ptoperty lines

That is the real reason why they have setbacks limiting how close you can build to "property lines". The line can be wrong. We always take what a surveyer says as gospel but with the advent of better GPS location I bet we find out a lot of those benchmarks they use to orient entire neighborhoods are wrong.

It's not a problem until someone decides to make it so...then, depending on who and what the circumstances are, it might become one.

In a situation such as you described, if you have encroaching property and the neighbor hasn't done anything to correct it, eventually it may be claimed by someone on your side of the line that the additional property actually belongs to them. Then, depending on whether the adversely affected party really cares, they may have a problem defending same...it all depends. As long as everybody involved is reasonably levelheaded and nobody makes waves and all that, it can go on indefinitely. All it may take is one sob at some point in the future to create havoc...as someone else farther down noted, there a those who seemingly look for any possible umbrage whether or not it really has any bearing on their use of their property or not, simply, apparently often, just for the pleasure of it. Then again, there are those on the other side that seem to push their boundaries until somebody else pushes back.

no. get a metal detector and find the pins.

Stand in the middle of your yard and call out to the neighbor you wanna fight.

on 10/15/2007 7:27 AM Lou said the following:

It's actually how small is the survey copy he is using. A 40' x 80' property would be shown as 1" x 2" at that scale.

Or... how small is the plan? Maybe it's just a location certificate, in which case all it certifies is that the house is within the boundaries.

Cheers, John

I agree with hallerb on this one. Given that you want to put up a fence and have stated that you cannot agree with your neighbor, the only solution is to get a surveyor out there. You could approach the neighbor and say that you want to be fair and make sure this is done right and ask if he would share the cost. Even if he says no, then I would get one out there. And as hallerb said, if you get the one that did the last survey, it's shouldn't cost too much. When it's done, make sure you put something permanent next to the steel stakes. Driving a 1" steel pipe deep into the ground that can't be easily pulled up is one way.

If there is a building ordinance where one lives, a fence probably falls under the 'set back' requirements and cannot be put up without a recent survey. I paid for a survey when I bought my property. and then again 4 years later to put in a pool and security fence which bordered my property. I really doubt that the neighbor would want to chip in, since he cannot even agree on the property line.

Our draw a line in the sand and call-out!

-- Oren

"I didn?t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you."

Sounds like he is trying to find corners based on an annotated subdivision plat map, not a proper survey map.

I agree with all the others- find the existing corner pins if they are still there. If the deed specifies the corner angles (vs. just a lot number), any 2 or 3 will do. Otherwise, bring back previous surveyor to repin the corners (hopefully at a discount), or bite the bullet and pay for a new survey that refers back to a recognized permanent landmark, like a section corner or other monument that predates the subdivision.

Hey, you gotta expect stuff like this once in a while when you own land. An expensive PITA to be sure, but what can you do? I have the skill set to do it myself (having grown up carrying the transit and holding a pole), but I'm not a registered licensed surveyor, so my opinion is legally meaningless.

aem sends....