Property lines!

[Dooley]

If your neighbor planted on top of your mutual property line and even a bit into your yard, how would you feel about it? I confess, I feel a bit violated and want to say something in a friendly way. On the other hand, its not that big of a deal....but....

[Happy]

I've planted vines and shrubs on or very close to the property line. Unless it is something horribly invasive, like bamboo, I don't get the problem. Don't you get the benefits without having to care for the plants?

 

My neighbors also have planted on the property line. It doesn't bother me. If a plant is a hassle on my side, we whack the offending part off and move on. I still get to enjoy the roses and wisteria that drape over our fence.

 

Would it help to have moved the planting six inches inside the property line? You'd still have the same basic problems, but 'they' wouldn't have planted right on top of the property line.

 

I'm curious to see the responses. As a gardener, I'm always looking for new places to park a plant, shrub, or tree.

[SquirrellyMama]

If it really isn't a big deal then I wouldn't say anything.

 

Kelly

[MamaT]

I probably wouldn't say anything if it was ON the property line. It would bother me if he planted inside my yard, though. It would make me wonder if he was confused about where the line actually was located. I would probably say something nonconfrontational, just to make sure he knew where the property line was.

[Night Elf]

The possible negative I see is that over time, the property line blurs. If the neighbor is using it, he's thinking it's his. Despite property lines in the paperwork, if he sold his property, the new owner would see that space as his. If you ever want to do anything with that space, you'd likely end up with a fight on your hands. Of course you'd win, but there would be bad feelings all around.

 

The simple fact is that the property is yours. It doesn't matter if the neighbor is planting pretty or useful things. You should have some input in the matter. Would you like for him to come start planting in the middle of your yard? Legally, there is no difference. He's encroaching on a neighbor's property.

[Mary in VA]

If it's just an annual, I wouldn't worry about it. You might just nicely point out it is on/over the line for next year. If it is something more permanent, like a tree or shrub I would ask that it be moved for the reasons Night Elf gave. It just blurrs the lines when selling the property. There is a remote chance there could also be an issue of "adverse possession," where after a lengthy period of time of using property that isn't yours, it becomes yours. I really don't think a plant would qualify, but you might want to check.

 

Mary

[Dooley]

He just planted bushes and bulbs. No big deal. I did have plans for this area, but...the more the merrier I suppose. So long as he doesnt get too "over the line", eh?

 

Our front area is small, we are in a cul-de-sac so the front is small, back is big. From my driveway to his yard is about 7 feet. This is where he has chosen to plant, on the smallest side of our property. Maybe thats what gets me....

Edited April 7, 2009 by Dooley
more info

[G5052]

My neighbor actually asked us if he could plant a $300 evergreen on our far corner to hide the porch light of the neighbor across the road! I said yes because he's a nice guy, and it's a wonderful tree.

 

Of course make abosolutely sure, but I'd let your neighbor know before they put anything else in. If you're both OK with it, no problem, but what if you move and the next owner pulls them all out?

[KidsHappen]

Actually, I believe that youcould run into legal problems with this. If you allow a neighbor to encroach on your land there is some process by where it could legally become his. I don't have the exact details right now and I am off to the dentist. You might want to look this up and perhaps consult a real estate professional before just letting it go.

[chaik76]

The possible negative I see is that over time, the property line blurs. If the neighbor is using it, he's thinking it's his. Despite property lines in the paperwork, if he sold his property, the new owner would see that space as his. If you ever want to do anything with that space, you'd likely end up with a fight on your hands. Of course you'd win, but there would be bad feelings all around.

 

The simple fact is that the property is yours. It doesn't matter if the neighbor is planting pretty or useful things. You should have some input in the matter. Would you like for him to come start planting in the middle of your yard? Legally, there is no difference. He's encroaching on a neighbor's property.

This is the negative I see with this too.

[SheWillFly]

We've done this by mistake. I would absolutely want my neighbor to say something to me. Especially if in my case it was a misunderstanding.

[Carrie12345]

And there's one of the rare benefits of living in a CA/HOA ;).

 

In our neighborhood, you're not supposed to do anything less than 10' from your property line. No fence, no garden, no nothing.

Now, my neighbor technically did break the rule. Her driveway is only about 5' from the property line. But it was there before we moved in, and it's still 15' from any space I can use.

[LMA]

Please get your land surveyed and marked and if the plants are on your land, have your neighbor remove them. Most city/state laws recognize squatters' rights. Your neighbor will be able to claim that part of your land after so many years of using it with/without your permission.

 

I'm editing to include a link to the case I was thinking of. This article is a case in my in-laws' town - Barrington, RI, a very affluent town in RI (which tells you property disputes can happen anywhere). It had the whole town talking.

 

http://www.projo.com/ri/barrington/content/Not_my_land_02-18-07_JN47O2L.c42a88.html

Edited April 8, 2009 by LMA

[Hillary in KS]

Please get your land surveyed and marked and if the plants are on your land, have your neighbor remove them. Most city/state laws recognize squatters' rights. Your neighbor will be able to claim that part of your land after so many years of using it with/without your permission.

:iagree:

 

There was a court case a few years ago where a property owner lost some of his land because his neighbor mowed it during the summers. The court decided to award the disputed property to the neighbor because he'd been caring for it.

 

I'd address the issue.

[Tutor]

I would say something nicely about his crossing the property line. As another poster pointed out, it may not be a big deal now, but it could become one later.

 

The last place we rented our landlord bought from an elderly woman. She had allowed the former back neighbor to run a concrete slab for his RV over the line onto her property in exchange for helping her with yard work. The neighbor's house sold, and the new owners thought that their line ended at the end of the slab, so they extended the workshop/ garage to that line (about 3' into the lady's property). She didn't know because she was house-bound. A couple years later, our landlord buys the house and we move in. We have a problem with the back neighbor's dogs getting into our garden, so we get permission from our landlord to put up a chicken-wire fence to keep out the dogs. When we go to put up the fence, we notice that the concrete property markers for our house are about 5' into the "neighbor's" yard and that the garage is actually in the landlord's yard (and they have their playground equipment in our yard which makes us liable if one of their kids gets hurt). We put up the fence 6' into our yard and let the landlord know what we discovered. The landlord has our yard surveyed (another neighbor does as well since they decide to look for their concrete markers and discover that our back neighbor has taken about 3' along their property line also). The next thing we know, dog poo is getting thrown into our yard, the other neighbor's dog is poisoned, our landlord gets threatening phone calls, inspectors show up at our house because of complaints that we have been trespassing and putting up an illegal fence, the police are called, we can't let our kids play outside because the back neighbor yells obscenities at them... we finally had to file a joint complaint (everyone who borders this angry neighbor) and get a police escort for the surveyor to survey the properties and to put up permanent, tall fences. It was obvious to us that there were other issues with this family before this all started and to cause this violent a reaction, but the catalyst was a kind but ultimately unwise agreement between neighbors. It's too bad it comes to things like that, but it happens, so you might want to be cautious.

Edited April 7, 2009 by Tutor

[Jennifer in NH]

I would say something! When I was little, our neighbor used to plant roses and shrubs on our side of the property line. My parents mentioned it to them, the plants stayed...my Dad mowed them down....flat.:lol: That neighbor did this again a few years later..this time my father just got out the lawn mower right away.... They moved shortly after that. My parents felt it was very encroaching. They (the neighbors) had a large yard too!

Good luck, I hate these type of situations.

[newbie]

I have no problem if they are hundreds of acres away, seven ft. is too close. My concern would be pesticides or any kind of chemicals they will use.

[coffeefreak]

I would say something nicely about his crossing the property line. As another poster pointed out, it may not be a big deal now, but it could become one later.

 

The last place we rented our landlord bought from an elderly woman. She had allowed the former back neighbor to run a concrete slab for his RV over the line onto her property in exchange for helping her with yard work. The neighbor's house sold, and the new owners thought that their line ended at the end of the slab, so they extended the workshop/ garage to that line (about 3' into the lady's property). She didn't know because she was house-bound. A couple years later, our landlord buys the house and we move in. We have a problem with the back neighbor's dogs getting into our garden, so we get permission from our landlord to put up a chicken-wire fence to keep out the dogs. When we go to put up the fence, we notice that the concrete property markers for our house are about 5' into the "neighbor's" yard and that the garage is actually in the landlord's yard (and they have their playground equipment in our yard which makes us liable if one of their kids gets hurt). We put up the fence 6' into our yard and let the landlord know what we discovered. The landlord has our yard surveyed (another neighbor does as well since they decide to look for their concrete markers and discover that our back neighbor has taken about 3' along their property line also). The next thing we know, dog poo is getting thrown into our yard, the other neighbor's dog is poisoned, our landlord gets threatening phone calls, inspectors show up at our house because of complaints that we have been trespassing and putting up an illegal fence, the police are called, we can't let our kids play outside because the back neighbor yells obscenities at them... we finally had to file a joint complaint (everyone who borders this angry neighbor) and get a police escort for the surveyor to survey the properties and to put up permanent, tall fences. It was obvious to us that there were other issues with this family before this all started and to cause this violent a reaction, but the catalyst was a kind but ultimately unwise agreement between neighbors. It's too bad it comes to things like that, but it happens, so you might want to be cautious.

 

As my Dad would say, "Good fences make good neighbors." YIKES! I wonder why no one noticed this during all the sales? When we sold our house this summer, a surveyor had to come out and make sure nothing like this had happened. We actually had a neighbor that parked his trailer 3 ft onto our property on the side of the house. We had never addressed it, and it BUGGED me. Then, when we put the house on the market, the Realtor said we had to address it or the surveyor would put up a stink (not to mention it doesn't look good to a potential buyer). So, we had to go address it for the first time in 8 years. Luckily, he was nice about it, but he moved it at the last possible minute AFTER we went over one more time and told him he had to have it moved by ____ date so we could take pictures. He moved it the night before (a month after we asked him to do it). We had a HOA and it didn't ever do us any good. I would address it and maybe put up some clear property boundaries. If you can't have a fence, plant some nice shrubs. Just tell your neighbor you had plans for that part of your yard and if he wouldn't mind moving his stuff so you don't have to.

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[2cents]

Please get your land surveyed and marked and if the plants are on your land, have your neighbor remove them. Most city/state laws recognize squatters' rights. Your neighbor will be able to claim that part of your land after so many years of using it with/without your permission.

 

This! :iagree:

[SonshineLearner]

I think it's better to ask that it's moved now, than later. My mom had her yard planted with trees and flowers, and the neighbors planted a tree that they said would be fine. It wasn't / isn't and now is surely right on my mom's property. SO, my mom chops the part on her property. And, the neighbors just kinda comment that they guess it's a little close.

Carrie

[Supertechmom]

We are in an identical set up with cul-de-sac. You need to address it. When our neighbors sold, we had to have the surveyors note their flowerbed was over in our yard and that they technically didn't own the entire flowerbed. IF you still know where the stobs are for the survey, restring it from pole to pole. We knew the flowerbed was over, so we would just mow it over everytime we mowed.

 

And on a side note, wood fences have a "owner" side and "neighbor" side. When we sold our last house, we discovered that the neighbor's wood fence was considered to belong to us simply becaesu it was turned so the post side showed. Who knew?

[LUV2EDU]

The possible negative I see is that over time, the property line blurs. If the neighbor is using it, he's thinking it's his. Despite property lines in the paperwork, if he sold his property, the new owner would see that space as his. If you ever want to do anything with that space, you'd likely end up with a fight on your hands. Of course you'd win, but there would be bad feelings all around.

 

The simple fact is that the property is yours. It doesn't matter if the neighbor is planting pretty or useful things. You should have some input in the matter. Would you like for him to come start planting in the middle of your yard? Legally, there is no difference. He's encroaching on a neighbor's property.

 

:iagree:The neighbor sure would be angry if I were to have a fence put in my yard. Their plants, trees, or yard items would end up on my side of the fence.;)

[joannqn]

I would address it as well. We've had three property issues in the 10 years we've lived here. The first was when we bought the house. The appraiser didn't realize that the property we were buying was longer than normal so he thought the garage was partially on the neighbor's property. So, a big fuss was made. The seller ended up having to pay $600 for a survey to prove that the garage was on their property. It was silly because all they had to do was look at the property records to see that the lot was 40 feet long rather than the typical 30 feet for the neighborhood.

 

The second issue was that we had a neighbor who felt it was ok to have his guests use our backyard as a parking lot. We came home to find 2 cars parked on our back lawn and on our driveway. He directed us to where we should park since they were using our property. We weren't putting up with that! We told him to get their cars off our property and promptly put up a fence a few inches inside the property line to prevent future problems.

 

The third was when a shared sewer line eroded to the point of backing up and spilling sewage into our house. They didn't want to pay for their portion so we offered to put in a totally new line for our own house only and leave them with the rotted line. We explained that once we did that, it would back up into their house instead of ours and they'd have to pay for the entire cost of digging up the driveway a second time to replace it rather than sharing the cost to dig up and replace it the first time. It would only cost them about $2000 more to do it that way.

 

Property issues are a pain but definitely worth taking care of before it's a problem.

[Annie G]

I'd say something now. We've been dealing with this for 15 years from neighbors on BOTH sides of us. It's a hassle but the family who lived here before us allowed it and we're left to cope with it. We come off looking like the bad guys and sure wish it had been addressed earlier.

[fivetails]

Maybe I'm weird, but I wouldn't care if a neighbour had some flower things a bit into my yard - actually, I'm not very good with growing things but would love to have a yard FULL of flowers and shrubby things ~ and a veggie garden too ~ so maybe I need to find one of these green thumb overflow neighbours and move in beside 'em. :D

[Annie G]

Maybe I'm weird, but I wouldn't care if a neighbour had some flower things a bit into my yard - actually, I'm not very good with growing things but would love to have a yard FULL of flowers and shrubby things ~ and a veggie garden too ~ so maybe I need to find one of these green thumb overflow neighbours and move in beside 'em. :D

 

 

Kind of what I thought when we moved in...but then the daylilies started multiplying and spreading and before we knew it, they were 9 feet into our yard. Right in the way when the kids played in the back yard. And the guy mowed beyond the lilies, so he mows 12 feet into our yard, which is a lot for our yard. And the guy on the other side is even worse. I hate to cut grass but I also hate when neighbors think my kids are in their yard.

[Peek a Boo]

another vote for address it now:

 

you might want to mention it in an "I'm sorry, but we were planning on doing X w/ this portion of our itty bitty yard, so I need to ask you to move your beautiful Xs back a bit. Can we help you move them? :D you did a GREAT job :D and I look forward to enjoying it with you :D"

 

If it's a guy, wear a slinky little dress and make-up just for good measure. bake brownies or somethin'.

 

we had an issue where the neighbors across the street had put up a regulation street light on the electric pole on our side years ago, before we moved in. I didn't want a big ol' honkin' LIGHT out here and asked them to move it. they didn't. It took me two nights w/ a slingshot to get it blacked out. they ended up moving it down a couple houses.

[KidsHappen]

If it's a guy, wear a slinky little dress and make-up just for good measure. bake brownies or somethin'.

 

You really are a real southern girl, aren't you? Reminds me of Steele Magnolias. ;)

[Murphy101]

I agree with the general crowd of say something now.

 

Also, if I put up a fence, then yes I don't appreciate someone planting vines and such all over it - it shortens the lifespan of the fence considerably and when it creeps over the fence it's one more thing I have to maintain and I'd rather not. Not to mention my dh has horrible allergies and the further flowers are away from our window the happier he wakes up in the morning.

 

For some all they see is a pretty whatever.

 

I'm sure it is pretty and nice, but for me all I see is more yard work and allergy meds - so no thanks.

 

For me, I think the prettiest yard is simply a nice green span of deep green turf. Maybe with the occassional tree.:D

 

I'm sure I'm killing my neighbors these last 2 years because the lady who lived here prior was garden nuts. There's hardly any grass because of all the garden beds. And I've slowly been yanking it all up. like over 200 iris bulbs yanking. And there's something like 15 hostas (sp?) that I'm going to yank over the next few weeks in favor of good old fashioned grass instead of a bed that needs mulch and trimming.

 

When I'm done all I hope to have left is the one bed in front (a large butterfly garden that is now nothing but weeds.) and a small bit of somethign in the back around what used to be a koi pond and is not an algae nursery. And the kids are putting in a kitchen garden this spring.

[Dooley]

Peek - you are funny!

 

...yes...I guess it is something that should be addressed. I looked for our lot plan and I cant find it. So maybe I can ask to see theirs!

[Peek a Boo]

Peek - you are funny!

 

...yes...I guess it is something that should be addressed. I looked for our lot plan and I cant find it. So maybe I can ask to see theirs!

 

WAIT!!!

 

i would get a copy of your plat before asking him for his!! Even if you need to make a few phone calls, don't approach him till you have your ducks lined up. Don't go up to him WITH the survey in hand, but IF it comes up, you can say- "well, let me see if i have a copy just to double check....i'll get right back to you on that."

 

and then 5 minutes later- get back to him w/ a "ok, am I reading this right?" type of innocent question, lol. :)

 

and brownies. don't forget the brownies! :D

[Dooley]

Peek....have you done this before??? Brownies...cant...forget...the ...brownies....

[lynn]

We've benefited from this many times. The neighbor behind us had pink grape fruit and well they were growing over our property.... My neighbors in tucson's flowering something or other was so beautiful and since I could kill silk plants I loved having something pretty to look at without having to do a thing and like one poster said, we just hacked what we needed to. Annoying yes, but if it's something you can live with I'd let it be.

[Peek a Boo]

Peek....have you done this before??? Brownies...cant...forget...the ...brownies....

 

well, no, I haven't, but I like brownies, so it would give me an excuse to lick the batter bowl...... :D

[RoughCollie]

The laws of adverse possession vary from state to state.

 

The big problem is when something like what happened to my friend occurs. She and her DH bought a house. Their neighbor was using a small portion of their lot as a garden. My friend told them to stop doing it, and they sued her for adverse possession of the land.

 

My friend won the lawsuit, but it was expensive to defend.

 

Here's a general overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession

Edited April 9, 2009 by RoughCollie