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I am a new home owner here. So I decided to put up fence on two sides of my property. On one of the sides, my neighbor has their fence which was falling apart. I let them know I plan on putting up a fence right next to theirs. Also asked them what did they want to do with their old fence that was breaking apart. I offered to have it repaired so it doesn’t fall on my new fence or have it removed and taken away by my contractor if they so wish. I offered to cover the expense. They gladly agreed and said I can do whatever I think is good. I am on good terms with my neighbor. So I had the contractors put up the fence right next to theirs and remove their fence. The other side of the lot to be fenced in had yet to be done. I received a violation letter from the village that I need a permit. We stopped putting up fence on the other side of our lot. Village folks said I needed a permit along with a new survey because I have already installed fence on one side. I had the survey done. New survey showed half of the new fence (other half is within my property) that I just installed is six inches into my neighbor’s property. I have yet to file for permit. Not sure what should I do at this point? My neighbor is okay with the new fence. If I am to remove the newly installed fence, it will cost me $$$. I will have to have surveyor stake out the property, get the fence moved within my property and then have another survey done to show the new location of the fence. All of this is causing extra expense for me. I am wondering what are my options? I certainly have no intention to take my neighbor’s property via adverse possession. Is six inches negligible? I heard upto one foot is tolerable. Survey also showed one of my other neighbors has some of his fence two inches into my property.
Can I just file the permit with the new survey and hope village approves it? Would appreciate any advice. Thanks
The village will not grant you a permit for construction on another parcel of land that you don't own.
Spend the money now to move the fence. It will save you in the long run when you have to move it anyway or get into a legal dispute when that neighbor moves, you sell, or you have a falling out for some other reason.
The only other alternative is to convince the neighbor to file for a separate permit for the fencing that lies on his property, but he will probably not want the headache that entails, even if you're paying.
I am a new home owner here. So I decided to put up fence on two sides of my property. On one of the sides, my neighbor has their fence which was falling apart. I let them know I plan on putting up a fence right next to theirs. Also asked them what did they want to do with their old fence that was breaking apart. I offered to have it repaired so it doesn’t fall on my new fence or have it removed and taken away by my contractor if they so wish. I offered to cover the expense. They gladly agreed and said I can do whatever I think is good. I am on good terms with my neighbor. So I had the contractors put up the fence right next to theirs and remove their fence. The other side of the lot to be fenced in had yet to be done. I received a violation letter from the village that I need a permit. We stopped putting up fence on the other side of our lot. Village folks said I needed a permit along with a new survey because I have already installed fence on one side. I had the survey done. New survey showed half of the new fence (other half is within my property) that I just installed is six inches into my neighbor’s property. I have yet to file for permit. Not sure what should I do at this point? My neighbor is okay with the new fence. If I am to remove the newly installed fence, it will cost me $$$. I will have to have surveyor stake out the property, get the fence moved within my property and then have another survey done to show the new location of the fence. All of this is causing extra expense for me. I am wondering what are my options? I certainly have no intention to take my neighbor’s property via adverse possession. Is six inches negligible? I heard upto one foot is tolerable. Survey also showed one of my other neighbors has some of his fence two inches into my property.
Can I just file the permit with the new survey and hope village approves it? Would appreciate any advice. Thanks
A few missed points. In reality it is not an extra expense. It should have been done prior to your placing the fence.It sounds like you did not use a fence contractor (a handyman perhaps?), or your contractor did not do his due diligence and ask to see a survey prior to placing the fence. A fence contractor would know all about the permitting process and the need to use a survey. You have little choice, but to remove the fence. Now the choice you have will be if you are putting a fence up at all or not due to the added expense of correcting what you did incorrectly.
If the day comes that either you or your neighbor were to try to sell the property, it would hold up a sale and you would be doing it then. That however is a moot point because your village has already issued a violation to you. So either, remove the fence and get a new survey and apply for a permit as you should have done or skip the fence all together.
Not helpful, nothing you can do but pay up. Your mistake was buying in a village, just another layer of gov that you get the privilege of paying for nothing in return. Unless its a exclusive are with homes starting over 2m with private police waste of $$. On the Brightside your neighbors are being cool about, you will prob need a lawyer to resolve this.
Thanks everyone for your valuable input. I agree I should have gotten a permit first. I just didn't think about it. That would have been the easiest and less painful way to go. I definitely dont want any issues in future stemming from it. I just didn't think 6 inches will be a big deal. My neighbor definitely do not mind...but I understand a future neighbor may not be the same and the issue will come up if they sell. I did read it somewhere that upto 1 foot is tolerated typically.
Lots of people comment but does anyone have direct experience?
We didn't get a permit for our fence change. We replaced existing at the same place it was before and didn't get involved with this issue, thankfully it wasn't an issue.
What I would do, call the village, explain your situation. explain that your neighbor that you butted this up to and you are in agreement to keep the fence where it is, and ask what you need for the village permit on that. ie: can they be added to the permit for that fence line or will that cause more issues. Is there a standard affidavit to sign?
Worst case the fence become his. Not sure what the big deal is. Unless you start building shed on his 6 inches of property it should be fine.
I had 8 trees planted on my neighbors property because I didn’t want to break up my drive way. She was totally fine with it. Now there is a nice dividing wall of greens between us. I care for them, paid for them and all.
The problem here is that the village has already issued a violation notice. Once they get involved it is difficult to get them to back down, in most cases. At best it will become and adverse possession case, but that would hold up any potential sale unless it were previously legally documented and you were now paying the taxes on the tiny piece of your neighbors land.
It happened to my old neighbor in TNH and he was an attorney. His, non attached garage had a fence behind it on "his property" - maybe 4 feet behind the garage. Turned out that his property line cut in starting a few feet into where the garage was. Turns out the neighbor did not know and had placed the fence on what appeared to be a straight line to the next property. My friends garage was the proper side set back but the fence was encroaching on his property. It held up the sale til the adverse possession could be worked out and plot redrawn.
Last edited by nuts2uiam; 04-06-2022 at 07:10 AM..
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