Property Line Conundrum - Anyone a Surveyor here?

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
A survey could also be easy and accurate depending on where your lot is on the overall subdivision plat. If you’re near a section corner etc it really simplifies things.

I agree that disputes with neighbors are best avoided so proceed with caution. When we put up our concrete retaining wall I asked my neighbor if it was ok to put it right up against the property line to maximize my sideyard and have the fence completely on his side. He sort of reluctantly agreed but it was enough for me to run with it. He got a great deal cause I helped him retain his water and it cost me like $11k for that wall. I didn’t even ask him to pitch in and I still paid for half of the fence. Sometimes a reasonable middle ground has to be found…

But also, why’d you buy a house with such a dumb sideyard? Hahaha
 

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
Thank you all for the help!

We found the plat maps, and everything. My wife did some pretty good detective work yesterday.

We went over and talked to our east neighbors (they were the first ones in the subdivision to build - even though the west neighbors were the first lot, then ours, then theirs). They had their original blueprints with measurements to the property line. We went off those measurements and roughly found out they have about a foot of our property, but the neighbor in question has about ~2-2.5 feet of our property.
 

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
Update: my wife went to get our son from daycare and the husband happened to pull in with pizza for the kids. She asked what his plans were with the fence, and he actually wants to enclose the side of the house for privacy, and then do a 4' fence all the way to his mailbox.

She asked if he knew where the property line was and said when he had the fence put in, he had a construction company come in with GPS and said that was his line. She proceeded to tell him that we called the county and got the plat maps, and measurements and that we are actually quite short, and on both sides. We measured last night and told him it should actually be about here (2-2.5' into his driveway). He said that was his property line, and he was going to be doing his original plans. She asked him, ok if we have a survey done and we are correct, what then? He said he would take us to court that he would win because he has had that property for X years. She got mad at that comment (who wouldn't) but stayed pretty light hearted about it. She said we don't care about the backyard, but we would like to be able to use our RV parking for our trailers, and be able to access our toy hauler via the door. He said we are all adults, why don't we have a conversation and maybe come to a compromise? But from what I just heard that she told me, where's the compromise in that?

I think it is bound to get even uglier....
 

Cody

Random Quote Generator
Supporting Member
Location
Gastown
That's shitty. I think my response would be something like "well if we switched positions and we were building a fence, wouldn't you want to be sure it's the legal border and not encroaching upon your property".

Of course they would and of course you should. Taking a neighbors legal properly over a technicality is kind of bull shit.
 

johngottfredson

Threat Level Midnight
Location
Alpine
No need for a compromise, it’s possible to determine actual property lines, and actual legal rights. Then nobody has to feel shafted. Get a good survey, that will trump his “construction company GPS” bullshit lot line. If a surveyor says he is into your property line, he won’t go to court, because even if he has a prescriptive easement, that only means he can keep using that bit of property, NOT that he can preclude you from using it with a fence. And there are ways to fight a prescriptive easement claim, such as demonstrating non-continual use, or show that the use was by permission.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
If you move the fence the proposed 2ish feet do you both still have room to park your stuff? Your first pic is trash so I can’t tell 🤣
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
I think its probably in your best interest to be up front with your neighbor. Tell him that if he goes ahead with his plan, that means you would no longer be able to park your trailer on your property which would be a financial hardship to you. You don't want to cause problems, but legal property lines are legal property lines and you are going to pay for a survey to settle the question once and for all where those lines are. If they line up with what he thinks, then thats the end of it from your end. If they line up with where you think, then he needs to accept that as well.
And leave it at that. Not much he can do if you're going to determine the legal limits of your property on your dime. And while it might make it uncomfortable, I doubt they'll boot your kid from daycare because thats money coming in. And unless they are total dicks, they should hopefully have the sense to keep the kids out of it.
 

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
I was just up the street from you, so I drove past your place. I didn’t check right by the mailboxes because they were many cars next-door I didn’t want to look like a creeper… But I could not find the pin marker on the east side either. But I did notice you have a ton of space on that side of your house. If it comes to worst case scenario… Throw some gravel down like your east neighbors, and park your trailer on that side of the house.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I was just up the street from you, so I drove past your place. I didn’t check right by the mailboxes because they were many cars next-door I didn’t want to look like a creeper… But I could not find the pin marker on the east side either. But I did notice you have a ton of space on that side of your house. If it comes to worst case scenario… Throw some gravel down like your east neighbors, and park your trailer on that side of the house.
cough creeper cough

And on that note, it looks like homeboy has plenty of sideyard to the point that I wouldn't feel even a little bit bad about getting a survey done and insisting they do the right thing. Also your street seems to have mailboxes just kinda anywhere so I'd move that nonsense somewhere else on your property like next to the eastern neighbor's mailbox.
1679690567087.png
 
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Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
I was just up the street from you, so I drove past your place. I didn’t check right by the mailboxes because they were many cars next-door I didn’t want to look like a creeper… But I could not find the pin marker on the east side either. But I did notice you have a ton of space on that side of your house. If it comes to worst case scenario… Throw some gravel down like your east neighbors, and park your trailer on that side of the house.
I proposed that to my wife when we got it, but she doesn't want to do that. I can't blame her really, its a lot of work but if worse case scenario happened, it is an option.

I wish I was home, I would have said stop by and say hi!
cough creeper cough

And on that note, it looks like homeboy has plenty of sideyard to the point that I wouldn't feel even a little bit bad about getting a survey done and insisting they do the right thing. Also your street seems to have mailboxes just kinda anywhere so I'd move that nonsense somewhere else on your property like next to the eastern neighbor's mailbox.
View attachment 158207
Right, it is hard to see, but he has a couple posts he threw up for an eventual fence. Its behind his truck, but he is he saying they can't use that for the vinyl fence they are quoting and even still if it happens to be our property, I would like to be able to move the trailer to the side of the house if all possible, and move his mailbox outta there.

So USPS said they had to have a pair of mailboxes together thanks to the unions and how they have it worked (I took it as they don't want to walk or work more - typical gov job right?) well the east neighbor has a mailbox that is single, and obviously ours are double. So I move ours to be doubles, they move theirs to be a single. No biggie.
 

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
A survey could also be easy and accurate depending on where your lot is on the overall subdivision plat. If you’re near a section corner etc it really simplifies things.

I agree that disputes with neighbors are best avoided so proceed with caution. When we put up our concrete retaining wall I asked my neighbor if it was ok to put it right up against the property line to maximize my sideyard and have the fence completely on his side. He sort of reluctantly agreed but it was enough for me to run with it. He got a great deal cause I helped him retain his water and it cost me like $11k for that wall. I didn’t even ask him to pitch in and I still paid for half of the fence. Sometimes a reasonable middle ground has to be found…

But also, why’d you buy a house with such a dumb sideyard? Hahaha
I missed a bunch of replies when I put up my replies (doing quick post - then missed the new replies ha) I knew it was a small 'rv' pad when I bought it, but didn't think it was as small as it was. I removed a chain link fence when I first moved in that was on my side. It was on my side, but I asked him if he was ok with it anyway. Then I was able to at least get my flatbed trailers back there.
 
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