YES ! If you reside in California, you can make your neighbor pay their half of the cost of a new fence to replace an old, rotted, falling-down fence between you and your neighboring property owner. You can thank a relatively new (2014) California law regarding fences between neighbors.
I availed myself of California law and offered common-sense arguments and evidence in court. And I won. You can do the same. However, I’m not an attorney, and I dispense no legal advice in what follows. I only recite a history of the events that involved me; the events are part of the court record.
Basically, I did the following:
- Documented (photographed) the fallen-down fence.
- Obtained an estimate to build a new 62-ft-long fence.
- Obtained the exact name and address of my adjoining landowner.
- Wrote a 30-day notice letter to my adjoining landowner.
- Built the new fence, while documenting its excellent construction.
- Took my recalcitrant neighbor to small-claims court. I won.
- Jumped legal hoops to have my stubborn neighbor’s wages garnished.
- Received a wages-garnished check for $1,251.
As a side note, it so happens that I bought the (excellent) fencing materials and installed the fence myself, and thus ensured its installation quality, and still recouped half the cost (based on a contractor’s full materials-and-labor estimate) from my recalcitrant, deadbeat neighbor.
Why build it myself? ◄ Click here for an explanation on a separate web page.
In late 2016 and early 2017, a wooden fence in my back yard was falling down. This fence was a 62-ft-long section made of redwood. It was falling to whatever side it wanted, mostly to the north, into the neighbor’s yard. I had been keeping it upright for a few years using wires attached to tall steel stakes and trees in my yard, but I grew tired of all that. One day, I cut the wires and let the fence do what it wanted, and, as expected, it flopped into the neighbor’s yard to the north.
The fence was at least 20 years old. Maybe much more. When we moved to the house in 1996, the fence looked tired, and a few years thereafter, a few of the posts were rotted through and failing. Maybe the fence was in fact 50 years old and was erected with the original house construction in the late 1960s.
Anyway, starting in 2014, we approached our neighbor to the north, “Debra”, to talk about building a replacement fence.
“Debra” is the pseudonym for my neighbor that I’ll use throughout this web page. Similarly, street addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses are redacted throughout. I don’t need to personally embarrass “Debra” with her identifying information. The events of this fence saga speak for themselves. If someone wishes to identify “Debra”, one could do so with sufficient sleuthing on the internet or with other investigation. And, regardless, all these events are, more or less, public record: they are part of the records of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County.
We knocked on her door and went from there. “Sure,” said “Debra”. “I’ll provide you with an estimate for a replacement.” A few phone calls and emails passed between us over the next couple years. No estimates or communication from Debra regarding a new fence ever materialized.
Then, in early 2017, I discovered California Civil Code, Section 841. This relatively new law, from 2014, says how, if you have an old, rotted, falling-down fence between your property and your neighbor’s, you can write your neighbor a proper letter, rebuild the fence, and recover your neighbor’s half of the cost. Section 841 also says to not build a Taj Majal fence and to give at least a 30-day notice in your letter. I endeavored to dot my legal Is and cross my legal Ts and to do all else in accordance with Section 841, and to prepare myself for a battle in small-claims court (Step 8, below), and I was already familiar with small-claims court following my successful battle 2 years earlier with a gal who had run a red light and totaled my daughter’s car, but that’s beside the point.
After trying the neighborly approach, as described above, we went the legal route. Ultimately, Debra lost, and we (Frank and Patricia) won. More or less. Sadly, Patricia, “Tricia”, my wife, was losing her battle with cancer and died in the middle of our/my legal fence battle with Debra. Tricia, my wife of a quarter century and mother of our three kids, died of cancer at the age of 53, on June 26, 2017. Debra became aware of Tricia’s death in the middle of this saga yet continued with her legal battle with us (now me) to pay $0 for a new fence.
Step 1. Read California Civil Code, Section 841
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Section 841 of the California Civil Code describes how a property owner in the State of California has the right to tear out a crappy, rotten fence, build a new one in its place, and recoup half the cost from an adjoining owner. The law is only 1 page long, and it’s not tough to decipher. The steps presented below describe how I followed Section 841 and collected half the cost plus court expenses.
Section 841 ◄ Click here. My favorite portion of Section 841 is the following:
Step 2. Identified owner of adjacent property
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Section 841 says to write a letter to your adjacent landOWNer. I needed to learn the name and address of the owner of my neighbor’s property. Correspondence that I might have addressed to any renter or resident of the property would not have yielded any results. I went on Google and entered some search term like “property owner lookup”. I got multiple hits with headlines like “property title search”, “who owns that property”, etc. I chose one. I entered the address of the neighbor in question and entered my credit card number for payment. I was rewarded with a bunch of information. I recall that this report, below, cost me around $2.
Near the top, under “redacted”, is the street address of my adjoining landowner. Farther down, under “redacted”, are the exact names of the owner (Debra and her sister), as registered with the County, and their complete mailing address, as registered with the County. That address, it just so happened in my case, was also the neighboring property in question on the north side of mine.
Step 3. Obtained a couple estimates
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There may not be any magic number of estimates, one, two, or three, to obtain for rebuilding a fence. I made phone calls to a few fence contractors to ask that they visit and provide estimates. It so happened that I obtained two written estimates, one from a licensed contractor and one from an unlicensed one. I used the lower estimate, from the unlicensed contractor, because I wanted to buy the materials and install the new fence properly myself (with help from friends) to ensure that it was installed meticulously, and I am not a licensed contractor. It seemed sensible, and it all worked out in the end.
Estimate ◄ Click here. This estimate was the basis for my case in small-claims court.
Step 4. Wrote 30-day notice letter to owner
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I wrote the following letter to the neighbor/owner describing the fence problem, our 50/50 shared responsibility for addressing the problem, my intended solution (building a new fence), the cost sharing, and my timeline. All of this was consistent with Section 841.
What’s shown above is merely the first page of the 2½-page letter.
Letter PDF ◄ Click here to view my full 2½-page 30-day-notice letter.
Letter MSWord ◄ Click here for the Microsoft Word version of the 2½-page 30-day letter. I am not saying (wink, wink) that you could treat it as a template that could be edited to suit your situation.
Step 5. Ignored distractions
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I dealt with several potential distractions. They all amounted to nothing, and I was eventually able to proceed to Step 6 (below): the rebuilding.
Building permits? No. My research showed that as a resident of San Jose, I did not need a building permit to rebuild a fence. I did need to adhere to a maximum height limit of 7 ft. My rebuilt fence was merely 6 ft tall. The City’s requirements indicate no need for a permit if the new fence will be less than 7 ft tall.
City fence building requirements ◄ Click here. Permits or licensed contractor needed? No, and again no.
Licensed contractor? Also not required. Click on the link shown above ▲. A licensed contractor is not required by the City, nor by Section 841. I rebuilt the fence myself, with some help. Am I a licensed contractor? No. Neither the City of San Jose building code nor the judge in my small-claims dispute with my neighbor (Step 8, below) cited any need for a licensed contractor to rebuild the fence. (The State’s dept. of consumer affairs may have something to say about hiring a contractor to do a job worth more than a certain dollar amount, but I chose to bypass the contractor route.) Indeed, no contractor of any sort is needed at all (except that I obtained a contractor’s estimate).
City? SJPD? Code Enforcement? Mediation? Forget about any of that: any help from the City. If you have a rotted, 30-year-old, falling-down fence between your property and your neighbor, you’ll get nowhere with calling “the City”[?], the police, the City’s Department of Code Enforcement, etc. The police won’t answer their phone, and you can leave them a voicemail, and wait until pigs fly … . … Unless your neighbor’s pitbull has charged through the fence and into your yard and is chomping off your leg, you’re out of luck calling SJPD. You’ll get nowhere with the City. You need California law and the County court system, as did I.
Neighbor insists on agreement, and on all matching fences for her. No, nothing in the law requires that neighbors come to an agreement, or that the recalcitrant neighbor can make you wait (forever?) for her to build the new fence herself, or for her to rebuild all (five) of her fences so they’ll match. Debra essentially gave up those “rights” when she was incommunicado for 2½ years and then let the fallen-down fence sit in her yard for another several months, while continuing to remain incommunicado. Section 841 lets a responsible homeowner (me, like yourself) take the bull by the horns and ignore the delaying and whining of a recalcitrant, slovenly neighbor.
Nonsense communications from neighbor. After I sent my letter dated January 24, 2017, I received a lot of desperate, nonsensical emails from my neighbor.
Emails ◄ Click here.
Here, my neighbor, who (1) had been essentially unresponsive for 2½ years and (2) had a 30-ft-long section of fence lying in her yard for 2 months and yet remained unresponsive, argued that I cannot rebuild the fence because only a contractor should rebuild it and because of a bunch of additional whiny reasons.
My favorite parts of this email exchange are those of February 23, 2017, when Debra said, “I have consulted with an attorney … ,” to which I responded, “We’re glad …”, and, a few minutes later, when Debra emailed, … watch this now …
“Please I reiterate, do not tear down the fence or you will be trespassing,”
to which I replied, a few minutes later, “It’s very difficult for one to trespass on one’s own property.” … to which Debra had no reply.
Yee haw! An email exchange between someone who’s acquainted with the law (me) and someone who’s ignorant (neighbor Debra) doesn’t get much better than that !
To stay safe, I called on a brother in law, “B.Q”, an officer in the San Jose Police Department, to help with a few hours of fence rebuilding on March 4, 2017. “Should I pack heat?” he asked beforehand. “Naw,” I replied, “just bring your badge.” Despite his having a cold, he was there.
Trespassing? Did we trespass? No. You are not trespassing on a neighbor’s property when rebuilding a fence. You or a contractor can rebuild a fence while working on one side of a property line. I’ve done it myself. “B.Q.” , my off-duty San Jose police officer friend and brother in law, didn’t need to pull out his SJPD badge.
Materials cost ◄ Click here.
Step 6. Built the new fence
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Then, I built a new fence in place of, and essentially duplicating (but better than), the old one. On March 4, 2017, I (actually we: myself and three helpers) excavated holes for the posts, placed the posts, and placed the concrete below and around them. A lot of sightings, placement of straight stringlines, tape-measuring, and work with bubble levels was involved. After allowing the concrete to cure for a day, on March 5th, my son and I installed the bottom support beams (pressure-treated 2-by-12-inch boards) and began installing the bottom and top rails and the fence boards. A few days later, we were done.
My new fence was a splendid one, as shown below. I should say “our” fence, because legally my oh-so-sweet neighbor to the north is the co-owner of this single, on-the-property-line, no-peeky-throughie, “good-neighbor” fence.
Step 7. Asked neighbor to pay for half
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After building the new fence, and as required in small-claims disputes, I sent Debra an email on March 9, 2017, asking her for her half of the cost of the new fence.
Step 8. Began a small-claims court case
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On March 13, 2017, I initiated my small-claims case. First, I downloaded Form SC-100. This form, once filled out and signed, is what one hands over the counter at the courthouse to initiate a small-claims lawsuit.
Form SC-100 ◄ Click here.
- I went to a certain Court webpage and on it clicked on their link to get Form SC-100.
- I saw Form SC-100 pop up in Adobe Reader in on my computer.
- I entered the fields on pages 2, 3, and 4 of the form using Adobe Reader.
- I printed the form and signed it.
- I took the filled-in, printed, signed form with me downtown.
- There, downtown, I parked a couple blocks away from the county courthouse, at 191 North 1st Street, San Jose, put about eight quarters in the parking meter, and did a mild TSA thing at the courthouse door: put keys and pocket change in a tray and walked through a metal detector.
- Within the courthouse, I found the counter for small-claims cases.
- I handed my Form SC-100 form to the court clerk and paid a small fee (maybe $35? … my neighbor was eventually made to pay this fee back to me).
- The clerk entered a court date on page 1 of Form SC-100, handed me back copies, and I thus had a court date: May 10, 2017.
Step 9. Served my defendant, neighbor
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The court clerk handed me with appropriate paperwork for serving my defendant. I couldn’t just mail or drop off the court-date papers at Debra’s house. Legally, I required the service of an impartial so-called process server. I happened to find my process server, WRS, at the counter of the courthouse on March 13, 2017, but I could have just as easily found a local process server by searching online. For about $150 or so ― I don’t recall exactly ― I hired my process server. (The defendant, Debra was eventually forced to pay me back this fee as part of the final judgment.)
My process server, WRS, tried to serve the court papers on my defendant at her home address. Debra, naturally, ever evasive, never answered her door on multiple occasions. My process server notified me that her efforts at process service had been unsuccessful. I then recalled that Debra’s email address looked like one from a school district. With a bit of online research, I was able to locate Debra’s place of work
Debra’s place of work ◄ Click here. Web page showing her workplace.
For an extra fee (eventually paid by Debra), WRS was able to serve the court papers to Debra at her workplace by simply leaving them with Debra’s office secretary.
Step 10. Had my day in court
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On May 10, 2017, Plaintiff (me, Frank) and Defendant Debra (plus her sister; they’re co-owners of the property, but that doesn’t matter) had our say in front of the judge. We were essentially alone in front of the judge, Thomas Schatzer, although there were numerous others in the courtroom. My photos and emails were on his desk for review. Debra and her sister whined about whatever. The proceedings weren’t much different from what one sees on Judge Judy or whatever reality TV courtroom show you like to watch. At one point the judge said, “So, ladies, this has been going on for 2 years?” I believed then that my case was won. However, the judge wanted to learn whether a licensed contractor was required to do a fence rebuild under the law, and thus he deferred his judgment for another day.
In May 2017, I was rewarded with a letter in the mail showing the judge’s decision, which went in my favor. The relevant portion is shown below:
Judgment ◄ Click here to see the judgment in its entirety, if you’re interested. Note that the defendant (Debra) wass required to reimburse me for the fees I’d paid out of pocket to the court and to my process server.
Step 11. Collected via wage garnishment
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The judgment gave Debra 30 days to pay up before collection could proceed by way of a lien on her property or garnishing of her wages or bank account. Thirty days went by without a peep from Debra, naturally. I was now in the difficult position of collecting $1,166 from Debra. So, I had my process server, Diana, with WRS, now enter the legal paperwork to garnish the wages of Debra, my neighbor and defendant.
A bunch of legal skirmishing and two more court hearings in which Debra and I appeared then ensued. I did the legal paperwork, although I could have had my process server, WRS, handle it for me. At some time in the future, I may expand this web page to describe these details. Suffice to say that a few months later, I was sent a check from the Alameda County Sheriff’s department (Debra worked in Alameda County, and thus her wages were garnished there), representing the amount that Debra owed me. I would say owed “us,” but my wife had died by then. My wife, Patricia, was a kind, accommodating soul. During her last days, I kept her informed of events. “F**king ‘Debra’ ” was one of her few last utterances as she lay dying.
Why I’ve posted all this
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Fences are good. They afford privacy, and privacy leads to comfort. My dog stays where she belongs and is safe. My neighbor’s weeds and jungly vegetation stay where they belong, out of my yard. I don’t need to look from my decently maintained backyard into my neighbor’s yard of rot, junk, weeds, and jungle. I like to see and advance long-term human flourishing, which in this instance of fences between neighbors in an urban area means many things:
- Property maintenance. Too few property owners in certain areas of San Jose are noncognizant of the value of maintaining things, like their residences and cars. Cultural values in certain parts of the globe are such that things get built, often sloppily, and then forgotten and not maintained. To the extent that these cultural values enter and then expand outward into our local environment, we become poorer. Maintenance = cost savings = long-term human flourishing.
- Property values. Neighborhood property values can spiral downward or upward when their residents/owners act in negative or positive ways, respectively, regarding the peaceful enjoyment of properties by most residents in a neighborhood.
- Walls (fences) are good. While we were building the fence in March 2017, I was inspired by these words: “I will build a great, great wall … and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall.” ― Donald J. Trump (U.S. President, 2017–2021), June 15, 2015.
- Having your day in court is rewarding when you know the law is on your side and you’re in the right.
- It’s rewarding, even if it takes extraordinary effort to beat down your opponent, to have an impartial third party show him/her that you’re in the right.
- It’s fun when we, the good, hold neighbors to account against local laws that promote peaceful enjoyment of the environment and long-term human flourishing.
- It’s just fun to confront those who are fine with rot and dereliction and destruction around them, and it’s fun to expose hypocricy.
As a side note, regarding rot and hypocricy, let’s note the condition of Debra’s other fences with three of her other neighbors as of this writing, in July 2022. These three fences are/were so old and rotted that (1) one, a short section of fence, is on its last legs, (2) another, a long section, is half missing, i.e., flopping to either side, with many boards missing, and the third (3), a long section, is completely gone. That third fence was so far gone that all of its (rotted) boards have been removed and placed in stacks, and Debra and her neighbor now have free views of and entry into each other’s rear yards. I should take and post photos. Note that it is now over 5½ years since our skirmish of early 2017, when Debra objected to my new fence with the claim that she wanted all matching fences with her five neighbors and sent me an estimate involving such a matching set. Ha !