for the ranchers/ farmers grazzers out there

jocww · Feb 13, 2007

I have a question concerning a neighbor who is illegally grazing on our property not only that he built a fence on our property, what can I do to legally get him off our property, he says he can legally free graze on our property but we live in california and in our county which is Contra Costa county has no rules saying that he can do this. I called the sheriffs office and told them my problem and they forwarded me to the county assessors office. What shall I do.
TIA
Jon

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displayc...ile=17121-17128

http://blog.aklandlaw.com/archives/takings...ence-me-in.html

from these 2 sites i got the belief that he would have to put up the fences, but he is insisting that it i would have to.

steve58 · Feb 13, 2007

Start shooting clay pidgeons or target practice,that will most likely move most animals.

DougA · Feb 13, 2007

As crazy as Ca. is I don't belive he's right.Two neighboring farms here in Md. had a dispute about a new fence,a land survey was done and one was found wrong.He had to spend a lot of money relocating his fence.If it was anything but a horse,and it continued,it would be in my freezer shortly.

Derek69SS · Feb 13, 2007

Take down the fence.

jocww · Feb 13, 2007

if i take down the fence then they spread to the rest of the property
I am gonna go shooting but it wont be right next to them as i have to be 80yards away from the road.

charbilly2001 · Feb 13, 2007

jocww said:
if i take down the fence then they spread to the rest of the property
I am gonna go shooting but it wont be right next to them as i have to be 80yards away from the road.

It occurs to me that if they are on your property then you should round them up and sell them

PaPa Johns 77 · Feb 13, 2007

How long has the fence been there? I have seen people lose sections of property because of an uncontested change in percieved property lines where a fence has remained across the line and the offending property owner shows he has been using and maintaining the disputed property! If the original owner wanted it back they had to pay the other guy for said improvements including fence relocation to get it back! This usually occured where there was change in ownership and the discrepancy was unkown to the new owner. I don't know about your general situation and where you live may be different that those I have described.

Rod · Feb 13, 2007

Any fence on your property is yours. Check with the county office and find out where the survey says the property line is. What is he grazing?

jocww · Feb 13, 2007

it is surveyed there are t posts every 20 yards. he is way over like sectioning 3 acres off our 84 acres. the fence has been there for about 3 weeks

Mr69 · Feb 13, 2007

How many head are we talking here? Are they branded?

Don't you have a buddy a few miles away who would like to buy some cheap cattle? I would think if 2-3 dissappeared each night he'd get the message pretty fast.

Seriously. Maybe you should talk with the guy and ask him to pay you a fair sum for the use of your land. After all it's not costing you anything, so it would be pure profit.

Get something written up though, so he doesn't just keep moving the fence further and further.

If he's not interested in a compromise, then I'd say you need to contact an attorney. He has no right to be on your land without your written approval. It's called trespassing. Maybe you need to post trespassing signs?

ktrim · Feb 13, 2007

have a fence instlled on the property line while his animals are on your property

then youll have a nice 3 acre fenced in corral

ToyzRMe · Feb 13, 2007

Mmmmmmmmmmm Beef! It's what's for dinner!:yes:

Randy

John_Muha · Feb 13, 2007

Best of my knowledge California law regarding fences is fairly uniform throughout the state.

One self help site is nolo.com started by California attornies. Saw this book on their site.

Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise
by Attorney Cora Jordan

Bill's_72_SS · Feb 13, 2007

Jon - He cannot legal "Free Graze" on your land. I would suggest you contact the City Hall of San Ramon (or CC County if you are in unincorporated San Ramon http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us ) to get a fresh parcel map. Usually the public works group can help you out. Also, unless you can verify for yourself that the previous survey markers are correct, you might have to get another survey.
After the property line is verified, then talk to your neighbor. If he understands he was wrong to go on to your land then he will move that fence back to the property line. (Or maybe you could work a deal that you would allow him to rent those 3 acres from you... a little spare cash is not a bad thing.)
If he still refuses to move after talking to him, (I hate to say this) but get a lawyer involved. There are certain time considerations involved. I think it's something like, if you leave the fence there for 5 years without disputing it, the other guy can claim some right to use that property or something to that effect.

Good luck.
Bill

novaderrik · Feb 13, 2007

i like the idea of putting up a fence along the real property line.
or, better yet, put up a fence that takes up 3 acres of HIS land and see if he likes that.

jocww · Feb 13, 2007

Thanks Bill, I emailed the assessors office but they still havent responded. He knows hes in the wrong Ive talked to him about it. He brought up the 5 year thing too. Saying I didnt put up a fence in 5 years so I can graze here until you put up a fence. I told him fine then I will start 4wheeling all over your unfenced property, he told me that was unneighborly.

72SSAbody · Feb 13, 2007

DougA said:
If it was anything but a horse,

And the horse would be at the glue factory

Joe

1badss396 · Feb 13, 2007

Just get a current survey and have it marked off with boundry markers from the survey company. Then send him a certifed letter explaining the situation and a copy of the survey because it will show your neighbors new fence encroachment on your property line.
Then give him warning of the fence encroachment and must be moved to the correct property line. All this via certifed mail if he does not sign for the mail its still good as if he signed for it will not matter!
Say something that you plan to mow this area of your property and the newly installed fence must be removed or moved within 1 month. Or you will be forced to have it removed at his expence from a contractor and will seek expensives and damages, costs and over runs.
I have done this many times before and it will get some action quick.

As for the 5 year thing is old news and does not stand up in court any more.

SS_Dave · Feb 13, 2007

In ohio, if you let someone put a fence up and it stays for 5 years and they
maintain the fence and the land on the other side, it becomes theirs.

Hatfield and the McCoys.

Mr69 · Feb 13, 2007

I would think that a nice little letter typed up by an attorney giving him 30 days to remove the fence would solve the problem. If said fence is not removed inside of 30 days, then he will incure all costs to remove said fence. Legal and otherwise.

First I'd figure out what it's worth to him to use your 3 acres and give him the option of a yearly lease agreement for that amount, or the 30 day evacuation. I'd respectfully give him these 2 choices. He's up to playing harball with you, so it's time for you to play hardball with him.

for the ranchers/ farmers grazzers out there

jocww

steve58

DougA

Derek69SS

jocww

charbilly2001

PaPa Johns 77

Rod

jocww

Mr69

ktrim

ToyzRMe

John_Muha

Bill's_72_SS

novaderrik

jocww

72SSAbody

1badss396

SS_Dave

Mr69

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