Guy Plots The Ultimate Retaliation Against His Neighbor Who Sued Him Over A Fence That Went 1.5 Inches Beyond The Property Line
Few things are worse than being stuck with an insufferable neighbor. This becomes even worse when you are forced to deal with them, for example, when you want to build something near the property line or something that would affect your neighbor. If you’re on sour terms, they’ll do their best to make your life miserable, slowing down the process and being as specific about everything as possible.
Reddit user u/Sospuff details his story of petty revenge against a neighbor he calls a “heinous guy.” The neighbor took OP to court over his fence being 1.5 inches (4 cm) over the line, so he reported him when his fence wasn’t up to regulations. Eye for eye, fence for fence.
More info: Reddit
Dealing with untalkative neighbors is always a pain as there is no way to salvage your relationship without talking
Image credits: Field Outdoor Spaces (not the actual photo)
A dad wanted to share his petty revenge story after his neighbor refused to deal with him after a property dispute
Image credits: Sospuff
The neighbor had taken OP to court and won the property dispute, but not long after, OP noticed that the neighbors’ fence was unsuitable for their dog
Image credits: Zepfanman.com (not the actual photo)
OP goes on to say that the neighbor encourages his dog to be aggressive towards his kids, praising it for barking when the kids are playing outside
Image credits: Sospuff
OP implies that he will report his neighbor for the fence inaccuracy as he didn’t want to solve the property dispute in a civil way
Image credits: Sospuff
OP finally calls out the neighbor for being a hypocrite, shouting about the law and his rights, when he was in the right about OP’s fence but ignoring his own fencing issue in this case
The neighborly dispute started when the Original Poster’s (OP) contractor made a mistake and went over the property line into the neighbor’s land when installing a fence. The neighbor was inflamed by this, even though the fence was over into the neighbor’s property by a mere 1.5 inches (4 cm), which was considered still in the margin of error for the contractor.
He took OP to court for encroaching on his land and won because he was in the right lawfully, even if he was petty. OP lost the case, which he doesn’t contest, but mentions that the neighbor would shout about the law and his rights all the time throughout the process. He further said that he insulted his wife and called him a thief, even though OP suggested buying the property line where his fence encroached on the neighbor’s territory. The property line was behind a dense hedge, but the neighbor staunchly disagreed.
Some time later, OP found out that his neighbor’s dog is considered to be of a “dangerous breed,” meaning that there are strict regulations for his fence. The fence should be at least 6.5 feet (2 meters) high, with a concrete base, and running around the entirety of his property.
Having measured the fence, OP specifies that his current fence is only 4.6 feet (1m 40cm) tall, nearly 2 feet (60 cm) short, and has no base. The poster then asks a rhetorical question: “Guess what complaint I’m going to file with the police?”
After some commenters disagreed with OP and looked down upon him for being so petty and incorrect, as the fence dispute was his fault originally, OP provided some more information about the neighbor and his dog. He says that he isn’t only doing it for vengeance but because he has young children, and the neighbor encourages his dog by calling him a “good boy” whenever he barks at OP’s children playing outside.
OP further mentions that the dog the neighbor owns is a “category 1” dog that has to be registered with the local authorities. Category 1 dogs include pit bulls, mastiffs, and other similar dogs. He mentions that he will inquire into this as the next step of petty revenge against the neighbor.
Image credits: Rebecca Siegel (not the actual photo)
This story shows just how difficult it may be to deal with neighbors sometimes. Having good neighbors is a huge blessing, because if you have created a relationship with them, you can ask them for favors, such as watching your house when you’re out, have your kids hang out together and help them in return.
If you’re on bad terms, you lose all the perks, and if your neighbors are especially incensed, they may actively work against you, making things difficult for you. Often it is the case that you can’t just move away and have to deal with your neighbor somehow or just put up with them.
LegalZoom has some great tips for dealing with pesky neighbors before resorting to courts or violence. If your neighbor is playing their music too loud, making noise very early in the morning or very late at night, or otherwise disturbing you in any other way, you shouldn’t call the police or sue them immediately.
What’s most likely to work is to speak to them in person. Sometimes people don’t even understand that they’re being a nuisance to others. If you can meet them face-to-face and tell them what’s bothering you, that may solve your problems immediately. If you can’t see them in person, perhaps a good idea would be to text them or write them a letter with your concerns.
Failing that, it’s time to begin an official process. Research whether you have any legal basis for your concerns. Then get a copy of local ordinances and/or talk to your HOA to find out whether the things your neighbor is doing are actually acceptable in the community. When you have collected enough information, you should hand the ordinance to your neighbor, telling them you’d like to solve this without going to the authorities.
If this still doesn’t work, you could attempt to call the police. Perhaps you could also look into mediation, which would listen to both sides of the conflict and be cheaper than going to court. This could help you achieve a compromise suitable for both sides.
Finally, if that still doesn’t solve your problems with them, you could attempt to go to small claims court, which should hopefully solve your issue.
The post received nearly 9 thousand upvotes in a couple of days, gathering more than 900 comments in the same amount of time. OP was very active in the comments, providing more details about the situation, and many are eagerly waiting for an update. A lot of people supported OP, with most telling him to pursue the contractor that made the original fencing error. What are your thoughts? Share your nightmare neighbor stories in the comments below.
Commenters showed support for OP, calling out the contractor who did poor work on his fence and asking for an update
Image credits: Tim Dorr (not the actual photo)
69Kviews
Share on FacebookAre you even required to have a fence? My neighbor didnt like my fence because his livestock could push through it and get out to the road, he tried to bully me into replacing it ( not cheap its 10 acres). He backed off when I pointed out that I'm not even required to have a fence but if he wanted a fence he could put one on his side of the property line.
One thing some folks might not be aware of is depending on the laws where you live, if you don't make the fence right you can lose your legal right to the property. I forget exact details but where I live if a fence encroaches on your property but you let it stand and the fence is maintained for X number of years, the adjacent land owner with the wrongly placed fence can claim the extra land. (I THINK I'm remembering that correctly.) There is also a related one about giving right of access. My stepdad ran into that on the corner of some of his farm land. Let neighbor extend his fence a bit to use as driveway due to wet ground other places. Guy dies, son inherits and claims it is his land. 1/2 and 1/2 in court. Court agreed it was my dad's land but said he still had to let the son drive through it.
He goes to court because of 4 centimeter? Ugh, probably some retiree who doesn´t have anything better to do. what does he plan to do with those 4 cm he won back?
This is a case of premature posting. Should have waited untill the aftermath so we had more to, hopefully, enjoy. :)
Your encroaching fence couldn't attack him. Whereas his dogs represent a danger to you and yours. forcing him to adequately contain them is a smart safety measure. The revenge is just gravy.
My city requires a current property line survey before issuing you a permit to construct a fence on your property line. Even then, you must install the fence completely on your own property, not exactly on the line.
Are all these people missing the part where OP offered to pay for the land encroached on, which would have been a fair solution for both parties? I'm guessing a lot of Americans don't have a clue exactly how small 4 centimeters is. We're talking a little less than an 1.5" And yeah, if you force your neighbor to tear down an expensive fence over that, after they offered to pay you for it, you're a douche. And no, OP wasn't wrong to trust the fence company to be competent. Valuable lesson learned.
I do just wonder if the kids are screaming like banshees. It's such a weird thing to train a dog to do. Is it even being 'trained', or is it just hearing noises and not being reprimanded properly?
He was right to sue you if you didn’t fix it. You were encroaching on this property and if he tried to sell his place, he might have trouble with the title. You should have sued your contractor.
In cases such as these, there is only one thing to do. Pop some popcorn, get out a lawn chair, and watch the festivities.
Whoever suggested the ultrasonic buzzer is a terrible person. First of all yes some adults can hear them and so can a fair bit of children, it's that annoying noise that you know it's there but can't get out of your head. It can give people headaches after a while. Second he would pretty much force the dog to only stay inside and be in pain if it went outside which isn't fair to the dog at all. It's not the dogs fault. Also like I said his kids (depending on age and hearing) will most likely hear it so they won't want to be outside for too long either. Also going to court for 4cm is unnecessary, but also OP should be able to make the guy who built the fence pay if they went to court too.
A survey tip. Have your lines checked from more than one direction (reference point). My dad bought some land at county auction and depending on which intersection the survey began from, the line with neighboring property was off by as much as 15 feet. One way gave us more, the other gave them more. 15 feet for the entire depth of the lot was a big deal.
The day we moved into our new (to us) house. The next door neighbor came over and asked if he could speak to my husband. We had just put up the fence and he said it was on his property and insisted we move it. We got the survey out to show him it was actually half a foot inside our lot line. We did that on purpose so there would be no question. Before we built it we asked him if he wanted to split it with us and he declined stating he didn't want a fence. Within a week he put up a cross fence connecting to ours. Nope. Oh I could tell you many stories about that neighbor. From his cul-de-sac infractions notebook to him being kicked out of the police citizen patrol group.
I down voted this- didn't bother to read it because I'm TIRED OF READING POSTS MADE BY FOLKS WHO NEED VALIDATION ABOUT THEIR ACTIONS. Yes, you might be the AH, but prolly not. Why do you need validation of your actions? You did what you did, and a bazillion likes or dislikes won't change that it all keeps whizzing around in your brain. Just stop these posts.
Some dog breeds were historically bred to fight other dogs or to fight/bait other animals like boars or bulls. These breeds tend to have higher “bite strength” than other breeds and are more likely to inflict critical or fatal damage in an attack. We should all educate ourselves on what a dog breed was - or was not - bred to do, before we pass judgement on it being 100% on the owners. And yes, sometimes even Dachshunds and Labradors will bite - but they do not have the bite strength of the breeds that were bred to fight or bait.
Load More Replies...So your going to get a dog probably euthanized because you are being a petty jerk. What a great human. Sometimes it's better to take the high road.
So the guy was an a*****e, then topped that off by being more of an a*****e? Regardless of how far it was into the neighbours land, the fence was built on his land. Instead of fixing the mistake, the poster refused to the point where a court got involved, then created more issues for the neighbor out of "revenge" for being held accountable for his actions.
He said he tried to come to a compromise and the guy wouldn't budge. He tried to get the contractor to move it and the contractor refused. He's openly stated he will be moving it himself once the surveyor draws up where the actual property line is. The supposed victim used the excuse of "the law is the law" when refusing to negotiate so now the OP is going to hold him to that. I have no issues with him doing that. A lot of this could have been avoided if the one person was willing to talk.
Load More Replies...Are you even required to have a fence? My neighbor didnt like my fence because his livestock could push through it and get out to the road, he tried to bully me into replacing it ( not cheap its 10 acres). He backed off when I pointed out that I'm not even required to have a fence but if he wanted a fence he could put one on his side of the property line.
One thing some folks might not be aware of is depending on the laws where you live, if you don't make the fence right you can lose your legal right to the property. I forget exact details but where I live if a fence encroaches on your property but you let it stand and the fence is maintained for X number of years, the adjacent land owner with the wrongly placed fence can claim the extra land. (I THINK I'm remembering that correctly.) There is also a related one about giving right of access. My stepdad ran into that on the corner of some of his farm land. Let neighbor extend his fence a bit to use as driveway due to wet ground other places. Guy dies, son inherits and claims it is his land. 1/2 and 1/2 in court. Court agreed it was my dad's land but said he still had to let the son drive through it.
He goes to court because of 4 centimeter? Ugh, probably some retiree who doesn´t have anything better to do. what does he plan to do with those 4 cm he won back?
This is a case of premature posting. Should have waited untill the aftermath so we had more to, hopefully, enjoy. :)
Your encroaching fence couldn't attack him. Whereas his dogs represent a danger to you and yours. forcing him to adequately contain them is a smart safety measure. The revenge is just gravy.
My city requires a current property line survey before issuing you a permit to construct a fence on your property line. Even then, you must install the fence completely on your own property, not exactly on the line.
Are all these people missing the part where OP offered to pay for the land encroached on, which would have been a fair solution for both parties? I'm guessing a lot of Americans don't have a clue exactly how small 4 centimeters is. We're talking a little less than an 1.5" And yeah, if you force your neighbor to tear down an expensive fence over that, after they offered to pay you for it, you're a douche. And no, OP wasn't wrong to trust the fence company to be competent. Valuable lesson learned.
I do just wonder if the kids are screaming like banshees. It's such a weird thing to train a dog to do. Is it even being 'trained', or is it just hearing noises and not being reprimanded properly?
He was right to sue you if you didn’t fix it. You were encroaching on this property and if he tried to sell his place, he might have trouble with the title. You should have sued your contractor.
In cases such as these, there is only one thing to do. Pop some popcorn, get out a lawn chair, and watch the festivities.
Whoever suggested the ultrasonic buzzer is a terrible person. First of all yes some adults can hear them and so can a fair bit of children, it's that annoying noise that you know it's there but can't get out of your head. It can give people headaches after a while. Second he would pretty much force the dog to only stay inside and be in pain if it went outside which isn't fair to the dog at all. It's not the dogs fault. Also like I said his kids (depending on age and hearing) will most likely hear it so they won't want to be outside for too long either. Also going to court for 4cm is unnecessary, but also OP should be able to make the guy who built the fence pay if they went to court too.
A survey tip. Have your lines checked from more than one direction (reference point). My dad bought some land at county auction and depending on which intersection the survey began from, the line with neighboring property was off by as much as 15 feet. One way gave us more, the other gave them more. 15 feet for the entire depth of the lot was a big deal.
The day we moved into our new (to us) house. The next door neighbor came over and asked if he could speak to my husband. We had just put up the fence and he said it was on his property and insisted we move it. We got the survey out to show him it was actually half a foot inside our lot line. We did that on purpose so there would be no question. Before we built it we asked him if he wanted to split it with us and he declined stating he didn't want a fence. Within a week he put up a cross fence connecting to ours. Nope. Oh I could tell you many stories about that neighbor. From his cul-de-sac infractions notebook to him being kicked out of the police citizen patrol group.
I down voted this- didn't bother to read it because I'm TIRED OF READING POSTS MADE BY FOLKS WHO NEED VALIDATION ABOUT THEIR ACTIONS. Yes, you might be the AH, but prolly not. Why do you need validation of your actions? You did what you did, and a bazillion likes or dislikes won't change that it all keeps whizzing around in your brain. Just stop these posts.
Some dog breeds were historically bred to fight other dogs or to fight/bait other animals like boars or bulls. These breeds tend to have higher “bite strength” than other breeds and are more likely to inflict critical or fatal damage in an attack. We should all educate ourselves on what a dog breed was - or was not - bred to do, before we pass judgement on it being 100% on the owners. And yes, sometimes even Dachshunds and Labradors will bite - but they do not have the bite strength of the breeds that were bred to fight or bait.
Load More Replies...So your going to get a dog probably euthanized because you are being a petty jerk. What a great human. Sometimes it's better to take the high road.
So the guy was an a*****e, then topped that off by being more of an a*****e? Regardless of how far it was into the neighbours land, the fence was built on his land. Instead of fixing the mistake, the poster refused to the point where a court got involved, then created more issues for the neighbor out of "revenge" for being held accountable for his actions.
He said he tried to come to a compromise and the guy wouldn't budge. He tried to get the contractor to move it and the contractor refused. He's openly stated he will be moving it himself once the surveyor draws up where the actual property line is. The supposed victim used the excuse of "the law is the law" when refusing to negotiate so now the OP is going to hold him to that. I have no issues with him doing that. A lot of this could have been avoided if the one person was willing to talk.
Load More Replies...
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