moved away with a loader and truck. Assuming all the rocks are small enough that load could be moved with a 3/4 pick-up but we're probably talking 15-20 loads. You've got to assume rocks weigh about 1.25 tons per yard.
4. Take a lot of pictures of the rock pile, and watery conditions.
5. Note the professional mower can't mow.
6. Note dates as best you can.
7. Note the people are refusing to undo their bad actions.
8. Get a quote(s) to remove the rocks.
9. With a sheet of facts and figures in front of me I'd call the sheriff, and I mean speak to the sheriff personally, asking about any emergency procedures that you may take advantage of.


Assuming your city/county can't help and I bet they won't. I'd hire a lawyer and pay for a mean demand letter. People shouldn't be allowed to ********* over because they are stupid, cheap, ignorant, broke whatever. They made a change to their land that is obviously impacting you negatively. They need to fix it.


Good luck. Stupid people suck.

[octo]

At least they are moving away.

[jmshelby]

Forgot to mention that at. She said last night they aren't actually moving. They are new to the area and, as a family, they build houses to sell. She said they only have it listed so they can "feel out the market"and get an idea of what to price their builds at. Unfortunately we can't use the rock on our land because they actually want it there, even after informing them of the effect it had on land. I think we are going to end up going the attorney route. Is that a real estate attorney or a land and zoning attorney?

[mm4]

Originally Posted by jmshelby

Forgot to mention that at. She said last night they aren't actually moving. They are new to the area and, as a family, they build houses to sell. She said they only have it listed so they can "feel out the market"and get an idea of what to price their builds at. Unfortunately we can't use the rock on our land because they actually want it there, even after informing them of the effect it had on land. I think we are going to end up going the attorney route. Is that a real estate attorney or a land and zoning attorney?

Does the runoff from your yard end up on theirs if there aren't dirt piles near the edge of their land? Can you trench a Roman drain from there to a street ditch?