Hi fellow Chicagoan!

Congrats on your build! re: the fence around the window well, you may have to check what type of zoning and permitting is required.

re: the big issue of your neighbor's fence: Do you have your fence permit yet? We need them where I am (western suburbs.) I'd want that lined up before I have any conversation with the neighbor about his fence.

Did you buy the lot and then build, or does a builder own the lot until you close? If the latter, it might be the builder's issue and you can make him deal with it.

I googled 'neighbor's fence on my property' and it looks like there are some nuances to the law based on location and how long it's been there. I didn't see anything about whether that 'how long' changes when the property changes ownership.

I'm hoping bry911 or someone else with legal knowledge chimes in, because there might be some precautions you want to take and it might be worthwhile to have the real estate attorney that you're using for the build/purchase involved. Not as an opening salvo, as in "hey I talked to my lawyer..." since that can be very confrontational, but for advice and a backup plan if the neighbor causes issues.

My understanding is that in Chicago a fence permit is only required if the fence is over 5' -- we would keep it to that to avoid needing another permit. We bought the lot (two years ago) and built on it (almost finished) with full city permits. I have been trying to find out if there's an issue building a fence around the front window well (we're afraid of someone or something falling into it), but so far without success. When we found out the fence was on our property we told the neighbor who said he was aware of it! That did at least stop his complaining about various construction related things.

How much over the property line are we talking about? Are you sure the fence is his?

Let the neighbor know that you will be replacing the existing fence that is on your property and moving it towards the property line. Make sure he agrees with the property line before you start work. As for the portion you are not replacing - suggest to him that you are planning on removing it unless he has it moved to the property line.

skika -- that is exactly what I'd like to do. And, yes it is completely on our property -- the property line is at the edge of his sidewalk next to the fence, and it is his by his own admission (it goes around his entire property). My problem is getting my husband to agree -- he is afraid of starting up with a neighbor you have to live with. I do see his point, but I know I'll be miserable if that fence remains.

We have the same issue. Our survey clearly shows the fence a little on our property. I confirmed with the surveyor that this was accurate. Our neighbor tried to create major issues for us at the beginning of the build so we are not warm and fuzzy with them. We will be putting in an electric fence for our dog, so we warned them about this, and that their dogs were coming on our property where the physical fence stops. We are trying to take a non-confrontational approach about the safety of their dogs. Then I found one of the logs from the neighbor's wood pile "dropped" on top of our line marker. Sigh. Like the line will go away if we don't see it under the log. Not sure if we are going to make an issue of this, or if we need to send them a letter giving them permission to use our land so they don't legally end up owning our land. Not sure where to get the info in Montgomery County, Maryland.

As far as the relationship goes, it is MUCH easier to deal with a fencing issue NOW before you move into the property. I always wanted to fence our property, but my husband resisted at first, and then once we were there and had gotten to know our neighbors, and our kids loved playing together, it would've seemed rude to fence it. (I still wish we had fenced it. I never felt safe sending the kids out to play in an unfenced yard!)

So back to your guy -- he has admitted he knowingly put a fence on your property.

I would get bids for the fence, and ask them to itemize separately the cost to remove the existing fence, and perhaps also the cost to connect your fence to his so that his remains functionally enclosed. Then let him know "We're fencing in our property, and part of that process will be removing the existing fence. They're charging us $500 to remove the existing fence -- do you want me to have them haul away the debris, or do you want to keep the parts? Do you want me to get a quote from my contractor for how much he'd charge you to connect the new fence to yours, so your yard remains fully fenced?" You know, words to that effect. You can be very neighborly about it without being a push-over.

So back to your guy -- he has admitted he knowingly put a fence on your property.

No, no, that's not what our OP said. She said the neighbor was aware it was on their property -- not that the neighbor was the builder of the fence himself, not that he was aware of it when the fence was built.

Based upon what we've been told, we don't actually know.

In the interest of neighborly relations, I'd give the guy a chance to take care of it in a civil fashion BEFORE going to the city. If he doesn't rise to the occasion, yeah, demand your rights, but then you're going to have to live with the results for years

He admitted to our GC that the he knew that the fence was on his property. I don't know if he is the one who built it, but when our GC approached him about he said that he knew about it. We're not going to the city, but we will tell him that he can either remove it or we will.

A few more questions if you don't mind.

(1) How far over the property line is the fence? My advice may be different for 3" than for 3'.

(2) What type of fence is currently there and what are you replacing it with? e.g. replacing a 6' redwood privacy fence with a 4' vinyl picket.

(3) Are these newly developed lots or is this an existing lot in an established neighborhood, or even a tear down lot?

(4) You note that the existing fence is ugly and unpainted on your side, traditionally the ugly side goes in, are the posts on the existing fence inside or out?

As for the window well, access from an egress is generally protected. Doing anything that limits the fire department getting to an egress or someome getting out is not permitted in many areas. Whether or not a gated fece is restricted, I don't know (although I feel sure an ungated fence would be). There are lots of protective grates made for window wells, some are decorative and functional, I would look at those.

1) It's about 1' on to my property

2) It is an old worn out wooden fence; we'd replace it with a new, nicely stained wooden fence same height.

3) Old established neighborhood. We tore down a tiny old eyesore and built new.

4) The posts do face into the neighbor's property but the side facing our property was never painted and is very worn looking.

I know that egress can be an issue, but our GC says it can be done in a way that isn't a problem.

Depending upon the size of your lot, having the fence 1 ft. onto your property has its advantages, so long s your neighbor acknowledges what is his and what is yours. As I understand it, since it is on your property, this fence is yours to do with as you please, whether to improve it, remove, or replace entirely. If it were on the property line, it would belong to both of you. This way you at least have minimal space to work on it without stepping onto the neighbor's property.

I would legally establish the true property line, being certain that the neighbor acknowledges this, preferably in writing. Check into your jurisdiction's adverse possession laws. This may not even be an issue in town or depending upon your state, but I know that it is a very big deal with larger properties in many states. You don't want to allow your neighbor to claim that extra foot as his by right of usage for a certain period of time.

My parents built our house in a very rural area 60 years ago that was later built up. The property next door was long considered unbuildable and remained a vacant woodland until about 30 years back when building technology allowed development. When the property was purchased, the new owners had a survey done and discovered that our fence was a few feet onto their land. They let my mother know and she had the fence moved -- no hard feelings whatsoever. It was an honest mistake and hurt nobody for 30 years, but when it did it was taken care of. My mother probably could have claimed adverse possession after all of that time, but she would never do that.

This situation doesn't have to mean war with the neighbors.

When we were getting ready to build our house, we found out our neighbors had actually unknowingly extended their driveway onto a small portion of our lot. We are on a cul-de-sac with weird shaped lots, so we could see how they didn't realize where the property line was. The front survey pin was actually found right next to the end of their driveway. They had widened it closer to the house and went over our property line. In the long run, it didn't matter to us. We decided not to make a big deal out of it. Their brick mailbox was also on our propery. We wanted to put one in the same spot, so we offered to have our brick guys take theirs down and build a double. They offered to pay for half the cost of the new mailbox. Everyone is happy, definitely not worth causing a war over.

Thanks for the clarification:

There are a few things that make this a tricky situation both for living next to someone and legally.

Legally there is ownership through adverse possession and rather than explain the law I will link to the exact same question answered on NOLO - NOLO - fence over property line.

Other than the legal issues there is the fact that a foot of property is not worth a bad neighbor in my opinion. Regardless of how ugly your fence is, it will pale in comparison to an ugly neighbor so it is worth considering that the fence isn't worth the trouble.

My advice: I would personally knock on your neighbor's door and have a conversation with him. Let him know that you were hoping to replace the current fence with an updated fence and that you would be happy to correct the fence line problem at your expense and tie into his existing fence. If you really want him to say yes find a couple of hundred dollars in repairs that his fence needs and offer to have the contractor perform those repairs at your expense too. Find out his first name, use it, smile a lot and just try to get off on the right foot. People are usually pretty easy to deal with if they think you are being selfless and people have trouble arguing with really nice, happy people.

In case folks are looking at this issue generally, please note that adverse possession laws and requirements vary from state to state.

See here for example citations (unclear whether this info is accurate/up to date)

I don't think bry911's remark that "Legally there is ownership through adverse possession" is meant to be an opinion on this specific instance but rather a reference to the general concept.

Correct, I am just referring to the law's existence and not this particular situation.

And I think his bry's advice in this case is excellent.

Are you absolutely sure about who put the fence up? It seems odd - well on to your property and with the not-so-good side facing your way.