retaining wall responsibility california

I hope this answers your question somewhat good luck with your neighbor! We had a fence completely enclosing our backyard, with the back fence wall bordering 3 townhouses yards. A week later, I came home to find a for sale sign in his lawn. Michael, thanks for the question. We never had any retaining concrete wall, just the fence besides our plant bed that separates the two properties. } Would have to agree with Potential Customer partly. The second and third reasons only apply if the fence needed to be replaced in the first place, but I will touch on them anyway. Therefore you will need to pay 100% of the costs of replacement! There is a brick wall between me and my neighbor. Notice of Intent to Alter Shared Boundary Fence. Jim, thank you for the great question. I asked a contractor how much to tear down my older wooden fence. unless soil passive resistance is included. Also, the new fence could not be an unnecessary upgrade from the previous fence. My husband wants to put the planks on our side. A retaining wall supports the land and is designed from bricks, timber, masonry, concrete bags, or suitable material. He asked us to help pay for the leaning retaining wall between our properties. Please let everyone know if you have any ideas as to another route to take. Plot Plan showing the location, extent, and height of the retaining wall in relation to any building structure, pool, property lines and public utility easements. I came home from work one day and noticed they had replaced this fence (visible from the street as I passed). Would we lose in small claims court? Our backyard neighbors dont trim their trees (70 feet high) or their shrubs and now a few sections of the fence are leaning in our backyard due to the foliage pushing against and through the fence. My neighbor put up a wooded fence 6 inches from the property line on their side of the property. My fence completely encloses my back garden and is a corner lot. Any thoughts not input would be greatly appreciated. If this sounds familiar then your in the right place and your problem is soon to be solved with The California Good Neighbor Law also referred to as California Civil Code 841 or The Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013. } Without The fence is leaning and needs to be replaced. The fence was not leaning and still standing up and was holding up to natural elements such as wind but the neighbor claimed he or his dog could break the planks. Two questions: Im looking forward to returning to your website. Does this mean both neighbors are responsible for the cost of the retaining wall as well? What other option does a homeowner have if their fence is failing miserably and needs replacement immediately, yet their neighbor refuses to pay a dime? If there is a better option out there please let all our readers, as well as I, know! Here is a short section of the actual law to better explain what I mean by this: Boundary fences sit on the boundary line between two properties. The slats are winged vinyl so I have to poison from above and it is becoming too big of a job. Thank you for your article. I would definitely go ahead with the notice to alter shared boundary as soon as possible giving the neighbor as much time as possible before construction commences. HOA has tried working with her to explain the responsibility and has even gotten their legal counsel involved. I told them they need to trim back their trees and shrubs and that I would be getting estimates to repair the fence and take them to small claims court. They claim they sent us a letter with some sort of ultimatum, but we never received any letter. Am I supposed to send another certified letter with the bids on replacing the fence and give them a demand again or just go to small claims court and ask the judge to rule that they need to split the cost on fixing the fence? Weve contacted our neighbor to alert him of the project but he refuses to have the fence removed. We just accepted that it was their fence, since we didnt approve it to be on the property line or attached to the main sideyard fence, and we were forbidden to touch it. The quotes Ive gotten for a survey are from $750 to >$6000 depending on how much work they need to do, well in excess of the cost of replacing that portion of the fence. Can I do half of the fence and they can do half of the fence? I text him to have proof and he calls me to answer do I have no write that he agree to go half. For example, in the area where you live, all of the houses have had fenced yards going way back to the 1950s. I bought a newly built home in 2000. The second option is to leave the failing wood fence there and build a vinyl fence a foot or two into your property. I am very concerned the wall could fall. You are not responsible for any of the costs whatsoever and therefore you should not pay half much less the full costs, which I have no idea how this neighbor believes this to be fair. Flooding, surface runoff, and even leaking sprinklers can spark disputes between neighbors. Joel I wish I could be of more help but this is a question outside my area of knowledge. The Definitive Guide to Tree Disputes in California The spiders build their webs on the 2x4s and birds perch on the 2x4s. Seems your neighbor would be reaping the rewards with no out of pocket costs for him. The neighbor and his fence company will then need to do what any reputable company would do and fix it to make sure both adjoining neighbors are 100% satisfied with the final fence. Wood retaining walls (with or without a fence) with an exposed wall height of two feet or less, where the retained soil does not support a surcharge (i.e. If you dont agree to her doing the job, which I would be very wary of and personally would never allow, then she has no choice but to pay for it all herself or you guys use a different contractor. He also damaged a small two foot retaining wall that serves in that corner of my yard as a decorative feature as well as a way to halt erosion. I was barely in escrow when they did fence as soon as I moved in they asked me to pay them 3,000 I told them that was not my responsibility because the house wasnt mine yet. 2017 Montclair Constructions | Designed by by Web and SEO Guru. Neighbor also charged me for dirtying his vehicles while i was cleaning my front yard. But over the years, their sprinklers, trees planted too close and their own children caused the fence to be constantly in a state of disrepair. We are planning on filling our in-ground pool and need a shared fence temporarily removed to allow for pool demolition equipment to enter the backyard. Typically constructed of manufactured (i.e. Only one of them communicated this to us. Also, it would be good to know for the future in case it happens again. Having said this I do not believe what your neighbor has done is in any way illegal and I must warn you should you take this stance and they go about replacing the fence according to the steps necessary in the CA good neighbor law, then you would likely lose in court. Or, do I need to move the fence towards my house a few inches, and be solely on my own property line? If your neighbor has never fenced his land, he does not have to provide a fence that only really serves you. Soldier piles retains soil, using vertical steel piles or wooden posts with horizontal lagging. Were going through a similar situation. I told him I would also throw my neighbor a bone. Best to have a survey done. He should have sent the notice to you 30 days prior to the construction of the fence and should have sent it to you certified mail with the return receipt requested. No, this will not cause any issues whatsoever. I wasnt even the owner when he decided to build the block fence. As long as you have proof that your neighbors shed caused all the damage due to being improperly anchored down, then I would not accept any responsibility and pay a dime to make the repairs, instead demand he do so! It seems irresponsible to not include other information that might leave you stuck with the bill. We would rather have a wooden fence if the existing block wall cannot be fixed or strengthened. I am on disability and cannot afford to even split the cost really. I call upset that he has been pettt by ignoring not just me and my mother but the 2 contractors we tired to hire for this shared fence. upper soil grade). As I just stated I would be very hesitant to allow her to build the fence for two reasons. One section however that was falling down was simply wooden boards. T 604-864-5510 E planning-info@abbotsford.ca Building Permits & Licences 1st Floor, 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC T 604-864-5525 E building-info@abbotsford.ca . It has to be built tough and allow drainage without giving way. This guy is very unstable and recently called the cops on me for vandalizing his toyota camary because my sprinkler popped and (lightly) sprayed his cars passenger side, which he berated me for. She does not want to do it that way. This applies only if the fence is currently directly on the dividing lot line. A retaining wall is a wall designed to resist lateral earth and/or fluid pressures, including any surcharge, in accordance with accepted engineering practice. I am currently dealing with a neighbor that is refusing to fix our shared fence. On the invoice, the contractor put good neighbor fence. Is this considered a good neighbor fence under these circumstances? If they do not want to do that then they can eat the costs as they rushed to replace it when they should have waited until they spoke with you, the new homeowner! There is a rebuttable presumption that can be overcome. The whole development had to hire their own landscapers to do their front yards. Contractors and homeowners are usually more aware of the vertical offset between the upper and lower grade elevations that will be required for the retaining wall. Therefore he would have had proof that you received a notice and chose to ignore it. In summary, I WOULD NOT pay your neighbor a dime, as he not only replaced a fence that didnt need to be replaced in the first place, but he did not follow the proper steps in order to be able to collect half the costs fro0k you via the courts. Such a bizarre situation, youd think that any homeowner in their right mind would prefer a fixed fence over one that is collapsed. (Personally, I think we paid for the whole fence for him.) There were 3 major mistakes on his part. Who is responsible for a retaining wall? | Practical Law It leaves me in this terrible circle. But we do not like the look of vinyl fence. Code 841, but my fear is that after having a letter certified to her, she will either ignore it or refuse after the 30 days. Where on earth this belief ever came from is unknown, but it is widely accepted and 100% wrong! If they refuse to pay for half the costs, then Yes you can still take them to small claims court. First off, does she have the expertise to build a fence like a company that specializes in building fences and provides a warranty, which your not going to get with her? Retaining walls are a popular landscaping feature, especially for homes sitting on sloped or uneven land. Who is Legally Responsible for a Retaining Wall My question involves real estate located in the State of: CA (unincorporated Alameda County) I am the uphill homeowner, my neighbor is the downhill owner. Then once the fence is finished you can go after him for half the costs minus any extra work that was solely for your benefit (the gate). #gallery-1 .gallery-item { Civ. Sloping retained soil Lagging consisting of wood, steel or precast concrete panels is inserted behind the front pile flanges as the excavation proceeds.

Luminosity Beach Festival Capacity, Northeastern University Staff, Articles R