Post by mrsukyankee on Nov 16, 2014 6:47:54 GMT -5
We have a fence on the left of the property that is ours, behind us only one section is ours and to the other side it is owned by our neighbor (very confusing but typical in London). Our neighbors knocked down their garage which was acting as their fence and then asked us to pay half to put in a fence. We said no as it was their fence and their responsibility. We've replaced our side (other neighbors) even though the kids kicking the ball against it did some damage (but mainly it was just old and rotting - wood).
For you, I'd say no. It's their fence and if they want it new, they can pay for it.
I'd ask him to get quotes for both repairing and replacing it. I'd contribute 50% of the cost to repair it, regardless of whether he decides to replace it, since I would feel no obligation to pay for something purely aesthetic. I might also get an independent repair quote just in case the contractor upped the repair quote as an incentive for replacement.
I still don't understand the 'well, you get a benefit too, even though it's not yours or on your property and you didn't ask them to put it up for you'. So, what, it's just a free pass to get other people to pay for the nice things you want? "hi neighbor, I expect you to pay half of my landscape bill, obviously you benefit by curb appeal vs me letting crab grass reign, so fork it over".
I would laugh at anyone who approached me and asked me to pay for anything that was not on my property, my responsibility, or something me/my kids broke.
Oh, ML. You crazy.
This argument is silly to me, but I think it stems from people saying how a neighbor "benefits" from side fencing. But to me it's not so vague (because then you'd be right that landscaping might qualify); it's more like you *share* the fence. I also don't think it's an obligation to pay, but asking/offering is fine.
I still don't understand the 'well, you get a benefit too, even though it's not yours or on your property and you didn't ask them to put it up for you'. So, what, it's just a free pass to get other people to pay for the nice things you want? "hi neighbor, I expect you to pay half of my landscape bill, obviously you benefit by curb appeal vs me letting crab grass reign, so fork it over".
I would laugh at anyone who approached me and asked me to pay for anything that was not on my property, my responsibility, or something me/my kids broke.
Oh, ML. You crazy.
Well, in order for her to have a fully fenced yard, she needs this section. So it's not really just a situation of "oh, she is benefitting from a nice looking fence." She is actively using it. Part of her fence connects to this fence. And as someone else pointed out, if the portion of the fence in question is truly on her neighbors property and not on line, she is technically using a portion of the neighbors property AND her connecting fence portions are on his property. I mean, if I were in this situation and my neighbor didn't want to share the cost at all, I might be so inclined to point this out and not bother connecting her fence to my new fence. Because as you say, it's my fence and my property.
OP, I would try and split the cost. If it's too much all at once, can you try to work with the neighbor on splitting the $1000 up? Pay $500 now and $500 later or something?
Yes I probably would split it. We have the same situation you do- both neighbors had fences so when we put ours up we only had to do the front and back and attach to theirs. If they decided to take theirs down we'd have to pay to have that side put up, costing me more money. We're using their fence side just as much as they are
What are the laws in your state about fences? In our state, if both parties have a fence they are responsible for 50% maintenance. And unless its over a foot on his property it's considered a shared fence regardless of if its within his property line.
Did the HOA say it needed to be repaired? If so, you should pay half. If parts need to be replaced, as you say, than really it all needs to be replaced. It will look shitty to replace pieces and have different wood colors. I would be happy my neighbors are maintaining their property and that they have a fence you benefit from and don't have to pay 100%for the maintenance.
What are the laws in your state about fences? In our state, if both parties have a fence they are responsible for 50% maintenance. And unless its over a foot on his property it's considered a shared fence regardless of if its within his property line.
Did the HOA say it needed to be repaired? If so, you should pay half. If parts need to be replaced, as you say, than really it all needs to be replaced. It will look shitty to replace pieces and have different wood colors. I would be happy my neighbors are maintaining their property and that they have a fence you benefit from and don't have to pay 100%for the maintenance.
No idea what the laws are. I tried looking yesterday, but didn't find anything. I plan to email our realtor today to see if he has any advice or knowledge about this.
We do not have an HOA. I don't *care* if it doesn't all match, frankly. It can be restained if need be, but it isn't visible to anyone unless they are in the backyard. For me, as long as its functioning properly and not threatening to fall down, it doesn't need to be replaced to the tune of $2k for 80 feet of fencing.
I'm getting my own quote and will wait for him to email me what he has. I'm not willing to pay for any portion of his front fence, so I want to see the breakdown and make sure he's not trying to get us to do just that.
I would contribute, that way I would have a say in the fence that is chosen. I agree with Sue Sue (as usual, lol) that I wouldn't want an ugly chain link fence or anything.
I don't envision him making a decision like this. He partly, I think, wants to replace the fence so that it matches everything else when he replaces the rest of his fencing. He wants it to look nice.
If he were to do this, we would certainly reevaluate.
It still makes no sense to me. Besides that 2k includes a front yard fence to which she has no use of.
I would never pay for something not on my property. Two neighbors use my sides of fence and I would never have the balls to ask them to pay for anything.
Eye to eye. It's a little ballsy to me that he asked. It would never have occurred to me to ask him to pay for part of it if it were our fence. My property, my responsibility.
I would not contribute. We replaced our fence shortly after buying our house (to the tune of about $8k ) and we never would have asked our neighbors to contribute. Although, a few months later one of our neighbors asked if he could build off ours when he replaced his.
I also don't think he'd have any grounds to make you contribute. Even if it is shared property, if the current fence does not NEED to be replaced I think both neighbors would need to agree to replace. He should pay for it himself.
This whole shared cost thing must be location specific because the only time I hear of this stuff is on ML.
In my area, fence on your property means you pay. We replaced a 80 foot run of fence 2 summers ago and paid for it all ourselves. Our neighbor's had a shared fence knocked over by a tree and they paid for the replacement and didn't ask us to chip in.
Is there anyway you could say something like "we would like to contribute since we do benefit from your fence, but $1000 is not in our budget at this time. We can contribute x towards repairing the parts that need to be replaced, or you can put our money towards the cost of replacing the entire fence of that is your preference"