Cleveland_Ohio
New Member
My fiance and I bought a house with a clear encroachment. Our neighbor's 6 foot fence is running across her driveway and meets the front corner of our house. In the back yard her fence meets with the back corner of our house, effectively blocking us off completely from the entire north side of our home. She apparently had a permit to have the fence put up and got the signature of the previous owner of our home giving permission to do so. This was in less than ten years ago. (side note: the previous owner was living out of state and skipped out on her mortgage, so she really didn't care what happened)
In any case, after erecting the giant fence, the neighbor dug up the enclosed side yard and put in a stone patio. This caused rain water to pool next to the home and run into the basement. This went on for years before we moved in. We now have $12,000 in water/mold clean up and repair to do. We knew there was a slight problem from the start but didn't know the extent of it until the cover-up job they did wore off. We would be able to get it somewhat resolved by properly grading the land next to our home, but the city seems to think that since the neighbor has a permit for the fence there is nothing that can be done. One inspector actually told me that I just have to ask her permission every time I want to access the side of my home.
Is it even legal for someone to deny us access to our own home and property? Do we have any rights in terms of making a claim against her or the city for the damage done to our home? She hasn't had the fence there long enough to claim adverse possession. How can we get the city to recognize and do something about the code violations? I've told them what the problems were and they are seemingly indifferent about it. Even if there is a zero property line, there are still easement laws, right? We've already had an issue with a leaking gas line that took 7 months to be repaired because she wouldn't let the gas company onto our property. Meanwhile our water and mold problem is getting worse.
She's very confrontational so just asking her to move it probably won't work. If she doesn't take it down by the time the waterproofing company comes to do the work can we just remove it ourselves?
In any case, after erecting the giant fence, the neighbor dug up the enclosed side yard and put in a stone patio. This caused rain water to pool next to the home and run into the basement. This went on for years before we moved in. We now have $12,000 in water/mold clean up and repair to do. We knew there was a slight problem from the start but didn't know the extent of it until the cover-up job they did wore off. We would be able to get it somewhat resolved by properly grading the land next to our home, but the city seems to think that since the neighbor has a permit for the fence there is nothing that can be done. One inspector actually told me that I just have to ask her permission every time I want to access the side of my home.
Is it even legal for someone to deny us access to our own home and property? Do we have any rights in terms of making a claim against her or the city for the damage done to our home? She hasn't had the fence there long enough to claim adverse possession. How can we get the city to recognize and do something about the code violations? I've told them what the problems were and they are seemingly indifferent about it. Even if there is a zero property line, there are still easement laws, right? We've already had an issue with a leaking gas line that took 7 months to be repaired because she wouldn't let the gas company onto our property. Meanwhile our water and mold problem is getting worse.
She's very confrontational so just asking her to move it probably won't work. If she doesn't take it down by the time the waterproofing company comes to do the work can we just remove it ourselves?
