Marking property boundaries

Sorry, never mind.

I’d put up a rope and on my side I’d run a rototiller down the length of the line in preparation for planting bushes of some sort every so many feet. Then I would mulch in the bed. That should define it.

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Sorry I should have been more specific. My recollection is most of the shorter time frames involve paying taxes on the property (although some involve deeds as well) but definitely confirm for your state.

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We always dig out and put in pvc and concrete the rebar pins; we have the surveyor flag the sides (at least 2 per side) and do the same “concreted” pins along the sides, then edge and add shrubery beds along the propery line. The size of the shrubs depends on how much we like the neighbors; we’re currently in the market for green giant arborvitae :wink::joy:

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Yes. I think you can build to the boundary, just not fence.

Whatever you mark the boundaries with make sure they’re permanent or hard to move. Some neighbors like to “move” markers slightly just because they can. Ask me how I know.

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I know in some states there’s a big fine for cutting down someone else’s tree. So, if you were to plant a few trees near the property line and they damaged them, well, you can figure out the rest.

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Boulders. Landscaping quality boulders, a mound of dirt, and a nice selection of low maintenance plants among them.

Like this:

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Property laws are very state-specific. So what applies to your locale may not be relevant to mine. :slight_smile:

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OP: You need to consult an attorney in your jurisdiction. I suspect that your hostile neighbor has already received advice from local counsel.

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An attorney seems like a big jump. Not to mention the cost. I strung up a rope along the boundary and I will wait and see what they do.

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Hopefully, you did not buy expensive rope, and, hopefully, you purchased lots of replacement rope.

Remember the old & oft repeated saying: Don’t go to a gun fight armed only with a knife. = Your neighbor is probably taking action based on advice from retained legal counsel.

In terms of years, how long has your neighbor been occupying or using a portion of your property ?

Were you aware of this intrusion when you purchased your property ?

Research “prescriptive easement” / “implied easement”.

Understand that easements can be both permissive as well as restrictive.

P.S. Consider placing a non-harmful substance along the property line–such as ammonia which will be absorbed into / by the ground–to discourage further intrusions by the neighbors’ dog. Also, use ammonia near any spots “marked” or “used” by the neighbors’ dog in an attempt to discourage return visits.

In an above post, you asserted that you can “build” to the property line. This is almost certainly an inaccurate statement. You may be able to “plant” vegetation up to the property line, but not “build” or “construct” a permanent structure this close to another’s property.

Research “setbacks”.

Also, research the definition of “fences” in your jurisdiction. If hedges on one’s property line are not considered to be a fence in your jurisdiction, then consider planting hedges within view of your security camera along the disputed property line.

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This is rude. I can be a bit confrontational, if the circumstances arise, so that’s my perspective here.

First, I’d say something to the neighbor. If they can’t control their dog, then I’d take a shovel and shovel the dog crap back onto their property for one thing. When I walk my dog, I encounter an occasional sign that essentially wants their lawn to be “dog free.” I honor that wish. And I certainly pick up any crap my dog poops out.

Second thing, do you golf? Personally, I don’t, but recently I visited a home with a outdoor golf swing/hitting cage. If you like golf and your property is big enough, I’d get a smaller version and plop the baby right on or near the property line and start hitting golf balls at 8:00 AM. :smiling_imp:

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I have a question.

What prevents you from installing a fence? Is it an HOA rule? City/town ordinance? Some other type of jurisdictional governance?

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My neighbor has been there for 1 1/2 years, me about 6 months. I think I have time. No, I didn’t know anything about the intrusion until after I moved in. Odd it may sound, they require setbacks only in front, not on the sides or back.

@sushiritto HOA. Are you saying I was rude to tell my neighbor to clean up after their dog? I don’t want to clean up after their dog. I figure if they told me to move my sub’s car parked on the public road, albeit slightly in front of their house, I could tell them to clean up after their dog doing #2 in my yard. Is it so rude?

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No, sorry, my wording was terrible. I was saying that the neighbors are rude for not picking up their dog’s crap. My bad. If they don’t listen to you, then the shovel would come out of my garage/tool shed.

So, HOA, that’s potentially a positive. HOA rules can be far easier to change than a city ordinance. Have you read any past HOA newsletters, monthly and yearly documents, etc.? I wonder what, if anything, has been discussed over the years. Do you have any gauge of how other current property owners feel about fences?

Just spitballin’ here, but attending a few meetings and asking about fencing and/or maybe getting yourself elected to the board might be a way to “pave the road” towards changing the rules from the inside.

I’m also curious if any city, state or town ordinances that may conflict with the HOA’s no fencing rule. It might worth discussing with a local land use attorney that specializes in this area of the law. This assumes your neighbor continues to display poor behavior.

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You don’t know my HOA. The town is far more flexible than the HOA. Let’s see how the rope plays out. Don’t worry. It is an old climbing rope I had lying around, not in use.

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When dealing with neighbors, most people operate under a “Don’t be a ‘richard’” rule. So you try not to do anything that will annoy your neighbor. And you try to let things slide (within reason) that your neighbor may do that annoys you. However that only works if both parties are following the don’t-be-a-richard rule.

Your neighbor isn’t following that rule (at least it doesn’t look that way). And I suspect they are counting on you to continue following it. That can create big problems. Not for them but for you.

Have you talked with them? Tell them that you understand they could do what they wanted when it was a vacant lot but that has changed. You own the lot now and expect to be able to keep it as you see fit. May take a little time for them but they have to adjust. Reality is they had more freedom for a period of time than they were legally entitled to have. But that time is now over.

They don’t own the street in front of their house and cannot dictate who parks there. At least unless you have HOA rules that change that (city in which I live allows a neighbor’s plow service to pile up snow in a neighbors’s yard but our HOA does not – plow services didn’t know about that when houses were new but they all know now). So they want to dictate but also want to be free on their part to encroach on your rights/property.

You have to decide if you want to continue being neighborly even if they won’t. Maybe they will stop getting worse. But they may see your not being a "richard’ as a sign of weakness and see how far they can take it.

Parents of two of my friends growing up lived next to each other. Parents didn’t get along. At all. Years after the kids moved out, the parents continued a type of feud. I had to drive past the two houses going to see my parents. I would tell my wife that we were going to check out the state of the family feud when we drove past by looking at the fence line between the houses. If there was all kinds of junk piled up high, you knew things were not going well. If there was little/nothing piled up along the fence, there was a period of detente. They were rare and didn’t last long.

It may be that if you stand up to them, you will earn some respect and they will get back in line (or stay on their side of it at least). May make things a little uncomfortable for a time but its not like things are comfortable now.

HOA could be your friend. Likely have some type of dispute resolution process (submit complaint, HOA/committee investigates it and then rules on it). City could help as well.

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It sounds like the main issue is the dog regularly coming and crapping on Iglooo’s property. A fence would have solved this pronto, bu no fences are allowed. I would look in the HOA handbook of allowed landscaping designs and try to make the area as unattractive to the dog to crap on as possible. A nice cacti garden would have worked in AZ or similar places. Some prickly bushes (barberry is quite ornamental…), crushed rock paths that are not fun to walk on barefoot… that kind of stuff.

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