Moving fence not on property line

We recently bought a brownstone and the fence between our and our neighbor’s yard is about 7” off the property line, on our side. It’s not a huge amount but the yard is not that big, and since we are putting in a new fence we’d like to replace the old one with a new one on the property line. Hopefully the neighbor won’t mind, but at the end of the day can they stop us or make things difficult for us?
One possibly relevant point is the neighbor has a small tree close to the property line that leans into our lot, though I suppose we can just have a small fence section that goes around it.

pgfgyckqcjdvzrjd

in General Discussion 7 years and 2 months ago

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helen40

in General Discussion 7 years and 2 months ago

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Not a comment on the fence issue, per se, but we agreed to plant a tree on the neighbor’s property, near the lot line, as their tree was a decaying fruit tree that littered my garden. Offering to remove and replace the tree went a long way to establishing a good relationship.

SoSlope | 7 years and 2 months ago

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I agree with the suggestion to speak with your neighbors. It is highly unlikely that adverse possession is an issue since fences alone do not establish adverse possession in Brooklyn backyards. If you do move the fence, you should get the property lines staked by the surveyor so that you are certain that the fence is on the property line.

I agree with OP: 7″ can feel like a lot in a Brooklyn yard.

resident2 | 7 years and 2 months ago

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The first thing is to speak to your neighbor.
How long has the fence been there? there maybe adverse possession issues. Who put the fence there; you inherit agreements made by your seller/owners.
The fence is not yours to just take down. You presumably will be neighbors for quite some time, so it is best to talk and come up with a compromise if need be. Work on it together.
I recently bought a house with this issue. My Attorney sent a letter to the neighbors on all three sides to get them to acknowledge that the fences were all on my property by in some cases as much as 18″. Two sides ignored the letter, the 3rd side made it clear she was an attorney and she knew her rights….
We ended up with me replacing the fence on the boundary line, as I wanted and I paid for a new front entrance gate to her property attached to the new fence. Which helps my property look better than having a broken down gate next door.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 7 years and 2 months ago

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What you CAN do and what’s WORTH doing might be two different things. Speak to your neighbor first.

randolph | 7 years and 2 months ago

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The survey of your house should show exactly where the property line is so assuming you have one the neighbor really has no leg to stand on. Also you are allowed to cut down any part of a tree that crosses over your property line.