Fencing

My son just went thru something simular in Arizona. He had a house built with 6ft high block fence that was built 18" on one end of a 100ft length on his neighbors property.

Neighbor wanted the fence moved as his new driveway was 18" short.

Since the fence wasn't 7yrs old and not recorded at the County Recorders Office, the neighbor owned the 18" of fence.

The original surveyor was 18" off and not a State Registered Contractor (ROC), that is required by this State. The ROC did make a call to the non ROC surveyor and requested his presence before the board of ROC.

The State ROC didn't want to get envolved with the fence as there was only one ROC fence contractor in this area, the rest just bootleg fence installs. This is why this State has the ROC to deal with this type of problems.

Son didn't record his survey of the fence nor of the property line, a law requirement if you want the property line and fence to be "fixed" by law.

Had the Son recorded such, then he would automaticly become responible for all current errors and errors that occur there after. Now we understand why the fence nor survey was not recorded.

As it is now, the Son's original contractor has agreed to pay 100% to have 100ft of fence torn down and rebuilt based upon a new survey.

After one year, the old fence has been torn down with footer removed and a new footer installed. The block fence is pending upon the building fence ROC contractor gets the time to build it.

Now as soon as the neighbor ties into the Son's block fence, then he owes my Son 1/2 the cost of that $5000, 100ft of block fence. The neighbor is a Contractor building the house for new owners so the Son is going to the neighbors closing to get his 1/2 cost of the fence. So far the Son has collected $2500 of the $5000 total due.

Just thought I'd give a idea of what happens when a fence is not built where it should have been, As you can see one year of huge headaches.

T_Bone

CT has close to the right-hand rule:

>Adjoining proprietors shall each make and >maintain half of a divisional fence, the middle >line of which shall be on the dividing line

Just doesn't specify if you get the left or right hand side.

The rest of the law...see link

And when there's a dispute the Board of Selectmen get paid a whopping $2/day...each...to serve as Fence Viewers.

• CT General Statutes Chapter 823

If you live in a free range area then if you want the animals out it’s your job to do so. If you live in an area that isn’t free range then it’s the animal’s owner responsibility to fence them in or pay the damages caused by them. If the damages are not too much the animal’s owner may elect not to do anything. If that was the case then the courts can award punitive damages which have no limits.

Let’s say both of you live in an area where there is not free range. You neighbor decides to get cattle and wants you to pay for half the fence. No go, there is no law that forces you to build a fence or even part of one. So he builds it and places it exactly on the property line. Well by doing that he just gave you half his fence! Now he’s smarter than that so he puts it one foot inside his property line; now he retains total control of the fence. If you should decide to get cattle and use his fence then you are actually trespassing and any damages caused to that fence he’s entitled to. If he wants to take down that fence in the middle of the night he has every right to and if your cattle get lost or cause damages that’s your tough luck. You can claim all day that he’s the one that started the trouble but you will not have a leg to stand on.

We farm folk always think of fences for animals but there are other types of fences as well. Perhaps one wants a privacy fence or maybe you just want a fence to keep people from wandering all over your property. Doesn’t matter – the same rules apply. Build in on the property line – both parties own it. Build it entirely on your property – it’s yours and you can do whatever, when, and where with it. No one can force you to build a fence unless what you have on that property can get out and cause damage to others.

One other point here: Technically, both of you should have your own fence but it's common sense to work with your neighbors if that fence is beneficial to both of you – that’s why some fences are on property lines

Like I said at the start: fences are just structures and the same would apply to a building. If one was to build a portion of their barn on his neighbor’s property – not only does your neighbor own that part of the barn but he can also sue for damages. Same with fences.

Even in Colorado fence lines do not become property lines! Even better, what defines a fence? If that were true - build a cross-fence and you just lost a chunk of your property.

One other thing you need to remember: When some property is sold sometimes the boundries are defined as from that fence to that fence etc. In that case the fence lines do become property lines.

In the end, fencing laws are very state-specific. Example, in Colorado (and most Western states) fences DON'T keep animals in, they keep animals out. If you own land without a fence, you may not ask for damages due to accidental animal trespass. I've heard it's different on the other side of the country, but never been there.

In many, you can be required to pay for 1/2 of the fence on the propertly line.

As well, squatter's rights kick in on the fence setback. Unless you guard that setback area & use that one foot of property all the time, you can lose it.

--->Paul

Okay, so your saying that in your state a fence becomes a property line. Well lets say you own a section of land and the only fence you have is one around your yard that is set in the center of that section. So by putting up that fence you have declared that to be the property line. Does that make sense to you?

As Greywolf says, it is a 'use' issue. I believe it is 7 years in my state, tho not sure on that. If you don't use your property, someone else does for so & so long, they can claim it, you lose it. Set the fence back a foot or a mile, don't use the land, don't maintain it, let others walk on it, graze it - they can claim it.

One needs to be real careful how one sets up the property bounderies to protect your rights & ownership. A fence often becomes a defacto land boundry if it is anywhere near the proerty line. A long-term boarder such as a fence often carries more weight in court than what is writtern on paper.

I think my state requires those who _use_ a livestock fence on a property line to build & maintain it, not force anyone to build half whether used or not.... But I could be wrong on that.

--->Paul

It isn't so much the fence that sets the boundries as the "you not using" the property on the other side.

In Paul's description, that theroetical 1' becomes useless to the original owner. The property owner on the other side is using his property.

After a set number of years, IF the owner on the other side wishes to challenge the propterty line, the courts view that 1' as being abondoned by the original owner.

Does that make sense to YOU????? ?

Your neighbor _could_ be right. Depending on your state. A big difference is some states are fence-out, while others are fence-in.

--->Paul

Here in AZ, if you have animals then you are responsible for fencing to contain those animals.

Now if your neighbor ties into that fence, then they owe you 1/2 the fencing cost.

T_bone

I've only lived in nine different states, so maybe I just haven't run into this before. However, in my experience, I can't imagine that any state would require a homeowner to fence his property, therefore, I can't imagine that there is any law about left, right, front, back, top, or bottom.

If a landowner has animals, it is his responsibility to control them. He doesn't have to build a fence, but that's usually the easiest way to control them. So, if you have animals and your neighbor doesn't, you probably would want to build a fence, but you probably are required to do so. And vice-versa, if your neighbor has animals and you don't, he probably would be well served to build a fence. If you both have animals, it would probably be a good idea for you to share in building and maintaining it, but I really don't believe that a state would require either of you to build a fence.

Good luck,

Tom in TN

General rule around here is that you are responsible for the half of the fence on your right as you walk off your property.