Am I the Ahole for Moving My Fence After My Neighbor’s Property Dispute?** I feel a bit petty about this whole situation, and I’m questioning whether I’m being an a**hole or if I’m justified in my actions. Here’s the background: I live in a corner house in a subdivision, and I’ve been here for 12 years. When I bought the property, it was surveyed, and I’ve always been clear on where my property lines are. About five years ago, I decided to put up a fence. I wasn’t planning on making any waves, but when I started digging the holes for the fence posts, my neighbor immediately complained that I was encroaching on her property. I was a little perplexed because I knew for a fact that I wasn’t going past my property line. But because I wanted to build the fence without causing any tension, I decided to appease her and temporarily covered the holes. I went to the city to get updated plots that clearly showed our property boundaries, just to ensure everything was in order. The holes were dug again, and this time I was careful to stay well within my property line. The survey confirmed that the property boundaries were being respected, and my neighbor was informed that the plots I had used were accurate. Even with that clear information, she continued making comments about me encroaching on her property. At this point, I was frustrated, but I still decided to be considerate. To avoid any further issues, I adjusted the fence slightly to give her a little more space, even though I knew I was not in the wrong. Fast forward a few years, and the picket fence I put up initially didn’t hold up well. It was falling apart and needed to be rebuilt. During the process, my neighbor came outside to speak with my fiancé. She told him to stop working on the fence because she believed it was on her property. She said that since we were rebuilding the fence anyway, now would be the perfect time for her to finally settle this “property line dispute” once and for all. She mentioned that she was having her property surveyed. So, we let her get the survey done. Once it was completed, it confirmed that the fence was entirely on my property. In fact, the survey showed that I had actually left more of my own yard un-fenced than I realized in an effort to avoid conflict. With the survey in hand and knowing I was in the right, my fiancé continued the fence rebuild. This time, he moved the posts to utilize the entire yard up to 2 inches of the property line. He would have been more than willing to adjust the posts had the survey shown we were in the wrong, but the survey made it clear that we were not. To be completely honest, if my neighbor hadn’t insisted on having the survey done, we would have just rebuilt the fence on the existing posts, leaving everything as it was. But because she pushed the issue and had the survey done, we decided to move the posts and make full use of our property. Now I’m wondering if I’m being petty. Did I go too far by making the adjustments to the fence, or did my neighbor bring this on herself by continually claiming more land than she was entitled to? I’m feeling a bit like a “petty Betty” for moving the posts after everything had been cleared up years ago, but on the other hand, I’m frustrated that she kept pushing this issue. She’s the one who brought up the survey and made this whole thing a bigger deal than it needed to be. Was I right to make the changes, or am I overreacting?
“Am I being petty for finally using my full property line after my neighbor pushed for a survey and continued claiming I was on her land? After 12 years and multiple attempts to accommodate her, I’m questioning if I’m the a**hole for moving the fence posts to use the entire yard.”
