Can neighbor tie into my new fence without paying? (licensed, property)

[deckhanddavy]

I wouldn't like it one bit. I'm not the type who says, "oh well....what can be done?". I can't stand when folks feel this is an ok attitude. Stand up for what's rightfully yours and claim it...don't let others walk over you. They will only continue do do it.

With that said, I would approach my neighbor first and put everything out on the table to resolve the issue. Communication is everything. If he comes off as a rude, non-caring ass, then I'd calmly end the conversation and do everything I can to take up legal action to get his crap off my property line, un-tie his fence from mine and pay for any post-damage done. Trying to take legal action before having a professional discussion with him about the problem will only make matters worse.

It's always good to sit down and have an open conversation first, that way, you both can understand each other's frustrations, which usually leads to more adult way of handling issues. I think most people find it difficult to confront issues in person, which is understandable. But, it will probably pay off in the long run.

[raysor]

I think it's a big waste of time, move on and enjoy your life.

[mikeyyc]

Originally Posted by deckhanddavy

I wouldn't like it one bit. I'm not the type who says, "oh well....what can be done?". I can't stand when folks feel this is an ok attitude. Stand up for what's rightfully yours and claim it...don't let others walk over you. They will only continue do do it.

With that said, I would approach my neighbor first and put everything out on the table to resolve the issue. Communication is everything. If he comes off as a rude, non-caring ass, then I'd calmly end the conversation and do everything I can to take up legal action to get his crap off my property line, un-tie his fence from mine and pay for any post-damage done. Trying to take legal action before having a professional discussion with him about the problem will only make matters worse.

It's always good to sit down and have an open conversation first, that way, you both can understand each other's frustrations, which usually leads to more adult way of handling issues. I think most people find it difficult to confront issues in person, which is understandable. But, it will probably pay off in the long run.

I agree with everything, except that if he's ON the property line, it's as much the neighbour's fence as it is his. That won't be determined without a professional survey, and all accompanying costs.

[zdatlady]

strange... where I live, the city actually require that any fence should tie in to existing ones... I didn't know so many people are against it

[astrohip]

Wow, a two year bump! How did I miss the excitement of this thread the first time around...

Originally Posted by JaneDoeHomeowner

While the fence is on the property line, it's on my side of it.
Jane

It's either on the property line, or it's on one side or the other. It can't be both (unless it wanders). A fence on the property line belongs to both parties, regardless of who pays for it.

Originally Posted by mikeyyc

Unless you had a documented survey out to snap the actual property line, the "line" is generally accepted to be about a foot wide.

I've never heard this. A property line is a property line. It can be mapped within an inch. No such thing as a foot DMZ.

[PedroMartinez]

I good old fashion southern (thread) revival. Due to the age of this thread, I think I'll jack it to tell a quick story.

The guy who owns a lot next to me told me one day that the property line wasn't what we believed it to be and that he "owned" a chunk of my yard. I explained how my yard had been surveyed three times and the line was right and the "engineer" he knew, who told him this, was wrong.

He was adamant about it, so when I got home, I pulled out my survey and did some quick measuring and everything was as it should be. I went to where he lived and showed him the survey and showed him where I measured and told him we could drive over and measure together.

Since his guy, who wasn't a surveyor but according to him knew ten times as much as any surveyor, was infallible, he declined to come look and stood his ground. I essentially said if both our surveys (which his guy said were wrong) were in error, it would most likely end up in a lawsuit between our title insurance companies and they'd most likely settle where the line was currently thought to be and the fence was present and pay him a settlement of some sort. He said he'd rather have the land than any money, and I explained to him that due to my house placement (corner of house right on the line) and where the air conditioning units (on his property) were, they would not pay to have my house torn down and rebuilt to be within the corrected line. He then said he'd allow them to do an exclusion so my house and ac could stay where the were. lol.

I finally said he could pursue it if he wanted. He replied that we both needed to pay for a surveyor to come out and shoot it again. I said if the current line was indeed wrong, I'd pay for half, but if his guy was wrong and the line was where it was, he'd have to pay for it himself.

About a week later, I'm pulling into my driveway after work and sure enough there is the surveyors about to shoot the line and drive in stakes. I watch the fist stake go in halfway to the fence. The second one goes in at the corner of the fence, and the third goes in ten yard further at the edge of the fence. At that point, it was quite obvious the surveys and fence were correct. I truly believe I saw steam coming out of his ears. I'm not one who wants to celebrate in another person's sorrow, but the fact that he had seemed so excited that he might "own" part of my yard allowed me to really enjoy that moment where he threw away probably $300 to $400 getting that survey done.

I couldn't help myself but to go over to him and say, "Well, maybe that engineer friend of yours will go in halves for that survey." He replied something like, "Yeah, I'm not going to let him live this down." I shook his hand, went into my home and giggled just for a moment.

[HouTxn]

Good that both you guys acted like men in the end and went your ways. Did it help you guys become better neighbors?

[crone]

Glad he saw the light.

We bought a house next to a vacant lot. We got a survey. DH is a civil engineer and spent a summer in the Rockies learning how to survey. While putting up a small fence to confine a dog, we put down a railroad tie to keep the dog from digging out. the tie was about a foot inside our property line.

A builder poured a basement on the vacant lot.

The neighborhood Big Daddy thought the basement was too close to our property line and wanted me to pitch a fit with the city. Any fool should know a builder will not be compelled by a city to tear out basement and pour a new one a foot over. We were grateful that we had gone way inside the property line because their solution to placate Big Daddy was to move the line on all lots one foot.

[texas7]

We put up a new fence with neighbors on three sides. Only one paid for his share of the fence. The other two - one didn't have the money and the other already bought pickets for his entire fence and wanted treated and bought cheapest pickets he could have found. We wanted it replaced with cedar. It was either hang around and wait and watch the fence dilapidate or have one cheap looking side or replace at our expense. We replaced and thankfully one neighbor chipped in for his share. The other two, other than being cheap are great neighbors in many other ways that matter so we opted to not create a ruckus over it. The fence needed replacing and they weren't going to do it.

[Tarapin]

And what is the etiquette on "tying" your fence to your neighbor's...for the purposes of keeping your animals in your yard & vise/versa...so there's no gap for our dogs to slip through?

For clarification, we both have wire and/or chain-link fencing.

Sorry to necro this really old thread.