Next door neighbor....fenced 3/4 Acre of my farm..Tenant

[brin]

So the Mrs. and I and our dog went out to our farm this morning...drove down our road , checked our lake and pastures and we were driving back down our road to leave when my wife said " What is that fence doing over there ? " I looked and there was some field fence installed coming from the road next door clear onto our property toward the front acreage and continuing in a zig zag fashion taking about 3/4 Acre and then tying back into a gate on the road next door....Somebody had fenced in part of our property...

The house and 6 Ac. next door has been for sale so I called the Real Estate agent and told her about it...and she said..." Oh no...that must have been the new tenant ...we just rented it..." I told her to get the new tenant to get the fence down today and all fence staples that were driven into our trees up , out and off my property or I would be calling the Sheriff and would bill the tenant for the cost of removal and they would be charged with trespassing and criminal damage to property..

Just hard to believe how stupid some people are....So anyone out there...be sure and drive your property often...there is just no telling what you will find.

 

[Western]

That would "catch" someone by surprise!!
I think I would have called the Sheriff, even though they will say it is a "civil" matter, you will have some documentation. A certified letter to the property management too maybe. Just in case it becomes "nasty"

Knowing me, I would have been right down on that guy's porch:laughing: I bet that 3/4 acre is worth ALLOT for a trespass fee

 

[zzvyb6]

Get the police report now. The matter is not finished by any means. There probably has been a 'mis-communication' from the real estate agent to the tenant as to how much and where the property lines are.

Until this is settled face to face, maybe even in small claims court, your property definition is at risk. The tenant may blame the real estate office and they will come back with some counter-claims, maybe including a township record of what used to be your property ( ! ).

Be sure to post it real quick before the loggers show up.

 

[brin]

That would "catch" someone by surprise!!
I think I would have called the Sheriff, even though they will say it is a "civil" matter, you will have some documentation. A certified letter to the property management too maybe. Just in case it becomes "nasty"

Knowing me, I would have been right down on that guy's porch:laughing: I bet that 3/4 acre is worth ALLOT for a trespass fee

Oh Western, you do not know how bad I wanted to drive back down the road next door and go right up on his front porch....but thankfully I had my wife with me ....ever notice when your wife is with you , you are automatically at a disadvantage because if something goes wrong you now have to defend her first, anyway...discretion is the better part of valor as they say...I followed up my phone call with an email to the realtor so I have papered the file...When I go to the farm tomorrow if the fence is not down I will call the sheriff and meet them out there ...I agree they will say it is a civil matter but I will disagree and ask to sign a complaint for trespass.

Get the police report now. The matter is not finished by any means. There probably has been a 'mis-communication' from the real estate agent to the tenant as to how much and where the property lines are.

Until this is settled face to face, maybe even in small claims court, your property definition is at risk. The tenant may blame the real estate office and they will come back with some counter-claims, maybe including a township record of what used to be your property ( ! ).

Be sure to post it real quick before the loggers show up.

ZZ , You are right...I will try the sheriff first ...if that fails I will use Small Claims court, take my survey and pictures and go for the damage to the hardwoods from the fence staples and possible flat tractor tires in the future. I am all over this...If we don't stand up immediately for our property rights we will lose them....give them an inch and they will take 3/4 of an acre and then all of it...

 

[RDrancher]

Yep, amazing what some people will do.

At my old place I had a neighbor that kept doing all sorts of things on my side of the fence. Against my nature I tried the "civil" thing and spoke to him about it a few times. At the urging of my wife I even had the sheriff come out and speak to him. But stuff kept happening.

So one day I was brush hogging and found that he had built a storage shed against his side of the fence but had dumped the leftover dirt from the holes, concrete and scrap wood on my side. I figured I'd turned the other cheek more than enough times, so I scooped up two bucket loads of what I considered to be his "misplaced property" and deposited it on the roof of the new shed. Never had a problem after that.

 

[JamesHW]

As an owner of a farm that is an 8 hour drive away, I can relate, and my first reaction might well have been angry.

Having said that, calling the sheriff or thinking about some sort of litigation would have been the furthest from my mind. From all appearances some sort of stupid mistake has been made and your property encroached on. The correction of the encroachment can easily be made by removing/moving the offending fence (and filling in the holes). Now if they had cut down trees, there is the question of stumpage.

The question now is where the actual property line is, and if the owner even knows accurately where it is. If the stakes can be found, it becomes a simple matter of doing a decent job of traversing between them. Maybe a survey is called for if they can't figure it out.

Your post reminded me that the nearest neighbor to me, a trailer on a small, 1/3 acre quadrilateral shaped plot, has I believe some claim on part of my property in the form of a easement for his leech field. Something to deal with at some point unless I can buy the place back one day.

 

[brin]

As an owner of a farm that is an 8 hour drive away, I can relate, and my first reaction might well have been angry.

Having said that, calling the sheriff or thinking about some sort of litigation would have been the furthest from my mind. From all appearances some sort of stupid mistake has been made and your property encroached on. The correction of the encroachment can easily be made by removing/moving the offending fence (and filling in the holes). Now if they had cut down trees, there is the question of stumpage.

The question now is where the actual property line is, and if the owner even knows accurately where it is. If the stakes can be found, it becomes a simple matter of doing a decent job of traversing between them. Maybe a survey is called for if they can't figure it out.

Your post reminded me that the nearest neighbor to me, a trailer on a small, 1/3 acre quadrilateral shaped plot, has I believe some claim on part of my property in the form of a easement for his leech field. Something to deal with at some point unless I can buy the place back one day.

No in this case the realtor that leased the property has a copy of the survey and it is current and it clearly shows the property line...so there is no excuse for the fence...It was a clear reach for a way to quickly fence in to the gate on their property without having to drive posts on the proper property line ...so instead they decided to drive 1 &1/2 inch fence staples into some very fine hardwood trees...I call that damage and I have never heard of filling in staple holes in trees...and I am sure not going to do it...No there is damage done...Heck, just the act of trespassing let alone having the Gaul to nail fence to my trees...Like I said, I play hardball when someone is this digressive in a trespass..

 

[SPIKER]

driving staples (large fencing nails into trees) at any age will cause damage to the trees and if left in saw damage too that you the tree owner will be held liable for if they are timber grade or if fire wood grade still cause chain damage when sawing them up.

while tree will heal and probably not die unless galvanized or brass / copper nails there fact remains it will be an issue some day.

mark

 

[Fixemall]

I had some vacant land resurveyed and it was determined that one of the neighbors was parking their junk camper trailer on the property, I let them know by certified letter that it must be moved in thirty days, after 60 or so days it was still there and I came with my trailer and winched it off to the scrap yard, figure I was owed the weight as lot rent. Still never heard a peep out of those folks.

 

[Jstpssng]

driving staples (large fencing nails into trees) at any age will cause damage to the trees and if left in saw damage too that you the tree owner will be held liable for if they are timber grade or if fire wood grade still cause chain damage when sawing them up.

while tree will heal and probably not die unless galvanized or brass / copper nails there fact remains it will be an issue some day.

mark

If there was any possibility of sawlog or especially veneer quality in those logs it has been greatly compromised. In Maine it's against the law to drive nails into another's trees.

Tread carefully though; there was a very infamous thread a few years ago where a TBN member lost his shirt in a dispute with a neighbor.