There is a fence that runs right through our parcel it is aprox. Is there anything I can do to stop neighbors from bullying me? I bought my house last year and my neighbors decide to redo their fence . Fight it until the very end! ( I had 300 to 500 in mind) He mentioned that was very nice and most neighbors would not do this. I have now recently discovered he placed video surveillance pointed /monitoring my front yard. Now in your case it seems that although it was a custom built fence and not prefabricated panels, it was very poorly built and looks terrible? The . I hope this answers your question somewhat good luck with your neighbor! The Act rewrites California Civil Code section 841, presumes equal responsibility for neighboring landowners for a boundary fence, and explains how to rebut this presumption. Spite Fence Law: 841.4. California.Public.Law California Codes; Join; Login; California Codes; Civ. Civil Code Section 841. There hasnt been any communication at all from my neighbor Nat, I am slightly confuseddo you mean none of the fence contractors are willing to take on the job without both homeowners consent? Fences and Walls: Neighbor Does Not Wish to Use Our Fence Contractor; landowner. In California, Civil Code Section 841.4 governs what has commonly become known as spite fences. Except on the front portion which is in my front yard. Good luck. (a) Adjoining landowners shall share equally in the responsibility for maintaining the boundaries and monuments between them. Property Line Retaining Wall Responsibility. Is this situation an exception? Are we under any legal obligation to pay him a penny? He does not live in the area. Can I do half of the fence and they can do half of the fence? The fence its in a really bad condition. I gave them 15 days to accomplish this and also gave my phone number. The fence needs to replace much of it because of the poor maintenance on my neighbors side. They told me that as long as I dont pay then Im not allowed to touch their wall at all and they were going to take me to small claims for them to collect what I owed them. Civ. Aesthetically, it looks better and I have another fence with another neighbor where I already have the 2x4s on my side. Therefore the law states that this fence is not benefitting your neighbor. He was not able to remove our fence othe next day, but was able, last minute to come three days later when we were out of town for the day. He has not responded to my texts since May as to when he will replace the fence. Also, the new fence could not be an unnecessary upgrade from the previous fence. We never had any retaining concrete wall, just the fence besides our plant bed that separates the two properties. We were both in agreement to pay half each. I would have appreciated knowing in advance as I have dogs. (c) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) Landowner means a private person or entity that lawfully holds any possessory interest in All dogs get out. The only issue that will come into play is the short notice period or your case would be a slam dunk.. Or is it apparent the uphill neighbor . The fence is attached on two sides to my neighbors existing fence. Im in LA county and spoke with a small claims advisor they said that I could sue for half the cost of the job with quotes, but apparently a judge cant order for the consent of the job, but I figure at that point if youve already had to pay you might as well agree to the fix. My name is***** I live in Alhambra, CA. Consequently, when a fence needs repair, both property owners must share the cost. It just appeared one day. (a) Adjoining landowners shall share equally in the responsibility for maintaining the boundaries and monuments between them. Civ. Here is the Actual Law for those of you who like reading this sort of stuff CIVIL CODE Section 841, And for those of you who would rather read a laymans description of the California Good Neighbor Fence Law, here goes. I share a fence that is 75 long with a neighbor. again please do not pay him a dime. He charge me $80 that I paid him because I am tired of being harrassed. whose property is the retaining wall actually retaining? The fence does not enclose their front yard but is still a neighboring fence. He came and took measurements and then said he would have to contact the homeowner to get approval and that I would have to use their contractor. Where a party rebuts the presumption in paragraph (1) by a preponderance of the evidence, the court shall, in its discretion, consistent with the party's circumstances, order either a contribution of less than an equal share for the costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence, or order no contribution. (2) Where a landowner intends to incur costs for a fence described in paragraph (1), The neighbor wants me to replace the fence and pay for it 100%, saying this is not a boundary fence. Then it will be for a judge to decide the matter! However, the fence installed has a deep setback, meaning half our lots side yard has new fencing, and the other half has no fencing at all (dont think it ever did). The new question that arises is if the fence is directly on the property line or on his side what approach do I take to this? Secondly, is the fact that she is stating the material are the same costs as the labor; that would be a huge red flag for me. The neighbor got another quote for exactly the same price and I said, ok, we can use your guy. If your neighbor has never fenced his land, he does not have to provide a fence that only really serves you. From the way you have explained it, I would predict you are not going to be responsible whatsoever. We like the open space and look. Now the neighbor wants the planks that my husband nailed to be removed. I will now finish the fence, pay 100%, block his view of my yard, and recapture my privacy. We write another notice that construction date has been pushed up to May. It seems we can not agree. Therefore you will need to pay 100% of the costs of replacement! So now HOA is advising me to serve her with the 30 days notice and if she still refuses to then take her to small claims to have the judge order her to agree to the fence replacement and payment. Michael, thanks for the question. I dont think I see this covered: I share a fence with a neighbor, and they have six 2-story-tall trees (overgrown weeds, really) growing tightly next to each other, just on their side of the fence. In that case, he has to pay the other owner for one-half of the already existing fence. Thanks. Both property owners own the fence erected between the property lines when both use it. maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence would be unjust. One neighbor is . I would send them a letter certified mail with return receipt requested (for proof should you need it down the road) to immediately stop[ all harassment against you, state that you will not be paying them a dime as you were not the homeowner at the time of replacement, and should they wish to take you to court, go ahead! Section R404.1.1.1 is added to read as follows: Concrete and masonry foundation walls and retaining walls with a height of four (4) feet measured from the bottom of the footing shall have the construction documents approved and stamped by a California licensed architect or engineer. CIVIL CODE 895 - 945.5 . He then complained about us buying expenseive material (6ft red wood) and did not want to spend that. If this sounds similar to your situation then I believe our article can be very helpful. Coachella Valley 74830 Hwy. (b) (1) Adjoining landowners are presumed to share an equal benefit from any fence dividing their properties and, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in a written agreement, shall be presumed to be equally . There better be good reasons other than make my yard look better. She is seriously the neighbor of nightmares and this is why people need to understand what it means to live in an HOA community. What was the outcome regarding the neighbors trees/vegetation ruining your fence? Were going through a similar situation. If she fails to respond, you will then go ahead with the construction (just make sure and inform her the days they will be replacing the fence in case she has dogs, etc.) As far as the CA Good Neighbor Law is concerned you ARE NOT liable for half the fence. Although I was not informed in advance, not included in the planning, never saw a quote or even a final bill, I felt bullied, and paid him the $500. We need to have some stucco repair to the side of our house in that area and would like to be able to get in there periodically to weed, etc. At the very least, even if your neighbor doesnt see your side of the issue and still believes both of you should split the costs evenly, hopefully, you can convey the importance of proper care and maintanence for the new fence in the future to prevent another similar issue down the road. The wall is leaning significantly toward my property and I am afraid it could fall. Yes, the 30 day timeline still applies, but I would have to imagine a judge would take the extenuating circumstances into account. In this case, if a neighbor builds a fence, the fenceless owner doesnt have the pay for it. (ii) The extent to which the costs of the project appear to be the result of the landowner's The other lot owners, said they want to erect a fence on the eastern boundary and for us to pay half. Although I know this is now besides the point, I would actually always recommend a custom built fence to the prefabricated fence panels they carry at big box stores. Am I still responsible for half? I just feel like Im trying to be very diplomatic about this but if the neighbor shoots me down or ignores me again my only thought process is to get a surveyor out here and give me the exact property line. He came and did the job. Can my neighbor legally stop me from replacing the fence until we do a survey? If you are in Southern California, RCP Block & Brick has partnered with Keystone to provide pre-engineered segmental block walls up to 6-ft in height. (2) Foundations, load bearing components, and slabs shall not cause the structure, in whole or in part . No fences. As far as extending the fence, as long as it was built on the boundary line between your two properties, I do not see why you couldnt continue the fence off the post where he ended the one he built. Schedule one of the fence contractors, most likely youll want to choose RC Fences and Decks, due to their superb attention to detail along with their reasonable prices, but keep all of the bids so you can show that the price was reasonable. Does it? California Criminal Statute. The only way to force your neighbor to spend $1000 he or she probably doesn't have is to drag them into court and seek a court order making them spend $1000 that he or she probably doesn't have, and to convince the court that Civil Code 841(b) really doesn't mean I can elect to let my fence fall over it I want to. The rest of the fence between our backyards is fine. So Im in very different situation from any Ive read. agreement, shall be presumed to be equally responsible for the reasonable costs of The notice shall include notification of the presumption of equal responsibility Who knows, if this were allowed to take place a neighbor could hire their cousin lets say and pay him whatever fee and then later claim the costs were way higher than actually paid in order to make him or his family member/ associate some extra money. the boundaries and monuments between them. There is a rebuttable presumption that can be overcome. And approached us in an aggressive and very critical manner. In California, two people whose properties border each other are both required to maintain an existing fence between the properties, with only a few exceptions. He said that would be nice, as most people do not do that. (3) The presumption in paragraph (1) may be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence I sent the neighbors a demand letter as they would not answer the door to us for several months of trying (nearly a dozen times). He has planted shrubs and now most of the water for those shrubs in between our shared fence and his retaining wall is over saturating my soil, the fence post and baseboards. Thank you Jason, I appreciate the advice! In determining whether equal responsibility for the reasonable costs would be unjust, Start out by documenting the current condition of the fence. a picture frame fence since it looks the same from both sides, or when a basic nail-up fence is built with alternating panels, hence both neighbors get equal shares of the bad and good sides. The fence has deteriorated and a section has fallen over. I know personally, I would never get involved with such a situation! Some years back, with consent from the prior owner of the neighboring house, my husband paid for and built a fence in our FRONT yard between our driveway and neighbors side yard for growing plants on (decorative). Of course, like many laws there are exceptions. Triple damages. As long as you have proof that your neighbors shed caused all the damage due to being improperly anchored down, then I would not accept any responsibility and pay a dime to make the repairs, instead demand he do so! This is why I believe it is best in your situation to try and come to an agreement amicably with your neighbor! (b)(1) Adjoining landowners are presumed to share an equal benefit from any fence I sent a link to a fence I had received an estimate on: This fence was panels with lattice on top from Lowes to replace the falling down fence that was not panels but simply boards but would match the rest of the shared fence. You are not responsible for any of the costs whatsoever and therefore you should not pay half much less the full costs, which I have no idea how this neighbor believes this to be fair. Sometimes even a hedge can act as a boundary. 6, 2016). Still, we would have been happy to go 50/50 on a new fence but they did not inform us and did ask for us to help pay for a new fence. He offered to remove our old wooden fence for $600.00. I was barely in escrow when they did fence as soon as I moved in they asked me to pay them 3,000 I told them that was not my responsibility because the house wasnt mine yet. Published by EPSTEN, APC . All rights reserved. A day later, while I was out, the neighbor came and spoke to my wife in a very critical fashion. Do they have the right to force us to sign their agreement to allowour work to start? Commonly become known as spite fences to use our fence Contractor ; landowner guy. 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