Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Minnesota

Replacing an exsiting fence

The back & side yards of are next to a small church and parking lot. There was a small exsiting fence on the property line that was need of repair. I asked the a person a the pastor of church about replacing the fence privacy fence. He was offended that we wanted put up a fence and didn't want to talk about it. Were later approched by someone who represented her self as a Administrator. She said we could replace the exsiting fence with a 6 ft privacy fence. Now 6 months later after the old fence was built and the new fence was errected, a lawyer from the church contacted me and said the church has surrveyed the lot and the fence is 3 to 6 inches over the property line and the want it moved. By my measurements the fence is on the property line. What should I do?


Asked on 1/22/02, 1:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

David Kelly-952-544-6356 Kelly Law Office

Re: Replacing an exsiting fence

You have lots of possibilities. They agreed to the fence - so you could ask them to share the cost of moving it.

They are a church. Where are their volunteers? How about having a crew of their men volunteer to move the fence?

You could hire your own surveyor. Maybe their surveyor made a mistake - they often do, especially when it's that close.

You could hire your own lawyer. Maybe - if you have been in open possession of the land for 15 years - you have an adverse possession claim to the extra 3 inches because you have been using it as your own for all this time. This only works if the church's land is abstract property and not Torrens property. Your lawyer can advise you on the chances that you may have this type of claim. Maybe if you have such a claim, rather than have you pursue it, the church would want to pay all the cost of moving that fence.

The bottom line is probably that if the church's surveyor is right, you may have to move the fence - or somebody is going to have to move it; but like I said, you have lots of possibilities - some of which could even be fun depending on how you handle yourself.

If these people are a bunch of self-righteous shits, it could be even more fun.

Good luck.

This response is for general information purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. You are advised to seek the advice of the attorney of your choice concerning the details of your case.

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Answered on 1/23/02, 11:13 am


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