I'm sure we've all dealt with some type of disagreement at one point or another. I'm lucky that it hasn't happened to me yet (knock on wood as my neighbor is selling), but I was recently talking with a good friend of mine just starting out and heres the story.

My friend recently bought a place and is getting married this year (so money is a little tight). He's moved into one of the many architecturally controlled neighborhoods and consequently has time restraints for when things need to be complete (and get back a sizeable deposit for this). With the nice weather out he's finally able to lay sod and put up his fence...problem is one neighbor is way too cheap to split the cost for his side <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />.

What would/did you guys do when faced with this situation? I suggested to my friend that he should continue with building the fence (in order to get his deposit back), but paint his cheap neighbors side a nasty color or put graffiti on that side. Since there are inspectors who come around to make sure you meet requirements, he should pass while his neighbor fails.

Am I right in thinking that since his cheap neighbor didn't contribute towards the cost of materials or labor (which a bunch of us guys are gonna do) he has no right to change the color or otherwise alter the fence in anyway? If he painted over it would it be considered vandalism as it isn't his fence?

Thoughts?

HAHAHA seriously!?!?

Tell him to put the fence up, and let it go. This is small potatoes compared to what it could be. IE... Property line disputes, barking dogs, broken down cars, gunshots, burning tires, or wire insulation, blhablha.....


I'd say forget about it, turn the other cheek, smile, and wave at your new neighbors, and move on with you rlife. This is NOT something to get bent about.
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Another solution would be to NOT move to a neighborhood with an HOA, or where anybody else's opinion about the structure of your property carries any weight, save for maybe the county inspector.

Seriously. My friend and the other neighbors talked to him about splitting the cost of materials(he wouldn't even have to contribute time or labor as a bunch of us are doing it - including my friends leftside and rightside neighbors) and he said no! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

I don't think he needs to worry about that stuff (property line is surveyed and marked by the company who maintains the architectural regs) as its a regulated community/neighborhood and its his neighbor on the back side of the house. Oh well true enough about not worth the hassle, but I wonder how the cheap guys neighbors on either side of him are gonna feel.

Lookin forward to a few <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> this weekend. Hopefully the fence ends up straight! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Yeah it would be nice, but the majority of new places up here have the planned communities (ones that the wife and I looked into anyway). Seems to be in vogue these days. At least I got a fake lake out of the deal! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

If I can help it, I will never live in an HOA-controlled neighborhood.

I've been in my current house for almost 8 years and the neighborhood's fine. No cars parked on lawns. No funky-colored houses. Lawns are mowed. Everything is fine. The world is still turning. If I want to plant a tree or do some landscaping, I can just do it. No one from whom to "ask permission". I get along fine with my neighbors and if anyone has a concern with someone else they just talk to them (but then again, there really hasn't been any concern).

I've heard countless stories from the press and from friends about the politics and gripes from living in an HOA-controlled area. Screw that.

It's also nice not to have to pay any dues.

Well, maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, but couldn't your friend turn the HomeOwners Association loose on the neighbor? If they are there to police the neighborhood and make sure everyone's keeping up with the Jones' so-to-speak, I would think they might want to have a little chat with the cheapskate neighbor about... being a neighbor <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Eric W.

If he doesn't know the code already, make sure he checks into whether or not the "good" side of the fence can be on his side. In some cities/HOAs, it's "my fence, I get the good side", in others, it's "If I want to build a fence, fine, but the good side has to go to the neighbor". Or you build the staggered board style.

I'm with Landraider on this one though- More trouble than it's worth, and I'm sure all the other neighbors already know the guys an asshat!
One question tho- your post reads like your buddy is REQUIRED to build this fence... Why wasn't the jerk neighbor required to do so before?

We've been looking at houses for a few months now. We have a contract in on one now as a matter of fact, but it's a short sale so we have to wait for the seller's lien holders to approve the sale. Two banks involved on their end, which likely means they took out a separate loan for their down payment. Classic case of buying stuff you can't afford, and taking it in the butt when your "low initial rate" 3/1 ARM adjusts. Our contracted price is more than $200K less than what they paid in 2005, but fair market value today, so I'll be real interested to see the banks' response. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> The wait is on. And in the mean time I have to resist the urge to choke every politician who suggests rewarding this behavior with a taxpayer-funded "bailout." <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/mrt.gif" alt="" />

But anyway, one of the first things I told the realtor when we began house hunting was "no HOAs." Houses are too damn expensive around here to be paying dues on top of the mortgage (dues that are used to pay HOA lawyers to come after you for frivolous crap) or to have somebody else tell me what I can or can't do to my own property. Your typical HOA board is populated by a mix of by senile old blue-hairs and/or stepford wives with nothing better to do than waste other folks' time, and my dealings with those boards when we owned condos in Houston, however brief they may have been, taught me that they should be avoided at all costs if you value your sanity. Yes, in some areas it can be difficult to find houses (especially brand new construction) that aren't in controlled neighborhoods, but this isn't the Soviet Union. You can choose to live elsewhere.

My opinion is that if the fence is entirely within your property line, you can put the good side whichever way you want. If you neighbor thinks it's ugly, let him build his own fence within his property lines to hide your ugly one. Your local jurisdiction may or may not agree with me. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Around here it's common to see two fences back-to-back. Usually one is a rusted old chain link, and the other is a newer wood privacy fence. It is usually obvious that one was built to cover up the other.