What is the best way to approach a neighbor about

Lavndrgrl · #1 06/17/08, 10:26 AM

putting up a fence on common boundry. DH and I are new land owners. The surrounding land also has some new folks. Our property borders are common. We dont know these folks but we want to put up our perimeters for our property for future animals. How or should we approach these people that a fence is about to go up? We orginally thought to suggest going in half and half but we would rather pay for it ourselves. The reason is that we want to be able to maintain the fence ourselves. A friend of ours who lives in a regular neighborhood shared the expence of their common fence when they were friends in the beginning and now they have strife. Of course because they both paid for the fence there is conflict over it now. Kind of sad. Thanks ahead for any advice.

mammabooh · #2 06/17/08, 10:29 AM

I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but no way would I want to share a fence. I would most certainly make sure my fence was entirely on my property.

ksfarmer · #3 06/17/08, 10:48 AM

I would go visit with the neighbor about the idea. They may be tickled to let you put in a fence at your expense. Or they might be willing to share expenses and let you maintain the fence. They may want a say on what type of fence for appearance sake. Be cautious about putting in a fence that isn't on the property line After a period of time, the fenceline may become the property line. This probably varies in different parts of the country, but, I know of a case where it happened.

lvshrs · #4 06/17/08, 10:48 AM

This is something I would love to see others responses to also. We are in the final stages of purchasing some property and planning to fence it.

I am also of the mind to pay for it all and not worry about asking the neighbors to pay half. I figure it's going to be more for MY peace of mind than theirs anyway. Also I'll be putting up more fence than they might consider good enough. I want horse fence with electric 'keep off" wire while the neighbor would probably only go for a couple of strands of barbwire.

**Shrek** · #5 06/17/08, 11:10 AM

I defined the boundary lines of my mothers farm and set the fence 1 foot inside her property line to ensure neighbors could not protest the fence row and if they ever choose to fence their property for stock, they have to run their own fence parralel to it to better ensure stock wont be breaking through the common property line.

wy_white_wolf · #6 06/17/08, 11:14 AM

First research your state laws on fences and what yours and their rights are and what is a legal fence.

EDDIE BUCK · #7 06/17/08, 11:22 AM

Would be a good time to get to know them, so why not atleast ask their input, like would it bother them if the fence was there and show them where there" is". Its just being courteous. If you don't like their answer,put it where you want it. Make sure its all on your land and theres no question about the property line. My 2 cents Eddie

wy_white_wolf · #8 06/17/08, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrek

I defined the boundary lines of my mothers farm and set the fence 1 foot inside her property line to ensure neighbors could not protest the fence row and if they ever choose to fence their property for stock, they have to run their own fence parralel to it to better ensure stock wont be breaking through the common property line.

Might want to check but I think Alabama is a "Fence out" state so your nieghbor would not have to put up any additional fence.

http://law.justia.com/alabama/codes/2220/146585.html

hillsidedigger · #9 06/17/08, 11:43 AM

Unless you tract is very small, I would suggest placing the fence about 5' inside the boundary in order to be able to walk and maybe mow on the other side of the fence and notify the adjoiner of this fact.

Mike in Ohio · #10 06/17/08, 12:07 PM

Some of the advice given should be useful to you. Here is what I would recommend and in the order I would recommend doing it:

1) Research your state/local laws. One way to get some information is to ask local fencing companies for quotes on the job. You may find that they can do the job competitive to doing it yourself if you consider equipment, quality of job and time to complete. If you have absolutely no interest in contracting the job then using quotes to get information would seem a bit unethical to me.

2) Once you have information, speak with the neighbor. Maybe you will mutually choose to split the cost. Remember though that the person you deal with today may not be the owner down the road. In Ohio you would each end up owning and maintaining half the fence (stand in the middle facing the fence and the right hand side is yours.)

You may choose not to share the fence. How far back you set it depends on the law and your preference. On our North property line we have about 1,000 feet of fence going in (posts are in, need to finish the braces and string the fence). We set it back 5 feet so we can easily come through with a mower. We have 8 neighbors along that property line (includes another 1,000 feet we haven't fenced yet) and it wasn't worth trying to deal with that many people. Some are ----ed we set it back (they wanted to tie their fence into ours) and others would have been ----ed if we had done it as a line fence. Go figure.

I just sent a deposit in for fencing our South property line. That is 1,755 feet. Because it goes through pasture and woods and at one point cuts close to one of our lakes we decided to set it back 1 foot from the property line. To get that 1 foot I can just use a weed wacker.

We thought about doing a line fence but our neighbor on that side has some issues (like trespassing and poaching on our land and telling his tenants that it is ok as well).

Just a few thoughts.

Mike

P.S. It will take the contractor 2 days to clear for the fence + put in the 1755 feet of fence including 13 corner and line braces. They are also putting in some extra gate posts and braces on our 3 drives. Can't imagine how long it would take me to do this work.

Mike

starjj · #11 06/17/08, 12:59 PM

Been there done that. I would make SURE the fence was inside the property line NOT on it. Had trouble once with a neighbor and when they had the land resurveyed they found out THEY were over our property line. HA HA it worked against them. They had a dog that they couldn't control and it kept jumping the little 3 foot fence that was there originally from the previous owner.

Lavndrgrl · #12 06/17/08, 01:15 PM

Thanks everyone for all of the wonderful advice. I knew this would be a great place for some of these questions.

fantasymaker · #13 06/17/08, 01:50 PM

It would get you a lot more accurate answers if we knew where you are.
That said you need to read your local fence laws and see what they are.
In IL where I am at you are responceable for maintaining 1/2 of a fence ON THE BOUNDRY between you and your neighbor.
So there you go and put in a nice fence 1,2 or 5 feet back from the line and they can make you build and maintain a fence on the line.
Go talk with your neighbors tell them what you want to do first and see if they go along with it.
If you ask them what they want and they put forth an idea they may feel the need to defend their idea, but if you go first they may just be like "Sure thats fine with me"

mnn2501 · #14 06/17/08, 01:54 PM

Put it just inside your property line (have it surveyed if necessary) and its all yours, sharing a fence is never a good idea as eventually someone changes their mind or one or the other property is: sold, inherited, etc. My fence is 6 inches inside my property line and all mine I paid for it and I can do anything I want to with it -- keep in mind the 'good side' must be pointed towards your neighbors, not you. (ie you get the posts on your side)

mnn2501 · #15 06/17/08, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fantasymaker

So there you go and put in a nice fence 1,2 or 5 feet back from the line and they can make you build and maintain a fence on the line.

What? No offence meant here -- but thats crazy. I'd need to see that law to believe it.

fantasymaker · #16 06/17/08, 02:13 PM

Dont know where to find it but Im sure someone here will have a link for Il fence law .
Belive me that doesnt even come close to being the Crazyest law in Il.
Actually now that I think about it it just seems like good common scence.

mnn2501 · #17 06/17/08, 02:37 PM

well, I looked it up and the way I read it would be IF there was a fence on the property line (what they call a divisional fence) then both must maintain it. But theres nothing there requiring you to put a fence on the property line.
It IS ambiguous though, so I would check with the local planning board first for anone in IL.
heres the link http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs...Name=Fence+Act.

I know -- my wife says I'm a nit-picker....well actually what she says isn't quite that nice lol

fantasymaker · #18 06/17/08, 02:50 PM

(765 ILCS 130/3) (from Ch. 54, par. 3)
Sec. 3. When 2 or more persons have lands adjoining, each of them shall make and maintain a just proportion of the division fence between them,

The bold is mine . I read that to mean its a requirement.

rambler · #19 06/17/08, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnn2501

well, I looked it up and the way I read it would be IF there was a fence on the property line (what they call a divisional fence) then both must maintain it. But theres nothing there requiring you to put a fence on the property line.
It IS ambiguous though, so I would check with the local planning board first for anone in IL.
heres the link http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs...Name=Fence+Act.

I know -- my wife says I'm a nit-picker....well actually what she says isn't quite that nice lol

Several states have laws that, if both of you have livestock, both of you need to maintain 1/2 of the fence on the border.

Judges have interpited that to force folks to pay for 1/2 of a border fence, even if you have your own in a few feet.

This is not common, and it is only when you don't get along with your neighbor & push went way past shove, and a judge with leanings that way went for that ruling......

We shouldn't scare you with only horror stories, but knowing what can happen is valuable too.

It would help to know what state you live in.....

Typically you can put a fence down the border, you pay for all of it, and if your neighbor has livestock then you should get reembursed for the 1/2 of the fence on that side. Sometimes you do, sometimes good luck collecting!!!!

From then on, each of you is responsible for maintaining your 1/2 (often the right side, looking at it...) to legal standards. If either your or the neighbors critters get out of 'your 1/2' of the fence, it was your liability what happens to the critters if you did not properly maintain the fence.

Generally all works well; in very rare cases bad neighbors make this a bit of a nightmare.

If you set the fence back a few feet, and never maintin that 'waste' land, if your neighbor starts mowing it or otherwise conroling it, after 7-20 years (depending on your state) it is possible for a neighbor who dislikes you to try to claim this unused strip of land as his. While rare, it does happen.

So, either way has some small risk of odd things happening. But, you will note it always starts with bad blood between neighbors. Good folk build their own fences as they need them, and pay for 1/2 of the ones they use, and so forth.

Should work out fine.

--->Paul

airotciv · #20 06/17/08, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mammabooh

I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but no way would I want to share a fence. I would most certainly make sure my fence was entirely on my property.

I must agree, one day you can be the best of friends and the next having a problem. We have a fence on our property that the nieghbor uses as her fence. We got a long fine until her horses started breaking down the fence. She would come over and demand that we maintain our fence. Well a letter from our lawer set her straight, damages to our fence was going to cost her.
Now if this had been a shared fence, would we have had to pay 1/2 the cost to repair it?