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Property question

If I survey my property line and dig a ditch around my property up to that line, am I responsible for my neighbors land sliding into my ditch?

Reply to
LSMFT
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Yes.

Fill it with water and alligators so they can't get to you.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

You might need permission from the local government officials. It doesn't take much for a draw to be called a stream. A local farmer wanted to do some work to his farm to run an irrigation system. I think even the Army Corps of Engineers got involved. This draw was dry most of the time. It had running water in the spring during the snow melt and maybe sometimes after a heavy rain. Another problem might be if your land is called a wetland. Has a duck landed there in the last 5000 years or so? I'd suggest doing a little checking before you start.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

If you could legally do so, yes, you would be. But there are setbacks and sort of right of way rules that would say you couldn't do that within x feet of the other's property.

HTH,

Twayne`

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Reply to
Twayne

Good advice. My BIL bought some acreage, and had a front end loader. He cleaned up the "bottom", clearing downed wood and trash that had accumulated, and building a berm so that the water would run just down the "draw", and not all over his property, which then turned to pudding.

He has a neighbor who thinks he owns the world. The neighbor called the state. BIL got a registered letter to cease and desist until an investigator could inspect what he had done already, stating that if he had violated the law, he would be tortured, and his children sterilized, or something to that effect.

The inspector came and inspected as all good inspectors do. My BIL, in his usual way, started talking to the man before he got out of his truck, and by the time he left, found out that they were distantly related (Everyone in Utah is anyway) and knew some of the same people. The inspector said that he had very much improved the flow of the channel, but that since it WAS an existing channel, that he should have gotten a permit and permission first. Score one for the neighbor. He added that since he had done it so well, that he was not going to cite him, but that next time, call first. He then went to the neighbor, thanked him for being a snitch, and that he had issued a warning to my BIL not to do it again. He also inspected the neighbor's lot, and issued him a warning to clear the downed wood along the creekside, and reduce the fire hazard. If the neighbor hadn't been a dick, my BIL would have done it for fuel, but now the neighbor had to pay to get it done. Score one for BIL.

So, for a few days, my BIL was worried. And, he could have been fined if he had done it incorrectly. My BIL asked about the sterilization of his children, but the agent said that it was not a serious enough offense. THIS time.

Moral, ask first. It could go either way, for or against you.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

On Sun, 14 Mar 2010 07:02:24 -0700, "Steve B" wrote Re Re: Property question:

I love it!

Reply to
Caesar Romano

LSMFT wrote the following:

Others have mentioned contacting your local building inspector before you dig, but I am just wondering, what is the purpose of the ditch?

Reply to
willshak

"LSMFT" wrote

Depends on what you mean and what the ditch is to do. Say you are just digging a french drain to carry runoff and NOT diverting it into their yard, this is probably not a problem (though you may need a permit). Be careful of any utilities down there. You will be responsible for any service disruptions if you for example take out their cable TV, phone etc.

Also, if they have a fence or wall and you dig too close and de-stabilize it, yes you will be responsible for any and all repairs including cost to backfill your ditch and dig it closer to your house so it doesnt interfere with their property. Finally, if you meant if the neighbor was responsible to remove any dirt from their yard that slides into your ditch, no, they are not. The only dirt that should slide in is your own or you built it to close and broke easement codes.

Reply to
cshenk

What do you mean "responsible?" If you mean liable for damage to his property caused by actions on yours, the answer is yes.

Suppose the land that slides into your ditch contained your neighbor's home?

If you dig a hole for a foundation that causes his nearby building to collapse, you are civilly liable for the damage to his property - and may be criminally liable for any deaths caused by your action.

If you plant a tree on your property (or build a structure) such that the tree interferes with your neighbor's solar collector or TV reception, you will be compelled to take down the tree. Likewise, if the tree was there first, the problem belongs entirely to your neighbor.

In other words, you cannot compel your neighbor to take defensive measures to protect his property in response to something you do on yours. Any diminishment of one's peaceable enjoyment of their own property brought about by actions of another are the "responsibility" of the other to correct.

Plus, he may shoot you.

Reply to
HeyBub

=3D=3D Would that be before or after half of his yard slid into the "ditch" when the rains came? =3D=3D

Reply to
Roy

Boulders work beautifully, and they can be very attractive landscape. Easy to trim around with a weedeater. All you have to do is water them and polish them occasionally. I have some old satellite dishes that are about two feet in diameter I have put on top of mine, drilling holes and inserting three pieces of rebar for supports. Brings in the birds for watching, or squirrels for stew. Yummy!

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

That does sound like a good idea if only cars are involved, but I'm wonderng if the big trucks will push the boulders farther onto his lawn and there will be another fight about that.

The OP says nothing about discussions with the land owner next door, whether he is cooperative, whether he owns the trucks or they are visiting trucks. In other words, how much direct control he has over them. I also wonder if there is any indication of where the boundary is. If the original boundary has been crushed to death and it looks like the boundary is 2 feet further in, then it's not surprisign that once in a while someone goes two inches beyond that, and so on. A method need be made to mark the boundary in a way that isn't erased when a truck or several drive over it. The bouldrers sound good for that, but there must be other ways too.

Reply to
mm

At least he didn't suffer the fate of one building contractor who dug a foundation for a building. It rained the next day and some government official showed up and informed the contractor that the flooded excavation was now a wetland and couldn't be pumped out. I wish I had a link to the story, perhaps a search because I read it some years ago. It's a shame this nonsense has been going on for so long that we often forget it.

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

In virtually every state I've dealt with, you owe the adjoining owners what is called "lateral support" of their property when making any modifications to yours. For instance, if you and a neighbor share a hillside, with his property above yours, you do NOT have any obligation to reinforce existing grades to support his property, but if you dig a ditch and that causes his property to shift, then you are in a difficult situation.

Obviously, this only addresses your specific question and doesn't explore zoning, building codes, setbacks etc.

Reply to
Nonny

There's a fellow with land next to a beautiful lake in Eastern Alabama who discovered that "No Trespassing" signs don't work for fishermen's pickup trucks. He installed a line of pickup truck sized boulders that can't be ignored. Not sure what size you would need for dump trucks. Perhaps some axle busting cross ties 3/4 vertically buried linked with some big chain?

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

3-foot pieces of railroad track welded together in tripod fashion work pretty well, but can still be moved when needed.

Ask your local code guy. Do posts in the ground five feet apart, with nothing between them, still count as a fence and fall under the setback rules? You could always hang birdfeeders and pots of flowers from them. If you wanna grind their noses in it, they sell those bright yellow plastic caps to drop over the steel pipes, like around the pump islands at the gas stations. 'Bollards', I think, is what the parking lot guys call them.

I can't remember- do you have a good survey, and have you verified your corner pegs? And have you read the deed closely, to make sure they don't have an access easement across the strip in question? Around here, shared mutual easements for the border strip are pretty common, due to abutting narrow driveway lanes.

If you can post pictures and a dimensioned plat diagram (including that half of neighbor's property) someplace, with a link back here, we could maybe make some actually useful suggestions.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

I would think so. Plus, a ditch is not exactly a good thing, I've seen some hazardous ones. Maybe you can bury some perforated pipe?

Reply to
Phisherman

Think 6' Jax. Short of Operation Overlord, that should do it.

The problem is the drunk high school kid at 2:00AM. ...or more precisely, his family's lawyer.

We had a neighbor, when we lived in NY, that didn't believe in corner pegs. They pulled them and threw them away. I had a complete survey done, so they didn't charge much to have them replaced.

That would be fun, but remember the soon-to-be-rich lawyer.

Reply to
krw

That depends on several factors: how excitable he is, whether he already owns a gun, etc.

Reply to
HeyBub

Actually, I think I'd opt for a fence since it takes so little real estate away from the overall. With a ditch that didn't previously exist, I'd think you'd run the risk of softening the soil on the neighbor's side, which you might be declared responsible for. OTOH if it pre-existed, as I think you indicated, and if the new ditch outperformed the drainage of the old ditch, then it could only be an improvement for the neighbor. Depending of course, on what happened at the final point where the water is directed to. Ditches can be tridky things. The trick will be to document that and hopefully get a record of the inspector's comments showing it was improved just in case there is future trouble.

I love rural living; nothing but wildlife to complain about the edges of my meager 5 acres or nirvana.

HTH,

Twayne`

Reply to
Twayne

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