Hi, I'm in a bit of a pickle in California and wondering if anyone can offer suggestions. Recently, my neighbor told me I have to cut off part of the overhang of my garage because it overhangs his cinder block fence. Rain runoff from the roof drains onto the fence, and flows both toward his property and my property. He has within the past few weeks built a fountain directly adjacent to the garage, against the fence on his side. He is threatening to bring a future lawsuit for his estimate of $100,000 for damages and fees due to water staining. (during a discussion of any part of the matter he will start cussing and yelling) The fence is currently stained on both sides from rain runoff.
The fascia of the garage is located roughly 1/2 way over the six inches of cinder block. The garage was built roughly in 1925. According to the neighbor, he built the center of the fence in the location of an older chain link fence, prior to my purchase of the property in 2002. He did not have the location surveyed. I would estimate date of construction to be late 1990's. The assessor's map shows my property width to be 50', and outside of fence to outside of fence is around 49'10", so I have reason to believe the entire fence is built on my property. I'm paying property tax on the entire 50'.
I have offered to install a rain gutter to drain the water on my side of the fence, but he says this is unacceptible since it will be over his property. I don't want to chop the overhang for aesthetic and other reasons. The real kicker is he brought this all up just prior to myhouse entering escrow. I have removed contingencies on the new house I will be moving into, so I will really be hurting if the current house with the garage falls out of escrow. I'm trying to avoid paying for a survey (neighbor refused to split cost), and I'm not sure how much help it would be. Anyone have ideas for how to approach this? Thank you very much in advance!
The fascia of the garage is located roughly 1/2 way over the six inches of cinder block. The garage was built roughly in 1925. According to the neighbor, he built the center of the fence in the location of an older chain link fence, prior to my purchase of the property in 2002. He did not have the location surveyed. I would estimate date of construction to be late 1990's. The assessor's map shows my property width to be 50', and outside of fence to outside of fence is around 49'10", so I have reason to believe the entire fence is built on my property. I'm paying property tax on the entire 50'.
I have offered to install a rain gutter to drain the water on my side of the fence, but he says this is unacceptible since it will be over his property. I don't want to chop the overhang for aesthetic and other reasons. The real kicker is he brought this all up just prior to myhouse entering escrow. I have removed contingencies on the new house I will be moving into, so I will really be hurting if the current house with the garage falls out of escrow. I'm trying to avoid paying for a survey (neighbor refused to split cost), and I'm not sure how much help it would be. Anyone have ideas for how to approach this? Thank you very much in advance!
