Fence Between Us And Them

[Wakeman]

Hello,

My question is regarding a fence that was falling/leaning over, had broken slats and posts that were rotting. We had re-enforced the posts twice and still the fence was weak and leaning. We asked the neighbor about replacing it. He agreed to getting some quotes. The two quotes we got were pretty pricing even with re-using the old slats. We decided to fix it ourselves meaning just the cost of materials. We asked the neighbor and he agreed to it. The estimated slit cost to them would be $300. The fence re-do started in summer of 2009. One of the fence hole posts had too much cement surrounding it that we were unable to break up the cement due to the fact we had no jack-hammer. Due to this the fence post was moved out towards the neighbor a few inches. The fence was completed and was stable. Now after almost 2 years the neighbor is just now claiming to not pay the $300 and is wanting us to re-do the fence without the bulge. We told them that they are welcome to re-do it but we are not paying towards it because it is stable and nothing structurally wrong with it. Told them to just forget the $300 they had agreed to. A week later we received a letter from the Santa Clara Co. Court. The neighbor is requesting a mediation regarding the fence. What is the law regarding shared fences? Is there a law stating 'you' have to pay 1/2? And if one neighbor is unhappy and the other is not are you obligated to fix it just because they want to? The other issue is although the fence now was a bulge towards their house the fence is still on our property. How do you determine the true property line? And if the fence and it's bulge is on our property do they have any right to demand or request the fence to be re-done?

[Ealdun]

DD,

I think the first lesson here is that in the future you want to get everything in writing. I say this because I learned this the hard way in a dispute I had several years ago and everything was on a "hand shake,verbal" basis.

The fact is, you have now been sued. If you haven't already done so, you need to immediately hire an experienced Attorney who will represent you and defend your rights. There is no way around this. The second thing you will probably have to do, based upon your Attorneys advice, is to hire a Surveyor to Survey the fence line and determine if any part of the fence "encroaches" into your neighbor's lot. This is how you determine where the fence line is. From your description, the total "encroachment" may be as little as "a few inches" If you find that the fence line is totally within your lot, there would seem to be no case for your neighbor. HOWEVER, again, you must seek an Attorneys opinion about this. What is the neighbor claiming? That the "bulge" is unsightly? I don't know the law about "shared fences". In any case, I would not be able to advise you if I did because I'm an appraiser, not an Attorney. With respect to your other issues, these, unfortunately, are legal issues that can only be answered by the Attorney you will have to hire.

John C. Carlson

CA Certified General Real Estate Appraiser

Diamond Bar, CA

www.jccrea.com