[quote=JC]hello! i am probably embarassing myself but what survey map? how does one get a hold of one of those? thank you![/quote]
In our neighborhood there are survey “pins” in the sidewalk on the property line.
Then comes the tricky part… depending on how the lots work. There should be a pin/post/etc on the back corner of the lot… but these can be very hard to find, buried, or removed.
You could hire a survey company. They would establish the corners, and possibly stake out the property line. But that costs $$$. You’d have documentation, though, if a neighbor ever sued you for putting the fence on their side.
Look for a small metal disk in the sidewalk between your house and your neighbors house… that will at least give you an idea of a point on the property line.
Definitely try to get in touch with the owners directly by mail or phone. May be able to dig up a phone number if you have the full name and city.
I would also have the tenants send a letter to the property management company about dangerous fence, liability, worried about injury to children, doesn’t comply with the lease, etc. The prop management co has no incentive, reason, or responsibility to respond to you at all. However, they have to respond to the tenants and should have some sense of duty to pass along that kind of letter to the owners.
If the owners hear from you on one hand and from the tenants on the other, maybe they’ll realize it is important.
Got it. Since you are cool with the tenents, push the fence down on the tenants side. Let them take photos of it to include with their demand letter for repair to prop mgmt/owner. Then prop it back up and wait for the owner to come to you wanting to split the cost. 🙂
[quote=JC]
dumb question — how do you determine where your property line starts and stops as i dont expect to ever hear from these folks. i guess if you are out of state you dont have to respond or care. :)[/quote]
Look on the bright side.
If they don’t care, it’s better they’re out of state, the other alternative is they lived next door.
That said, the fence is already established. You’re not replacing the fence, or building fence, you’re doing necessary maintenance on the EXISTING fence.
So how much to ‘repair’ the fence with comparable materials? You need to balance that cost against the cost of the time and frustration of dealing with an apparently penny pinching out state lardlord using a ‘slumlord’ property management firm.
If the owners have not responded to your letters, they probably won’t respond to any future attempts. Send then a letter and have them at least sign off on the repairs or replacement of existing fence at your expense. If they don’t sign the letter allowing you to do repairs, then build a new fence on your side of the existing fence. You don’t want to have any future law suits and this should take care of that. Fence issues are a pain in the butt. My recomendation is to avoid any potential problems and if you want the new fence, you pay for it. Remember you are the one with the dog and potential hazard. I’ve been on both sides of the fence problem and there is no easy solution if one side is not ready to move forward.
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