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Fence dispute in Massachusetts

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amee200

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Massachusetts

My husband and I put a fence up on our property which encloses our back yard two years after we purchased our house (we have been in it for 4 years now). My husband went to both neighbors on either side to discuss the boundary. One neighbor was fine and we agreed on a boundary. The other was not happy with the idea of a fence and refused to discuss the issue further. Using the plot plan we were provided with when we purchased the house as well as documents from the permit the previous owners used to build an addition, we erected the fence.

After the fence was built, the unhappy neighbor spoke to my husband and told him she did not like the location of the fence. My husband said that if she surveys the land and we are in error, that we would move the fence. Our neighbor said that she didn't know what she wanted to do and never mentioned the fence or property line again.

It is now a year and a half later and we are selling the house. This neighbor came to an open house to tell our real estate agent that we put the fence on her property. Our agent responded by saying, as we did the previous year, that she can do a survey and we would of course move the fence if it is on her property. This neighbor has yet to contact us personally on this matter and has yet to survey the property.

My concern is the effect this will have on the sale of our house. My husband and I have never fought moving the fence at all- if she wants it moved we will. I actually suspect that the neighbor doesn't want it moved but wants it removed and is trying to intimidate us. Who has more rights regarding this? Can she do anything if she hasn't surveyed the property? She has never come to us with any documentation regarding the property line at all. Can she force us to tear down the fence? Thank you for any help.What is the name of your state?
 


What is the name of your state? Massachusetts

My husband and I put a fence up on our property which encloses our back yard two years after we purchased our house (we have been in it for 4 years now). My husband went to both neighbors on either side to discuss the boundary. One neighbor was fine and we agreed on a boundary. The other was not happy with the idea of a fence and refused to discuss the issue further. Using the plot plan we were provided with when we purchased the house as well as documents from the permit the previous owners used to build an addition, we erected the fence.

After the fence was built, the unhappy neighbor spoke to my husband and told him she did not like the location of the fence. My husband said that if she surveys the land and we are in error, that we would move the fence. Our neighbor said that she didn't know what she wanted to do and never mentioned the fence or property line again.

It is now a year and a half later and we are selling the house. This neighbor came to an open house to tell our real estate agent that we put the fence on her property. Our agent responded by saying, as we did the previous year, that she can do a survey and we would of course move the fence if it is on her property. This neighbor has yet to contact us personally on this matter and has yet to survey the property.

My concern is the effect this will have on the sale of our house. My husband and I have never fought moving the fence at all- if she wants it moved we will. I actually suspect that the neighbor doesn't want it moved but wants it removed and is trying to intimidate us. Who has more rights regarding this? Can she do anything if she hasn't surveyed the property? She has never come to us with any documentation regarding the property line at all. Can she force us to tear down the fence? Thank you for any help.What is the name of your state?
If she proves the fence is on her property, she can legally make you move it.
When we had a fence put up, we had the land surveyed first to prevent any future problems. Someone else on these forums may be able to give you more advice, or information.
 

amee200

Junior Member
I know looking back we should have surveyed the property. I am aware she can make us move it if she can prove it. However, she seems reluctant to take steps to prove it herself, and I wonder if she has any say at all until this is done. She has yet to give us any indication at all where she thinks the property line is, and we have tried to talk to her more than once to clear this up. We were told by a survey company we contacted that the person with the dispute is the one who is responsible to make arrangements for a survey. If we do one, and it ends in our favor, our neighbor could dispute that saying that it was biased.
 
I know looking back we should have surveyed the property. I am aware she can make us move it if she can prove it. However, she seems reluctant to take steps to prove it herself, and I wonder if she has any say at all until this is done. She has yet to give us any indication at all where she thinks the property line is, and we have tried to talk to her more than once to clear this up. We were told by a survey company we contacted that the person with the dispute is the one who is responsible to make arrangements for a survey. If we do one, and it ends in our favor, our neighbor could dispute that saying that it was biased.
If she continues this dispute with the new owner's, and a survey is done, and it's determined the fence is on her property, they still may make you pay for the costs of removing the fence. This is why it's best to have the property surveyed before placing the fence.
I had always thought that when selling property, that the buyers loan company would automatically have a survey done, but when I sold my home I found this is not always the case here in Missouri. The laws my be different in your state.You may want to ask your realistate agent about this, or perhaps someone else on this forum can answer this.
When I decided to have a privacy fence put up,we called the surveyer out. One of the stakes was still in the ground at one end of our property, but the other was gone. Rather then having to pay for a survey, and since one stake was in the ground,the serveyer suggested we place our fence a few feet within our property. We felt doing this way would keep our neighbor from adding a fence to it to fence in his yard. It wasn't to be mean, but our neighbor was a very controlling person, so we didn't want him to be able to use our fence for anything.We removed our fence before selling our home.
 

amee200

Junior Member
You do not have to have a survey done to buy a house in MAssachusetts, but many people do. You do need to have a survey done to build an addition that requires a permit, but not a fence. It probably would be easier for us to just remove the fence but our agent insists we should not do it.
 

Orcons

Member
As a previous poster said, until she has a survey done and can show that the fence is on her land you don't have to do anything.

I would be more concerned about your duty to disclose. If the neighbor is claiming that the fence is on her land that would seem to be something that could materially impact the value of your property, either by giving you less land than you appear to have or by leaving a buyer open to the costs of moving the fence. You should ask your agent why, since you both know of the neighbors contention, you do not have a duty to disclose this to potential buyers. If you do have a duty to disclose you will probably find the cost of the survey to be money well spent as disclosing this info can't make it easier to sell the house.
 
Here's a novel idea....get your own survey!

Dispute settled!

If you think for one minute that if this goes to court that a judge will not expect that you have proof (A survey) that you had cause to erect that fence where you did...then you are mad.

I guess the whole 'CYA' thing is a thing of the past?
 

amee200

Junior Member
My agent doesn't feel the need to disclose probably because it is establilshed that we will assume the cost of moving the fence whether it needs to be moved before or after the house is sold. In all honesty, we have not ordered a survey ourselves because the cost is too much for us right now. And even though a judge in land court would require us to have proof as to why we chose to erect the fence where we did, our neighbor needs to provide proof as well. And she has told us that she does not know where the property line is. But I guess the easiest solution is to survey the land ourselves.
 

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