I'm asking this here-even though I know there are folks I know I should consult locally-just because of the sheer depth of knowledge here.
My fiancé has owned her house 3 years as of next month. It's an older house, built in the early 1950s. It sits on a decent sized plot of land for the middle of town, but as best as I can tell, sometime around 2011 the lot was "carved up" for a second house to be built next door. I'm basing this date on looking at Google Earth historic images, where I can clearly a fence marking the edge of what was presumably the "original" property line, and new construction popping up around 2011.
In any case, the lot was divided quite unusually. Her house sits more or less on the road(probably a standard 15ft back or so-haven't measured even though I've measured several other dimensions). Total length from the street(seemingly unchanged from original plot) to the back line is ~150ft.
When this second plot was carved out, a new line was drawn right at 8ft from the edge of her house. This line extends from the street and roughly 50ft back, at which point it makes a 90º turn. The property line is then set back about 10ft from the back of her house on a line parallel to the back of her house that is roughly 40ft. It then makes another 90º turn, and extends back to the lot for another 100ft. For reference(without drawing this out) this "step" is cut from the right side of the lot as facing it from the street.
The newer house was set far back from the street, and it is probably 10 ft from the front at its left side to the "corner" of the lot where the step first begins.
About a year ago(May 2019) someone new bought the house and almost immediately came over and asked-in a rather demanding tone-if my fiancé would consider "trading" property with her to give them more space at the corner. My fiancé refused, primarily because her lot is already tight on that portion anyway(remember, 10ft from the back to the property line).
Since then, the owner has become rather belligerent. She had the lot surveyed, which of course is fine. After surveying, though, they continued to do things like cut well over the line(I've measured 5ft at times) as well as have landscaping trucks and other things drive through my fiancé's property to get around to the back of their house.
On several occasions, my fiancé's dad has driven stakes into the ground to clearly mark the boundaries. The last time he did(a few months ago), the owner and her husband came out and talked to him rather beligerently(shouting, cussing, etc) for putting the stake back in at the corner of the line.
Fast forward to a few days ago when I went out to cut the grass. I noticed, once again, that the stake was missing. When mowing, I like it as a line of sight so that I can be absolutely sure that I'm cutting up to the line and not over. I put a fresh one in, and was almost immediately greeted by the nastiest, foul-mouthed tiraded from both the owner and her husband again that I've ever heard. I finally ended it by just shutting off the lawnmower, but among other things they threatened to call the sheriff on me because I was being petty and they're just "trying to be good neighbors." I told them to go ahead. In all of that, the owner kept stressing that she had paid for the survey(first $600, then $650, then $700)-at that point I'd quit responding to anything they said other than trying to explain why I wanted the stake there. I was told that "it's a trip hazard when they're walking around the house"(why are they on the property?) and "it's ugly sitting right outside their flower beds." Finally, I just ended the conversation by starting the lawnmower.
The stake disappeared a day later, and I replaced it with another that was written in sharpie the address where it was placed(i.e. not on the problematic neighbor's side) and not to remove. They knocked it over, so I hammered it in. So far, that's the end for now, except that I came out today and found that they'd mowed all the way over to the side of the house(in other words 8ft over the line). I made a point of walking the line and videoing my walk, clearly identifying where it was mowed over along with the date just for reference and records.
To be honest, my fiancé wouldn't be making an issue out of this, nor would I(since I will very soon be living there too) aside from the fact that they're being so obnoxious about it. We really don't care on the other side-the neighbors over there are friendly, but their teenage daughter mows sometimes and usually misses the line by a foot or so in either direction. It's honestly just not a big deal over there(especially since it's not as clearly marked) and we just mow to match up whatever they've done.
In any case, I'm exploring options. The obvious one, and one that's planned for the next few weeks, is to put up a fence. City regulations(which we've all read very carefully) allow fences on the property line, and her dad, brother, and I are planning on building one weekend after next. We're looking at a 6ft privacy fence, which of will course will obstruct the view out the about 1/4 of their front window, but that's not really our concern. Obviously it's been surveyed so we know where the line is, and I'm calling next week to have the lines marked.
I'm wondering, though, if there's any other remedy to this. I'm considering delivering a notice of trespass to the neighbors(acting as an authorized agent of the property owner, and of course also filing with the city police with the proper procedures) instructing them that they are not permitted anywhere on the property, but I'm not sure if that will do any good unless caught in the act.
Is there anything else(legal) to consider?
My fiancé has owned her house 3 years as of next month. It's an older house, built in the early 1950s. It sits on a decent sized plot of land for the middle of town, but as best as I can tell, sometime around 2011 the lot was "carved up" for a second house to be built next door. I'm basing this date on looking at Google Earth historic images, where I can clearly a fence marking the edge of what was presumably the "original" property line, and new construction popping up around 2011.
In any case, the lot was divided quite unusually. Her house sits more or less on the road(probably a standard 15ft back or so-haven't measured even though I've measured several other dimensions). Total length from the street(seemingly unchanged from original plot) to the back line is ~150ft.
When this second plot was carved out, a new line was drawn right at 8ft from the edge of her house. This line extends from the street and roughly 50ft back, at which point it makes a 90º turn. The property line is then set back about 10ft from the back of her house on a line parallel to the back of her house that is roughly 40ft. It then makes another 90º turn, and extends back to the lot for another 100ft. For reference(without drawing this out) this "step" is cut from the right side of the lot as facing it from the street.
The newer house was set far back from the street, and it is probably 10 ft from the front at its left side to the "corner" of the lot where the step first begins.
About a year ago(May 2019) someone new bought the house and almost immediately came over and asked-in a rather demanding tone-if my fiancé would consider "trading" property with her to give them more space at the corner. My fiancé refused, primarily because her lot is already tight on that portion anyway(remember, 10ft from the back to the property line).
Since then, the owner has become rather belligerent. She had the lot surveyed, which of course is fine. After surveying, though, they continued to do things like cut well over the line(I've measured 5ft at times) as well as have landscaping trucks and other things drive through my fiancé's property to get around to the back of their house.
On several occasions, my fiancé's dad has driven stakes into the ground to clearly mark the boundaries. The last time he did(a few months ago), the owner and her husband came out and talked to him rather beligerently(shouting, cussing, etc) for putting the stake back in at the corner of the line.
Fast forward to a few days ago when I went out to cut the grass. I noticed, once again, that the stake was missing. When mowing, I like it as a line of sight so that I can be absolutely sure that I'm cutting up to the line and not over. I put a fresh one in, and was almost immediately greeted by the nastiest, foul-mouthed tiraded from both the owner and her husband again that I've ever heard. I finally ended it by just shutting off the lawnmower, but among other things they threatened to call the sheriff on me because I was being petty and they're just "trying to be good neighbors." I told them to go ahead. In all of that, the owner kept stressing that she had paid for the survey(first $600, then $650, then $700)-at that point I'd quit responding to anything they said other than trying to explain why I wanted the stake there. I was told that "it's a trip hazard when they're walking around the house"(why are they on the property?) and "it's ugly sitting right outside their flower beds." Finally, I just ended the conversation by starting the lawnmower.
The stake disappeared a day later, and I replaced it with another that was written in sharpie the address where it was placed(i.e. not on the problematic neighbor's side) and not to remove. They knocked it over, so I hammered it in. So far, that's the end for now, except that I came out today and found that they'd mowed all the way over to the side of the house(in other words 8ft over the line). I made a point of walking the line and videoing my walk, clearly identifying where it was mowed over along with the date just for reference and records.
To be honest, my fiancé wouldn't be making an issue out of this, nor would I(since I will very soon be living there too) aside from the fact that they're being so obnoxious about it. We really don't care on the other side-the neighbors over there are friendly, but their teenage daughter mows sometimes and usually misses the line by a foot or so in either direction. It's honestly just not a big deal over there(especially since it's not as clearly marked) and we just mow to match up whatever they've done.
In any case, I'm exploring options. The obvious one, and one that's planned for the next few weeks, is to put up a fence. City regulations(which we've all read very carefully) allow fences on the property line, and her dad, brother, and I are planning on building one weekend after next. We're looking at a 6ft privacy fence, which of will course will obstruct the view out the about 1/4 of their front window, but that's not really our concern. Obviously it's been surveyed so we know where the line is, and I'm calling next week to have the lines marked.
I'm wondering, though, if there's any other remedy to this. I'm considering delivering a notice of trespass to the neighbors(acting as an authorized agent of the property owner, and of course also filing with the city police with the proper procedures) instructing them that they are not permitted anywhere on the property, but I'm not sure if that will do any good unless caught in the act.
Is there anything else(legal) to consider?
