Most people assume the fence between two houses actually sits on the property line.

This homeowner believed that too until a recent survey revealed his neighbor’s fence was sitting two feet onto his property. Thinking it was probably an honest mistake, he approached the neighbor with the survey and asked him to move it.

Unfortunately, the homeowner started talking about “squatter’s rights” and refused to budge.

Now what should’ve been a simple conversation between neighbors has turned into lawyers, legal fees, and a full-blown property dispute.

Check out the full scoop below.

Neighbor put up a fence that’s 2 feet onto my property and refuses to move it

I had my property surveyed last month for unrelated reasons. The survey showed that my neighbor’s fence is 2 feet onto my property.

The fence has been there for about 5 years, and it was there when I moved in 3 years ago. I always assumed it was on the property line. It’s not.

I showed my neighbor the survey and asked him to move the fence to the actual property line.

He said the fence has been there for 5 years, so it’s his now through “squatter’s rights.”

The neighbor is trying to claim adverse possession.

I said that’s not how property law works and showed him the official survey.

He said surveys are “just estimates,” and his fence is staying where it is.

I contacted a lawyer who sent him a letter demanding that he move the fence within 30 days.

He responded, saying he’s claiming adverse possession.

My lawyer said adverse possession requires 10 years in our state, and the fence has only been there 5, so he has no claim. We sent another letter with this information.

His lawyer keeps assuring him that they’ll win.

The neighbor hired his own lawyer, who is arguing that the previous owner should count toward the 10 years.

My lawyer says that’s not how it works either, since I’m the one contesting it now.

This is turning into a whole legal battle over 2 feet of property. My lawyer says we’ll win, but it’s costing me thousands in legal fees.

Meanwhile, the neighbor acts like nothing is wrong and waves at me like we’re friends. The audacity of stealing my property, then being friendly about it!

Oh no! This sounds like a stressful situation.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a son who is left wondering how to hold up a collapsing fence while his dad runs for the nails.

Let’s check out if the folks over at Reddit have any experience with this.

This is one option, but probably not the best.

Here’s a step-by-step list of what this reader suggests.

According to this comment, he should see if he purchased title insurance.

For this reader, adverse possession takes longer than that.

The neighbor really should have just admitted the fence was in the wrong place and fixed it before things got this far.

What makes situations like this so frustrating is that one person ends up spending huge amounts of time, stress, and money simply trying to protect what already belongs to them.

And then there’s the neighbor to make things worse, just acting like this whole thing is no big deal, when he’s the one causing the problem.

Hopefully, the judge feels the same way.