I live in a deed restricted community so we have all the covenant rules. Anyway, the HOA put a little blurp in our last newsletter about the fence being the responsibility of both property owners. They also mentioned at the last meeting that when they redo the fences along the roads they expect the homeowners that share the fence to pay half. When developers build houses around here it's pretty standard for them to put up privacy fences on the property lines. I've decided I'll just go over and tell them if they plan to fix the fence anymore to please let me know so we can share the expenses and the work. I'm pretty sure they did the work themselves this last time so I'll probably offer to pay for half the materials.

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Jenny, wife to Brad, mommy to two crazy little kids with one on the way!

You sound like a nice neighbor.

We are also thinking about replacing our property dividing fence in the next year and I was wondering the same thing. I just figured that each owner would pay half of the cost for the fence that is part of their property. Ie we have 2 neighbors that share our back fence. Our neighbor to the left has a smaller portion of the fence on their side than our neighbor behind us.

Currently we have a wood fence along our borders. I want to replace it with the "plastic" wood made from recycled plastic. It would be more expensive up front, but would last much longer and won't discolor. I believe that our neighbors to the side of us would be willing to pay for that, but I am not sure about the neighbors behind us. They told us that they were going to just replace the old wood with new wood and not the foundation wood of the whole thing....basically the quick fix mentality. So I figured that in the next year I would do my research and get some quotes that shows how much each neighbor would have to pay for their side and approach them both and see what they say about contributing and then go from there.

I guess I should also check with my homeowners insurance to see if the fence actually lays on our property and who is legally responsible just in case. Either way it needs to be replaced soon as both of us (our back neighbors) have dogs and children and wouldn't want anyone to get hurt by falling fence boards.

Sandra

I find it weird that you share a fence with your neighbor. In all the neigborhoods I have lived in each home had it's own fence-yes that means that there were fences basically back to back. Like a previous member posted the fences were to be in a foot on the property line. It sounds to me like the neighbors think the fence is their's and since their house was their first it very well may be their fence. The people who built your house may have cut corners by using their fence instead of putting up a seperate one.

I live in a neighborhood with policies and a board also, and I've never heard of such a thing as both being responsible. Whoever puts up the fence makes sure it's within their property line and pays the full cost. I would guess that they're not expecting you to pay any of the cost or they would have discussed it with you before contracting the work. If you'd like to offer them some to help, that would be generous on your part, but I guess I don't think it's necessary.

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The builder wasn't going out of their way to cut costs...that's really just the way they build things here. In every neighborhood I've ever lived in...whether it was in Sugar Land with my parents or here in San Antonio, the builders just build the fence on the property line. I very rarely ever see two fences back to back...and it's usually in the older neighborhoods when I do. Our fences here just kind of randomly face one property or another. My parents fence has a 6 foot section that faces one way, then a section that faces the other, and back and forth. It's just kind of an understanding in their neighborhood that whatever yard that particular part of the fence faces is who fixes it. I guess that's why I had it in my head that if it faces their backyard, it was their responsibility...and I think they must believe that also. It wasn't until the newsletter and meeting that I learned otherwise...but it does make sense...if we share a fence we should both pay for it. Now that fence along the road...that's a totally different story.

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Jenny, wife to Brad, mommy to two crazy little kids with one on the way!

Our neighborhood is over forty years old, and I'd venture to guess that some of the fencing is, too! On our property, we have different fencing on all sides, but since it's a forested lot, it does not stand out.

My understanding has always been that neighbors are both responsible for fences, but now I may have to do some research on that, given what I'm reading here. Our back fence is pitiful. Dh has braced it with new posts, and the insurance company said that even if it fell over completely, that does not mean they'd pay to replace the entire thing. The neighbor behind us is in no financial position to contribute. Thanks for all your input!

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