Z
zaxxon
Guest
What is the name of your state? Oklahoma
Here's a convoluted one. I don't know what the core issues are or what facts I should care about the most (besides the encroachment itself).
This is a residential property in a large city. Some years ago (date unknown, but guessed to be 20-30 years), the owner did a lot split. There was the piece of property which had the house itself, and then they created a new piece of property with the unimproved land just east of the house. They owned both pieces.
As of 2001, but apparently going back far before that (just by the age of the materials), there is a 4' section of the driveway for the house, part or most of the sidewalk between the house and the empty lot, and 4' or so of shed are over the property line created by the lot split. My stairs going up to a balcony are likely just at the property line. The roof over the balcony (add-on) is probably also right at the property line. Unclear when all of the existing items were added, but they definately have quite a lot of age to them. (Again, guessing, 20-30 years.)
In Nov 2001, they sold the lot to a builder. In Dev 2001, they sold the house to me. The builder wasn't a pleasant fellow but pointed out the lot line issue. Early on in the process, I gave him the option to move the shed if it was a problem, but he never took that option. Later, as things got more nasty, his demands escalated all the way up to giving me 30 days to tear down the balcony (he quickly backed off of that after I asked him to put that in writing).
It seems that there may be something more to this issue, because the city required him to build his house further away than the minimum requirements for a side yard (5' on one side, 10' on the other). There is 11' distance between the sidewalk around my house to their brick wall. Exception: There is a minor section of sidewalk just around the shed that the distance between my sidewalk and their brick wall of their house is 9'. He was not pleased about the house itself was oriented horizontally so it directly affected the size of the house (their garage holds 1 1/2 cars, their master bedroom area is small). The other side of their house has an extreme grade and has 10' of space to the property line. (So really, they were only required to have a 5' space between their house and the property line.) The distance between the my closest structure that is part of the house (stairs and balcony, not shed or sidewalk) is exactly 15' away from their house.
They ended up (illegally) running their business from that location. I tried to get this matter permanently resolved with them a few times, but I mostly got brush-off. At once time he did commit to permanently resolving this with an easement, but I know he is not likely to hold up to a verbal committment, now that the situation has changed. (And I recognized that while he had his business there was THE perfect time to resolve it.)
Now, finally, they sold it to what appears to be a real residential neighbor. They're taking posession of the home next month. They've brought up the issue of the fence. (They also brought up that they're not commercial.) I wasn't home, rather, this was the message relayed to me.
1] So, what are the issues that matter here? Now, I'd like to work out something friendly with my neighbor. Heck, I might even pay them something for a permanent easement. But I'd like to know how weak or strong my position is.
2] When it comes to negotiating a fence, should we deal with a straight line, or something contorted to match the bent nature of the driveway and sidewalk?
3] How do we tell if ownership does not match the property line, and if so, where the actual ownership of one property begins and ends? It is apparent that other factors came into play somehow.
4] Would an actual property line end up being 5' away from the closest part of my house's structure, the side stairs and balcony?
Here's a convoluted one. I don't know what the core issues are or what facts I should care about the most (besides the encroachment itself).
This is a residential property in a large city. Some years ago (date unknown, but guessed to be 20-30 years), the owner did a lot split. There was the piece of property which had the house itself, and then they created a new piece of property with the unimproved land just east of the house. They owned both pieces.
As of 2001, but apparently going back far before that (just by the age of the materials), there is a 4' section of the driveway for the house, part or most of the sidewalk between the house and the empty lot, and 4' or so of shed are over the property line created by the lot split. My stairs going up to a balcony are likely just at the property line. The roof over the balcony (add-on) is probably also right at the property line. Unclear when all of the existing items were added, but they definately have quite a lot of age to them. (Again, guessing, 20-30 years.)
In Nov 2001, they sold the lot to a builder. In Dev 2001, they sold the house to me. The builder wasn't a pleasant fellow but pointed out the lot line issue. Early on in the process, I gave him the option to move the shed if it was a problem, but he never took that option. Later, as things got more nasty, his demands escalated all the way up to giving me 30 days to tear down the balcony (he quickly backed off of that after I asked him to put that in writing).
It seems that there may be something more to this issue, because the city required him to build his house further away than the minimum requirements for a side yard (5' on one side, 10' on the other). There is 11' distance between the sidewalk around my house to their brick wall. Exception: There is a minor section of sidewalk just around the shed that the distance between my sidewalk and their brick wall of their house is 9'. He was not pleased about the house itself was oriented horizontally so it directly affected the size of the house (their garage holds 1 1/2 cars, their master bedroom area is small). The other side of their house has an extreme grade and has 10' of space to the property line. (So really, they were only required to have a 5' space between their house and the property line.) The distance between the my closest structure that is part of the house (stairs and balcony, not shed or sidewalk) is exactly 15' away from their house.
They ended up (illegally) running their business from that location. I tried to get this matter permanently resolved with them a few times, but I mostly got brush-off. At once time he did commit to permanently resolving this with an easement, but I know he is not likely to hold up to a verbal committment, now that the situation has changed. (And I recognized that while he had his business there was THE perfect time to resolve it.)
Now, finally, they sold it to what appears to be a real residential neighbor. They're taking posession of the home next month. They've brought up the issue of the fence. (They also brought up that they're not commercial.) I wasn't home, rather, this was the message relayed to me.
1] So, what are the issues that matter here? Now, I'd like to work out something friendly with my neighbor. Heck, I might even pay them something for a permanent easement. But I'd like to know how weak or strong my position is.
2] When it comes to negotiating a fence, should we deal with a straight line, or something contorted to match the bent nature of the driveway and sidewalk?
3] How do we tell if ownership does not match the property line, and if so, where the actual ownership of one property begins and ends? It is apparent that other factors came into play somehow.
4] Would an actual property line end up being 5' away from the closest part of my house's structure, the side stairs and balcony?
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