My neighbour has a fence and claims the 4 inches on other side of fence is theirs.?

Question

I planted flowers on our side and she says its her property. What is the legal standpoint on this problem with the property.

Answer 1

If the fence is 4" inside her property line, the 4" outside of the fence does belong to her. Tell the neighbor she is welcome to use the 4" anytime she wants to, but to keep out of your yard doing it!

Answer 2

It does depend on what the deed says. But that isn't going to do either of you any good if you both can't agree on your interpretations of the deed.

This is a situation where you would need to call a land surveyor in to determine precisely where the property line lies. A land surveyor is an independent (neutral) person who comes in with the property facts according to the deed. They'll actually mark off the property line with little flags so everyone knows where they stand. You would need to call the deed or title company and ask them who you are supposed to call or who they can send out to resolve the mattter. It isn't a free service. In my old city it cost $40, but that fee probably varies from town to town. You could ask your neighbor if she wants to split the cost of hiring a land surveyor to come out and mark off the property lines if she wants to make that big of a deal about four inches. Tell her if she is right, you will pay her the half that she paid to have them come out.

Also, who mowed that four inches on the other side of the fence before you planted flowers there? Did she actually take her lawnmower outside if the fence to mow a four inch strip of grass all this time or were you mowing her grass. If you have been mowing that four inch strip on the other side of the fence the whole time, bring that up. Just say "Oh, well I was the one who mowed that 4 inches on the other side of the fence, not you, I just assumed it was my property. I guess since it is your property though, I won't have to worry about mowing it anymore." That should get her to rethink her petty ways, because believe me it is going to be a big PIA for her to have to take her mower all the way on the other side of the fence just to more four piddly inches.

In all likelyhood, it probably is her four inches of land. But what is she doing with it? I can't imagine telling someone they couldn't do something with a four inch strip outside of my fence. Seriously, I would say that about mowing it though, if she wants to nitpick then you nitpick right back.

Jeez, I feel for you. I had a neighbor once who claimed that one of my trees (a nice tree, not a tree that was going to fall down any time soon or anything) was his tree and he was planning on cutting it down!!! I had the surveyor out later that week and imagine my neighbors' "surprise" when he saw how far over my property line went. I'm sure he knew the whole time that it was my tree and he never thought I would go so far to have a surveyor come out. People will take advantage of you if you don't stick up for yourself.

It may seem like a lot of money just to have someone come out and tell you where the property line is, but it is well worth it. Think of how much time and effort you put into planting those flowers. Plus, take photographs of where the surveyor put the flags in relation to identifiable landmarks in your yard (use a yardstick in the photo if you want to give some perspective as far as distance), and _save_ those photos in case something like this ever comes up again or if you ever decide to sell the house. Then you can take your photos out and say "The city surveyor marked my property line here- you can see it is about three feet from the driveway in the photo" etc.

It's well worth the money.

Answer 3

If your neighbour has a fence, than I'd say anything on the other side is yours. Tell them that if it's such a problem that you planted flowers than they should move the fence.

But I'm no lawyer. You might want to check into how much of the property is actually yours.

Answer 4

It depends on what the deeds say.

Generally, people don't put up fences exactly on the property line, and they almost never put up fences on the other side of the property line.

She might well be correct.

Answer 5

Check the deed. Most people put a fence back on their property by a few inches. Puting in your property would be illegal and putting it exactly on the line is impossible.

So she may be right.

Answer 6

who cares about 4 inches? I suppose leagly if it is theirs you have to move the flowers, but the only way to know if it is theirs or not is to get a suvaior to check it out. suvaiors can get costly so my suggestion is to just move the flowers.

Answer 7

a property surveyor can come out and determine the exact location of the property lines.....have your neighbor pay for one, until then-- ignore her.

Answer 8

check with the land registry people in your local town they know everything.