My question involves real estate located in the State of: California
Hi all,
I am glad I found this forum because I am new to owning a home and could use some advice!
Here is my situation – I purchased a home 3 months ago and my house is built on a hill with my backyard going up the hill with 3 terraces that have retaining walls at each level. On the second terrace there is a stone wall that runs the width of the property and then along the neighbor’s side (the length of the property) it returns back down the slope dividing my property from the neighbors (house was built in 1943 and the stone wall is probably at least 35 years old, no records on the deed of it). My neighbor is very messy, they must have a dozen black trash bags full of plastic bottles that look like they have been there for a very long time (the bags are ripped and bottles are everywhere) along with stacked misc. items that are piled on top of one another. Generally speaking their yard is very unsightly (luckily the other neighbor isn’t like this).
I was trying to think of a way to increase my privacy and thought a solution could be to build a short wooden fence on top of the stone wall on the half towards my property (the width of the top of the stone wall is around 18” wide, the wall height varies from 7’ down to 4 ‘,). My neighbor and I have gotten along pretty well, and when I mentioned building a fence like this he said that shouldn’t be a problem (I didn’t ask for any money). Then he came back the next day and said he does not want a fence build on top of the wall and that the wall was built for their house. I said to him (since I was in the middle of something else) that lets talk about it another time (this was two weeks ago). And since then he put lousy half dead potted plants on top of the retaining wall (seemingly to claim his stake of the wall he has now claim belongs to him, or perhaps to courteously to help with privacy?, I prefer to assume the latter although that likely isn’t the case). It may be worth mentioning the wife of the neighbor has lived in the house her entire life (she is now 46) and perhaps feels a sense of ownership beyond what is legal?
Weeks previously (when I built a fence towards the front of the property, we agreed that our property boundaries are where the face of the brick wall along the length of terrace 1 “clearly” divides our properties. Well, that said, it is clear the face of the stone wall is aligned with the other brick wall and the majority (if not all) of the width of the stone wall is on my property, keep in the mind my entire second terrace is made of the same stone on my side and the neighbor does not have any matching stone wall besides the wall we share.
My question is that if by chance some of the stone wall is slightly on the neighbors property (I cant see on his side all that well) who decides what can go on the top of the wall? Who “owns” it? I should also mention the stone wall is retaining my soil from falling onto his lot. If the neighbor simply said that he would prefer not to have a fence on the wall due to aesthetics I wouldn’t want to resort to who’s wall it is, since I try to be nice about it and perhaps I would plant shrubs instead. But the fact they the neighbor is claiming ownership of the wall and placing unsightly plants (and knick knacks ) on the wall, I feel I need to be more firm on the situation and be educated on what the my legal rights are. I know a survey is likely necessary but I wanted to gather more information from you all first before (and if) I spend the money…
Hi all,
I am glad I found this forum because I am new to owning a home and could use some advice!
Here is my situation – I purchased a home 3 months ago and my house is built on a hill with my backyard going up the hill with 3 terraces that have retaining walls at each level. On the second terrace there is a stone wall that runs the width of the property and then along the neighbor’s side (the length of the property) it returns back down the slope dividing my property from the neighbors (house was built in 1943 and the stone wall is probably at least 35 years old, no records on the deed of it). My neighbor is very messy, they must have a dozen black trash bags full of plastic bottles that look like they have been there for a very long time (the bags are ripped and bottles are everywhere) along with stacked misc. items that are piled on top of one another. Generally speaking their yard is very unsightly (luckily the other neighbor isn’t like this).
I was trying to think of a way to increase my privacy and thought a solution could be to build a short wooden fence on top of the stone wall on the half towards my property (the width of the top of the stone wall is around 18” wide, the wall height varies from 7’ down to 4 ‘,). My neighbor and I have gotten along pretty well, and when I mentioned building a fence like this he said that shouldn’t be a problem (I didn’t ask for any money). Then he came back the next day and said he does not want a fence build on top of the wall and that the wall was built for their house. I said to him (since I was in the middle of something else) that lets talk about it another time (this was two weeks ago). And since then he put lousy half dead potted plants on top of the retaining wall (seemingly to claim his stake of the wall he has now claim belongs to him, or perhaps to courteously to help with privacy?, I prefer to assume the latter although that likely isn’t the case). It may be worth mentioning the wife of the neighbor has lived in the house her entire life (she is now 46) and perhaps feels a sense of ownership beyond what is legal?
Weeks previously (when I built a fence towards the front of the property, we agreed that our property boundaries are where the face of the brick wall along the length of terrace 1 “clearly” divides our properties. Well, that said, it is clear the face of the stone wall is aligned with the other brick wall and the majority (if not all) of the width of the stone wall is on my property, keep in the mind my entire second terrace is made of the same stone on my side and the neighbor does not have any matching stone wall besides the wall we share.
My question is that if by chance some of the stone wall is slightly on the neighbors property (I cant see on his side all that well) who decides what can go on the top of the wall? Who “owns” it? I should also mention the stone wall is retaining my soil from falling onto his lot. If the neighbor simply said that he would prefer not to have a fence on the wall due to aesthetics I wouldn’t want to resort to who’s wall it is, since I try to be nice about it and perhaps I would plant shrubs instead. But the fact they the neighbor is claiming ownership of the wall and placing unsightly plants (and knick knacks ) on the wall, I feel I need to be more firm on the situation and be educated on what the my legal rights are. I know a survey is likely necessary but I wanted to gather more information from you all first before (and if) I spend the money…
Fences and Walls: Who Owns the Top of a Retaining Wall
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