(california)? Years ago OUR fence was rebuild and moved 12" inside OUR property line (toward our yard). A couple of years ago the fence needed repair and we advised the neighbor behind us that the fence would be down a day or so, so he could contain his dog. He agreed to keep the dog inside, and also mentioned (reminded us) that the fence could, if we wanted to, be moved back to the original spot (12" toward his yard). We declined, as we only wanted to repair a small section of the existing fence, not move the whole thing. You can clearly see the side neighbors' fences at the original place, so it's easy to identify the line. And, he acknowledged that the 12" is "ours". Now.. here's the tricky part...
On our side of the fence, we have a deck. And a "volunteer" (not planted) bush/tree has been growing up from under it, right under the fence... on the other side (but still on our property). The trunk of the tree is literally growing thru the bottom of the fence, and towards his yard. This bush/tree is now causing damage to the deck and fence and the tree needs to be removed.
We contacted the neighbor about access to the tree, and he said he'd "take care of it". Well, he only trimmed the upper branches of the tree, but didn't remove it. We contacted him again (this is over the course of 4 months) and told him we would be accessing the other side of the fence, and do our best to stay on the 12" of space that is "our property", to remove the tree from under our deck. It will be difficult to not place a foot on his land while operating a chain-saw, but there is no fence or anything on "his" property line that marks his property. He said NO!, he would have us arrested for trespassing and DO NOT ENTER HIS PROPERTY!
Does he have any right to tell us not to come on "his side" of the fence? If he threatens us or keeps us from that side of our fence, and the tree falls or damages our deck/fence (or his property) are we still held responsible? Or, can HE be held responsible for damage to our property by not "allowing us" to do maintenance? Should we notify the police first when/if we decide to go ahead?
We're trying to be reasonable, but he is not helping! We just want to keep our property in good repair and maintain the structure. Seems like a simple request, but it's not turning out simple!
thanks for any advise and help!
On our side of the fence, we have a deck. And a "volunteer" (not planted) bush/tree has been growing up from under it, right under the fence... on the other side (but still on our property). The trunk of the tree is literally growing thru the bottom of the fence, and towards his yard. This bush/tree is now causing damage to the deck and fence and the tree needs to be removed.
We contacted the neighbor about access to the tree, and he said he'd "take care of it". Well, he only trimmed the upper branches of the tree, but didn't remove it. We contacted him again (this is over the course of 4 months) and told him we would be accessing the other side of the fence, and do our best to stay on the 12" of space that is "our property", to remove the tree from under our deck. It will be difficult to not place a foot on his land while operating a chain-saw, but there is no fence or anything on "his" property line that marks his property. He said NO!, he would have us arrested for trespassing and DO NOT ENTER HIS PROPERTY!
Does he have any right to tell us not to come on "his side" of the fence? If he threatens us or keeps us from that side of our fence, and the tree falls or damages our deck/fence (or his property) are we still held responsible? Or, can HE be held responsible for damage to our property by not "allowing us" to do maintenance? Should we notify the police first when/if we decide to go ahead?
We're trying to be reasonable, but he is not helping! We just want to keep our property in good repair and maintain the structure. Seems like a simple request, but it's not turning out simple!
thanks for any advise and help!