yes. build the damn fence already. and have the surveyor put down some type of permanent markers. you can drive a metal stake 4 feet into the ground to mark your borders. no way she's pulling up that one.

the surveyor should have given you measurements, yes? tape them off yourself, and when the fence is ready to go, have him come out that day to verify.

or just forget the 7 inches! does it really matter?

Get a Ring Camera set up to cover the backyard property line. they can work off of solar/battery power. I have one.

Any time she steps on your property make a report for trespassing. (this is just to cover your butt if any issues arise further down the road)

Always have the video recording so there is no mistaking it. If she tries and removes your border stake, it's on video.

And then just get the damn fence built. if this has been going on for a year, what's taking so long?

oh, ignore her. don't engage. don't acknowledge her. just build your fence.

find out how high up you can go

Make sure she gets the ugly side of the fence.

Plant poison ivy on it and top the flat portion with crushed glass. (just kidding)

don't know why people have to be such idiots.

read about what happened to a bad neighbor moving fence markers

https://www.boredpanda.com/grandpa-neighbor-illegal-land-grabbing-nature-preserve-yard-car

The survey should have GPS points?

I had the Town Building Inspector come to my door when I redid the grass driveway between me and my neighbor, who thought I was taking HIS piece of grass (when my garage clearly ended on my own). The Inspector understood that I had a “problem child” next door and he went over to settle the matter. I continued ripping out the grass to create a new solid driveway from the curb to my garage.
Having the Town Inspector involved made it easier to get my neighbor to be quiet. Over time, he became nicer to me, and rather fatherly. (I was single at the time). This might work for you as you’re awaiting the building of your fence. Your surveyor should not fight your battles with your neighbor. Get the town official involved.

Have the surveyor return and put in permanent markers that would take a backhoe to remove and put up a fence. Check with your township as to the regulations on fencing. In our township a fence must sit back 1 foot off of the property line and the good side must face out.

Finish the fence on what you know to certainly be your property even if you lose 7". Don't engage her. All the best to you. Angry neighbors are the worst.

A bit of history of the DuPont family in Delaware. One built a stone wall with glass shards on the top to keep people, specifically family, out. Hope you don't have to go this far.

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/life/2019/01/09/family-feud-behind-du-pont-glass-shard-topped-wall/1890039002/

Hopefully the week since you first wrote this has allowed some calm. From your description it sounds as though you split the cost for the initial survey, and that included pins (either new or exposing the original ones) on the front and back corners between the two of you.

There is no need for the surveyor, a town official, or anybody else to enter this fray. DO NOT give up any of your property, no matter how small. Here's what you do:

1.) install a tall (like 48") green steel fence U-post right at each of the 2 pins. Tie pink/yellow masonry line between the two (nylon stretches, so makes it easy to pull taught). These are just temporary to make it clear where the property line is until the fence goes up, and will be used to install the fence anyway. Once the string is in, you can install one midway at the front corner of the house (most likely where the fence would end) and remove the stake next to the front pin at the sidewalk/curb/street.

2.) Post a "no trespassing" sign on your side of the line. Take photos of everything.

3.) Send a certified letter to your neighbor recounting the process so far: the agreed-upon survey, pins, her moving the line, etc. and state that her actions are unacceptable. State that her future actions of messing with the markers or encroaching your property will be met with police charges for trespassing or vandalism, and possible legal action for additional survey costs or punitive damages.

4.) Build your fence making sure to get a permit and follow all regulations. Take pictures of both sides.

Any additional issues always take photos and send certified letters. Call the police if anything escalates. Don't let it get to you, most people seem to have a neighbor they don't get along with, just ignore them and continue life, it's not worth the stress.

I just have to say I sympathize with you. We had neighbors like that and I was happy when they moved to Florida. I took a secret delight in finding that their house in FL had been foreclosed and they were dealing with squatters.

tozmo,,,you and I think alike. I mentioned crushed glass in my first comment. I like those shards a lot better. you set them in mortar. keeps the looky-loos from peering over the fence.

I dont think no one gets it about the 7 inches..when surveyor came he put a tight rope to unite each pin..due to the fact that she has messed around with the string rope by putting extra stakes, that the surveyor didnt put..those 7 inches that once were on my property..are now gone, and are now on her side..now i cant even put a fence panel, because it will automatically be hitting the string line, and will make me look like am being the tresspasser, even though i am in my property. I think the only way i can get her to correct the string line, is to get an attorney to send her a letter addressing the issue, and also see if i can get the boundary line audited to see how many inches she has stolen from me by her shifting the string line.

well yes. that's what we're saying.

the surveyor should have given you the dimensions.

Tell him that she keeps removing his markers and have him redo them w/heavier versions. something that gets driven 5 feet into the ground.

Take pictures of it, measure it, document it, and then send her a certified copy w/the warning that if she tampers with she will be subject to whatever code or law is in your country.

Get the Ring camera and mount it to where that properly line is visible on video.

Get the GPS coordinates of the surveyor markers.

You have already done the work the mark your property lines. That information is backed up with your local courthouse. Her string doesn’t mean anything and put the fence panel in and be done. She can’t do anything about it.

@George Rosas

Assuming your lot line is straight from point A to B, there are only 2 pins that matter, one at the front, and one at the back. They were either placed when the lots were subdivided before the houses were built, and your surveyor used a metal detector to find them and unbury them, or he pounded new ones in because they didn't exist. There should be a little orange plastic cap on the steel pin and it will be flush with, or an inch or so below grade if it's grass. The pins are "permanent." He placed a temporary string line just so you can visualize where the line exists between these 2 pins.

It does not matter what other stakes or rope or paint or whatever the neighbor places anywhere at any time - if it does not connect point A to B, it is not correct or official. If she ran her rope through your house, would you then cede those rooms to her, and hire a lawyer to politely ask her to move her rope because it is cutting you off from your bathroom?

You both agreed to a survey; the survey is complete; that is where your properties divIde. PERIOD. Nobody else needed, no re-interpretation, the pins are final.

I just read today that a farmer had a problem with the neighbor and the property line and finally built a "poop" fence with his cows manure. Which the farmer said was a compost fence. The neighbor couldn't do anything as it was on the farmers property. It didn't say how close the farmers house was to it ....though the farmer probably enjoys that farm smell by now...

We had a neighbor ask if he could put a chain link fence up, if you have your neighbors permission you can put it right on the line rather than set back. We agreed provided there was a gate so our son could get his ball should it go over and his kids can cut through our yard to visit friends across the street from us rather than go all the way around the block. Anyway he ended up putting a padlock on the gate! This was in our back yards and since his yard was long it wasn’t even behind his house. Some people are just mean and rude. Glad we moved away from the jerk.

Kate- I think the problem with getting the neighbors permission to put it right on the line is if you get a new neighbor that is not in agreement to that arrangement, I'm guessing you would have to remove the fence?

My pain in the #$% neighbor - I asked her if she could move her wind chime to a different part of her home so that I wouldn't hear it at night in my bedroom. Instead she added more and lighter weight ones so that they chime with hardly any wind. I don't know why someone would move into the woods on a 1400 acre migrating bird preserve and put up wind chimes! She refuses to have any civil conversations so we have no idea what has set her off or if this is just her wonky personality.

really ted? wow. people can be so annoying! and so can those wind chimes.

(you may be able to make a noise complaint though. I mean, if she wants to be a jerk about, then do what works for you)

I'm so lucky both of my neighbors are the best!

Wind chimes....that would drive me absolutely CRAZY.

One incident (out of 3) I had to call the police and I mentioned the wind chimes and noise. They said I had to deal with the township on that. I did and though there is a noise ordinance they won't enforce it. Her husband is on the planning board and he has all these friends there and so they are turning their eye. We've even approached her husband to sit down with them to talk and neither of them will. Her side of the house faces our bedroom and one night she put strobe lights on that side of the house to disturb us. She even cut branches down to make sure that the lights would affect our property. She has also cut small trees down on our property so she has a path to walk her dog on. Which she never cleans up after. Since she will only scream at us when we try to have a civil conversation with her, we have put large cut down trees on her path.

Honestly, I would not put up with the persistent breaking of noise ordinances.

We took a neighbor to court over barking dogs. We had gone through all the proper channels and called the police every time they barked. The police finally told us there was nothing they could do (which was an absolute lie). They even told me it was not against the law. I had to quote the ordinance to several police officers and force them to do their job and insist they come out whenever there was nuisance barking so it would be on record. When there were enough infractions we were able to get a court date and then pursued it. Did i like the idea of going to court...absolutely not. But there are noise ordinances and I was determined to follow through and get the law obeyed. The barking was an absolute infringement on our ability to enjoy our property (which is why they have these ordinances in the first place). We won the case....but it takes a lot of determination to fight they system especially when law enforcement does not want to do a thing about it and lies to you in the process.

ted, oh man. what a peach those two sound like. that woman must be extremely miserable w/her life to go through all the trouble to annoy you.

I'd have my own ways of dealing with it because i'm too old and ornery to let people like this get away w/shenanigans.

but nidnay is right. I'd prob go as far as to follow the friends around and get dirt on them, and then see how fast they turn on 'their friend'. but i'm just evil like that. and retired. Need a PI?? lol

you ever hear of the dead fish in the engine compartment payback?

She is in her late 50's, her husband is a local builder so you'd think he'd clamp down on her for his reputation. We thought after a long winter indoors she'd have settled down but instead as soon as it was nice out, she was out and doing her whacky things. We talked to an attorney but he said that it really is a township ordinance issue which neither the police or the township will enforce and that to go further with it, we'd spend money and probably wouldn't get the satisfaction we are looking for. That opened our eyes so we are just going to move and in the meantime we hope that by ignoring her she'll get bored with us like 2 yr olds do. What grinds us was that lot was available when we bought our house and we had the opportunity to buy it but passed on it (we thought owning 6 acres was enough!) as were hopeful for nice neighbors.

@tedbixby1981 What if you move somewhere and there's a worse neighbor? Is it that easy to pick up and move anyway? You have 6 acres now and can't avoid the neighbor?

Every neighborhood has one nut case. In our last house her name was Karen (really) . Thankfully she didn't live next door but a few doors down. She was one of those save the planet, tree hugging, everyone should think like me, vegan, Peta people. I don't think anybody in the neighborhood talked to her. Even her only son left the day after his HS graduation to never return or visit. When her and her husband took walks he never walked with her but in front or behind her. Strange people.

She would take in large aggressive dogs who were about to be put down that she couldn't control. Nice kind of dog to have in a family neighborhood. We had one elderly white cat who stayed in the yard. Well she got it in her warped mind that every cat in the neighborhood who came into her yard and upset her dogs was our cat. She use to call us screaming about all these different colored cats in her yard blaming us for them. My husband had it with her and told her to call the cops, which she did. The police knew her very well as a trouble maker and said to just ignore her. Apparently the police talked to her because she never bothered us again. After that we mounted a large deer skull with a big rack over our garage door and some smaller skulls of various animals we found in the woods scattered in our front garden. We loved seeing the scowl on her face everyday when she walked the dogs past our house after that and the other neighbors got a kick out of it because they also disliked her.

Life it too short to live next to a whacko that make you feel uncomfortable in your own yard and home. Unfortunately, our home was built by the previous owner near the property line rather than more in the middle of the 6 acres and the witches house is on a small lot next door and her house ended up near that same property line.

We did everything we could. First we tried to talk directly to her but she just started screaming and swearing and walked away before we could say anything then we talked to her husband and asked him what we could do to make this a better situation for all since it was apparent that she has a problem with us and his reply was a blank stare and a strong silent message he wasn't going to discuss it. Then we approached him could the 4 of us sit down and talk it out and instead of agreeing, her reply was by putting her car in the driveway and blasting music that we could hear at the bottom of our 300' driveway. We called the police after 90 min of that and she told the cop that she was doing it to annoy us! Husband never came back to further discuss. Once she put a chair on her back deck, faced it towards our house and got binoculars and stared into our house. The back of our house is a wall of windows with no window coverings as there hasn't been a need for them. This went on for 15 min and when she saw me in the house she waved! We since have put in 15' pine trees to discourage that. I could go on and on and if I did, you'd say it would be worth moving as I don't think there could be a worse neighbor than her. And moving isn't a big deal for us to do. I think we covered it all to try and resolve it . Husband, Husband, Police, Township, Attorney, and now Movers!

ted, you're a very patient man. sorry you have to move. I wouldn't have been as nice.

I've had 5 diff neighbors (over 30 years) on both sides and all have been perfect neighbors. the kind you can borrow eggs from, or ask them nicely to keep their dog from barking. Ted, I had the same issue. bedroom window faced their backyard. they have one of those yappy dogs that never shuts up. nothing going on, they just bark incessantly. I did mention it to him, nicely, and he apologized and was truly embarrassed. said he didn't know what to do. I offered a few suggestions (some people just don't know dogs) to see if it would help. within a few days no more barking dog. I think they brought them inside. Same thing w/the other neighbor. barking dogs. (what is it w/these barking dogs? I've had two and neither of them ever made a sound) But we're pretty good friends and I just yell over the fence to "shut that dog up!" lol.

It's too bad people have to be so difficult. The husbands' look and failure to do anything tells you all you need to know about him, and those two. just miserable people.

tedbixby I don't blame you for moving. I would also if I had a neighbor like that. I hope she behaves herself when you have buyers looking at the house.

“What is it w/these barking dogs?”

I admit to owning one of these dogs. She barks at everything and nothing. In her defense, she’s about 75% blind. But...as soon as she starts up, she has to come inside. I can’t stand listening to it and I surely won’t subject my neighbors to it. And she does have to wear a bark collar when we are out in the yard for an extended period of time.

Tedbixby...although radical, I think I would adopt a policy of nudity in my home, prance around, dance, wave...and see what happens. Let me know, might be cheaper than moving and more satisfying.

Neighbor From Hades lives across the street and spends every waking hour chasing away anything that touches his lawn...I'm talking birds, squirrels etc.. Total nut-job. He's 92 and I'm eagerly awaiting the day I don my red dress to wear to his wake. Not kidding.

I told the police about her spying and they told me next time she does it to take a photo of her and call them as that falls under Peeping Tom ordinance which they can enforce (whatever that means!). And if I adopt a nudity policy in my home, it will probably give her a thrill as I don't think her and her husband have much of a relationship!

Should I even tell you about the $8K damage (amount that the certified arborist came up with) to some of our 100 yr old plus oak trees which was caused by the yahoo tree service they hired to cut down one of their trees. The "neighbor" never approached us or apologized for their tree being cut and hitting one of ours which resulted in a domino affect of our trees going down. It became "our problem" and we had to deal with it as they wouldn't. So we took the tree companies insurance check of $8k and bought 15' pine trees for the property line.

I just shake my head...what a world!