spongerrich
New Member
Sorry for the long post, just want to get it off my chest...
I am a young, new homeowner, and would like some legal advice on what I should do... I have 2 German Shepherds that got out through the common, shared fence and into the neighbors' yard, and out down the side of his house and into the street... The dogs were found safe almost 2 miles away near a busy intersection. Me and my fiance were completely freaked out, so we took a close look at how and why they got out. Our house was built in 1988 and has the original, 5 ft dog ear cedar fence sitting on the property line between our two homes that also share that common wall. A lot of the boards are very loose and even with new nails driven into them, a lot of the horizontal beams are rotted out. Also the posts were set in cement orignally, but are now pretty loose and the wood was not pressure treated, so after 15 years they are pretty rotten too. I approached my neighbor about getting the fence replaced, who is elderly and retired, but still active enough to work on his cars all day, and take care of his wife (who is in not as good shape as he is). But he kept telling me that its not a good time, because his wifes not in good shape, it justs needs a little fixing etc... This was 6 months ago. Meanwhile we dont leave our dogs outside while we are at work, and my fiance drives home on her lunchbreak to let them go out in the yard.
Finally I confronted my neighbor and told him that I had gotten a couple of different quotes on a fence, and that I wanted to move forward on a new fence. Would he be willing to pay 1/2 the bill (approx $1000 each)? I put in a written contract that I would pay the total bill upfront, and he could pay me in as many installments as he wants, and take as long as he wants at 0% interest, unless he sold his house in which case the bill would be due in full (not a problem since he has made $220K on his property) I thought that this was as easy as I could make it...he still didn't want to do it or sign my contract, saying its not a good time, his wifes in bad shape, doesnt like the fence design or contractor I picked, didn't want to agree to anything in writing etc. I told him fine, that a fence guy would be installing the fence anyway, on MY side of the property line.
I went ahead and put the new fence in, leaving the old dilapidated one in place. Its as close as they can get to the old one, I lost about 6"x 90' of property, which I am bummed about, but now I have a beautiful 6ft cap and trim fence with steel posts set in cement, I can't see the old fence (except through the gaps in the wood) and my neighbor can't bitch about it. Total bill was $2100.
So yesterday I came home to find that my neighbor had REMOVED the old fence without my permission, and will now be using the 6" or so of my "lost" property and the backside of my fence.
I feel cheated that now my neighbor has a nice new fence, is using some of MY property and hasn't paid a PENNY!
What are my legal rights? I live in CA. I had heard that some states have a penalties for refusing to chip in for common fence maintenance costs (Conneticut). Does that apply to CA? Can I sue him for 1/2 of the costs of the fence, even if he didn't agree to having a new one built in the first place. Surely his removal of the old fence is acceptance that the new fence is better and was needed. Can I tell him that he had no right to remove the old fence (even though I couldn't see it anymore) and have him put up the old fence (or similar) back in its place. Can I paint the side of my fence on his yard bright pink just to spite him, and he can't do anything about it? Can I remove my fence and charge him to have it placed correctly on the property line?
What should I do? My parents have told me that I'm just going to have to accept that he got a free fence and even if I go thru a nasty small claims battle and win (probably have a hard time collecting anyway) I've still got to live next to the guy... so should I keep quiet and just make snide remarks about how nice MY new fence is, or should I drag it to court?? PLEASE HELP!
I am a young, new homeowner, and would like some legal advice on what I should do... I have 2 German Shepherds that got out through the common, shared fence and into the neighbors' yard, and out down the side of his house and into the street... The dogs were found safe almost 2 miles away near a busy intersection. Me and my fiance were completely freaked out, so we took a close look at how and why they got out. Our house was built in 1988 and has the original, 5 ft dog ear cedar fence sitting on the property line between our two homes that also share that common wall. A lot of the boards are very loose and even with new nails driven into them, a lot of the horizontal beams are rotted out. Also the posts were set in cement orignally, but are now pretty loose and the wood was not pressure treated, so after 15 years they are pretty rotten too. I approached my neighbor about getting the fence replaced, who is elderly and retired, but still active enough to work on his cars all day, and take care of his wife (who is in not as good shape as he is). But he kept telling me that its not a good time, because his wifes not in good shape, it justs needs a little fixing etc... This was 6 months ago. Meanwhile we dont leave our dogs outside while we are at work, and my fiance drives home on her lunchbreak to let them go out in the yard.
Finally I confronted my neighbor and told him that I had gotten a couple of different quotes on a fence, and that I wanted to move forward on a new fence. Would he be willing to pay 1/2 the bill (approx $1000 each)? I put in a written contract that I would pay the total bill upfront, and he could pay me in as many installments as he wants, and take as long as he wants at 0% interest, unless he sold his house in which case the bill would be due in full (not a problem since he has made $220K on his property) I thought that this was as easy as I could make it...he still didn't want to do it or sign my contract, saying its not a good time, his wifes in bad shape, doesnt like the fence design or contractor I picked, didn't want to agree to anything in writing etc. I told him fine, that a fence guy would be installing the fence anyway, on MY side of the property line.
I went ahead and put the new fence in, leaving the old dilapidated one in place. Its as close as they can get to the old one, I lost about 6"x 90' of property, which I am bummed about, but now I have a beautiful 6ft cap and trim fence with steel posts set in cement, I can't see the old fence (except through the gaps in the wood) and my neighbor can't bitch about it. Total bill was $2100.
So yesterday I came home to find that my neighbor had REMOVED the old fence without my permission, and will now be using the 6" or so of my "lost" property and the backside of my fence.
I feel cheated that now my neighbor has a nice new fence, is using some of MY property and hasn't paid a PENNY!
What are my legal rights? I live in CA. I had heard that some states have a penalties for refusing to chip in for common fence maintenance costs (Conneticut). Does that apply to CA? Can I sue him for 1/2 of the costs of the fence, even if he didn't agree to having a new one built in the first place. Surely his removal of the old fence is acceptance that the new fence is better and was needed. Can I tell him that he had no right to remove the old fence (even though I couldn't see it anymore) and have him put up the old fence (or similar) back in its place. Can I paint the side of my fence on his yard bright pink just to spite him, and he can't do anything about it? Can I remove my fence and charge him to have it placed correctly on the property line?
What should I do? My parents have told me that I'm just going to have to accept that he got a free fence and even if I go thru a nasty small claims battle and win (probably have a hard time collecting anyway) I've still got to live next to the guy... so should I keep quiet and just make snide remarks about how nice MY new fence is, or should I drag it to court?? PLEASE HELP!
