Moving UPDATE pg 4. Neighbors built a cement wall that's over our property line.

[IceQueen777]

I think maybe since we still haven't heard how much over the line the wall is it must not be a significant amount.

I agree since that question has been asked (and ignored) several times now.

I wouldn't care if it was a few inches. But I would get the septic system checked out.

 

[danacara]

I agree since that question has been asked (and ignored) several times now.

Ya, I kind of feel that way too. If this wall is on your property by less than 3 feet, I'd ignore it and go bring those neighbors some we're-new-to-the-neighborhood-and-isn't-it-lovely-to-meet-you cookies. They're savvy enough to launch this project precisely between owners, and I think making enemies of savvy next-door-neighbors in a neighborhood where you plan to raise children can be a brutal error. Remember the mantra: do you want World War III in your new home? They didn't know you when they started this, so it clearly isn't malicious or personal.

 

[floridafam]

EXCUSE ME. I was up at the house meeting the builder. I wasn't ignoring the posts.

I took our survey up there. The guy at the building dept. new the builder so he called him and told him to meet me there. DH was not happy about this. So, I went. They are over the property line about 5 inches. 5 inches of cement. Are we happy about it? No. Will we do anything? Probably not.

He also admitted his cement guy drove the truck over our lawn.

He offered to remove the cement that is on our property. We might just make sure they sod, etc. around the wall where they dug up our yard.

Yes, good walls make good neighbors. The wall will be nice to have. We will probably put up some sort of landscaping next to it.

It bothered us so much because we would never do something like that.

The owner probably had no idea as it was the builder's doing.

We did have our septic system inspected before closing on the house. They did not drive over the tank-thank goodness.

It just seems like they took advantage of the house being vacant for a few weeks. They should have called the appraiser's office to get our names before driving all over the lawn.

It sounds like we can still have a good relationship with our neighbors because they had nothing to do with it and aren't living in the house yet.
Oh well, the wonderful world of home ownership.

 

[floridafam]

and I think making enemies of savvy next-door-neighbors in a neighborhood where you plan to raise children can be a brutal erro

Yup! That is one of the first things I thought about. It's not worth it to start something over a few inches. At least we know now what happened.

They got lucky. We have a utility easement next to the wall so I guess the only problem would be if a utility needed to get through and that 1/2 foot of wall was in the way. Probably will never happen.

Now I can go back to worrying about things like paint, flooring, etc.

 

[danacara]

So what did code enforcement, which is currently inundated by hurricane issues, say when you called them over 5 inches?
Did your husband compute how much it was going to cost the neighbors to buy his five inches?
(oh my gosh, that sounded very suggestive. Sorry)

 

[kidzmom3]

So what did code enforcement, which is currently inundated by hurricane issues, say when you called them over 5 inches?
Did your husband compute how much it was going to cost the neighbors to buy his five inches?
(oh my gosh, that sounded very suggestive. Sorry)

you know what, if I was going through a move, and had a lot of stress on myself and my family, I would like to think that people would understand why something like this is upsetting. I really don't think that you had to be so rude. Yes, people have hurricane damage, but people also buy property in good faith, and it can be distressing to encounter a problem. Just something to think about.

 

[floridafam]

It's a 1/2 foot of cement that stretches about 50 feet. This wall is along the entire length of the property on the side of the house.

You can say you know how we feel when someone does it to you. Who knows what could have happened.

I simply called code enforcement and asked them what we should do. That's what they are there for.

We just spent over $160,000. We have the right to expect people aren't just going to start building things on our property.

We know more than one person who had their septic tank crushed by power trucks down here after the hurrricanes.

kidzmom3, Thank you.

We just took out our loan. The surveyor had to come back out because someone took the first posts out. If he calles the mortgage company and tells them there is something on our property that could cause a lot of trouble for us. We didn't just look into this because we had nothing else to do.

 

[Regina]

Five inches doesn't seem like a lot, but in our town, fences/outbuildings have to be a certain distance from the houses and/or property lines.

Please be certain that you're not going to encounter a problem when the day comes that you sell the house. It would really stink if you were told that the fence is an illegal distance and you need to get a variance.

I would also seek monetary compensation from this builder. He took 5 inches of your property. When it was discovered that one corner of our house was a foot too close to the property line, the builder paid our neighbor for the required easement.

Mind you, the lots here are a minimum of an acre and the houses have to be separated by at least 25 feet to the property line, 50 feet apart total. It didn't bother us, but it had to be taken care of legally or we'd be dealing with it when we sell the house.

Good luck! I remember the day that we were told "the house is too close to the line." It delayed our closing by months. The town was fed up with all of the variances that our builder needed because of blunders and we were the "final straw."

Home ownership can be such a headache.

 

[j's m]

What a way to enjoy your new house. IMO I would address this legally now. It may only be a few inches, but if it's on your property is it legally your wall? Would YOU would have to knock it down if the utilities needed to be dug out? Would YOU be sued if someone fell off the wall and got hurt? It's a pain to take care of it now, but I think it could turn into a worse pain down the road. Good luck

 

[danacara]

Sorry, it was supposed to be a joke. Wish you could've seen my face as I wrote it. It didn't come across in writing as cute as it might've in person. Again, sorry.

$160K ... fwoh. Nice. That does it, I'm moving to FL. I can't even get a parking spot here for $160K. I wish!

 

[IceQueen777]

EXCUSE ME. I was up at the house meeting the builder. I wasn't ignoring the posts.

Sorry. It just really looked like you were avoiding answering the question, especially since you quoted someone asking you that very question (on page 1) but still didn't answer it.

 

[floridafam]

I guess I will ask the questions posted above. I know we don't want a headache later if we sell the house.

We really lucked out with finding this house. It had no hurricane damage and is really solid. We had to jump on it as builders are raising their prices about $10,000 a week down here since the storms-no joke.

If we aren't liable if someone falls off the wall and we won't have a problem selling later on then we'll just move on. It's just kind of a pain that we even have to worry about it.

My DS calls it the "great wall of Sebastian"

 

[floridafam]

We were just going to let everything go after talking to the superintendant for the builder. He must have mentioned something to the foreman.

They came out and removed all of the wall that was over our property line with a jackhammer. The foreman for the job (someone we hadn't spoken to) was pretty upset with the crew as he showed them what happened. He said they poured the bottom of the wall without using a "form" and that things didn't go quite as planned.

He came over and said he was very sorry and that never should have happened. They were putting up more of the wall today and he said that they will make sure all the dirt is level and he is going to bring his sod guy in to repair all the grass.

The new owners came over last night. They are very nice and wanted to make sure everything was fine.

A happy ending.

 

[Cheap-n-Dale]

Enjoy your new house!!!!!

 

[Mimi Q]

I am glad everything turned out okay.

 

[stinkerbelle]

We were just going to let everything go after talking to the superintendant for the builder. He must have mentioned something to the foreman.

They came out and removed all of the wall that was over our property line with a jackhammer. The foreman for the job (someone we hadn't spoken to) was pretty upset with the crew as he showed them what happened. He said they poured the bottom of the wall without using a "form" and that things didn't go quite as planned.

He came over and said he was very sorry and that never should have happened. They were putting up more of the wall today and he said that they will make sure all the dirt is level and he is going to bring his sod guy in to repair all the grass.

The new owners came over last night. They are very nice and wanted to make sure everything was fine.

A happy ending.

Yah! You don't meet too many good people like that in life (ie - the foreman who is tearing it down). Glad this worked out!

of course - if that happend to DH and I...we would be cracking "great wall of *whatever*" for years. heheh

Glad this was nipped in the bud...I remember years ago, my parents neighbors erected a metal shed about 3 inches from my parents fence/property line. Bylaws in their town state that all "structures" must be 3 feet from property lines. Wasn't a pretty day when a wind storm blew that sucker over onto my parents fence and half into their yard.

good luck with the rest of the closing/move!

 

[RitaZ.]

That's great news! I'm glad it all worked out.

 

[DoeWDW]

So happy to hear this all worked out! Bravo to the foreman for taking responsibility and correcting the situation - that took a lot of guts!

 

[mickeyboat]

Great news! Any sounds like you may have netted some new friends in the process. I love happy endings.

Denae

 

[sorcerormickey]