Neighbor dilemma

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chewchoo

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i don’t have a very good relationship with my neighbor and it keeps getting worse. the current issue is troubling me and i am struggling with my subsequent actions. they had a garage built. the grade of the property slopes downward from the street to the yard. as a result they had yards and yards of dirt brought in. so now, their back yard is three feet higher than my yard. at the time it was being built, i asked them to not bury my fence (a 6 ft privacy fence), they said okay. well i discovered this spring that there is a garden and grass up against my fence, 2 feet high. i said that is going to rot my fence. this week they had somebody redo the dirt against my fence, basically they pulled the dirt away, put landscaping timbers against the fence and put the dirt back. in essence they are using my fence as a retaining wall. when i spoke to the workman about it, he said it “has” to be this way because of the slope down to my fence???

so, what do i do now? let it go and they “win” or take it to the legal level and pay legal fees to get this situation resolved? i have been praying constantly about this and it is helping me cope, but i still don’t know what is the correct action to take now.
 
in changing the grade to that degree they may have violated your city building codes, it would be worthwhile asking the city inspector to check it out, especially if it has affected drainage. also if they are using a wooden fence as a retaining wall for a garden with that much dirt it is only going to be a season or two before the whole thing collapses so you may want to put it to them in that way, of the loss they will suffer when they then have to redo the garden and replace your fence, and suggest they make it good now.
 
puzzleannie said:
in changing the grade to that degree they may have violated your city building codes, it would be worthwhile asking the city inspector to check it out, especially if it has affected drainage. also if they are using a wooden fence as a retaining wall for a garden with that much dirt it is only going to be a season or two before the whole thing collapses so you may want to put it to them in that way, of the loss they will suffer when they then have to redo the garden and replace your fence, and suggest they make it good now.
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unfortunately i can’t put it to them in any way. they have proved themselves to be very unreasonable and etc. etc. i am seriously considering the city inspector. but sadly, they will come up with every excuse in the book to say that it needs to be that way. i hope the city inspector is reasonable.
 
chewchoo said:
unfortunately i can’t put it to them in any way. they have proved themselves to be very unreasonable and etc. etc. i am seriously considering the city inspector. but sadly, they will come up with every excuse in the book to say that it needs to be that way. i hope the city inspector is reasonable.
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If your neighbour is that difficult your best course of action is to go to the city inspector - if they have violated your city building code, it does not matter how much they say “it needs to be that way”, the city will force them to comply with the codes. It also takes the whole aspect of interaction between you and your neighbour out of the picture and it sounds as though that would be a good thing.
 
Depends on the landscape timbers. Timbers CAN be built in such a way as to be a structural retaining wall of themselves. Are they just piled against your fence or is it possible they were built up against it, but structurally independent. (I’m a civil engineer and do this stuff).

Where does the fence fall in regards to the property line? In my area, you must build new fences several inches off the property line to make sure it is clear in law whose fence it is. If that is the case in your yard, those timbers are on your land and you can complain to the City to make the neighbor remove them. Find your property corners or hire a surveyor to do so and check. That’s your most effective weapon for fighting back.
 
manualman said:
Depends on the landscape timbers. Timbers CAN be built in such a way as to be a structural retaining wall of themselves. Are they just piled against your fence or is it possible they were built up against it, but structurally independent. (I’m a civil engineer and do this stuff).

Where does the fence fall in regards to the property line? In my area, you must build new fences several inches off the property line to make sure it is clear in law whose fence it is. If that is the case in your yard, those timbers are on your land and you can complain to the City to make the neighbor remove them. Find your property corners or hire a surveyor to do so and check. That’s your most effective weapon for fighting back.
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the fence was put up inside the property marker by a few inches. (the marker might be under the new timbers at this time…)

the structure of the timbers, i don’t know. it was already completed when i saw it on friday. they butt right up to my fence so technically they are in my yard. the worker did say that the garden next to the timbers is being held up by my fence. they have a “box” of rocks held together by 12x12 patio tiles, on end. the tiles were leaning towards my fence so he put more rocks in between the tiles and my fence.

i called the city yesterday. i am waiting to hear back.
 
chewchoo said:
the fence was put up inside the property marker by a few inches. (the marker might be under the new timbers at this time…)

the structure of the timbers, i don’t know. it was already completed when i saw it on friday. they butt right up to my fence so technically they are in my yard. the worker did say that the garden next to the timbers is being held up by my fence. they have a “box” of rocks held together by 12x12 patio tiles, on end. the tiles were leaning towards my fence so he put more rocks in between the tiles and my fence.

i called the city yesterday. i am waiting to hear back.
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If it is in YOUR yard, they THEY must remove it.
 
Ask the city inspector if he/she can be discrete when looking at it, maybe look at it from as much as possible from your side of the fence so as not create any problem with your neighbor.
 
chewchoo said:
i don’t have a very good relationship with my neighbor and it keeps getting worse. the current issue is troubling me and i am struggling with my subsequent actions. they had a garage built. the grade of the property slopes downward from the street to the yard. as a result they had yards and yards of dirt brought in. so now, their back yard is three feet higher than my yard. at the time it was being built, i asked them to not bury my fence (a 6 ft privacy fence), they said okay. well i discovered this spring that there is a garden and grass up against my fence, 2 feet high. i said that is going to rot my fence. this week they had somebody redo the dirt against my fence, basically they pulled the dirt away, put landscaping timbers against the fence and put the dirt back. in essence they are using my fence as a retaining wall. when i spoke to the workman about it, he said it “has” to be this way because of the slope down to my fence???

so, what do i do now? let it go and they “win” or take it to the legal level and pay legal fees to get this situation resolved? i have been praying constantly about this and it is helping me cope, but i still don’t know what is the correct action to take now.
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You should have a land surveyor document any encroachment and prepare a map and report. With that report and map in hand then go to the City Inspector. Your neighbors can do what they want on their property, however when their actions adversely affects the use of your property or your corporeal hereditaments you have to defend your rights. You may have to hire an attorney. Best to you.
 
I have a friend that had a similar problem, except that the neighbor was cutting down hedges on my friend’s property. He went to the township, and they said he needed to have a survey done (at his expense) to show exactly where the lot line was.

However, in your situation, there is the issue of drainage and a proper retaining wall, which should be a matter of code.

Most cities are pretty good at code enforcement, since potential fines mean more income to the city. As well, they need to protect themselves from lawsuits; if they let a retaining wall slide (no pun intended) that was improperly built, and it weakened your fence and your fence fell on a little kid, they’d be liable along with your neighbor.

I experienced a similar situation at my former business location, where the business next door paved right up to my fence, and partially knocked the fence down. When I contacted the owner, his reply was, “well, it’s an old fence”. The solution there was to contact my insurance company to fix the fence, and they went after his insurance company, and it ended up getting fixed. Of course, the damage to the fence had already been done, in the OP’s case, there’s no damage to his fence…yet.
 
Newbie2 said:
I have a friend that had a similar problem, except that the neighbor was cutting down hedges on my friend’s property. He went to the township, and they said he needed to have a survey done (at his expense) to show exactly where the lot line was.

However, in your situation, there is the issue of drainage and a proper retaining wall, which should be a matter of code.

Most cities are pretty good at code enforcement, since potential fines mean more income to the city. As well, they need to protect themselves from lawsuits; if they let a retaining wall slide (no pun intended) that was improperly built, and it weakened your fence and your fence fell on a little kid, they’d be liable along with your neighbor.

I experienced a similar situation at my former business location, where the business next door paved right up to my fence, and partially knocked the fence down. When I contacted the owner, his reply was, “well, it’s an old fence”. The solution there was to contact my insurance company to fix the fence, and they went after his insurance company, and it ended up getting fixed. Of course, the damage to the fence had already been done, in the OP’s case, there’s no damage to his fence…yet.
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there are all sorts of neighbor oversteps. is it ignorance, selfishness, what? a few years ago the neighbor across the street from me also had a new garage built. this is across the street. they had gotten their driveway poured and the cement guy proceeded to clean out the cement truck onto my gravel drive!! long story short, when i complained to the contractor he said, this is a construction zone, things “happen” :confused:
 
chewchoo said:
there are all sorts of neighbor oversteps. is it ignorance, selfishness, what? a few years ago the neighbor across the street from me also had a new garage built. this is across the street. they had gotten their driveway poured and the cement guy proceeded to clean out the cement truck onto my gravel drive!! long story short, when i complained to the contractor he said, this is a construction zone, things “happen” :confused:
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I don’t know if the construction zone argument would fly here. We were having work done on our house, and the dumpster was dropped off in our driveway. When the truck came a week later to pick up the dumpster, the truck turned crookedly onto our cement driveway and cracked a part of it. Their insurance company paid to replace that section of the driveway.
 
chewchoo said:
he said it “has” to be this way because of the slope down to my fence
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I would definitely check to see if your code requires that lots slope/drain in a particular direction (e.g. to the street). I assume your code also requires that lots not slope/drain to adjacent lots, but I would verify that also.
 
If it is convenient for you, you might consider going in person.

I had an issue with a neighbor where no one was at fault, but because of something subcode when my house was built decades ago, and because the city hadn’t done their part, I was looking at $6,000 of work. I talked to a couple people on the phone, but once I went in person, they saw that I wasn’t a kook or a pita, and I was a reasonable person just asking for their help. This opened some doors. Fortunately, the situation resolved spontaneously, but the problem remains and the major work will eventually need to be done. I have hope that the city will meet me halfway when that day comes. . .

Anyway, if you just phone, it’s easier for them to figure you’re a crank and just add you to do the to-do list somewhere. A real person is much harder to ignore, and if you’re polite, they will want to help you.
 
EvelynEVF said:
If it is convenient for you, you might consider going in person.

I had an issue with a neighbor where no one was at fault, but because of something subcode when my house was built decades ago, and because the city hadn’t done their part, I was looking at $6,000 of work. I talked to a couple people on the phone, but once I went in person, they saw that I wasn’t a kook or a pita, and I was a reasonable person just asking for their help. This opened some doors. Fortunately, the situation resolved spontaneously, but the problem remains and the major work will eventually need to be done. I have hope that the city will meet me halfway when that day comes. . .

Anyway, if you just phone, it’s easier for them to figure you’re a crank and just add you to do the to-do list somewhere. A real person is much harder to ignore, and if you’re polite, they will want to help you.
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good to know, thanks. it’ll be a little while before i can get a day off to go tho. you’re very right, too, some of these neighbor disputes can really turn into crank festivals depending on the people involved.
 
Dont feel that you can not get it resolved through the City Codes Inspector you can. Going to the City is the proper way to solve the problem.
The city has Codes and regulations that must be met… They must leave a space between your Fence and the Lumber retaining the Dirt. They can not use your Fence as a support for their Retaining wall.
It is all right to use 6" x 6" Pressure Treated Lumber for a Retaining Wall but it has to be done right where it has to be tied into the Dirt Bank and sitting away from your Fence. I have done this and I know how it has to be done.
You can approach them if you like and tell them there must be a space between your Fence and the Retaining Wall and you want that. If they give you a hard time then go to the city. The City will come out and make them do it right and fine them for any violations.
Good Luck.

Antrim
 
Antrim said:
You can approach them if you like and tell them there must be a space between your Fence and the Retaining Wall and you want that. If they give you a hard time then go to the city. The City will come out and make them do it right and fine them for any violations.
Good Luck.

Antrim
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approaching them is the major part of the dilemma. everything i say gets distorted. it has already happened with lesser issues in the past. the fact that their workman came out and redid the job and still put their materials right up on my fence tells you something about their attitude. couldn’t the workman be fined as well in this situation?
 
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