Fence Dispute

[Rangzen]

OREGON

Our neighbor "A' had built the fence which is enchraoching about 3 and half feet on our property. I have enough evidence to prove that his fence is on my property. I found a boundary stake on the other side of our property between our property and another neighbor (Neighbor 'B') and when I measured our property from that boundary stake till the fence that neighbor 'A' had built, I am missing a little over 3 and half feet of our property width wise. I asked him several times over the years to move his fence and he had told me that he would but never actually did. I don't want to lose my property because of adverse possesion, so I need to get this resolved soon. I tried the Metro Mediation but in vain. He is not responding to their call.

It is a new sub-division and most of the houses were built in 2001 - 2002. What can I do within the Law to have this neighbor relocate his fence? I have downloaded survey plat of our sub-division from the county website which shows exact measurements of where the boundary lines are. He is aware of the enchroachment and I have confronted him several times and everytime he tells me that he would move his fence but has never moved it and it seems like his intention is not to move it. It is getting really frustrating. I need to know how I can make him relocate his fence within the LAW. Please help!

What are my options? Please advise on how I can deal with this situation.

PLEASE HELP!

Thank you.

 

[HomeGuru]

OREGON

Our neighbor "A' had built the fence which is enchraoching about 3 and half feet on our property. I have enough evidence to prove that his fence is on my property. I found a boundary stake on the other side of our property between our property and another neighbor (Neighbor 'B') and when I measured our property from that boundary stake till the fence that neighbor 'A' had built, I am missing a little over 3 and half feet of our property width wise. I asked him several times over the years to move his fence and he had told me that he would but never actually did. I don't want to lose my property because of adverse possesion, so I need to get this resolved soon. I tried the Metro Mediation but in vain. He is not responding to their call.

It is a new sub-division and most of the houses were built in 2001 - 2002. What can I do within the Law to have this neighbor relocate his fence? I have downloaded survey plat of our sub-division from the county website which shows exact measurements of where the boundary lines are. He is aware of the enchroachment and I have confronted him several times and everytime he tells me that he would move his fence but has never moved it and it seems like his intention is not to move it. It is getting really frustrating. I need to know how I can make him relocate his fence within the LAW. Please help!

What are my options? Please advise on how I can deal with this situation.

PLEASE HELP!

Thank you.

**A: now you need an attorney to send a demand letter to relocate the fence off of your property. If neighbor refuses then sue and force the issue.

 

[Rangzen]

Can I send him a letter instead?

**A: now you need an attorney to send a demand letter to relocate the fence off of your property. If neighbor refuses then sue and force the issue.

Do I need an attorney to send him a demand letter to relocate the fence off of my property? Or can I send him a letter myself? I have not sent him any letter yet. It had always been verbal confrontations. It seems like I am not getting anywhere. I don't want to spend money in attorney fees...but if comes down to this and I end up suing him, is it possible to claim the cost of legal action and attorney fees from him if I win?

 

[jimmler]

Do I need an attorney to send him a demand letter to relocate the fence off of my property? Or can I send him a letter myself? I have not sent him any letter yet. It had always been verbal confrontations. It seems like I am not getting anywhere. I don't want to spend money in attorney fees...but if comes down to this and I end up suing him, is it possible to claim the cost of legal action and attorney fees from him if I win?

You need a current boundary survey performed by a licensed surveyor in your state before you do anything. You can make assumptions about where you think the property line is, but that will not hold up in court. Make sure you ask the surveyor if they have experience with court cases, so that if you go to court you can hire them as an expert witness.

jimmler
I am not a lawyer, I have been in surveying since 1989.

 

[Rangzen]

I found a survey for the sub-division

There is already a survey plat recorded with the county. I had downloaded the survey plat of the sub-division. It is a new sub-division. The documents show that the land was surveyed and recorded with the county in 2003. It has the county surveyor's signature and other departments and personel's signatures and stamps on it.

Since it is a new sub-division, there are center line stakes are still in the road and from the measurements I got from the survey plat I tried to find any boundary marker with a help of a metal detector. To my luck, I have found one of the boundary marker (iron rod with a yellow platic cap) on the back of my property between another neighbor and my property where we currently don't have a fence.

Do I still need to get a survey done even though the survey plat in the county record shows recent dates? Wouldn't that hold in court as evedence?

Please respond.

 

[jimmler]

There is already a survey plat recorded with the county. I had downloaded the survey plat of the sub-division. It is a new sub-division. The documents show that the land was surveyed and recorded with the county in 2003. It has the county surveyor's signature and other departments and personel's signatures and stamps on it.

Since it is a new sub-division, there are center line stakes are still in the road and from the measurements I got from the survey plat I tried to find any boundary marker with a help of a metal detector. To my luck, I have found one of the boundary marker (iron rod with a yellow platic cap) on the back of my property between another neighbor and my property where we currently don't have a fence.

Do I still need to get a survey done even though the survey plat in the county record shows recent dates? Wouldn't that hold in court as evedence?

Please respond.

You still need a current survey of your lot with all markers set and a drawing showing the boundary location in relation to the fence to take to court. Ask the surveyor to locate the fence to show on a drawing. Contact the surveyor that did the record plat, they have already done the research and will probably be able to do the survey for less than another surveyor.

Good luck!

 

[Rangzen]

This is not what I wanted... but....

Thank you for your advice, jimmler. I really appreciate it. This is something that I don't want and I wish my neighbor was more understanding and move his fence. I am not asking any of his property. I am just asking for what is rightfully mine. It is really frustrating and unfortunate. I want us to be good neighbors like we use to. Only after last year when I contacted the City about the problem, he had stopped talking to me. I haven't spoken to him since.

I found the boundary marker a couple of days ago but I haven't told him that yet. Do you think I should tell him that I had found one of the boundary markers so that we could measure my property and decide where the fence should be relocated?

Anyway, Thank you for your help.

 

[HuAi]

I am not suggesting you do this - but am curious if anyone would know the legality of the following action:

Send neighbor a letter to remove the encroaching fence within 10 days or you will take the fence down on your own and send him the bill.

Take down the fence on your own, if the cost is substantial you may have to go the survey / lawsuit route to recover damages. However if you do the work yourself, cost should be minimal.

 

[Rangzen]

I wish someone could give some legal advice

I am not suggesting you do this - but am curious if anyone would know the legality of the following action:

Send neighbor a letter to remove the encroaching fence within 10 days or you will take the fence down on your own and send him the bill.

Take down the fence on your own, if the cost is substantial you may have to go the survey / lawsuit route to recover damages. However if you do the work yourself, cost should be minimal.

Thank you for your response...HuAi,

I am thinking of doing that, however, I am a little hesitant about taking my neighbor's fence down (even though I am confident that his fence on my property) because I don't want to do something against the LAW and have to pay the consequences of taking his fence down later. I don't know how the court would base their decision on when it comes to a situation like this (if I would take his fence down). I know that I would win the case regarding where the property line is because I did my homework and measurements.

I wish there was someone out there who could give some more legal advice on how I should approach this. I don't want to end up paying for damages caused by me to his fence and plants by removing them from my property.

If there is anyone who could give some legal advice, I would really appreciate it or someone who had similar situation and dealt with.

Thank you.

 

[rowz]

ou have been given a full measure of advise from a couple of well respected posters.

You wish you did not have to do......but you do.

Either send the letter suggested and then remove it yourself or get a lawyer to do it & pay to have it removed.

Getting a survey now will save time when the lawyer you speak with tells you to get a new one.