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Neighbor already building fence - asked me to pay half. Am I liable?

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BoomerD said:
Depending on the city/county ordinances, you COULD end up having to take the fence down and change it...

Here, most 6' privacy fences (and we all have them) are built in the "good neighbor" style with alternating pickets. One panel has the pickets on my side, next panel has the pickets on the neighbor's side...

_____------_____------_____------
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how could HE have to take it down and change it? only way i can see if he knows its on his property and says nothing until its done.
 
waggy said:
how could HE have to take it down and change it? only way i can see if he knows its on his property and says nothing until its done.
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Here, if you build a fence, you don't necessarily need a permit, but the city has to sign off on the fence to be sure it meets, not only building code, but the "neighborhood preservation" standards. Unless the fence is more than 6' tall, no actual permit is required, but over 6', not only does it require a building permit, but it also has to have the proper engineering plans before construction can begin.
 
BoomerD said:
Here, if you build a fence, you don't necessarily need a permit, but the city has to sign off on the fence to be sure it meets, not only building code, but the "neighborhood preservation" standards. Unless the fence is more than 6' tall, no actual permit is required, but over 6', not only does it require a building permit, but it also has to have the proper engineering plans before construction can begin.
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wow thats kinda insane. but i guess if you live in a town you need such stuff.
 
soxfan said:
This is the doctrine of adverse possession. The typical statutory periods are 10+ years long. Meaning that someone has to occupy the land in a continuous, open, actual, and hostile manner for >10 years (or whatever the stat period is) to gain title by adverse possession.
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In some places, specifically California, the statutory period can be as low as 5 years. There can also be additional requirements, as someone pointed out above, like paying property taxes (also in CA). It's really going to vary a lot by state.

As far as NY, the most recent info I could find regarding Adverse Possession is here: http://www.nyrealestatelawblog.com/2008/07/changes_to_adverse_possession.html

I haven't read the original law or the changes in their entirety and I don't know if anything has changed since then or if there is any applicable caselaw, but I do want to point out (S 543) which begins on line 35 of page 3. If you read that carefully, it looks like fences, shrubs, etc do not count as adverse, and the logical conclusion of that is that a fence a few inches or feet across the line is not going to create a valid adverse possession claim.

Putting that aside for a second, the actual issue here is the fence. I'd guess that if you were required to pay for half or any part of the fence that there would be some sort of local ordinance/law. Normally I'd suggest calling City Hall, but I have no idea if you'll get anywhere with that in NYC.

Assuming for the sake of argument that you wanted to be a really nice guy, good neighbor, pushover, whatever: the most you should/would pay is 50% of the cost of the fence you wanted OR the fence that was installed (whichever is lower). There's no reason for you to subsidize her improvements. The argument in support of this position is pretty straightforward and it was basically spelled out in the OP.

To answer your actual question: Yes she CAN sue you. Does she have a case? Can you then hire your own attorney and defend yourself? Can you get her to pay your attorney fees? Can you have the fence removed? Unfortunately, these are all questions for a NY lawyer. You might be able to get some free info from Legal Services NYC or here: http://www.lawhelp.org/NY/index.cfm...State/NY/TextOnly/N/ZipCode/ /LoggedIn/0/so/1
 
69Mach1 said:
Here in Idaho the law used to be that each person was liable for half the fence between properties. It has been years since I've heard anything about it, so I don't know if it still reads that way. I would check the law before I got too crazy about telling her off, might save some crow later.
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SpatiallyAware said:
There's no way that's possible... Think of all the problems that would arise from this.. Someone putting up a 10k stone fence or some crap..
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thats the truth there. my neighbor to the east owns a company that does stone work. he had one of his crews come in and slap up a wall in 3 days between our houses. his is a rental, i own mine. we had talked about it all before he got the crew there, but damned if he didnt give me an estimate with his retail pricing, not his cost. i didnt know he owned the company at that point. i was pretty pissed off at paying premium pricing for something he got for way less.

and for OP, if you dont know roughly where the property line is, you may want to find out.
 
It's not uncommon for neighbors to share a fence cost. However usually this is talked about long and in advance with both parties agreeing on a design.

I have had fences I have shared and where both my and my neighbor's fences were against each other due to design wants.
 
Numenorean said:
If it is entirely on my property, I don't see how anyone can say what I can do.

If they want to pay to put up slats on their side, I would have no problem with that, and since I'd be building it myself, I'd even put them up for them if they bought the materials. Otherwise I don't see how there is anything anyone should be able to do. If there is some sort of ordinance shit then it would need to be changed because that's bullshit that people shouldn't put up with. I will have a full side of slats on my side of my fence.
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i ran into this question here in mesa when my neighbors broke the slats in our common wooden fence. this is the house behind me. they said my dog was trying to kill her kids and her pet rabbit that roamed free in their back yard. the slats are all on my side of the fence, which apparently makes it MY fence. the cops literally told the lady if she wanted to protect her kids and animals, to build her own fence. he did warn me to keep my fence in good repair and ensure my dogs didnt have any way to get through MY fence to get at her kids tho.
 
The only way I can see you being liable is if your HOA rules say something about the adjacent neighbor paying for a portion of the fence. But, even if this was the case, she/he must come to you ahead of time and request approval (of you) for the type of fence/material/cost. In which case you guys would work out how much pays who etc... Not necessarily 50/50.

Example in our neighborhood, Every house that is located in a group (usually 5 houses) must have the same siding color. If any one home wishes to change their color/style, they must sign off on it with other neighbors. Every house must then change their color within 30-day increments from each other. It dosen't say anything about money. So if one neighbor wanted to pay for all 5 houses, it dosen't matter.
 
steppinthrax said:
Example in our neighborhood, Every house that is located in a group (usually 5 houses) must have the same siding color. If any one home wishes to change their color/style, they must sign off on it with other neighbors. Every house must then change their color within 30-day increments from each other. It dosen't say anything about money. So if one neighbor wanted to pay for all 5 houses, it dosen't matter.
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Cookie-cutter communities FTL.
 
steppinthrax said:
A HOA is there to preserve home values in the best interest of all home owners. Most communities have HOA's to prevent your home owner from painting their home "hot pink" and preventing anybody wanting to move there.
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HOA are for pretentious douchebags, crotchety old women who have nothing better to do and bored housewives who need some form of entertainment other than banging the mailman and gossiping about everyone else in the cul-de-sac.
 
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steppinthrax said:
A HOA is there to preserve home values in the best interest of all home owners. Most communities have HOA's to prevent your home owner from painting their home "hot pink" and preventing anybody wanting to move there.
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What shiner said + HOA in most communities are unwarranted. In many places, there are numerous local regulations that can take care of the biggest nuisances. I don't need some busy-body telling me my lawn is 1/4" too long or that I can't park my car in front of my house, etc....
 
Brainonska511 said:
What shiner said + HOA in most communities are unwarranted. In many places, there are numerous local regulations that can take care of the biggest nuisances. I don't need some busy-body telling me my lawn is 1/4" too long or that I can't park my car in front of my house, etc....
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I used to be extremely anti-HOA... until I lived in a community without one. Local regulations aren't going to keep your idiot neighbors from clogging up the street with their three teenagers' cars, leaving their trashcans (filled with trash) at the curb all week long, keeping the grass under 12", having their home presentable (paint falling off, etc).

I recently sold a home, and it was VERY difficult because of one troublesome neighbor. We got routine feedback that they loved the house but "didn't like the street". Aside from this one neighbor, the street was gorgeous and immaculate.

A *GOOD* association can really work to the betterment of the entire community, and it can be done without grossly interfering in people's lives or turning into a little tyranic government. On the flip side, I'm sure some communities thrive just fine without one. It really depends on the make-up of the homeowners. Of course a bad HOA can be horrific. I know some are run by power-hungry megalomaniacs with nothing better to do than take issue with a bubblegum wrapper on your driveway. Then again, the lines I'm drawing between "good" and "bad" are arbitrary. Buying a home includes studying the neighborhood and the HOA.

The home I'm moving into has an HOA with annual dues of about $250. A pittance to make sure the public green areas (including a community playground) are in good shape and that some asshole doesn't - like someone else mentioned - paint his house pink (this was also done in our last neighborhood, but it was several streets over).
 
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SR1729 said:
I used to be extremely anti-HOA... until I lived in a community without one. Local regulations aren't going to keep your idiot neighbors from clogging up the street with their three teenagers' cars, leaving their trashcans (filled with trash) at the curb all week long, keeping the grass under 12", having their home presentable (paint falling off, etc).

I recently sold a home, and it was VERY difficult because of one troublesome neighbor. We got routine feedback that they loved the house but "didn't like the street". Aside from this one neighbor, the street was gorgeous and immaculate.

A *GOOD* association can really work to the betterment of the entire community, and it can be done without grossly interfering in people's lives or turning into a little tyranic government. On the flip side, I'm sure some communities thrive just fine without one. It really depends on the make-up of the homeowners. Of course a bad HOA can be horrific. I know some are run by power-hungry megalomaniacs with nothing better to do than take issue with a bubblegum wrapper on your driveway. Then again, the lines I'm drawing between "good" and "bad" are arbitrary. Buying a home includes studying the neighborhood and the HOA.

The home I'm moving into has an HOA with annual dues of about $250. A pittance to make sure the public green areas (including a community playground) are in good shape and that some asshole doesn't - like someone else mentioned - paint his house pink (this was also done in our last neighborhood, but it was several streets over).
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the obvious solution is to live someplace where you cant see your closest neighbor

boonies FTW
 
A fun spin on this problem is when you want to rip down YOUR fence but your neighbor objects.

Speaking of the home I recently sold, I really wanted to take the fence down a few years back. It was on MY LAND, but all 3 neighbors around me had piggybacked off the fence. Everyone objected, of course. One said they had an agreement with the previous owner, but whatever.
 
Tell her you find her proposition offence-ive and that if given the option to build, you won't picket.
 
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