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Generally, the law considers dividing fences to be a joint property that is owned equally by both neighbors. Peoples experiences do differ though as some go on to have the best neighbors. Do not do so! Usually in small claims if it is under the max amount in your state (usually around 10-15k). Seems like a stalling tactic to avoid paying for it. Secondly, I wouldnt pay them a dime if I were you. I told him that this was not my fence, and explained the history. Request Repairs Notify your landlord by phone and in writing that the fence needs repaired as soon. On our average bid, the material costs are nearly 1.5 to 1.75 the costs of labor. As far as tearing down part of his fence. If you dont agree to her doing the job, which I would be very wary of and personally would never allow, then she has no choice but to pay for it all herself or you guys use a different contractor. Fences and boundary lines are a common source of grievance among neighbors, with the Texas Law State Library saying: "A common dispute among neighbors is who owns, as well as who is. What then do you do when your neighbor will not pay half of the fence in Texas? Insights from a Residential Fencing Company in Mundelein, Illinois, Residential Fencing Options to Consider in 2023: Insights from a Fence Installation Contractor in Vernon Hills, Illinois, Assessing the Pros and Cons of Vinyl Fencing: Insights from a Residential Fencing Company in Park Ridge, Illinois, Tips to Keep in Mind When Searching for a Fencing Contractor in Waukegan, Illinois, How to Determine Which Type of Fence Is Right for Your Property: Insights from a Commercial Fencing Contractor in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, The Pros and Cons of Installing a Chain Link Fence: Insights from a Fencing Contractor in Riverwoods, Illinois, Which Fencing Material Is Right for Your Yard? Good luck! Do we still split it in half? If tree roots rupture something like a septic system in a neighbor's yard, there could be claims made against the tree owner. It was always referred to as their fence, and nobody else could touch it. If the fence is a "division fence", and a property owner wants to request contribution from a neighbor for a portion of the fence cost, Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP has a package of four letters to request contribution from the neighbor. RC Fences and Decks, Construction Landing Page Pro Theme by: Rara Theme. My neighbors have large trees, poor maintenance in vegetation that is against our fence. As long as he cuts only the parts of the tree that goes over to his own side of the fence, he can do so without having to ask for your permission. There is a brick wall between me and my neighbor. An article from the Texas A&M Agri-Life Extension that reviews the general fence law in Texas and the two major exceptions that modify that rule. Shouldnt they have to replace the fence since they removed it? 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? My neighbor fence between the driveways in California needs to be replaced from wind damage last December. I built my house many years ago. Do they have the right to force us to sign their agreement to allowour work to start? Theres an old saying that good fences make good neighbors. Yes, you can pay your neighbor to pay half. sorry for the crappy neighbor, youd be surprised how common this really is! The back part of the fence, in the backyard, fell and is neighboring all of the neighbors front yard. Whether they are facing financial hardships of their own, are very tight with their money, or just take no pride in the upkeep of their property, the refusal usually comes from the misconception that they are not legally responsible to pay. But there's a catch. It wouldnt be fair for you to pay for the whole fence, and the law is clear that you dont have to. An article from legal self-help publisher Nolo about how to resolve boundary line disputes. They have a right to go to mediation and even to court in order to force the reluctant party to reimburse them their share usually half of the costs. Certified letter of intent I told him I would also throw my neighbor a bone. A 2007 article from the Texas A&M Real Estate Center discussing the use of boundary agreements, both through formal and informal means. Having a shared responsibility can be much more contentious than you think. Boundary line disputes may arise between adjoining neighbors for a variety of reasons. It seems we can not agree. Texas Best Fence & Patio 426 Southfork Dr Lewisville, Texas 75057 Phone: (972) 245-0640. It only benefits them. The fence does not enclose their front yard but is still a neighboring fence. Most states provide mediation services. Such a notice usually stipulates the type of fence to be installed, costs of installation, and the need for the neighbor to pay for half of the costs. I have 2 concerns, would we need to pay for the sections that dont enclose our backyard? Actually, under the law, any maintenance to keep the debris from the trees off the the fence could be billed half to the neighbor. Anyway, now that I told my story, I want to get your opinion on whether or not I was within my rights (morally and legally), to refuse to pay for a decorative front yard fence that solely compliments his landscape and is not standard in our neighborhood (even though I did end up paying). Are they responsible for paying for half of the fence that runs along their easement, even if the fence doesnt border their yard? I call upset that he has been pettt by ignoring not just me and my mother but the 2 contractors we tired to hire for this shared fence. The fence is attached on two sides to my neighbors existing fence. 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. Start out by documenting the current condition of the fence. And in case one neighbor is uncooperative, the other neighbor can proceed to build the fence and thereafter take their neighbor to court in order to recover half of the costs of the installation. Check out our Abandoned Property research guide for more on adverse possession. Ft. Worth based equine attorney, Alison Rowe, has compiled nearly all of the stock laws across the state and will provide this information for a copying fee upon request. Not your property, not your fence. What Can You Do About a Boundary Dispute With a Neighbor? We were gone for a free days, and the contractor had a job cancel, so he asked if he could come early and remove the fence. Remember he Here is how it works. Hi, can you please explain what your opinion is about when it is necessary to replace a wooden fence under the fence law. Posted on Jan 17, 2017. Griffin v. Sansom. Out of the 9 houses only 4 are year round. If your neighbor has never fenced his land, he does not have to provide a fence that only really serves you. There are many reasons disputes may arise between neighbors when it comes to fences. The development has remained pretty much the same over the years, and only a handful of people chose to put up decorative front yard fences. You can do this by first building the fence, and thereafter writing to your neighbor demanding that they pay half of the cost of installing it. If your neighbor says no to your informal approach, the next step should be to get an estimate of the cost of the fence from a contractor. The service will then contact your neighbor and inform them of the fact that they have been contacted in relation to the boundary fence. Yes, the 30 day timeline still applies, but I would have to imagine a judge would take the extenuating circumstances into account. This article from Nolo, a legal publisher, discusses how adverse possession law works in Texas. Approaching your neighbors about paying half Generally, it is required that you give your neighbors a formal notice of your intention to set up the boundary fence. However our back fence was not vinyl, but an older wooden fence, in some need of repair. The other neighbor does not own but rents, so I contacted the rental company and informed them of my wishes to replace the fence. We sent the insurance coverage, licenses. 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. Code 841, but my fear is that after having a letter certified to her, she will either ignore it or refuse after the 30 days. Our neighbor, without talking to us, tore his fence down and had a vinyl fence put up. Property owners' associations (POAs) in Texas cannot prevent an owner from installing certain types of fencing on their property. I want to replace our fence and sent multiple notices to our neighbor south of us. This is because if you erect a fence it will simultaneously benefit the neighbor. All dogs get out. Now we are stuck and the cost is adding everyday to put home on market for sale. Civ. When traffic sight distances are impaired. The fence does not enclose their front yard but is still a neighboring fence. Would we lose in small claims court? I have a 5 acre property with no HOA or perimiter fence requirements. The neighbor does not want to share the cost to fix it, and states it is my sole responsibility. In that case, if a neighbor builds a fence, the fenceless owner doesn't have the pay for it. Neighbor also charged me for dirtying his vehicles while i was cleaning my front yard. Yes, there are no provisions in the statute to account for one neighbors actions, i.e. Texas Fence Law: Open Range.or Not? One can still erect fences that are taller than the height limits. No work until 30days after certified letter. The neighbor isn't responsible for fallen leaves or acorns, since those are natural occurrences, but you can trim branches that extend onto your property. The builder had built a fence between my neighbor and me ( there was no fence on that side of the neighbors property before). If your neighbor refuses to pay for his share then you could do any of the following: Put it in writing - send him a well written letter describing the issue. Yes, you can talk to them to see if they are interested in sharing the costs but they will not be under obligation. 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. Also during the raining season, we need to do the roof and siding work asap before the raining season. Do Neighbors have to share the cost of a fence? Neighbor dynamics are usually characterized by interesting situations. Do your neighbors not agree on fixing the fence, what contractor to use, or the price? Sitting down with your neighbor and offering to pay for half the cost of moving the fence often solves the problem. Thank you. This can result in the inconvenience of having to remove the fence and start afresh. They always ignored them, I eventually thought they just dont care and I made it clear Im not looking for any money if they cant afford it. I am currently dealing with a neighbor that is refusing to fix our shared fence. I have a neighbor that replaced my fence on one side. However, as far as equally sharing the costs are concerned, there are two main exceptions where the law usually entertains unequal sharing of the costs. The principle is, while property owners are not obligated to build or maintain a fence unless there was a prior agreement in . Yes, your right there is a defense one could present in court to fight the assumption that they owe half. This is if you dont take the proper steps leading up to the construction of the fence. I gave them 15 days to accomplish this and also gave my phone number. The court can do one of three things: Order removal. The specifics of the laws that apply to disputes relating to sharing costs of installing and maintaining boundary fences vary from state to state. Only one of them communicated this to us. The fence is old and grey but was being maintained with new planks when needed. It is only after the neighbor seems reluctant to participate in sharing the costs should you then proceed with the formal notice. The service will then get both of you together and try to make you negotiate. My neighboring fence completely collapsed during a storm. Does this mean both neighbors are responsible for the cost of the retaining concrete wall as well? Posted by 4 years ago. He didn't ask me for anything. Hope this fully answers your question, if you have any further questions please let us know. A 1995 article from Texas A&M Real Estate Center discussing boundary disputes involving fences, buildings or billboards that may cause an obstruction for neighbors. Its a great axiom that can be construed a couple of different ways, but for the purpose of this article, well use the literal interpretation: that a good fence, when agreed upon in terms of style, height, color, etc. Best to have a survey done. 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? It sounds to me like your new neighbors are bullies and I wouldnt let them push you around. This was not a tornado , ir hurricane , and there was no other wind damage in the neighborhood . In some cases, the . 167, 168 and. Neighbors can comment on your request during the variance hearing. The wood fence is failing and needs repair or replace but we have zero need for that privacy fence meeting their HOA requirements. Mon - Fri: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm At this point I dont care about the money but he keeps saying he paid for the last 3 fences which is not true. Neither you nor your arborist may go onto a neighbor's property or destroy the tree. In the case of the exceptions noted above, the fence can be no higher than about 4 feet. There is no splitting costs here as there is not shared structure. Here is a short section of the actual law to better explain what I mean by this: Boundary fences sit on the boundary line between two properties. This means that your neighbor (s) have the same rights to the shared fence as you do. I would definitely go ahead with the notice to alter shared boundary as soon as possible giving the neighbor as much time as possible before construction commences. Is this situation an exception? He also damaged a small two foot retaining wall that serves in that corner of my yard as a decorative feature as well as a way to halt erosion. In a way we can say there is no law in Texas that explicitly governs the sharing of costs for boundary fences. Let us now discuss a scenario where neighbors have a boundary fence they found there already. State law governing stray livestock or fowl. It may attempt to recover money from the neighbor's insurance company if it feels the neighbor is at fault. Unfortunately there is a gap of 10 to 12 inches between the fences and all kinds of weeds, bushes and trees are growing inside. The most common dispute is who will incur the costs and whether or not there should be a shared responsibility due to the equal benefit the fence will have. Archived . Nolan v. Mendere. We saved all receipts from the hardware store. Hi Annie, thanks for the great question! I still cant see this fence from my property. 8: . In fact once you file the small claims suit and he is served most people will end up paying then because they dont want the hassle of going to court and they realize they will likely lose anyway. He was not nice when I went out to talk to him about it. Jim, thank you for the great question. They would then have the law on their side and if they went through the proper steps outlined above, most likely would win a judgment against you. Whether you pay for it or not, the "good" side goes outwards. He then complained about us buying expenseive material (6ft red wood) and did not want to spend that. Unless your neighbor agrees to maintain his side of the fence, its your responsibility as the new fence builder to maintain both sides. The case law for boundary fences is found in. 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. The neighbor said he gave notice ahead of time but has no proof and I never got any prior notice. The neighbor is bullying you in order to make money off you. Cities or property owner associationswill often try to regulate things such as fence heightbut for disputes involving ownership or maintenance, those will often need to be settled in court if the neighbors cannot come to an agreement on their own. By reading the law it seems like I dont really need his permission to build the fence due to its condition and previous incidents but Im trying to keep the peace. Will we need to pay? Your neighbor is not legally required to pay half of the fence. No he won't even listen to me. 8 years ago I was worried that my dog would get injured by the new neighbors aggressive bulldog so I suggested we put up a new fence, he said sure as long as I replaced with heavy duty commercial chain link with slats (original is a leaning 42 yr old commercial chain link with broken and missing wood slats). You sound very knowledgable, friendly, and it sure looks like you build some top notch fencing. As long as you took the proper steps in contacting the owner, getting multiple bids which you presented to him, and hopefully sent him a notice a month prior to starting the work of Intent to Alter Shared Boundry, than according to the CA Good Neighbor Law he is legally responsible to pay you half the costs. However, it is usually fair to swap the good side after every 10 years to 15 years when the fence is to be replaced. Plus the neighbor will not have the right to even use it in any way without your consent. Therefore I fully agree with you that your fence was not even close to the point of needing to be replaced. Your neighbor is not legally required to pay half of the fence. How are we doing? Can I do half of the fence and they can do half of the fence? Your right, the Good Neighbor Law does not cover upgrades or replacing a fence just because it looks bad, yet I will not go into detail regarding this as this information is all clearly stated in the article which you would have known had you fully read it! The wall is leaning significantly toward my property and I am afraid it could fall. We write another notice that construction date has been pushed up to May. Yes, he does. The most common remedy is to take the neighbor to small claims court to recover the non-paying neighbor's share of the costs for the fence repair. Practical, easy-to-understand answers to questions about common legal issues. Also a small child or animal could possibly get into his yard and get in his pool. Texas Fence Law Doesn't Require Neighbors to Share the Cost of a Boundary Fence There's no legal obligation of your neighbors to share in the boundary fence. We deal solely with fences and decks and not siding, etc. Are you trying to say the fence will be in the front yard and therefore is not necessary or does it extend from the backyard all the way through to the front. Texas does not have a specific state law that addresses boundary line fences. Please let us know what better route there is to take, I am sure all our readers as well as I would love to hear all the other options out there! One section however that was falling down was simply wooden boards. 49. However, there are times when property deeds assign fence maintenance responsibilities. Mediation - some cities have a third party that will adjudicate the situation to ensure equitable relief. The back line of our fence lined up with all the adjacent neighbors fences who also border these townhouses in that development. Whoever holds legal title is presumed to be the owner unless and until the adverse possessor can meet that burden. Neighbor and I share a panel/lattice on top fence for most of our shared fencing. Join for use: the attachment of another fence to the boundary fence Moving the fence might cost hundreds to a few thousand dollars, but saves you both the expense and unpleasantness of a court battle that could cost each of you many thousands. Yes, you can build a fence on your side of the property line. Do we owe anyliability and responsibility to the neighbors? They replaced it a couple of times, and eventually changed the style to a more traditional looking front yard fence. 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. This type of question has not been answered since the fence had NOT fallen over and was being maintained but was just not as pretty or strong as when new and so was replaced. Depending on where you live, they may also . The fence falls after he rent it out to another family who as well as me has 3 large dogs. QUICK CONTACT. Include good color pictures. Hes going forward with it and we will get the framed side. That neighbor has since moved and a new owner bought the house as a rental property. Answer questions about your security fence needs. This prevents a neighbor from getting only 1 bid (maybe a family member) and going with them despite the fact they might have little experience and be charging an exuberant fee. Generally, each neighbor is equally responsible for boundary line fences. Especially since they are quite a bit more expensive and in theory will last a lifetime. This is so mainly because the law considers boundary fences to be joint property that is owned equally by adjoining neighbors. Whos responsible? A final option is to erect a new fence on your own land at your own expense, alongside your neighbour's old one. If there was and the fence is being replaced you would ONLY HAVE TO PAY for the sections that run along your property line and absolutely nothing else. It refers to a fence that uses sandwich construction, i.e. Or is it apparent the uphill neighbor backfilled their property for one reason or another which created the need for the wall? My neighbor has informed me he's going to hire a company to fix the fence and then send me a bill for half the cost. So he got one estimate and paid the company and then demanded I pay half. An existing dividing fence is owned by both neighbors and so seeking your neighbors permission before replacing it is generally advisable. Our neighbors property has their front yard side fence built on their property, parallel to our fence, about 16 inches from our fence along the entire way. If you cant abide by the rules that make the neighborhood clean and what probably attracted you to purchase in the first place, buy elsewhere! Of course, the biggest question, even more vital than what the fence looks like, is who pays for it? 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. Our properties backup to a small slope. The second option is to leave the failing wood fence there and build a vinyl fence a foot or two into your property. I Said they should of waited till the house was under my name and I would of helped out. To be safe, install your fence 1-2 feet inside the official boundary lines. I bought my house last year and my neighbors decide to redo their fence . Rule 3: The responsibility of repairing and maintaining the fence lies equally on both neighbors. That 32 of fence is behind a large hedge and is not even visible from my property. Our neighbor wants to replace the fence with vinyl fence. Must-dos. They have refused, saying that that dont want us to have free access to their property-we would literally only have to take 4-5 steps on their property to get to our our property under the stairs. I know this sounds very complicated and it is, so please try and answer the questions to the best of your ability!