8 Things Your Neighbor May Be Allowed To Do Near Your Property Line, Even If You Find Them Absolutely Infuriating

Few quarrels are as personal as a quarrel over a fence or a tree. The line between two yards is invisible, but the feelings on either side can be very real.

Suburban houses side by side under a cloudy sky

Here is the tricky part. Property line rules come from state law, and they differ from place to place. What annoys you might be perfectly legal where you live, and illegal one state over.

To show how it can work, we looked at three state guides: FindLaw’s summaries for Florida and Michigan, and the People’s Law Library of Maryland. That gives us eight things a neighbor may be allowed to do. This is general information, not legal advice, so check your own state’s law or ask a local attorney.

Build A Boundary Fence And Not Ask You To Chip In

According to FindLaw’s Florida page, neighbors are not required to build a fence on their dividing line. If one owner builds it without a prior agreement, the other owner generally does not have to share the cost.

Michigan is similar. FindLaw says that under state law (MCL 43.53), a property owner who builds a fence must pay for its construction.

Send You A Bill If You Start Using The Fence

There is a twist in Michigan. FindLaw says that if a neighbor starts using the fence to contain animals, that neighbor must pay a proportionate share.

Florida adds a different wrinkle. Owners who buy property with an existing fence are joint owners and share the duty to maintain it, according to FindLaw.

Trim The Branches That Hang Over The Line

If your tree reaches across the property line, your neighbor may be able to cut it back. FindLaw says Florida allows the owner whose land is overhung to trim healthy branches back to the property line at their own expense.

In Michigan, FindLaw says a neighbor may trim overhanging branches but not in a way that causes irreparable harm to the tree. The People’s Law Library of Maryland says you may cut branches, vines or roots that cross onto your land, but only up to the property line.

Skip Responsibility For Healthy Branches That Fall

FindLaw says that in Florida the tree owner is not generally liable for damage from healthy branches that fall. If the branches are dead, though, the tree owner may be liable.

Michigan’s page says a landowner is generally not liable for damage to a neighbor’s property caused by weather or acts of God, unless the tree was negligently maintained.

Let Leaves Clog Your Gutters

This one surprises people. The People’s Law Library of Maryland says Maryland law provides no cause of action to recover the cost of cleaning gutters clogged by a neighbor’s leaves.

Other states may see it differently, so ask before you send a bill.

With gutters and leaves, good manners may go further than the law. A kind word usually does more than a legal letter.

Leave An Annoying Tree Standing

The Maryland guide says courts may be reluctant to order a neighbor to trim a tree unless the overgrowth is harming you or your property.

It adds that you cannot enter the neighbor’s land to trim or remove a tree without their consent. Entering without permission is trespass, and the neighbor could seek damages.

Put Up A Fence You Hate, As Long As It Has A Real Purpose

A fence built only to be mean is a different matter. FindLaw says Florida courts treat a fence built only to harm a neighbor, such as to block their view with no legitimate purpose like preventing trespass or vandalism, as a nuisance.

Michigan describes a spite fence as one built with malicious intent solely to block a neighbor’s “light, air or view” and serving no useful purpose for the owner. A court may treat such a fence as a nuisance. The line the courts draw is purpose, not looks, so an ugly fence with a real reason can still be legal.

Keep Using A Strip Of Your Land Long Enough To Claim It

The Maryland guide warns about this. If a fence may sit on your land, it says to determine the exact property line, which may require a survey, and to act promptly.

A neighbor could gain title through adverse possession after 20 years of actual, open, notorious, exclusive and adverse possession, according to the Maryland guide. Timelines vary by state.

Michigan also has a unique way of settling fence squabbles. FindLaw says each township appoints a “fence viewer” to resolve disputes over property lines, shared maintenance costs and fence damage (MCL 43.54 and 43.55).

A few cautions apply everywhere. Michigan makes it a misdemeanor to willfully and maliciously damage another person’s tree or plant (MCL 750.382), and Florida says an owner who removes a healthy tree on a boundary line without the other owner’s permission may have to pay to replace it, per FindLaw.

The FindLaw Michigan page was last updated in December 2017, so check current law. If a dispute is heating up, it also helps to keep notes and photographs. The best first move is usually a friendly chat over the fence. If that fails, a local attorney can tell you what applies in your town.

Willow and Hearth