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I live in the county not in any town or city. I do not have a hoa. A few years ago I came home from a trip and my neighbor had built a fence about 4 inches on my property. Then they planted bushes inside their new fence but still on my property. I mentioned it to the husband about a week after I got home. He just shook his head at me. I then got a new survey with bright lines marking where the line is . Still the fence stood. Then they put up a for sale sign and I contacted the agent and told her the history of the fence. This weekend is the first open house and guess what? The fence still stands. I want my neighbor to move but I don't want my property sold as theirs. Any thoughts?
Get a lawyer and/or contact the city that you suspect your neighbor didn't go through the permitting process to have a fence built as it's on your property. The city can require them to tear their fence down.
Quote:
If you are planning to add a fence to your yard, you must first obtain permits from the City before beginning construction. Once permitted and construction is underway, the project must be inspected by the city.
The city requires permits and inspections to ensure that construction projects comply with building codes. With regard to fences, this ensures safe and quality construction, which in turn protects property values.
IMO, better to resolve the issue and any bad blood with the current owner, than to get off on the wrong foot with a new neighbor.
Lawyer, and get it done before a new buyer owns the place.
I would think a letter of notice to the seller and the listing firm (not just the agent) would suffice to push them to remediate or at least to disclose the title issue. And, an encroachment IS a title issue.
And, to the buyers out there:
This is why you have a survey done on a property every time before you close. Assuming that the survey picks up the encroachment, it will be flagged and you may be able to compel your sellers to remediate the issue instead of making it YOUR issue.
Without a current survey naming you as the recipient, your title insurance policy will include an exception for any issues that would have been revealed by a survey.
I am curious, OP, how a fence encroaching just 4 inches onto your property left room inside for the neighbor to plant bushes on your property?
Well bigboohoo, you missed your window of opportunity 'a few years ago' when the fence was built. However, the fence is now yours. You should tell the listing agent and the homeowner so they can reveal that to any prospective buyer. Let them know if you intend to remove the fence when the house next door sells, but do this to be polite and to avoid inconvenience to the new neighbor.
Hopefully your lot or acreage was large enough that this 4 inches was not a big deal in the enjoyment of your property over the last several years.
Last edited by luv4horses; 08-18-2016 at 06:45 AM..
Your new neighbor might turn out to be someone you really wish you had a fence separating your property lines. Well you got one free, presumably one that is still relatively new and in good shape and won't need any maintenance for along time to come.
If for whatever reason you don't want it, well its yours so get a bobcat or a riding mower or whatever else you like and knock the thing over, onto the offenders property -- the sooner the better. The sellers will have to do something about it before they sell the property.
If you're indifferent to the fence itself, then don't worry about it, the new nextdoor neighbors won't own that extra four inches that has their fence on it.
I assume because of what you said about your husbands reaction (and the fact you've done nothing else about it all this time) that your property is large enough that this isn't a big deal? I personally would have dealt with it immediately and relentlessly and not waited until the property was for sale to try to remedy, and give them 30 days to remove it from my property before I bobcat the part thats on my property into oblivion, and that the offer to remove it free of charge is only good for 30 days (10 grand after that).
I'd be tempted to pull up the fence, dump it near the neighbor's front door with a note "you left this in my front yard".
Wow! Passive aggressive much?
I am with those who said one of the following (up to OP to decide which).
1. Deal with current owners and have them resolve it. They are going away, new neighbors should not be brought into their mess, or
B. Leave it up, enjoy your free fence, and know it's on your property and you can do what you want, when you want (is that true? Is there a statute of limitations, or a "common-law" fence marriage clause?)
It's an encroachment. If someone buys the house and they get a survey done, that encroachment will be noted. So they will know that it's something they may need to deal with. And heck, it may cause a buyer to negotiate for the seller to fix it.
An encroachment agreement is a legal document that addresses encroachments affecting a piece of property. The gist of most of these agreements is along the lines of “each neighbor acknowledges the encroachment; we each agree to let it remain until it needs to be rebuilt or replaced (and then it can’t be rebuilt in the same spot); the encroaching neighbor will maintain the encroachment in reasonable condition; and neither party can acquire any rights by virtue of the encroachment, such as adverse possession.”
If the 4 inches isn't affecting your life at all, that may be the best course of action.
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