Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Ohio

Property Line Dispute (Fence Location)

I bought a home in 2001 in Franklin County, OH. My neighbors to the left of me bought their home in 1995. A fence was build on my property by the original owner of the home (of which I'm the third), 3 to 8 feet onto OUR yard from the property line, before either current homeowner purchased the homes. I was disputting where an Elm tree sat and on whose property so, I recently had a property survey conducted. Not to my surprise, our fence sits in the incorrent place on our property. I would like to move the fence to the legal property line indicated by the certified survey. I approaced my neighbors this Saturday when they were home (they live in PA 90% of the year and are keeping their current residence due to a custody battle and leave the house vacant most of the year)...well, I approached them in a friendly manner to make them aware of the proper property line and received a rude awakening. Not only were they verbally claiming squatter's rights to the 3 to 8 feet of property which we know is ours but they had also torn the survey stakes from our yard. I called the police. A property damage report was filed but that was all that could be done b/c no one saw the neighbors pull the stakes. My question is what steps do I


Asked on 8/24/04, 10:52 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Property Line Dispute (Fence Location)

You own the fence and you can move it to where you want to on your property (subject to any zoning or deed restrictions. I recommend that the fence be inside your property line and not exactly on the line because you need access to maintain the fence on the other side. Your neighbors have not lived in their home long enough to claim adverse possession. There are other conditions they would have to comply with to validly claim it but those don't need to be discussed because of the time period.

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Answered on 8/24/04, 1:06 pm


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