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Whose Fence is it??

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congodog

Junior Member
CA.:rolleyes:
I have a ranch style home on about .36 Acres and have lived here since 2005. The development was done in the late 1960s and the homes were individually designed and built. At some point in the intervening years my neighbor put up a fence between the two homes at the side yard. As there is 18 feet between the two garages, I assume the setback requirement at the time was 9 feet. It is 10' today. The wooden fence was poorly made and as such it is leaning toward my garage, 6 inches out of plumb in my direction. A simple measurement shows the base of the fence is 8.5 feet from my building line.
So it seems whomever built it grabbed a few inches at that time. To make certain, I hired a licensed surveyor to establish the line at my cost ($1600).
The neighbor refused to let them on his property to do the survey, which set ominous tone. The result was the fence is fully on my property with a few inches of my land on his side. I want to replace it and build a proper fence on the property line. I am planning a small storage shed adjacent to the fence and every inch is important. Under the current conditions (encroahment and leaning fence) I am losing a full 12" of space.
How to proceed and what are my rights? The neighbor is a bit of a kook and a retired lawyer. On the up side, my wife is a Superior Court Judge so that aspect should be at least a wash!
Thanks in front!
Congodog :confused:
 


Antigone*

Senior Member
CA.:rolleyes:
I have a ranch style home on about .36 Acres and have lived here since 2005. The development was done in the late 1960s and the homes were individually designed and built. At some point in the intervening years my neighbor put up a fence between the two homes at the side yard. As there is 18 feet between the two garages, I assume the setback requirement at the time was 9 feet. It is 10' today. The wooden fence was poorly made and as such it is leaning toward my garage, 6 inches out of plumb in my direction. A simple measurement shows the base of the fence is 8.5 feet from my building line.
So it seems whomever built it grabbed a few inches at that time. To make certain, I hired a licensed surveyor to establish the line at my cost ($1600).
The neighbor refused to let them on his property to do the survey, which set ominous tone. The result was the fence is fully on my property with a few inches of my land on his side. I want to replace it and build a proper fence on the property line. I am planning a small storage shed adjacent to the fence and every inch is important. Under the current conditions (encroahment and leaning fence) I am losing a full 12" of space.
How to proceed and what are my rights? The neighbor is a bit of a kook and a retired lawyer. On the up side, my wife is a Superior Court Judge so that aspect should be at least a wash!
Thanks in front!
Congodog :confused:
Your wife is an attorney, but you need to come here to ask your questions?
 

csi7

Senior Member
I believe the poster is looking for alternatives prior to court case.
You can send the neighbor a certified return receipt letter stating that the fence needs to be removed off your property and put within his property. Take pictures, with date and time.
Then after the time limit, if the fence is not removed, put the replacement fence up where it should be.
 

congodog

Junior Member
Fence problem

I believe the poster is looking for alternatives prior to court case.
You can send the neighbor a certified return receipt letter stating that the fence needs to be removed off your property and put within his property. Take pictures, with date and time.
Then after the time limit, if the fence is not removed, put the replacement fence up where it should be.
Thanks CSI7. And thanks for understanding that a sitting judge is not allowed to give legal advice. A strange rule but a rule nonetheless. And the fact that her lawyer career was in the Criminal field would leave her in the dark, as well.
Your solution will follow a carefully worded personal appeal (with another uninvolved neighbor as witness) to the involved neighbor. What likely will happen is that he will be the absolute picture of cooperation, then somewhere down the line his evil twin personality will engage and come out shooting.

As for ΣΒΔ, he's (or she's) not exactly ΦΒΚ when it comes to critical thinking and civility. (S)He's to be found all over the various legal (sic) advise websites spreading vitriol. There's one in every crowd.
 

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