Question about fence issue (silver, loud)

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by ged_782

The OP stated in a previous post that the previous owner of the house installed the retaining wall & fence, so more than likely, it belonged to the OP.

Jointly-owned fences built right on top of the property line will most likely occur in mass-developed subdivisions where builders installed uniform fences at the time of original construction. If the OP had an HOA, the property owner(s) would almost certainly have had to get the HOA's Architectural Review Board to OK the replacement fence.

We don't have a HOA where I live but I think they have to still get a city permit and I am pretty sure they didn't do that.

I did manage to find the original plot survey I got when I bought the home in my files and it appears that the retaining wall falls under my property line BUT I am letting it go based on the great advice I got on here.

I also have the original invoice from when the wall was installed and the previous owner of my home paid for the wall in full, including the original fence on top of it.

Thank you to those that helped me see the bright side of this.

[supfromthesite]

I really don't think there is a bright side to this and I can certainly understand why you are upset. With that said I think putting boards on your side would be cheaper than half of what it would have cost to install the fence no? Is the fence really that bad? Are these neighbors of yours just trashy people in general?

Aside from a few questionable comments it seems like most people itt are on your side. Lawyering up a neighbor for this could lead to a lot more harm than it could bring I think.

[Azure110]

I have made contact with the neighbor and I think we have managed to find middle ground on this issue.

I was pretty upset in the beginning but it helped to wait a few days and also the responses ( most of them ) helped me see this from a different perspective.

[supfromthesite]

Glad you are feeling better about the situation.

[Sogno]

First, if they erected a fence on their property, you have no argument whatsoever. You owe them a thank you.

Now, unless I missed something, you would possibly be correct in that they shouldn't have removed the old fence, IF it was erected on your property. However, if it was a deteriorated old fence *on your property* and encroached within close proximity to their property line, it would have been a hinderance for them to erect *their* fence on their property line adjacent to yours.

If it was erected on their property, or criss crossed your property and their property, they had every right to remove it in order to erect their new fence. If this second scenario is correct, you owe them not only a thank you, but partial reimbursement for the removal of the old fence. Perhaps they didn't like the look of your old fence

Is it within the realm of possibility that your understanding of the property line is inaccurate? I'd bet many people, everywhere, fall into this category. I can't imagine *anyone* going to the expense of erecting a fence or other structure without first conducting a property line assessment.

What I would do: 1. Have a property evaluation done by a reputable surveyor 2. Based on the outcome, have some treats ready and a big smile of gratitude ready to extend to your new neighbor or, 3. a courteous discussion of what you learned from the assessment, and what to do about it to satisfy both parties. Quite obviously, your neighbor is trying to be neighborly. At minimum, return this gratitude.

Good luck.

[Azure110]

Mods: Can we have this thread closed? Issue has been mostly resolved. The end.

[resonator]

My brother-in-law and I rebuilt my fence between my yard and my grumpy neighbor's yard some many years ago.

He sat out on his back porch and glared at us the whole time.

Later I found out I was wrong about the property line and it was his fence. He never complained about our work.

[Azure110]

Must have looked better than the fence I have to look at. They basically built me a new fence on their dime but again they never got in touch with me either before tear down of old fence and new fence install.

My property survey in my files that was done in 2007 shows the retaining wall falls on my property line. I also have invoices showing the previous owner footed the bill for the retaining wall installation, including the new fence line many years ago. The previous homeowner was very OCD about keeping records on the home and she passed them all to me. In the same folder where all the fence and retaining wall records are, there is also communication between her and the neighbor at the time where it was agreed she would pay in full since it was all on her property. I never looked at all those files until now (because of what just happened) because it was like 5 boxes of files. What I should have done is looked at those files and just built the fence years ago knowing what I know now.

But anyways...it is water under the bridge now and this thread should be also. All the lectures from people saying I should be grateful probably never had a neighbor surprise them like mine did. Not all surprises are pleasant and this one is more like bittersweet.

[txtea]

Now to fix the barking dog...

[Azure110]

lol...Honestly the dog stopped barking so much since the new fence went up. My guess is because it can not see me at all in the back yard now.