<p>I posted before about our neighbor who wanted to rebuild his garage that I suspected was on our property. ( Both our homes have detached garages right next to each other)</p>
<p>He didn’t want to pay for a survey- ( although he isn’t hurting for money)- so we did, and found that yes- his garage was about 2’ on our property, so he moved it over ( essentially 9" away from property line- so the two garages are now about 2’ away from each other)</p>
<p>So far so good- except.</p>
<p>His garage foundation had been shoring up our foundation and when he had his garage removed he removed all the concrete up to our garage- which compromised our foundation (quite a bit).</p>
<p>We didn’t have the money to pay for the survey and we don’t have the money to repair it. My H could do it, if he had time, but he has been on one weekend off a month, for months & we have other projects as well. </p>
<p>I am angry because I feel we had been accommodating to allow him to build so close to our property line, & feel neighbor is mad cause we had the survey done at all( he was claiming it was going to be thousands of dollars- it was $600- which is still a big chunk for us).</p>
<p>I didn’t want to get into a boundary dispute, but feel he should have said something when they decided to take all the asphalt & concrete out up to our garage foundation ( which is really more of a rubble footing)- not to mention that technically was our property.</p>
<p>We are supposed to sign something saying we agree to allow him to build up to property line- but I am trying to decide if I need an attorney to look at it first.</p>
<p>What else should I be doing- this construction has been going on 9 hrs a day/5 days a week for well over a year ( he also had his house extensively remodeled- which blocks quite a bit of our sun) & the noise let alone everything else has me around a bend.</p>
<p>Don’t know if I will get any applicable advice that won’t cost money- but would love to hear your neighbor stories and how you resolved them or else your tales of horror!</p>
<p>“We are supposed to sign something saying we agree to allow him to build up to property line”</p>
<p>why on earth would you agree to that? Don’t sign ANYTHING without FIRST getting an attny to read it ,AND add clauses for your own protection AND get paid NOW, as a condition before signature, for the cost of shoring up your garage foundation. It’s time to play hard ball…</p>
<p>I absolutely would not let someone build up to a property line. He definitely had no right to damage your foundation. Our NYS residential building code (based on the international building code) says that anything built within 3 feet of a property has to be built of non-combustible materials. I concur check with a lawyer. It’s too bad that you are going to have an unhappy neighbor, but his garage should never have been built on your property.</p>
<p>I agree that you need to check with an attorney, preferably one versed in real estate contract law ASAP. Let the attorney know all the facts and get an estimate as to how much s/he will charge (usually initial consultations are free). I would never agree to sign anything allowing my neighbor to build up to my property line and am surprised they were able to get a permit allowing them to start without resolving the normal setback issues that require a certain distance from the property line for structures to be built. Your neighbor does not sound like a very cooperative or collaborative person. :(</p>
<p>I don’t think he got a permit- even though when he was planning on redoing his garage before we got the survey I made a complaint to the city that he was over our property line.
The city didn’t reply.
( He is the county’s liaison with the mayor- I wonder if that had anything to do with it)</p>
<p>In my opinion this is a bigger issue than being accommodating or not to a difficult neighbor. It can impact the resale value of your property if there are property line issues, etc. I agree you really need an attorney and don’t think you can resolve this or protect yourself without spending money. I would tell the neighbor, sweet as pie, “I am just fine with your doing whatever you want to do… but my attorney insists we do so & so to protect our investment here”. I always try to make it less personal when having to deal with this sort of thing and blame it on the attorney. Frequently I say “My attorney won’t let me sign that. You have to call him/her if that is a problem.” With luck this will be one of those situations where just the fact you are consulting someone will get your neighbor’s attention. I hope so.</p>
<p>OMG - a year of noise - so sorry! and that you have to pay to sort it out</p>
<p>lordy- he didn’t even get a permit for this (just checked on line)
He must think we are really dumb.
For my husbands sake I was trying to be accommodating ( he really can’t stand conflict of any type- who * knows* why he married * me* ), but as they say
“the kid gloves come off”.</p>
<p>You are being taken advantage of, in my (un-legal) opinion. Time to go to the mattresses…or the lawyers. If he is building without the proper permits, you are the least of his worries, I don’t care who he works for. Have you alerted your local planning office to what is going on? It’s been a long time since I worked for a Park and Planning department but those guys tend to frown on people building expensive additions without their input, esp. if it will impact water/sewage usage. And when they frown, fines appear! </p>
<p>First an attorney and, if that doesn’t work, a friendly journalist looking for a little corruption in high places can work wonders.</p>
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I would tell the neighbor, sweet as pie, “I am just fine with your doing whatever you want to do… but my attorney insists we do so & so to protect our investment here”. I always try to make it less personal when having to deal with this sort of thing and blame it on the attorney. Frequently I say “My attorney won’t let me sign that. You have to call him/her if that is a problem.” With luck this will be one of those situations where just the fact you are consulting someone will get your neighbor’s attention. I hope so.</p>
), but as they say