gr8smile1966
Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? New York
Hi--I'm a newbie--looking forward to some great advice!! (PLEASE!)
Here's the story:
I've lived here for 7 years. About 6 months ago, my neighboring property was sold. Immediately had trouble with the new neighbor (she had my husband arrested for trespassing-long story). So we decided to put a fence up to preserve our sanity and close her out as much as we can. Had the village code enforcement officer come to our house to inspect a 2 ft high concrete retaining wall that is on her property that is falling over and is severely cracked and crumbling. At the time, he said it was a citable violation, but because it was along the property line, and there were no clear markers as to who's property it was, he couldn't do anything without knowing who to cite. So we paid to have a survey done and survey says that it's neighbor's wall and that it is encroaching onto our property by way of the angle at which it is falling. (the encroachment is noted on the survey). The base of the wall itself is on her property. Well, I recalled the code inspector and now he doesn't seem to want to deal with this issue, advising me to take her to court because the village won't get involved in boundary disputes. As far as I know, there isn't a boundary dispute yet. I simply would like the code enforcement guy to state whether or not there is a safety issue with the condition of the retaining wall. I have made an appointment with an attorney to deal with the encroachment issue, but would like some opinion from the forum as to what my legal rights (or responsibilities) are, whether the village can choose not to act on this question of safety (regardless of whose property it is, determining the safety of the wall is their responsibility, correct?)... it would be my neighbor's responsibility to dispute the survey, right? Bottom line is that I want to put a fence up, but the retaining wall is in the way. (and it gets in progressively worse condition every winter). If I put the fence up out of the way of the retaining wall, am I giving up my rights to my land that would be on her side of the fence? Or have I done that already by not having a survey done when the former owners were there?? What happens if the retaining wall comes down and takes out my fence (or worse, depending on what the retaining wall's structural purpose is, I guess)?? I don't want to piss the code enforcment guy off, but I would like to compel him to do his job and definitively state whether or not the retaining wall is safe or not-- am I out of line here?? We're only talking about inches of my property, but it's my property, and I do feel there is a safety issue to be dealt with..... any opinions/similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!!
Hi--I'm a newbie--looking forward to some great advice!! (PLEASE!)
Here's the story:
I've lived here for 7 years. About 6 months ago, my neighboring property was sold. Immediately had trouble with the new neighbor (she had my husband arrested for trespassing-long story). So we decided to put a fence up to preserve our sanity and close her out as much as we can. Had the village code enforcement officer come to our house to inspect a 2 ft high concrete retaining wall that is on her property that is falling over and is severely cracked and crumbling. At the time, he said it was a citable violation, but because it was along the property line, and there were no clear markers as to who's property it was, he couldn't do anything without knowing who to cite. So we paid to have a survey done and survey says that it's neighbor's wall and that it is encroaching onto our property by way of the angle at which it is falling. (the encroachment is noted on the survey). The base of the wall itself is on her property. Well, I recalled the code inspector and now he doesn't seem to want to deal with this issue, advising me to take her to court because the village won't get involved in boundary disputes. As far as I know, there isn't a boundary dispute yet. I simply would like the code enforcement guy to state whether or not there is a safety issue with the condition of the retaining wall. I have made an appointment with an attorney to deal with the encroachment issue, but would like some opinion from the forum as to what my legal rights (or responsibilities) are, whether the village can choose not to act on this question of safety (regardless of whose property it is, determining the safety of the wall is their responsibility, correct?)... it would be my neighbor's responsibility to dispute the survey, right? Bottom line is that I want to put a fence up, but the retaining wall is in the way. (and it gets in progressively worse condition every winter). If I put the fence up out of the way of the retaining wall, am I giving up my rights to my land that would be on her side of the fence? Or have I done that already by not having a survey done when the former owners were there?? What happens if the retaining wall comes down and takes out my fence (or worse, depending on what the retaining wall's structural purpose is, I guess)?? I don't want to piss the code enforcment guy off, but I would like to compel him to do his job and definitively state whether or not the retaining wall is safe or not-- am I out of line here?? We're only talking about inches of my property, but it's my property, and I do feel there is a safety issue to be dealt with..... any opinions/similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!!