Shared driveway fence has become a problem.

[lrcalifornia]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

We're having a bit of boundary problems. Recently my neighbors have begun to fight with us over boundary lines. We share a driveway and at the top there are joined sheds with a small strip of wood that marks the direct center of the driveway. Before, this was assumed to be the boundary line, but now the neighbor has built a fence one foot from the wood strip onto our side of the driveway. He has built a wooden 6 foot fence that goes down the entire length of the driveway and is planning to build a small chain link portion to the street. This is a big problem since we now cannot get into our driveway. He has tons of room though, now that he has come over onto our portion.

That's fine though, a fence is nice, and it's free so not really complaining. We thought we'd put some lattice up and do a nice ivy to make our side look nice, but he doesn't like that. He's pushed our lattice off the fence and stapled signs to our side stating, "Please do not hang lean or rest anything on this fence. This is private property." Can he do that?

Here's our main problem. He's building off of a he-said-she-said boundary line using parcel map dimensions. Our property is in a historical district and there has not been a survey done. The land has been moved, added on to, and auctioned off since the survey, so it's moot. It has been described as a "metes and bounds" property. Since the exact boundary line is not known, can I still put my lattice up without getting into trouble?

How about the car situation? I can no longer get my car into my driveway, I'd park on the street but my neighbor has so many cars his cars plus the other neighbor's cars leave me no spots.

 

[154NH773]

Get a survey. A surveyor should be able to interpret the various deed descriptions and other historical documents well enough to determine where the line goes. If not, then you may have a more difficult legal problem and I'd advise talking to a lawyer. I would not let it stand as it is. There is the possibility that your property could be permanently affected if you do nothing. The loss of vehicle access to your yard, can negatively affect your property value.
A lawyer can tell you how to proceed if you dispute his location of the line.

 

[justalayman]

. Our property is in a historical district and there has not been a survey done.

and there is a fix for that

Since the exact boundary line is not known, can I still put my lattice up without getting into trouble?

the first step is to find out where the exact boundary line is first. Then you can figure out whose fence is in the wrong place and consider what actions are available to you.

 

[lrcalifornia]

Get a survey.

I had a feeling I would have to get a survey. Only problem is, I've already talked to a surveyor and they said we would have to have the entire block to be surveyed to find the exact lines due to how much the land was once altered.

Thank you for the advice.