Property Dispute Lessons Learned

Alright ... Remember I told you we were sued by our neighbors to the west over the property lines. When we moved in, said neighbors had apologized for the garbage they had flung on our side of the property. They also had a dog kennel and other "stuff" which they apologized for and moved. We weren't their "enemies" yet. The previous owner of our property had horses on that side of our property and had put up a fence about 9 or so years ago, but it wasn't on or near the property line. It left a large amount of our property that they had been using as their own despite knowing it didn't belong to them. They seemed to home that we just wouldn't question it. They had been living there for a little over a year and had gotten comfortable.

Their home is about 60-80 feet from the property line, and we wanted to get a survey done and eventually get a privacy fence put up. I wanted our chickens on that side, and despite them owning 4 acres, they do everything (grill, trampoline, temporary swimming pool, sprawl garbage etc.) right on the property line, and I didn't want any issues with our chickens or animals heading over there.

So we asked around, used a reputable surveying company and realized that their was almost a half acre or more that their stuff had been on. The same stuff they told us about and moved when we purchased the property. The Mister ran a line, texted them just so that they were aware and we hired a local fencing company to measure the distance and give us a quote. They had installed a fence on the front of our property weeks prior due to earlier said hateful neighbors, and we trusted them to do a fine job on the side. Well that is when the poop hit the proverbial fan.

Our "friendly" neighbors were furious. Furious!!!! Despite the fact that they had a survey done when they moved it, and that we had just had a survey conducted they were insistent that we were taking their land. Interestingly enough, the racist across the street had lived in their home years (25 or more) before. While living there he had put a fence up about 3-12 inches on our property line. We had intended to run the fence 12 - 30 inches in some places, and had conveyed that to them. Unfortunately these fine church folks had listened to the hateful man across the street that told them they had a claim. They could sue us based on an ancient boundary established by his fence. Now let me stop here and tell you that anger and hate can blur all reason, common sense and clarity. Just throws it out the window. Bless their hearts.

The Mister explained to them that the "ancient" fence that sir hateful had installed was still their in places. It was there and it was in front of where we would run our fence. The horse fence, installed only 9 or so years ago, was not installed by sir hateful 25 years ago. It was not an ancient fence. Do you think they listened to reason? Do you think that they could here the words of reason he was speaking? No. People they were blind and deaf to our words at this point. The hateful neighbor across street was at their home daily and faithfully, whispering in their ear. The Mister heard all of the neighbors spewing racial hate speech about me and how this wasn't going to happen. So as the Mister walked up to work this out peacefully he heard those words ... "You'll hear from our lawyer". Did I mention that the father of the wife was a lawyer? Lucky us. And we did. They sued us and did an injunction for us to cease and desist any work on the fence, as well as disputed the property line stating an ancient boundary established not by Mr. hate, but by the horse fence.

Now, I've never been sued people, and there are a few things I have learned in this process. When you are right and have the evidence to back it up file your counter claim with the county yourself. It has to be done in a timely manner. There was over 3K in retainer and legal fees that we paid. What a waste. Here, when an injunction to cease and desist is filed, said filers are required to put up a property bond of I believe 20% of what the land is worth. That didn't happen. The judge didn't ask for it and just signed their request. Egads! Find out the laws, and the best way to pursue "justice". If you determine it is best to have an attorney to get an attorney, write down everything they tell you and follow-up with an email to ensure that you have not misunderstood anything. This allows them to clarify based on their advising you as well as the law. Their recommendation may not be what is best for you. Our attorney recommended that we request attorney fees. I later asked if that judge honored such request. He said, no. Why on earth would he suggest it for us then? Despite his initial vigor and support, our attorney's motives, intestinal fortitude and work ethic became questionable.

Don't get discouraged or back down because you are being sued with a lawsuit. We eventually were able to build our fence, albeit a 6' barbed wire fence due to cost, because we were right and had the survey and face to face evidence on our side. They asked that the fence be on right on the line. Isn't that something? Stay strong and honest and honorable. You can look yourself in the mirror and study your heart knowing that you didn't compromise your character. It would have been easy to to respond in a ugly manner, but why?

God is faithful. He won't let you be tempted beyond what you can handle, and He'll always provide a way out.