Legal help, adverse possession laws.

[Mayor Qumiby]

Ok so the wife and I just bought a house. We got an estimate on a fence before our land was surveyed, during the survey we found out our property is 6 feet further back then we 1st realized.

The issue is before the survey our property line was on a hill and we would be able to go with a 6 foot fence to block the neighbors behind us. Now with the new property line it is behind the hill and we will need to go with an 8 foot fence to block the neighbors house from view.

The fence being 8 feet instead of 6 is going to cost me an extra three thousand dollars which I would rather save if I could and use it for other renovations rather than 2 feet more of fence.

I am trying to convince the wife we should just put a 6 foot fence on the hill and be done with it but she says if we don't put the fence on the property line then we could loose the land and the neighbors can claim it.

From what I've researched I found that after 20 years adverse possession could play a factor and if the neighbor made improvements to the land behind our fence then they could take it. But all they do is have cars they work on at their propert, we actually had to ask them to move a car that was on our property. But I don't see them "improving the land".

But I also read about "color of title " which properties could be obtained after 7 years but I'm having a hard time understanding that.

Instead of having a fence that goes all the way to property line i was thinking of planting 2 trees on on each corner. But I'm unsure if that's a solution or if I should just drop the extra three grand for the extended fence.

Hopefully someone here has a bit of experience here and couple provide me a little guidance.

Thanks

[pstall]

Trees is a simple and much better solution.

Build the smaller fence and have some nice trees but be smart the type of trees due to branches and what kind of leaves etc it produces.

[h0llywood]

First thing, I would talk with your new neighbor and get acquainted. There is nothing like dealing with an asshole for a neighbor over 2 feet of fence line.

[Harris Aballah]

Ok so the wife and I just bought a house. We got an estimate on a fence before our land was surveyed, during the survey we found out our property is 6 feet further back then we 1st realized.

The issue is before the survey our property line was on a hill and we would be able to go with a 6 foot fence to block the neighbors behind us. Now with the new property line it is behind the hill and we will need to go with an 8 foot fence to block the neighbors house from view.

The fence being 8 feet instead of 6 is going to cost me an extra three thousand dollars which I would rather save if I could and use it for other renovations rather than 2 feet more of fence.

I am trying to convince the wife we should just put a 6 foot fence on the hill and be done with it but she says if we don't put the fence on the property line then we could loose the land and the neighbors can claim it.

From what I've researched I found that after 20 years adverse possession could play a factor and if the neighbor made improvements to the land behind our fence then they could take it. But all they do is have cars they work on at their propert, we actually had to ask them to move a car that was on our property. But I don't see them "improving the land".

But I also read about "color of title " which properties could be obtained after 7 years but I'm having a hard time understanding that.

Instead of having a fence that goes all the way to property line i was thinking of planting 2 trees on on each corner. But I'm unsure if that's a solution or if I should just drop the extra three grand for the extended fence.

Hopefully someone here has a bit of experience here and couple provide me a little guidance.

Thanks

Do this. But make em' pot plants. Call the police when they get ripe, and no more neighbors!

[PandaPancake]

Do this. But make em' pot plants. Call the police when they get ripe, and no more neighbors!

Not sure why there would be no more neighbors

[TheAmericanDream]

Green Giant arborvitae is a great choice on trees for screen. You can start small if you like. One gallon pots could be 2ft tall and around $10 a piece.If you want instant privacy I would go with some in 15 gallon pots. They could be as tall as 6 ft. Plant 4 1/2 to 5 ft apart. Fast growers and highly recommend.

[Johnny Rockets]

I had something happen that was similar to this that might help. In my previous home (my ex still lives there with my daughter) we had a split rail fence that was 5-6 feet in front of where our property line was. On the other side of that fence was small trees / shrubs that blocked the view to the neighbors behind us because the split rail fence was only about 4 feet high.  I bought the house this way and didn't realize that I had another 5 feet until one of my neighbors told us a couple years after we lived there. 

 

Fast forward a couple years later and she gets new neighbors behind the house and they get a property survey done. My ex went to church one day and all the trees and bushes that were on the other side of the fence were cut down. The neighbor claimed that my ex gave her permission to do that which she denied. I still own the home but was not living there at the time and wanted nothing to do with this mess.

 

This started a crazy neighbor like feud and my ex actually sued them for cutting down the trees / shrubs. Even though the trees were on the other side of the fence and the neighbor claimed we abandoned the property because the area was not maintained, she lost and had to pay a few hundred bucks for each tree / shrub they cut down which turned out to be rather expensive for her. My ex then used some of that money to build a 6 ft. privacy fence so she didn't have to look at her anymore. 

[Montsta]

I ran into something similar here in Cali. The property line shown when we bought the house was different than the fence line that was there. It turned out to be on a little slant so when we bought the new fence and me and my neighbors went half, they actually had to pay a bit more for a retaining wall underneath. They wanted us to pay for it but I told them no way.

[Panthro]

Green Giant arborvitae is a great choice on trees for screen. You can start small if you like. One gallon pots could be 2ft tall and around $10 a piece.If you want instant privacy I would go with some in 15 gallon pots. They could be as tall as 6 ft. Plant 4 1/2 to 5 ft apart. Fast growers and highly recommend.

Can you cap their growth?

[TheAmericanDream]

Can you cap their growth?

When they get as tall as you want you can top them every couple of years or so.

[Hawk]

did you gain 6 extra feet or did the whole property line shift 6 feet?

[h0llywood]

Green Giant arborvitae is a great choice on trees for screen. You can start small if you like. One gallon pots could be 2ft tall and around $10 a piece.If you want instant privacy I would go with some in 15 gallon pots. They could be as tall as 6 ft. Plant 4 1/2 to 5 ft apart. Fast growers and highly recommend.

 

You need to trim them right or else they look like Christmas Trees

[Ja Rhule]

Just pee once a week in that area. Mark your territory.

[TheAmericanDream]

You need to trim them right or else they look like Christmas Trees

Hardly ever does anyone trim a green giant. If they do they usually only cut the tops off.