My neighbor is building a fence along the edge of his property immediately
adjacent to my driveway. My driveway takes up the entire eight feet between the
property line and my 60 year old Michigan house. My free-standing garage is
offset five feet from the property line, as required by building standards, so
the car cannot be driven straight up or down the driveway, but must be turned
to negotiate the curve in the driveway.

It's hard enough without the fence to keep the wheels on the driveway. However,
due to the fact that the rear of the car from the rear wheels back extends over
the edge of the driveway while turning, it runs into the fence. This makes it
impossible to use the driveway.

I spoke to an attorney who said he might be able to get a judge to issue an
order to stop building the fence, but it would be strictly up to the judge to
act on his own since there are no laws regulating fence issues of this sort in
Michigan.

What can be done in a case like this? Isn't there an issue of access to a
person's property? And hasn't there been a precedent established by 60 years of
vehicles' overhang using the space above the neighboring lot?

Thanks

Rustler wrote: My neighbor is building a fence along the edge of his property immediately adjacent to my driveway. My driveway takes up the entire eight feet between the property line and my 60 year old Michigan house. My free-standing garage is offset five feet from the property line, as required by building standards, so the car cannot be driven straight up or down the driveway, but must be turned to negotiate the curve in the driveway. It's hard enough without the fence to keep the wheels on the driveway. However, due to the fact that the rear of the car from the rear wheels back extends over the edge of the driveway while turning, it runs into the fence. This makes it impossible to use the driveway. I spoke to an attorney who said he might be able to get a judge to issue an order to stop building the fence, but it would be strictly up to the judge to act on his own since there are no laws regulating fence issues of this sort in Michigan. What can be done in a case like this? Isn't there an issue of access to a person's property? And hasn't there been a precedent established by 60 years of vehicles' overhang using the space above the neighboring lot?


If you can convince a judge that you have been using that "overhang" for
the requisite period of time (as little as 5 years in some states, as
much as 20 in others), you can be granted a "prescriptive easement".

What you need to do is contact a local lawyer.


--
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America,
and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples,
promising liberty and justice for all.

Barry Gold <barrydgold@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<tu3lp01vid619g19ms9ckelrcvqel3nb5k@4ax.com>... If you can convince a judge that you have been using that "overhang" for the requisite period of time (as little as 5 years in some states, as much as 20 in others), you can be granted a "prescriptive easement".

Don't be shocked to discover that the neighbor put the fence where it
is, right on the propery line, precisely to PREVENT you from
continuing to drive across the edge of his lawn.... which is
unfortunate, and there may or may not be anything you can do about it.

You may simply have to start parking the cars in the driveway, which
is actually not bad for the cars. (You get more rust in the winter
when you drive the car into the garage with slush still on it which
then melts then you would get if you just leave the cars outside with
unmelted slush.)

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 18:06:28 -0500 Rustler <rustler@aol.com> whittled these
words: I spoke to an attorney who said he might be able to get a judge to issue an order to stop building the fence, but it would be strictly up to the judge to act on his own since there are no laws regulating fence issues of this sort in Michigan.

Find an attorney experienced in real property law. Real property law can
be complicated. It is an area with a fairly high rate of malpractice
suits due to mistakes in the law (as opposed to procedural errors). So it
is wise to select an attorney who practices primarily in this area.

You will know that you have at least started to find a competent attorney
when the attorney wants to examine records such as your chain of title,
and your neighbors chain of title, and all recorded maps regarding the
property, and your title report (if you have one, or ordering one if you
do not). There are several reasonable theories to at least investigate.

Real property law tends to be very fact specific so you chances of success
must be evaluated based upon the particular facts in your case - this is
not information you should post publicly.

--
Diane Blackman

people WANT the decisions that have been made for them, but even if
this "solution" were completely successful in making people feel
better, it would be demeaning.

118 Conservatives and some others advocate more "local autonomy."
Local communities once did have autonomy, but such autonomy becomes
less and less possible as local communities become more enmeshed with
and dependent on large-scale systems like public utilities, computer
networks, highway systems, the mass communications media, the modern
health care system. Also operating against autonomy is the fact that
technology applied in one location often affects people at other
locations far away. Thus pesticide or chemical use near a creek may
contaminate the water supply hundreds of miles downstream, and the
greenhouse effect affects the whole world.

119. The system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs.
Instead, it is human behavior that has to be modified to fit the needs
of the system. This has nothing to do with the political or social
ideology that may pretend to guide the technological system. It is the
fault of technology, because the system is guided not by ideology but
by technical necessity. [18] Of course the system does satisfy many
human needs, but generally speaking it does this only to the extent
that it is to the advantage of the system to do it. It is the needs of
the system that are paramount, not those of