a fence overlapping on my property

a neighbor built a fence last year and it is about five feet into my property. if i dont say anything, will that part of my property become his if i dont do anything about it? how much time do i have before it legally becomes his? thanks in advance for any suggestions or assistance!

Yeah, if you just ignore it you have agreed to it de facto. Five feet is an awful lot, how come it's off by so much? Guess no surveyors were involved.

Talk to a Real Estate attorney. In Texas it would be as simple as writing him a letter stating that you are aware of the encroachment but are not asking him to move the fence at this time. That would take it out of the "Adverse Possession" criteria.

If you want him to move the fence, that's a whole different matter.

if you can prove it's your property with a registered filed w/ the county etc. surveyed map, then just send him a receipt requested registered (throw a notary in there too why not) letter informing him that he has placed a fence on your property and that if it isn't removed in so many days, then; thanks for the fence...

Call your title insurance company! That's what you bought it for.

Assuming the fence was placed after you acquired the property, title insurance wouldn't be involved. It would only be considered if the fence existed prior to your acquision and was not noted on the transaction survey. If it did exist and was noted on the survey, the policy would probably specifically exclude it.

Again, all states' laws are different and all situations are different. Money spent with an attorney now will probably preclude a lot of hassle later.

Remember -- internet advice, including mine, is worth what you pay for it.

BTW I'm a licensed Real Estate Broker.

senecaripple said:

a neighbor built a fence last year and it is about five feet into my property. if i dont say anything, will that part of my property become his if i dont do anything about it? how much time do i have before it legally becomes his? thanks in advance for any suggestions or assistance!

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Check your local laws as it varies. Some areas it's ten years but if you don't take appropriate legal action one day you will in fact find that you are five feet poorer.

Think of all that property tax you are paying and someone else has encroached on it!:thumbsdow

Is there a surveyor in the house?:naughty:

At our old house, our next door neighbor had a double lot that adjoined the property of her other neighbor. The junk he had in his yard had, over the years, crept over the property line by a few feet.

She ended up having a fence put up. She had it surveyed to the inch. What was odd was that there was a large tree that had been planted *right* on the property line so the chain link fence actually wrapped around one side of the tree.

In our new house, our neighbor on one side has a privacy fence. I don't know what the zoning was on it, but it's rather clear to me that it's set back a good 6 inches from the property line. That's great cause I get the privacy plus I get an additional 6 inches of yard. Some communities have a setback requirement. If yours does, he will have to move it more than 5 feet.

Not sure what survey fees you will have to pay, but unless your lot is so big you wouldn't notice it, 5 feet is a lot and it'll cost you more in property value in the long run if you do nothing.

Have a qualified and recommended surveyer mark your property lines and when he confirms the encroachment take the neighbor to small claims court to remove the fence and to pay the property taxes on the purloined parcel of property for the affected time period. This is assuming you have no plans to ever talk to that neighbor again.

What caused your neighbour to deviate way over into your lot ? A few inches maybe, but 5 feet !!! You should have noticed the day they were putting up the fence. From personal experience, get the lot surveyed ! We had ours done, and sure enough, the property line was right smack in the middle of the hedges...out came the chainsaw...anything that leaned into our side, buuuzzzzzzz. It took the crew a day and a half to mark our 50x120ft lot, they had to take elevation readings from other parts of the neighbourhood. The stakes are still in the ground and cannot be removed by anyone, even though we fully paid for the survey. If you are feuding with this neighbour over this fence, do not take the law into your own hands !!! I've heard calls on my scanner about neighbour disputes and the police are very, very quick to respond as these types of incidents can quickly escalate.

This is a very interesting thread, keep us "post"ed !!! Are you able to show us some pics of the fence/property line ? If you prefer not to share, you should be taking some pics for any legal action you may decide to take.

Speaking of fences my neighbor just installed a new chain link fence around his property, presumably to keep dogs from cra@@ing on his lawn. It is on the corner, so is visible to everyone. I hate it - it is so ugly. I wish there was some kind of code. Anyone know of any good chain link vandalism sites?

Good fences make good neighbors but make sure it's on the property you own.


Damn it, Jim. I'm a Doctor not a fence installer.

greenlight said:

Speaking of fences my neighbor just installed a new chain link fence around his property, presumably to keep dogs from cra@@ing on his lawn. It is on the corner, so is visible to everyone. I hate it - it is so ugly. I wish there was some kind of code. Anyone know of any good chain link vandalism sites?

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CAUTION PLEASE !!! Any suggestion of vandalism or breaking the law can cause this thread to be closed. I'd like to keep up with this thread, based on some personal experience.

What did your neighbor say when you talked to them about this?

I would think that is the first place to start and base your actions on their response.

Don't make more out of it yet than it needs to be. It may have been an honest mistake that they're willing to rectify.

Questions about legal issues or requests for legal advice are generally best addressed to legal professionals who are local to your jurisdiction. The responses/advice that one generally gets on any forum is usually worth every cent that you paid for it.

If you can't afford an attorney, check with your state Bar for lower cost consultations, or local agencies for assistance that might be available there, in addition to para-legal services that may be available to assist you with any pro per filings that you may choose to initiate. This is, of course presuming that you have talked with the neighbor and that the infringement is intentional rather than a misunderstanding.

senecaripple said:

a neighbor built a fence last year and it is about five feet into my property. if i dont say anything, will that part of my property become his if i dont do anything about it? how much time do i have before it legally becomes his? thanks in advance for any suggestions or assistance!

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the neighbor put up the fence last summer. my mom lives there. i come home once a week to mow the lawn. i noticed it when i came home. my mother only mentioned it to the contractor. he said that was the only place he could put it evenly. my mother left it at that. she does not want to make any trouble with the neighbor! i have the deed and the title. it's in my name. i bought it from my mother. but i dont live there. i intend to have my friend measure the plot of land i own and go from there. my main concern is the time. if i let it go too long i'm afraid i will in effect allow this piece of property to become his. incidentally the house is in westchester county, ny. suburb of nyc. i'll take some pix, but i dont know how to upload them.
we've been living here for almost 50 yrs. they just moved here abiut five years ago. the placement of the fence was no honest mistake. we have no problem with this neighbor. my mom would rateher let it go. her reasoning is less grass to cut. but damn if i'm going to pay for the property tax for my land that he just absconded! thanks for the advice. i will be discussing this with a lawyer soon, after i get the exact measurements from the deed! my friend said he'll talk to them.