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Who should pay to move the fence?

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Y

yrrehs

Guest
My elderly parents had a chain link fence put up. The company that put up the fence did so according to my parents' deed to the propery. Which states that the property line is 15' from the corner of the house. The neighbor man now says that his surveyor "re"surveyed and that the fence in approx. 4' on his property and the fence should be moved by May 1st. The fence company that put up the fence said that they will gladly remove it for my parents at an astronomical price. I think that the fence company was legally responsible to put the fence in the proper place and since they were wrong according to the neighbor man that they should have to remove or move it at their cost. We live in Ohio. My parents are not rich and cannot afford a big legal battle. Thank you for your help. May God Bless You!
Sherrie
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
Unless your parents directed the fence people to use the deed, the fence people are wrong. A deed should not be used but rather a survey map. If the map is old and outdated, the fence people should demand a current survey map or survey the property themselves prior to installation of the fence.
 

racer72

Senior Member
Your parents can go to their county building department and look at the plot map of their home. It will give all dimensions from each property line. Also, if your parents have been upkeeping the property in question as their own for a certain period (10 years in my state), they may claim adverse possession and the property will become automatically theirs. They would require the services of a lawyer to take advantage of an adverse possession.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Now, for a third, and differing opinion:

Your original post says, "The company that put up the fence did so according to my parents' deed to the propery" (sic).
A couple of questions:
1) Unless your parents live in a rural area, most deeds don't go into the dimensional specifics of the property (they refer to land, blocks and lots of the division). When you said 'deed', did you mean survey???
2) Did they actually have the 'deed' or 'survey' or did your parents tell them what it said?
3) Are you saying that the fence company located the fence 4 feet beyond where they were told (or the survey shows), or that the location that they were given might be 4 feet beyond the property line??

These answers are important in determining whether the fence company has any liability for the fences location.

Additionally, these other concerns:
a) Do you have two conflicting surveys?? If so, that contradiction needs to be resolved before either party can be on factual basis. Are you conceding that the neighbors survey was correct and your parents were wrong??
b) If the fence company located the fence in accordance with the 'deed', or 'survey' or verbal instructions (15' from house) provided to them, they would have no liability for relocation.
c) What does the fence contract say about location liablity? Most of these will have either the fence company liable for survey and location, or the buyer be responsible. You need to see what it says.

In my opinion, there is a lot of missing information that would be needed before anyone can answer your question about liability.
 

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