neighbor's fence blocks acess to my property

[legallyblonde69]

I live in PA. My neighbor with whom we have had many issues has now erected a fence that goes from his garage to ours and blocks acessess both visual and physical to the side of our building. This makes maitenanceof our building from that side impossible. Is this legal? Can it be called a spite fence? What can I do about it?.

 

[nextwife]

Did you put your garage within your lot or against, overlapping the lot line? Are there setback requirements in place that should have, if complied with, set your garage so that there would have been sufficient space between neighbor and your building? Is the neighbor's fence across your land, or your garage across his land?

 

[justalayman]

does he own the property all the way to your garage? If not, he cannot erect a fence on your property without your permission. How much space is between the garages?

 

[legallyblonde69]

I live in a small city. My house and out buildings are over 100 years old. The garage used to be the stable and is built on the property line. There are no setbacks except in the front of the houses. But there might be setbacks from streets. There is a public alleyway in front of the garages which back to our yards. There is about 18 inches between the two garages. His garage was built in the 1950's but he only bought the place four years ago. He uses our property to access the side of the house since his house is built only 8 inches from the property line and we own the property between the houses. We have never restricted his access so not sure whychose to restrict ours.

 

[justalayman]

Depending on all the facts, you may have a prescriptive easement to the land that allows you to maintain your garage. the problem; it can be expensive to enforce.

so, what happens if you block off the access to the side of his house? Sounds like you might have some leverage to force an agreement that would allow mutual access as needed.

 

[legallyblonde69]

How would I go about finding out if there is a perscriptive easement?

 

[nextwife]

Has he actually told you you would not be allowed access to paint, trim, repair gutter or roof? As a dog owner and parent of a kiddo who used to be a toddler, I know I wanted my fenced yard completley closed, with no gaps. Maybe the neighbor simply wants the Fence to not leave a gap?

 

[drewguy]

How would I go about finding out if there is a perscriptive easement?

A prescriptive easement is not in writing -- it is established by long, continuous use. Consult a lawyer.