Nice fellow called yesterday about getting his lot surveyed in a nearby city. He has lived in that house for over a decade without particularly caring where his boundaries are.?ÿ Now, his next door neighbor decides to build a fence along the shared property line.?ÿ He shows up at my client's door telling him to move his pad mounted, large A/C unit because it is 10 inches over the line.?ÿ Says he looked it up on his phone and that's what it told him.?ÿ My client says he won't move anything without a survey.?ÿ Neighbor gets all huffy about it.?ÿ Says his phone wouldn't lie.?ÿ Some bad words get spoken by both parties.
My client has been to the city and to the county getting copies of deeds and old tax information.?ÿ The A/C unit was installed in that location in 1984 so he is assuming he has rights to leave it there even if a survey shows it crossing the line.?ÿ The bottom line is the neighbor is going to get a free survey because the client is sufficiently upset to pay to get one done just so he knows for sure what is what.
Sort of reminded me of showing up to do a survey about 30 years ago in a similar situation.?ÿ The neighbor saw us pull up and start to unload our gear.?ÿ He strolled over and announced, "Just so you know, I'm the A-hole that got you this job."?ÿ In that case, the neighbor was correct about where the boundary line was within a very few inches.
This is going to be fun.?ÿ I have learned from several other people that the adjoiner who claims the A/C unit is precisely 10 inches over the line is a card carrying member of the A-holes of America Club.?ÿ Fortunately, have found a couple of nearby surveys that should help to lock down the location.?ÿ Stopped in the alley to sight down the possible boundary line.?ÿ The alignment of the east eave of the client's house and the alignment of the west eave of the neighbor's detached garage are about six inches apart.?ÿ The critical side of the A/C unit is practically dead center down the middle of the gap.
I'm surprised the phone property line was that close. I've gotten more work from that over the last ten years or so. Just had a women call in about a shed on her land from the neighbor, at least the county GIS shows it over.?ÿ
Sounds like it's too bad that the AC guy has this neighbor.?ÿ It's also too bad he didn't care about the boundary enough to have a survey done before he bought the property.
However, I don't see how it's the AC guy's responsibility to prove where the boundary is, it should be the guy who wants to build something.
No doubt.?ÿ Another case of someone being a big enough jerk so the neighbor will get fed up and pay for a survey.
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The issue with the A/C maybe being over the line reminded me of a job many years ago in a different city.?ÿ Two neighbors had grown to hate each other.?ÿ I believe it started when the lady's grandson had innocently picked up the neighbor's normally-indoor, de-clawed cat and put it in the pen with his hunting dog because the dog looked lonely.?ÿ The visit did not go well for the cat.
I was called in because the neighbor had purchased an old, very noisy, pad-mounted A/C unit and placed it next to his house about three feet from her bedroom window.?ÿ It reportedly made horrible noises.?ÿ It should have been placed directly behind the house as these were very skinny lots.?ÿ As I recall it was roughly a foot over the line, once I established the boundary.
Another oddity about that job was the lady was about 50 but had a boyfriend who was under 25 living with her.?ÿ She introduced him to me as being her boy-toy and he grinned.?ÿ I shuddered a bit to think how incredibly desperate he must have been as she wasn't what anyone would call a looker.
@holy-cow ya know if you tied a string to your phone and used it as a plumb bob you can attest that your phone is more accurate precise than his phone.
@bstrand I agree with you 100%. I would have told him, "You think its on your property, prove it". The onus is then on him to establish his own property. If he attempts to move it himself, call the police.
Several years ago my neighbors across the street asked me to find their monuments, easy enough. The original plat monuments are in, where they should be, and firmly set. On Monday I get a call from neighbor N, selling the house and the buyer noticed neighbor S had just built a horse corral apparently across the line. I walked across the street, found both monuments, and set a tall flagged stake. Sure enough, the new horse corral is way over the line. Next morning neighbor S knocks on the door, furious, and sure I was wrong. We walked across the street and first thing I noticed was he had moved the rear flagged stake over about 20 feet because he "knew it was in the wrong place." I move some dirt where I had the wood stake and show him the old flagging falling apart, and the monument, still with my tag on it. He clearly doesn't believe me because he "went by that old stake over there." Then I point out the plat says this is not a horse lot. Then I point out the CR-1 zoning requires a 40-foot side setback for a horse corral. Now he is really upset, demanding to know why those lots over there can have horses and he can't (because that is how the developer set up the restrictions.) Apparently it never occurred to him to check into any county restrictions - he being more of an I'll do as I please guy. Sheesh.
Update time.
Finished the job today.?ÿ The A/C unit itself is about five inches over the line.?ÿ However, it is setting on a poured-in place concrete pad of significant heft.?ÿ That ain't moving easily.?ÿ The concrete is danged close to the 10 inches the neighbor was claiming.?ÿ That's the luckiest or most accurate phone picture of a boundary line I have ever heard about.
Both the client and his A-hole neighbor were home.?ÿ Had the pleasure of chatting with each at separate times.?ÿ No way they were going to speak to each other.?ÿ Both claim the other fellow is the troublemaker.?ÿ I'm beginning to believe they both are correct.
The neighbor has a relatively uncommon surname.?ÿ While chatting I inquired if he had ever known a Rosalie (Surname).?ÿ "That's my ex-wife.", he said.?ÿ They have been divorced for about 30 years, but she has never remarried although she has had several live-ins.?ÿ So she still carries his surname.?ÿ Kept him off guard of a bit relative to what we were accomplishing while we chatted about Rosalie's two sisters, three brothers and soon-to-be 99 year-old father.?ÿ If my sister and I weren't over at their house sixty years ago, they were over at our house.?ÿ His ex-wife is like a sister to me and much nicer to me than my real sister ever has been.
Chatted with the client.?ÿ He is preparing to get a lawyer and attempt to force the issue that the A/C does not have to move just because it is now known that it is over the line.?ÿ Apparently the system was installed in 1984 and there has been no issue with its location until now.?ÿ I didn't offer any advice one way or the other.?ÿ He is willing to spend money to spite the neighbor he has learned to hate.?ÿ I will make a point to drive by in a month or two to see if anything has changed.?ÿ He is in his 50's, retired and single so he's not spending money that might otherwise be used on family members.