10 Property Line Clearance Horror Stories
3/10
Half a Yard Lost
Before complaining, it’s important to do your research, as one nasty neighbor found out!
According to Reddit user froggyc19, when a new neighbor bought the house next to froggyc19’s family’s home, the neighbor started doing renovations without permits. Then the neighbor had the audacity to complain that the fence froggyc19 and his family had built needed to be dug up and removed.
“My parents tried to reason with him, explaining that all the land lines in the area are all crooked, and that everything had been this way for 30+ years without issue. He wouldn’t hear of it and insisted on the removal, so my mom called the city and requested a new eval after fighting with this guy for months.”
“Turns out, not only was the fence on OUR land, but his new one [fence] was on ours as well. His back fence was on the land of the backyard neighbor and same on the other side. My mom got the three other houses that bordered his to all get evals as well, so in the end he lost almost half his yard to the surrounding houses.”
Ouch!
These 20 things are driving your neighbors nuts.
4/10
Never Mess with a Rancher and a Neighbor
“I grew up on a horse ranch in Colorado,” said Reddit user ProRevenge. “We had a long piece of property, about 80 acres, and we raised Missouri fox trotters.
“We had lived there for almost 20 years when some folks bought a strip of property way at the back of our land. It was a strange plot of land as it was very narrow, and was sandwiched between our back fence, and a busy county road. We were surprised anyone would buy it actually, as it forced the house to be pretty close to said road.
“Well we never met these new neighbors until one day my dad gets a notice from a lawyer telling us that after having surveyed the property lines, our back fence encroaches on their property between three and six inches depending on the spot along the fence line. These folks had never met us, never introduced themselves, our first introduction was this legal demand.”
ProRevenge’s father offered various compromises, to no avail. “They sued, and won, and we were forced to move the fence in two weeks.
“The very next weekend after they had moved into their house, we built a pen and a small enclosure very near our back property line, directly behind the neighbor’s new shiny house. The next day once [one] of our farm friends delivered a half dozen pigs to their new home. Dad insisted on feeding those hogs table scraps and all the things that would go in the composter, as well as some good balanced hog feed to keep them healthy.
“Now you may not know this, but the smell of pig excrement is directly related to what they eat, and their pen. Table scraps make them smell BAD. I mean BAAAAAAD.
“The neighbors, of course, freaked out, and again without ever even trying to talk to us, went the legal route. They lost, the area was zoned agricultural, and my dad had done his homework to make sure he was breaking [no] laws or regulations. The pigs were far enough from us, and our other neighbors that it didn’t bother anyone but the people he wanted it to bother.”
“The new neighbors sold their new house in January when the ground was frozen and the new owners would not smell the pen. Though as soon as the old neighbors were gone we tore down the enclosure, spread the nasty stuff on the hayfield, and the new neighbors never had any bad smell come spring. They also were great neighbors and are still life long friends.”
Sweet revenge.
Your neighbors want you to stop doing these 10 things.
5/10
Property Line Jailbird
Reddit user WrinkledSuitPants dealt with a hostile neighbor over property line concerns. In response to the property line story about the rancher and the pigs, WrinkledSuitPaints said an 83-year-old neighbor threatened to tear down his own fence to kill WrinkledSuitPaints’ dogs!
“Then over time he threatened to kill me,” WrinkledSuitPaints wrote. “I put up a new fence parallel to his old one.
“He tore down his fence and then demanded that I move my new one because it was on his property. Even cut off pieces to throw at my dogs, put up threatening signs, cut all the branches off his trees and threw them in my yard, etc. I didn’t move the fence.”
Finally, WrinkledSuitPaints got a four-year protective order against the hostile individual.
“In court he tried to bribe the bailiff to make the case go away. The judge called him out on it. Two weeks later after the PO was finalized he got in my face and threatened to shoot me in front of my pregnant wife. Cops came and didn’t do anything because they didn’t want to arrest an 83-year-old.
“A year after he threatened to kill me in front of my pregnant wife, I get a call from the county DA asking if I still want to press charges. Yep. For the past month he’s been in and out of jail and court from the past year of his BS against me. I hope he enjoys those legal fees on his Social Security income.”
