'Oh this isn't my yard? All of this is your yard?': Neighbors insist guy's property is theirs, they end up with less land than they started with

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Oct 17, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

Feuds over imaginary and (often) invisible lines are one of the cornerstones of human society. The problem is they become increasingly difficult to resolve when no one can agree on where that imaginary invisible line should actually be—or whether or not it actually exists in the first place. 

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  • Still, our territoriality is a key part of our nature, rooted in the most primitive parts of our brain that are responsible for shutting down our frontal cortex when we engage in petty warfare with our neighbors, arguing over inches of soil that may or may not actually be ours.

    These neighbors sure weren't thinking when they decided to engage in a feud with their reluctant new neighbor, choosing to create a petty argument over something that he was just trying to be nice about in the first place. When they took things too far and pushed him into taking action, they would soon reap the rewards of their pettiness by losing more of their yard then he was after in the first place.

  • 01
    Cloud - "My yard didn't go to where I thought it did. Instead, it went further..."
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    Michael Kahn

  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/CockyNurse Oh this isn't my yard? All of this is your yard? XL OC My wife and I bought our first home in early 2021 at the perfect time. Our house is in an older neighborhood but is a new build. Prior to the house being built, it was just a plot of land that was overgrown with trees and bushes.
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  • 03
    Font - We bought our house and the backyard needed work. There was about 100 feet deep of backyard we could play with but that was all due to some overgrowth of vines, bushes, small trees, bamboo; you name it. To give some context, our plot of land is shaped like a parallelogram. It doesn't just go straight like a rectangle. Our yard is sort of angled.
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  • 04
    Font - My wife and I worked hard to start clearing it out. It turns out, we still had about 25 feet deep of backyard to play with once all of the co was removed. We started out in the center and cleared it out then started working on the sides of the overgrowth. We got to the neighbor to our left and found our survey stake so we stopped there. We started on the otherside and after a few days of working on it, we come
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  • 05
    Font - outside to a patchwork "fence" from our neighbor to the right. This fence was just tree limbs and things stabbed into the ground. We still had a good 15 feet or so to reach our other stake but, seeing as though we hadn't met or talked to these neighbors yet, we decided to stop there for now since it was getting colder out and we didn't want to step on the new neighbors toes.
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  • 06
    Font - Fast forward a few months and it's spring time. That patchwork fence had long fallen down and limbs and things had been removed. I start mowing my lawn and I mow from my front stake diagonally to where my back stake is which I am able to see pretty clearly through the overgrowth. I start cutting the overgrowth and I get through most of it that day. I make a huge pile in the back of my yard and a company comes out the next day to remove the brush
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  • 07
    Font - with 4 truck loads. The next week I go to cut my grass and see that there's rocks and sticks laid down way into my yard about halfway down and it goes all the way back to where the original patchwork "fence" was. I'm curious as to why my neighbor would put them there. So I started doing some research. I pulled out our survey from when the house was being built and started walking our property line. From our front marker to our back marker matched. So I walked between the back left marker
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  • 08
    Font - said 115' of length between survey pins. I used both a really long tape measure and one of those walking measurers and got +/- 3' of 115'. So I knew we were right on the spot. Of note, I had also tried introducing myself to my neighbors and the husband was quiet but nice but the wife just ignored us. No waves, no smiles, nothing.
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  • 09
    Font - So I move the rocks to the back of my yard and throw the sticks in the yard waste bin. I finish cutting the grass and start working on spraying the little root systems from the brush that I had removed the week prior. All of a sudden, our male neighbor comes outside and walks toward me. He says that "hey, just so you know, you removed our privacy plants that helped conceal us from the people behind us. Not sure if you thought your yard extended this far or what but this is all our yard."
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    Font - I tell him that "Well, our survey shows that the distance between these two pins in the back should be 115' which is what I got when I measured them. Also from measuring from the front pins to the bottom pins, both of those numbers were about right as well. So everything is matching up on our survey." He says "Well, my wife works for the city and they can see exactly where the plots are and my plot goes to here (while pointing like 15 feet into my yard)."
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  • 11
    Font - I tell him that we can split the cost of a survey if he wants and he's not interested and goes inside. I keep doing my thing in my yard and two weeks pass by and I go to cut the grass again. There are now bricks, rocks, more limbs, yard spray paint and flags 15' into my yard. I'm now really irritated. I knock on the door with no answer despite them both being home. I know this because I could see them through the window when cutting grass. I also saw they were live viewing me on the ring.
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  • 12
    Font - I move what I can and finish cutting the grass. I go to lowes and pick up some string and run string from my front stake to my back stake. Next week its cut and laying way inside my yard. When he was getting into his car later that evening I ask why they cut my string. "My mower must have ran over it."
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  • 13
    Font - I tell him that its strange his mower ran over it and it ended up in my yard where he says my yard ends. I then tell him that my survey is new and more likely to be right then whatever system his wife is using to determine plots. He tells me "Well then I guess you're going to have to pay to get a new survey done."
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  • 14
    Font - Okay, I will. I got many quotes and the two lowest I got were $550 and $980. The highest I got was $4400. The $550 was from the company who did the original survey before house was built. Not sure why the price was so vastly different for the same services but whatever. I pay the $550 and have the survey done. They put up a total of 15 stakes down that side of my property line.
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  • 15
    Font - The kicker? I was wrong! My yard didn't go to where I thought it did. Instead, it went further into their yard by as much as 4' in some places. I was confused and asked the surveyor to explain. Apparently, there used to be an old rock feature between our houses that was mostly on my neighbors plot but some was on the empty plot where my house was built. My neighbor didn't want to deal with the hassle of trying to tear down and rebuild certain spots so the builder paid him for the land the
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  • 16
    Font - I had the pins down and was worried they'd try to mess with them so I bought some outdoor cameras and pointed them at my property line. We went on vacation and when we came back...yep. The stakes were gone. I leave another note because they don't answer and explain that what they did was illegal and how we needed to talk about it and left my number. I watch the video and see his wife taking up all of the stakes.
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  • 17
    Font - I don't hear anything for a few days so I end up speaking with the husband while he was about to go for a run. He claims he never got my note and he didn't know anything about any stakes. I tell him I have his wife on video removing the stakes. He says he will talk to her. I get a text that night apologizing and saying they wont remove the stakes again. What happened to not getting my note that had my number?
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  • 18
    Font - I'm like ? No, you wont remove the stakes again and you will be paying for another survey. He says that they didn't know it was done by an actual surveyor. I tell him it doesn't matter. We go back and forth before he eventually concedes after I threatened small claims/police. I call the original surveyors and explain the situation. They say "Well we don't want to do a job that has potential criminal implications like this so we wont do it again"
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  • 19
    Font - I call the next lowest quote I got. They were now able to do it for $900. I say let me get back to you and let my neighbor know. He's fuming, saying no way is that right, a survey doesn't cost that much, blah blah blah. I tell him he's free to get his own quote for that side of the yard and give him five companies I tried (not the original since they didn't want to be involved).
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  • 20
    Font - A week passes and I ask him what quote he ended up getting that was the cheapest and he says it was the $900 but he wouldn't be paying it. I tell him okay, pay the $500 fine, get a misdemeanor and we will go to small claims and you'll still end up owing me since I have it on video and via text.
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  • 21
    Font - The next day I am handed $900 all in 10 and 5 dollar bills and he walked off. The $900 quote ended up going back up to >$1000 since we waited too long and they had too many bookings. I call the original company and told them that "hey, we settled our differences, he paid me for the cost of the survey and I'm just going to get another one done. Could you come out and do it?" and they came out and did it for the same $550.
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  • 22
    Font - I know have a fence and trees lining both sides of my yard and I believe the neighbors are moving soon based on the furniture I see them taking out. TL;DR: Neighbor tried claiming my yard was their yard despite me having a <1 year old survey saying otherwise. I get a survey done, end up with more yard than I thought I had, and eventually neighbor had to pay $900 for me to have another survey done since they pulled up the stakes from the survey I had done. I was able to get survey done aga
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  • 23
    Font - _Alazne_ I already knew where the story was going because I've read others just like it. Yet it still brings me happiness to read them because screw all bad neighbors. 2.2k Reply Share 739 ... CockyNurse OP I've also read similar stories and was wondering if I would ever be able to have one of my own...thankfully it ended up good for me! Reply Share
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  • 24
    Rectangle - Lay-ZFair "by as much as 4' in some places" So you got more than a yard. ;) 1.4k Reply Share CockyNurse OP Lmao just a bit over ;D 326 ... Reply Share ●●●
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  • 25
    Font - Agreeable_Sea3080 Love that the original surveyor came back and you got to keep the difference in cash so atleast the neighbour paid for both surveys 174 Reply Share CockyNurse OP After telling me I was going to have to get a survey done is oh so sweet 81 Reply Share
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  • 26
    Rectangle - fatspanic How good did that feel? 672 CockyNurse OP Vindicated. ↑ 665 Reply Share Reply Share
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  • 27
    Font - gadget73 Went through this with my neighbor, it ended up in court because he swore the 3 surveys were incorrect. Never provided one of his own to dispute it. He lost. Appealed it, lost again. Cost a LOT of money to recover those few feet of dirt. Seems like your neighbor was a lot more reasonable. Vote Reply Share
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  • 28
    Font - CockyNurse OP DO Imao. That ss for them. I didn't even care about the extra few feet all that much. I just wanted to know what is mine and what is theirs and they were kind of do about it. My yard actually extends too much into their yard...I can touch their house with a broom from the edge of my yard in some spots lol Vote ↓ Reply Share
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  • 29
    Font - KFB9597 Good for you not backing down. Fences make great neighbors Reply Share 242 CockyNurse OP The best neighbor I could ask for! ↑ Reply Share 91
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  • 30
    Font - ravensara23 It really doesn't pay to be a d neighbour. They should have just paid for their own survey in the first place instead of all the games. Gotta love neighbours like this. Glad you ended up making a small profit - you earned it! (Edited for spelling) Reply Share 161
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  • 31
    Font - Unlucky_Towel_ . I worked for a surveyor for a while. Seen some expensive mistakes from home owners once we were called out to settle disputes. And then the ones who called us who were proven wrong refuse to pay a lot of the time claiming our work was incorrect. A legit cadastral boundary survey that needs to be lodged is not cheap. Reply Share Vote
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  • 32
    Font - Future_Direction5174 I always laugh at these boundary disputes. My parents were always happy to compromise IF the otherside would. But they would fight tooth and nail if you didn't. Our house has a rear boundary of an ancient hedgerow that "can't be disturbed". Our rear neighbour wanted a fence, so had to place it his side of the hedgerow. We didn't care, we were happy to have the hedge at the rear of our garden. We have now gained from the middle of the hedge to his fence, solely because
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  • 33
    Font - My parents had a land developer who tried to argue that his land included the all of drainage ditch between their land and his. They were prepared to accept "up to the ditch" but not "the ditch". When it went to court, it was held that the 3 foot of land his side of the ditch was my parents because that was where there was a "pile of earth" from when the ditch had been dug (the earth had to piled up on my parents land when the ditch was dug x therefore his boundary was the otherside of th
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  • 34
    Font - To this day, the road he built ends in a dead end next to my parents plot. If he had only asked my parents nicely, they would have GIVEN him 3 foot of the disputed land. Instead they wouldn't consider selling him the land he needed for the road.... 50 years later that "dead end" blocking access to the garages still remains. ↑ 152 Reply Share
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  • 35
    Font - Meyums · 22 hr. ago My dad works for a section of the government that deals with protected land/parks/areas etc. He tells me it's countless the amount of times people have decided to clear "some" trees and brush to extend their yard to look larger. The government does do checkups and if you're caught with clearing protected land you weren't supposed to touch you get slapped with a HUGE fine and have to pay the cost of material to add back rocks, replant native tree seedlings, etc. Vote Re
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  • 36
    Font - Dazzling-Biscotti-62 · 20 hr. ago Similar story here, I ended up gaining 3' from what I thought was the line, too bad my neighbors didn't want to listen to me in the first place about where the line was. I stood there laughing when the guy started setting out the stakes Vote Reply Share Vote ●●● CockyNurse OP • 20 hr. ago Lol I love it. Such a good feeling Reply Share
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  • 37
    Font - Thecrimsonmaster · 23 hr. ago my parents live out of town and the lots are all oddly shaped for whatever reason (most likely former farmland split into residential lots). rectangular, parallelogram, trapezoidal, L shaped. anyway, turns out that about a fifth of our neighbors mowed front lawn was my parents property. they are worried about the hassle it will cause, should the neighbor ever decide to put up a fence. Vote Reply Share
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  • 38
    Font - Infamous-Ad-5262. Good for you. I bought a new house with no fences in a residential neighborhood. I approached each of my three sided neighbors. Two said they would absolutely chip in on costs. I offered them face side, etc... one neighbor actually said "did I think she was a fool ... why would I pay when you're going to just put up a fence anyway." I did. Except on her side facing her, one board was painted purple, another white, another gold, etc... with black and white stripes going i
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  • 39
    Font - LightPast1166 Is it a specific crime to interfere with surveying marks in your country/area? 24 Reply Share kippy3267 22 hr. ago In Indiana its absolutely illegal to interfere in the boundary resolution or procedures of an agent operating under the hand and seal of a registered land surveyor. Where OP is, its most likely as well haha Vote Reply Share
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  • 40
    Font - CockyNurse OP · 20 hr. ago Yes. I spoke with the local PD (buddy is a cop) and they did some digging and found the exact wording ✩ Vote Reply Share
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  • 41
    Font - justaheatattack - 19 hr. ago so now you have MORE to mow? Reply Share Vote CockyNurse OP. 19 hr. ago Yeah ✩ Vote Reply Share
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