They have their vinyl fence and we have our wooden fence (though not economically sound). Ok here goes I understand your frustration with your neighbor after stating you would cover all the costs, for him to complain about a vinyl fence. This appears to be the pattern on our block. and defecate on them. My neighbor replaced our old Good neighbor fence. The quote he gave us is for a gate on his side as well, which I dont think we should be held responsible for. 32 of additional fence along the property line serves the neighbor alone as his gate is closer to the front of his house. Should you have any questions, please stop by the public counter of the Building permit section of the City Hall. We have both got estimates that are similar in price. What should I do? Is this situation an exception? Part of the fence is now leaning into the neighbors property. Our neighbor wants to replace the fence with vinyl fence. The second option is to leave the failing wood fence there and build a vinyl fence a foot or two into your property. #gallery-1 { Would we lose in small claims court? whose property is the retaining wall actually retaining? I didnt even have the option of getting my own bids or anything. I know I cant remove the 3 foot rod iron fence because it is totally on his property but can I remove the 6 foot fence that is on my property? Am I supposed to send another certified letter with the bids on replacing the fence and give them a demand again or just go to small claims court and ask the judge to rule that they need to split the cost on fixing the fence? If you have any further questions regarding Californias Good Neighbor Fence Law call RC Fences today and we can walk you step by step through the entire process to make sure you dont make any mistakes and risk having to pay the entire cost of your new beautiful fence! After I threaten to take him to a small claims court. For example, Keystone limits their Garden Wall (4 high x 12 wide x 9 deep) product to 2 feet in height or six blocks in height total. The fence is old and grey but was being maintained with new planks when needed. Then his brother who lives in the house said he would do it and never provided quotes. in the table. Retaining walls have to be designed and installed carefully because they shoulder a lot of weight. Well, I wish I could give you better advice but the matter is in your neighbors hands. Hello, My neighbor installed a 6 foot rod iron fence with brick pillars which is about 3 to 4 inches on my property The fence is only about 15 feet long and was installed years ago. Neighbor wont negotiate further and wants me to pay half now to a terrible looking mismatch. It leaves me in this terrible circle. Most would agree that, yes, in most cases, splitting the cost is the right thing to do and fair. He came and did the job. How is this even possible? Both property owners own the fence erected between the property lines when both use it. I would have appreciated knowing in advance as I have dogs. Labor costs for . Period. The wall design shall be prepared under the general responsible charge of a California registered structural engineer. Each fence on our own respective properties. My neighbors have large trees, poor maintenance in vegetation that is against our fence. It benefits the homeowners as they now have a legal route to take to replace their fences, which obviously is exactly the reason the law was created! Start out by documenting the current condition of the fence. While I understand the question is a general legal question and the contractor area of expertise does not matter, I would still feel more comfortable directing you to a knowledgeable attorney in your area! No work until 30days after certified letter. I bought my house last year and my neighbors decide to redo their fence . He has not responded to my texts since May as to when he will replace the fence. That neighbor has since moved and a new owner bought the house as a rental property. I know this is not exactly fair and therefore a situation like this is best handled by sitting down with your neighbor and trying to have a mature constructive conversation. The fence is horrible now because it does not match existing and neighbor says too bad, that I had agreed to the estimate, even though I had sent link to what I wanted. I understood and said whatever wood you do your fence we can get. That could mean you document the bad shape of the fence and just build it exactly on the property line, while leaving the bad fence on his property, and then send him a bill for half. I had contacted my neighbor twice that we need to get the fence fix. Neighbor has constantly harassers me constantly if he sees something touching his fence. The fence is solely your responsibility. Nolo.com. Does this remove us from mutual benefit responsibilities and paying half of the replacement? My question how do I attach/extend to the existing fence (which the neighbor project managed/paid in his name)? Thank you, The back part of the fence, in the backyard, fell and is neighboring all of the neighbors front yard. At the very least they are very cheap, which would mean an inferior crappy fence that isnt going to last as long as it should! The spiders build their webs on the 2x4s and birds perch on the 2x4s. Neighbor wants to upgrade the whole new fence and pay for the whole project. Please let us know what better route there is to take, I am sure all our readers as well as I would love to hear all the other options out there! They would then have the law on their side and if they went through the proper steps outlined above, most likely would win a judgment against you. He agrees to go half on the material (over the phone) its done and now he not telling me when or how he can pay me. There were no fences and the neighborhood kids played freely in the yards from house to house. If you dont agree to her doing the job, which I would be very wary of and personally would never allow, then she has no choice but to pay for it all herself or you guys use a different contractor. Join for use: the attachment of another fence to the boundary fence My neighbor just bought the house next to my rental and moved in and want to put up a new fence to replace the existing one. Now we are stuck and the cost is adding everyday to put home on market for sale. I have offered to help with the labor and split the cost 50/50. All wood retaining walls shall be constructed entirely of treated wood and conform to standard drawing LS-43. If he asks, and you dont want to pay for any of the fence I would just repeat what I have said here, and that should be the end of it! In short, each owner has to pay one-half of the cost of maintaining or replacing the fence. Once you get three estimates from reputable companies, present them to her, then decide on a fence contractor, and send your neighbor the 30-day notice. As the wall is next to a footpath lying within the adjoining owners land, ownership of the wall to establish who is liable for the cost of repairs has become an issue. Especially since they are quite a bit more expensive and in theory will last a lifetime. Hello, I bought a house last year and within days neighbor asked me to pay $3500 for the block wall he had built. Although you didnt follow the steps necessary under the CA Good Neighbor Law, if it were me I would go ahead and take him to small claims court. Building a Retaining Wall: 8 Dos and Don'ts - Bob Vila For example, in the area where you live, all of the houses have had fenced yards going way back to the 1950s. To check your legal obligations and responsibility regarding retaining walls, you should contact the Building Department at your local council office. ( Remember, we were never approached about this at all. We just accepted that it was their fence, since we didnt approve it to be on the property line or attached to the main sideyard fence, and we were forbidden to touch it. First off, the biggest one is if everything you say is correct, there was not a valid reason to replace the fence in the first place. I dont think I see this covered: I share a fence with a neighbor, and they have six 2-story-tall trees (overgrown weeds, really) growing tightly next to each other, just on their side of the fence. We didnt do anything about it, as we didnt want to cause problems in our first year here. On the invoice, the contractor put good neighbor fence. Is this considered a good neighbor fence under these circumstances? margin-left: 0; They said that they would give us permission when we asked, to enter their backyard by their stairs on the other side of their house, which would then involve us or workers to have to cross their whole backyard, which is an artificial grass putting green! If the failure is due to encroachment by my neighbors trees, should they bear the full cost? I am not certain if I have any legal obligation to do anything here. 30 kip for strength limit states. Ninety-five percent of Californians live in urban areas. Shouldnt they have to replace the fence since they removed it? Thank you! Flooding, surface runoff, and even leaking sprinklers can spark disputes between neighbors. In that case, he has to pay the other owner for one-half of the already existing fence. text-align: center; I came home from work one day and noticed they had replaced this fence (visible from the street as I passed). The fence does not enclose their front yard but is still a neighboring fence. The pool has nothing to do with it. Ive got all my quotes and now guess what.. none of them will agree to the job unless both homeowners consent! Do you need a French drain on your property? I asked a contractor how much to tear down my older wooden fence. The neighbor verbally agreed to this via texts and I sent quotes via texts. In New South Wales, it is illegal to construct a retaining wall over 600mm high from the ground. Therefore it seems to me she is trying to rip you off! In other words, it is no longer capable of serving its intended purpose, i.e. It just appeared one day. Am I correct? If they dont listen, then you can inform them you are monitoring and documenting the issue and when the time comes to replace the fence you will not be paying 50% of the costs due to their actions causing the premature failure. area let me know and Ill go talk to him! First off, since you say you agree with Potential Customer, please answer the question I have asked them as well. Here is a short section of the actual law to better explain what I mean by this: Boundary fences sit on the boundary line between two properties. The neighbors stated that we are not allowed to starting the siding job until a agreement drawn by them signed by our contractor, me/owner, and the 2 Retaining Wall Code for California for Oakland and San Francisco The neighbor paying (if you are not splitting the cost) would have the right to insist that the good side be pointed towards his yard. Now as far as the law is concerned although your neighbor is not being a very good neighbor nor is he being very diplomatic, but I believe he still has a right to refuse the vinyl fencing whether or not he is paying a dime. The fence has deteriorated and a section has fallen over. All dogs get out. I appreciate your comment, but you must realize the majority of the time, these cases will be fought in small claims court by neighbors without much legal knowledge or without additional attorneys and the judge will likely follow the letter of the law. The neighbor got another quote for exactly the same price and I said, ok, we can use your guy. I had not notified him yet of the contractor doing the job as it just got scheduled. Anyway, now that I told my story, I want to get your opinion on whether or not I was within my rights (morally and legally), to refuse to pay for a decorative front yard fence that solely compliments his landscape and is not standard in our neighborhood (even though I did end up paying). The neighbor is bullying you in order to make money off you. Engineering calculations and associated data; Soils report (if applicable) For detailed plot plan requirements see Building Permit Requirements. I would imagine it will not be built as well as a professional could do, therefore down the road, it will likely fail much sooner! I was barely in escrow when they did fence as soon as I moved in they asked me to pay them 3,000 I told them that was not my responsibility because the house wasnt mine yet. He should have sent the notice to you 30 days prior to the construction of the fence and should have sent it to you certified mail with the return receipt requested. The law places responsibility on both parties because both benefit from the fence. Therefore I fully agree with you that your fence was not even close to the point of needing to be replaced. Retaining wall law | Legal Advice - LawGuru RETAINING WALL DESIGN - egbc.ca Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions! I informed him that I already have a contractor in place but he was insistent that I use who they subcontract through and ordered me not to proceed any further. It does not extend the full length of the front yard (only about 15 feet of 45 or so). Code 841, but my fear is that after having a letter certified to her, she will either ignore it or refuse after the 30 days. Is there anything I can do to stop neighbors from bullying me? Code in most cities is as follows: retaining wall can't be on the property line because the neighbor who is at the lower elevation owns the wall and has to have enough room at the top for proper drain lines. Wood retaining walls (with or without a fence) with an exposed wall height of two feet or less, where the retained soil does not support a surcharge (i.e. Seems like a stalling tactic to avoid paying for it. However, the fence installed has a deep setback, meaning half our lots side yard has new fencing, and the other half has no fencing at all (dont think it ever did). We need to have some stucco repair to the side of our house in that area and would like to be able to get in there periodically to weed, etc. If he followed these steps then he could go after you in court and would likely win. The solution is simple a fence called a good neighbor fence where the rails as you call 2x4s alternate with every post linearly. Who is responsible for a Retaining Wall? | Legal Advice - LawGuru She has to get three separate estimates and then you two can agree as to which company to go with. An anchored retaining wall can be constructed in any of the styles but also includes additional strength using cables or Helical tie backs with other types of rods anchored in the rock or soil behind it. At this point I dont care about the money but he keeps saying he paid for the last 3 fences which is not true. Im confident if I contracted any work on the wall he would not allow workers on his property. float: left; The judge will side with you; you are in the right in this case! We saved all receipts from the hardware store. There is a brick wall between me and my neighbor. He said he could not pay half only $600. Do we owe anyliability and responsibility to the neighbors? Who is Responsible for Retaining Wall - ExpertLaw My last correspondence by text with the homeower who lives out of the area is if you want it done now you can do that and pay for it all yourself. It was always referred to as their fence, and nobody else could touch it. I would definitely go ahead with the notice to alter shared boundary as soon as possible giving the neighbor as much time as possible before construction commences. So your situation depends heavily on who dug into the hill and installed the retaining wall in the first place--your neighbor's predecessor, or yours. The technique has been used to provide support for many excavations or simply a garden wall. If they do not want to do that then they can eat the costs as they rushed to replace it when they should have waited until they spoke with you, the new homeowner! 30 years ago, the original owner of this neighboring house decided to build a 2-to-4 foot retaining wall (30-feet long) at his cost without consulting with me. This is no less true in California, where houses are packed closely together and neighbors like to maintain their privacy. Since from what youre saying he did none of the above, he has no legal backing to pursue any money from you. Now the neighbor wants the planks that my husband nailed to be removed. However, you can be right and still have to pay for the whole fence. The rest of the fence between our backyards is fine. If it comes down to it you might need to get a restraining order against him. Retaining wall responsibility | Legal Advice - LawGuru #gallery-1 img { Am I still responsible for half? Once the fence is completed, make payment in full to the contractor, making sure to keep all documents such as invoices, receipts, copies of your check, etc. Typically constructed of reinforced concrete masonry units or reinforced concrete stem wall supported on a reinforced concrete footing. Would you please comment on this: After getting the small claims judgement, and the other party still refuses to pay, get the judgement RECORDED, as it then attaches to the property. Dividing Fences and Retaining Walls - Master Builders WA Our neighbors property has their front yard side fence built on their property, parallel to our fence, about 16 inches from our fence along the entire way. Pile group reduction factors are not applied, 40 kip for extreme limit states. I told them they need to trim back their trees and shrubs and that I would be getting estimates to repair the fence and take them to small claims court. a picture frame fence since it looks the same from both sides, or when a basic nail-up fence is built with alternating panels, hence both neighbors get equal shares of the bad and good sides. Hope this fully answers your question, if you have any further questions please let us know. I hope this answers your question somewhat good luck with your neighbor! This definition also applies to freestanding pool walls. He did not cut the wood to fit the slope setting the first panel adjacent to backyard neighbor fence up off the ground, leaving a large, hollowed out, open area in the slope on my side which now will cause erosion, and I believe failure of the fence when winter comes. Only 43 of that fence serves me, and then my gate encloses my yard. Engineering Professional(s) Professional engineers and licensees who are registered or licensed by the . The fence does not enclose their front yard but is still a neighboring fence. again please do not pay him a dime. You need to tell him he is harrasing you and you will not stand for it. The good news, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. A new fence is going up tomorrow. Whether the climate is wet or dry, the walls must support the earth. -Was the wall there from the very beginning when the houses were built or is it because of some type of new construction? You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop. Make a demand to the neighbor for half of the costs. PDF IR 16-3: EARTH RETAINING SYSTEMS WITH PRECAST CONCRETE OR - California What options do I have? poor maintenance, or sprinklers hitting the fence, etc., causing damage to the fence, therefore, causing the fence to have to be replaced before it should have with proper care and maintenance. Soldier piles retains soil, using vertical steel piles or wooden posts with horizontal lagging. Seems your neighbor would be reaping the rewards with no out of pocket costs for him. Never gave us the opportunity to make a selection that matched our existing fence. Who is responsible for a retaining wall? | Practical Law He came and took measurements and then said he would have to contact the homeowner to get approval and that I would have to use their contractor. This has been on going for 3 years. They asked permission and we acquiesced but chose not to participate in the fencing. Can she insist on a new fence and I have to pay for half? Our side of the fence with the 2x4s looks ugly and unfinished. The other neighbor does not own but rents, so I contacted the rental company and informed them of my wishes to replace the fence. My neighbor fence between the driveways in California needs to be replaced from wind damage last December. My fence completely encloses my back garden and is a corner lot. In the broadest terms a wall on the property line might be shared. The other option is to get a man you know that is bigger and meaner than him, maybe a brother, friend, cousin, to go confront him and tell him he needs to leave you alone or they will be coming back to pay him another visit. California's Good Neighbor Fence Law RC Fences and Decks Dispute arising between neighbors over boundary fence? Is it his right to put the framed side facing us? We deal solely with fences and decks and not siding, etc. Our property is the lower one and theirs is the higher one. A day later, while I was out, the neighbor came and spoke to my wife in a very critical fashion. The most common dispute is who will incur the costs and whether or not there should be a shared responsibility due to the equal benefit the fence will have. Wed be up for taking down the existing fence down and adding new planks to our side of the new fence but arent sure about it since its 4 inches away from the original fence. } The neighbor wants me to replace the fence and pay for it 100%, saying this is not a boundary fence. The fence needs to replace much of it because of the poor maintenance on my neighbors side. I have no idea where your neighbor is getting his information from but it sounds to me like he is trying to take you guys to the cleaners, please whatever you do dont let him do that! We never had any retaining concrete wall, just the fence besides our plant bed that separates the two properties. The development has remained pretty much the same over the years, and only a handful of people chose to put up decorative front yard fences. My neighbors want the fence between our houses done. If this sounds familiar then your in the right place and your problem is soon to be solved with The California Good Neighbor Law also referred to as California Civil Code 841 or The Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013. In this scenario, would the State law trump the city? The Keystone Legacy Block (6 high x 16 wide x 10 deep) product is limited to 3 feet in height or six blocks in height total. If he still refuses now you will need to go down to the courthouse and file a small claims suit against your neighbor and pay the small fee. requires a neighbor to get a minimum of 3 estimates and chose from those accordingly based on price, experience, warranty, etc. Shouldnt we have a right to easily access our own property? We sent the insurance coverage, licenses. My new neighbor just started replacing all his fencing in his backyard. I have a neighbor that has built a short retaining wall on his side of the sharing fence line. walls and retaining walls supporting more than 6 feet (1.83 m) of backfill height due to design earthquake ground motions Due to the variability in soil properties throughout the County of Los Angeles, the design professional must take care in his or her analysis of basement and site retaining walls. Allan Block, Earth stone, Keystone, etc.) You might want to contact legal counsel to review this matter. Contractors and homeowners are usually more aware of the vertical offset between the upper and lower grade elevations that will be required for the retaining wall. Lastly, the neighbor failed to serve the notice to you. If one party refuses to cooperate, the other party can do any of the following: The definition regarding Join for Use is likely going to be a major factor in deciding who is legally responsible to pay. Do we still split it in half? I dont know why she says that. You can state you will fight them in court. Neighbor wants to replace fallen fence due to construction on his property. It sounds to me like your new neighbors are bullies and I wouldnt let them push you around. Neither of these block types is recommended when the retaining wall is supporting a sloping backfill, any other surcharge or a solid fence. Jim, thank you for the great question. Paying in full and go to court is not a good resolution to this situation. are frequently available from local building supply warehouse stores. A building permit can usually be issued over the counter when two copies of the following are provided along with a completed permit application: Segmental gravity retaining walls such as Keystone, Allan Block, etc. If she fails to respond, you will then go ahead with the construction (just make sure and inform her the days they will be replacing the fence in case she has dogs, etc.) She is seriously the neighbor of nightmares and this is why people need to understand what it means to live in an HOA community. Can I still take him to court. Theyre so close that the trunks of the trees have pushed against the lower fence rail and caused the fence to separate from one of the posts and lean into my yard. Bonde v. Bishop, 245 P.2d 617, 621 (Cal. Secondly, I wouldnt pay them a dime if I were you. Fine. Still proceed to have the fence repaired and then take her to small claims? 9. this information even though informative it only benefit the contractor. neighbors. Thanks. The neighbor does not want to share the cost to fix it, and states it is my sole responsibility. Retaining Walls Retaining walls are frequently used to stabilise and modify slopes, level sites, and correct grade differences between properties. ( I had 300 to 500 in mind) He mentioned that was very nice and most neighbors would not do this. Never asked for financial help. T 604-864-5510 E planning-info@abbotsford.ca Building Permits & Licences 1st Floor, 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC T 604-864-5525 E building-info@abbotsford.ca . Any thoughts not input would be greatly appreciated. This is the height referred to in UBC 106.2, item 5 and it includes the wall and depth of footing below grade. One neighbor is not financially able to split the cost but said he would try and chip in what he could. That is, if you're talking about retaining wall ideas in your landscape design. Do you know? Those people moved out and a new family moved in. We cant move forward with the project without the fence removed. The fence boards (good side) all face our property, the framing is all on their side.