I just got a call from a guy whose neighbor is saying that his fence is encroaching by 1 inch. As a result of the encroachment the neighbor is saying that his refinance is being held up. The lots are 75'x 125' with a curve in the front. They are part of a 200 lot platted subdivision. The platting surveyor never set the property corners just the pcps.
I was curious if you guys have ever heard of neighbors fighting over one inch?
I am going to do a survey on the property tomorrow but assuming the above information is true I'm not sure what to tell advice to give him.
Read JB's post in the Buying the Farm Post below. The refi is prob being "Held up" due to a record not matching the measured. Those Bank folks are not fun to work with.
> I just got a call from a guy whose neighbor is saying that his fence is encroaching by 1 inch. As a result of the encroachment the neighbor is saying that his refinance is being held up. The lots are 75'x 125' with a curve in the front. They are part of a 200 lot platted subdivision. The platting surveyor never set the property corners just the pcps.
>
> I was curious if you guys have ever heard of neighbors fighting over one inch?
>
> I am going to do a survey on the property tomorrow but assuming the above information is true I'm not sure what to tell advice to give him.
I'd tell him to get another surveyor. My life is too short to get involved in such nonsense.
I couldn't agree more!
I once drove away from a survey just before the two adjoiners started a fist fight over my results.
However, I've never heard of a closing that was held up by a one inch fence encroachment.
My suspicion is the neighbor is lying about the closing delay! I don't do a lot of residential surveys but I would guess about 50% of them have minor fence encroachment. I have yet to see one held up over the fence.
> I am going to do a survey on the property tomorrow but assuming the above information is true I'm not sure what to tell advice to give him.
It would seem that if they're aware of the "1-inch encroachment," they already have a survey.
I'd simply tell him that fences are supposed to be "on the line." A four-inch post, technically, should be 2 inches over the line on each side.
Geesh...
JBS
> I once drove away from a survey just before the two adjoiners started a fist fight over my results.
It wasn't these 2 guys, was it? 😉
[flash width=640 height=360] http://www.youtube.com/v/Sua8VL_4x90?version=3&feature=player_detailpage [/flash]
> I'd simply tell him that fences are supposed to be "on the line." A four-inch post, technically, should be 2 inches over the line on each side.
Good fences make good neighbors, some neighbors just don't want to be good....:-@
Exactly JB. My SOP is to locate and dimension to the center line of the fence, ID it as such, and usually only at the property corners. Let them figure out that 0.07'
Retraced and recovered all of the monuments between two who hated each other. The monuments I recovered were set during a survey for one owner who wanted to know exactly where the property line was so he could construct a fence inside but close to his boundary. that way he could claim trespass if his neighbor did something to his fence. My client after my visit built his own fence inside of his line. Today there are two fences within a foot of each other and parallel. They are happy but I have no clue how a surveyor could occupy their corners. We do have statute handling common boundary fences settling maintenance issues and shared ownership. Building the fence inside the boundary is a way to protect and control a fence line you construct. Yep, in those cases, a fence is just a fence, close enough to the line to make the un-wary make a false assumption.
jud
There seems to be a lot of detective work among surveyors about whether a fence is a shared boundary fence or a convenience fence. Shouldn't surveyors encourage landowners to write down which it is, and maybe even put it in the land records?
The following is a portion of an email I received from a client. It is posted verbatim, and it merely hints at the gobs of money the 2 adjoiners spent attempting to define a boundary line adjustment by using a hedge. This was finally completed in March of this year:
"I need to make certain that the "line" of the hedge is drawn to the west of the privet hedge's branches, not the center of the hedge trunk(s). Is this survey drawn that way? Also, the eastward jog of the line (going north) must not encroach on my garden area. The garden is defined by a stone wall (crumbling) - 6 inches high. I need access all around the garden."
Thank you Dugger
That was a nice little chuckle.
The neighbor had a survey done and the gentleman that contacted me wants his done. I told him fighting over 1" is crazy. I think I should have told him to tell his neighbor to go to hell:-D If his neighbor is really the one fighting over an inch. The guy that contacted me was referred to me by one of my better clients so I felt I need to the survey.
i cannot tell the exact language, but it's definitely slavic
pet shest sedam = 5, 6, 7
i posted something a while ago about the other surveyor not agreeing with my work by 0.1'. it was because i was holding the original location of a bound that was adjusted by a snow plow or SUV.
who the heck cares about 1" in a residential neighborhood? I hope the zombie corpse of Norman Rockwell visits these folks and teaches them how to be neighborly. Then Robert Frost can show up and fix the fence like a stone wall.
We just finished a Property Line Adjustment between 2 fighting land owners. The dispute was over a portion of retaining wall that was 0.25' N. of the deed line on one end and 0.15' S. on the other end (125' apart). Each party spent about $10000 on fighting via their attorneys before binding arbitration "settled" it. Needless to say, neither party is "happy". One of the attorneys commented to me that his file was thicker than the amount of land these folks were fighting over.
>Shouldn't surveyors encourage landowners to write down which it is, and maybe even put it in the land records?
You're right, Ashton. The surveyor should gather the evidence and perpetuate it. I would suggest that it would be best to perpetuate it on the survey as part of the narrative, but it could be perpetuated in the form of an Owner's Affidavit in states which have no survey filing act.
[sarcasm]Of course, the surveyor would have to actually speak with the owners. That seems to be a big hurdle for some to breach. [/sarcasm]
JBS
Sounds to me like the bank is using the survey as the "fall guy". They probably don't want to refinance for other reasons, but are using the fence as an excuse.
> I'm not sure what to tell advice to give him.
Advice for him: Your lot is 75 feet wide or 75 x 12" = 900 inches wide.
The inch you are fighting over is 0.1% of your property. (1"/900"=0.001).
If the vacant land is worth $30,000 then 30,000 x .001 = 33.33.
You are paying a surveyor and fighting over $33.33? Really?
I do not know the value of vacant lots there, but you can adjust this advice to fit.