can i legally tear down my neighbors fence if it is on my property?

Question

I live in massachusetts and have an issue with a neighbor. we have shared property/driveway. it is suppose to be 82 feet in length, but the driveway is only accually 60 ft. So the neighbor 25 years ago fenced off have of the other 22 ft. On the my deed it reads as mutual use. We bought this house 16 months ago and are in the process of selling for the purpose of relocating for business reasons. what do i do, spend hundreds on a lawyer. help

Answer 1

My two neighbors have a driveway that is joined. One neighbor decided to put up a fence to divide it because he did not get along with the other neighbor. He spent hours putting in metal poles for a chain link fence. The other neighbor did some measuring and found the poles were over by 3 inches on HIS property. They both got together with their deeds and did some measuring and the poles came down within the next two days by the neighbor who put the poles up! Make sure your measurements are correct and the you will have a "pole to stand on" for it to come down :) If he gives you a problem, possibly you can call your local town officials explaining the situation and they can contact him with the facts that the fence must come down at HIS expense, not yours.
Good Luck

Answer 2

I would not recommend tearing it down.

Have you already gone to the county recorder's office to review the deeds for the property and to make sure that the neighbor didn't record some sort of easement (ability to put the fence up on that land and use that land) with previous owners? The "mutual use" reference that you made in your question makes me wonder.

Have you spoken to the previous owners and reviewed your purchase agreement to ensure that you (exclusively) do, in fact, own that piece of property?

I would obtain the help of an attorney. Here are some reasons why: 1) if the fence was legally built there and you tear it down, you may find yourself a defendant in a costly lawsuit! 2) if your purchase agreement for the home reflects that that property is yours but the deed indicates otherwise, you may be able to take action against the prior owner. 3) you want to make sure that, in the end, whatever you do, you are accurately representing the property to the people buying the house from YOU so that later, YOU are not sued by the new owners over this fence issue.

Or, if you'd rather take a wait-and-see attitude, you can do that too. It depends on how much of a concern this is to you.

Call a local legal aid office and ask for a referral to an attorney who specializes in plaintiff land use issues.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

you are the new person there.find out from the old owners what they know first..! they may have made a verbal agreement, or know of one. a friend of mine had the same problem. money wise have a land survey done. show it to your neighbor, try to work it out mutually. if they don"t want to, you don"t need a lawyer for any good claim. go to the register of deeds show them the survey and ask if the neighbors ever had a permit to build the fence. if not then its not a legal fence. complain to the city then, you may need to do this step more than once but the city will make them take it down. JUST REMEMBER THOUGH YOU BOUGHT IT SO WILL SOMEONE ELSE, TO BE VINDICTIVE MAKES YOU LESS THAN THEM. now that you have read this pray for the RIGHT course.
GOD BLESS YOU and YOURS.

Answer 4

I am sure that in the UK there is an obscure law that says if a boundary changes and isn't challenged, the land encompassed by the boundary changes hands. I really don't know how this works over the pond but I would check your legal position before taking action as disputes between neighbours is never good, especially if you are planning to sell.

Nobody is going to want to buy a place where they wake up the day after they move in to find a huge fence erected and they've lost half the land they thought was theirs. In addition, you could be held liable if you sold it knowing there was such a dispute.

Good luck.

Answer 5

If nothing was done for 25 years, it could be that your neighbor has now acquired legal rights to the property in queston. You should ask a lawyer about this.

Answer 6

There are more laws about fences than you could possibly believe. I learned the hard way, so check with a lawyer.

Answer 7

im not sur about in the usa but i am in australia. but if the fence is legally half yours and half theirs then you cannot tear it down without her consent. Although if you did seek legal assistance and the outcome was that she is liable for that error, you would be able to have the fence removed as well as her liable for legal fees

Answer 8

YOU BETTER BE SURE YOU GOT PROOF THAT IT"S YOUR LAND BY THAT MUCH AS SPECIFIED ABOVE AND YOU GOT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!!! Seriously do seek legal help! Just go to a regular police station and say officer i am really seriuosly concenrned about something! and start talking they might point you in to the right direction!

Answer 9

If you are moving, why do you want to tear the fence down?

Answer 10

Yes! Tear it down! Your moving so you don't have to worry about your neighbors, so just do it to piss them off!