I'm going through a property dispute with my neighbor. Talk about stressful.
Anyway. My back yard runs into my neighbors side yard. I'm on a corner lot and he is behind me. He started building a koi pond beside his house. Its going to be 4 feet deep and its about 20 feet wide. I thought he was building it very close to the property line (I just bought the house less than a year ago). he then started building a waterfall that was about five feet tall and eight feet long. We decided we would have a privacy fence installed. Several reasons in addition to the pond. He lets his dogs use my yard as a toilet and his kids act like my back yard is theirs. Basically the whole family treats my yard like it belongs to them. the guy I bought the house from said he had problems with them mowing a portion of the yard that wasn't theirs.
Thursday the fence guy came out and found the property pins. Guess what? The entire waterfall was in my yard and a small portion of the pond. he has the pond outlined with cinder blocks. The cinder blocks on the side closest to me are on my property. I approached my neighbor Friday and told him that part of the structure was on me. He said he didn't think so and pulled the property pin out of the ground when I showed it to him. Funny though that he has a flower bed in the front and back that stop exactly at the line. I told him that I would split a survey with him to make sure. A survey is $450. He declined saying he thought he had a few inches to spare. I told him that I was going to have a survey done. I called the survey guy and scheduled it for Monday. Friday evening my wife called me and told me the neighbor was dismantling the waterfall. Seems odd since he was sure it wasn't on him. Fast forward to Monday. The survey verified the location of the pins. I showed my neighbor the stakes, which showed the edge of his pond is on me. Also a ten foot strip of my yard has ruts and no grass from him driving a bobcat on it. He said he didnt think that was right and the pins dont look to be in a straight line. He said he would have a buddy with GPS check it. I told him he would have to get a survey done from a licensed surveyor if he thought it was wrong. Later that evening my neighbor approached me and said that if I pushed the pond issue he would get a variance and take two feet of my yard. He said he was told by the county that he could do that. I dont believe he can do that. I got pretty angry and told him that I am having a fence put up on my side and that I would move anything on my side out of the way to do it.
I ran a string today between the two pins. He had a backhoe attachment for the bobcat parked in my yard. The stakes are in a straight line.
If I put the fence 6 off of the line there will only be about 6-8 of dirt on the pond side. Is that enough to support a 4 x 4 post? Any suggestions on what I should do?
Hi,
Sorry to hear about your troubles and looks like you have them almost solved.
You really have 3 issues here:
1. The koi pond on/near your property
2. Dogs messing in your yard
3. Their kids in your yard
As for #1, it sounds like your almost there. You have a fence, and sent him a letter. I can understand letting him mow the 6 inches, but why, why let him 'occupy' that 6 inches? What happens if he decides to build his pond right up to your fence? Personally, I would tell him, it's my property, leave it alone, you do not have permission to occupy, touch, whatever. To control the weeds, use Roundup!
As for #2, I would find out what local laws, ordinances, etc. pertaining to dogs, like litter laws, owners responsible for their dogs, etc. I would tell my neighbor, in a registered letter sort of way, to keep his dogs off your property, or you will contact the local authorities.
Lastly, #3 is a biggie. What happens if one of his kids plays on your property, you knowing that they use the property and they get hurt? Can you spell lawsuit! I would do the same as #2, I would send him a registered letter and state that you are formally serving notice that your neighbor and his family stay off your property.
Good luck, sounds like you need it.
Jeff
