Fence on neighbors property

10 years ago

We bought 2 acres of property and a house last year. The entire property is fenced in so when we looked at the survey we didn't think too much about where are actual boundaries lines are. The property we bought was a foreclosure (previous owner died) and the only neighbor is on one side and is a relative of the deceased. We had one interaction with them and found out that 2 acres was sectioned off by father so a house could be built. When the son installed the fence he ignored the recorded property line and just placed a fence where it was convenient for the driveway and around the pond. The house and fence has been there for 12 years. My question is can the neighbor (relative) come back and force us to tear down the fence? If we move our fence we would also have to perform a lot of dirt work to create a new driveway. We would like to restring part of the existing fence and it's the part that happens to be shared with the neighbor. Anyone had any experience with this? Not sure if it helps/changes anything but they use part of our driveway to gain access to a small pond on their side of the fence. They also allow other relatives/friends to use our drive to fish the pond. When I say drive I mean the road connecting the main road to our front gate, they never actually enter our gate but cross a cattleguard.

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Comments (3)

kitasei
10 years ago
What a mess. You need a staked survey to determine what you own, and legal counsel to advise you what rights you and your neighbor have vis a vis each other's property. Then you will have to look at drawing up agreements that reflect what you want. if they need an easement to use your driveway, that may be the leverage you need to get the property you want and thought you had purchased.. good luck!
toxcrusadr
10 years ago
To expand on the above: If the fence is on their side, legally they own it even if you thought you bought it. I don't see how they could possibly force YOU to do anything with it if it is not on your property. But I am a little confused about 'portion of the fence shared with the neighbor'. How much fence is on your side and how much on theirs, and how much straddling the property line? I would definitely agree to get a survey if you haven't. Without that it's hard to understand who is responsible for what.
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Russ Barnard
10 years ago
Check with your local laws. I know in Texas, if I allow access for a number of years, it is as good as deeding it to them... i.e. I like neighbors at my ranch. If I allowed them to drive through my property to get to theirs, which they currently cannot, then (think it is like 7 years or so).. eventually, if I do not take action, it is as good as deeding it to them.

Now, that is the simplistic answer, but there may be options to which A - you bought it with that being defined as part of what you were buying and B - the driveway being the right of way may well grant you permanent access, or C - you may live in a state where they can say "take a hike hippy!".. heh

Either way, it is really a legal issue you should look into with someone that knows the law in that area before you proceed.

R
mcbrayer0814 thanked Russ Barnard