Do I Have to Contribute to the Cost of My Neighbor's Fence
My question involves real estate located in the State of: CAlifornia
Our pool homeowner neighbor is going to erect a new upgraded vinyl fence. We do not have a pool and the city has enforced that they properly fence their yard with city permits. The city does has ordinances saying that they're responsible for the proper enclosure. Does that mean that I have to help pay ...since they are responsible/liable?
I already let them know that I'm financially am not able too help. And I helped them get the process started by signing common property line fence agreement permit. Can they sue me afterward?
Re: Do I Have to Contribute to the Cost of My Neighbor's Fence
Civil Code §841 addresses this:
841. Coterminous owners are mutually bound equally to maintain:
1. The boundaries and monuments between them;
2. The fences between them, unless one of them chooses to let his land lie without fencing; in which case, if he afterwards incloses it, he must refund to the other a just proportion of the value, at that time, of any division fence made by the latter.
If your lot is not similarly enclosed, and you have no immediate plans to similarly enclose your lot with a fence, then you do not need to contribute to the fence construction at this time. If you never fence in your lot, or a portion of it using your neighbor's fence as part of the enclosure, then you won't have to contribute to the building or maintenance of it. If you later do enclose your lot or a portion of it using your neighbor's fence as part of the enclosure, then you will have to reimburse your neighbor for a fair portion of the costs of building it, and you will then have an equal responsibility in maintaining it.
All this presumes that your neighbor is building the fence on the common line between your lots. If the fence is being built entirely on your neighbor's lot, then it is not a boundary fence as addressed in Civil Code §841. To be a boundary fence, it does not need to be head-of-a-pin precisely on the lot line. It only needs to be near enough that you could reasonably use it as a part of the fencing to enclose your lot. In a residential neighborhood with well identified, or easily identified corners and lines per properly identified survey monuments, that distance will still be pretty small - up to about 4 inches. If your neighbor took measures to ensure the fence is completely on his or her property (usually offset from the property boundary by 6" to 1'), then it is not a boundary fence.
When the fence is built, ensure that it is placed according to identified survey monuments at the lot corners. You, or more properly your neighbor should hire a licensed surveyor to ensure that any monuments that you are aware of are actually marking the points you think they mark, and to replace any that are missing. Especially in residential subdivisions, it is not at all uncommon to find that there may be two or more monuments within just a few feet of each other: slight offsets between back corners of lots on one side of a block and the back corners of the lots on the other side of the block; front corners near the beginning or end of a street curve. Instances of people building fences a few feet off of the lot line they were attempting to fence are not uncommon, even though they were very careful to follow a stringline between the monuments they thought marked the line.
If your neighbor refuses to hire a surveyor to verify the line, I suggest that you do. I know you said that money is tight, but a verification by a surveyor now can save a lot of trouble down the road. Boundary and title disputes caused by misplaced fences can hold up home sales, could potentially result in loss of some property, and will often cost each landowner 10 to 20 times the cost of a survey in legal expenses to correct. Call around and look into the cost of a survey. If you are in a fairly recent subdivision that is monumented well, and depending upon what part of the State you live in, a surveyor may charge as little as $300 to identify and verify existing monumentation. If you are not in a recent subdivision, or are in an older subdivision, issues of missing monumentation, inaccurate measurements made by surveyors of many years ago (due to either equipment limitations or to poor methods/mistakes), and other factors may be present and the cost can go up pretty quickly. If you are in an older area with poor survey records and known issues, don't be surprised if the cost is more like $3000.
Back to fence costs, I just thought of another thing to consider: If your lot is already fenced, that fencing is adequate for your needs, is in good repair, and you are under no requirement to upgrade your fence, you are not responsible for the cost of upgrading the fence along your common line so that your neighbor can meet a code requirement set on his/her property, but will then have the shared responsibility of maintenance of the upgraded fence. If you don't want that responsibility, tell your neighbor to keep the fence fully on their lot. If your existing fencing is in a condition that it needs repair or replacement, you normally would be responsible only for the shared cost of replacing it with new materials of a similar character as the existing fence, not for upgraded materials that you do not want, need, or agree to. If you have an HOA, their rules, rules you agreed to live by when purchasing your home there, may hold you to a higher duty with respect to shared costs and maintenance of the upgraded fence.
Re: Do I Have to Contribute to the Cost of My Neighbor's Fence
Quote:
Quoting
jhykron
I helped them get the process started by signing common property line fence agreement permit. Can they sue me afterward?
In addition to the previous response it might also depend on WHAT YOU SIGNED.
Did you read it?
Did you keep a copy?
Do you know what you might or might not have obligated yourself to by signing it?