What are my legal rights when a neighbor's fence crosses onto my property?

[Nicholas37]

My neighbor’s new fence is about six inches over onto my property, according to my recent survey. I brought it up politely, but he’s refusing to move it, saying it’s been that way for years and it’s now his land. I’m not sure what my legal rights are here or how to proceed without this turning into a huge, expensive fight.

[Chloe.H]

I pulled the deed and the latest survey and lined them up with the fence. I then wrote a short note offering to hire a neutral surveyor to confirm the boundary. He didn’t respond and kept acting like nothing was wrong, but I had a paper trail.

[Thomas_M]

A mediator helped us keep it civil. We got quotes for a survey, split the cost, and the talk shifted from who’s right to who’s willing to fix it. Not a clean fix, but less drama than a fight.

[ZacharyQS]

Local law is weird about boundary stuff. A quick chat with a real estate attorney or a city boundary clerk can tell you if there’s an actual right to require them to move it, or if you’d need to file something.

[GraceHT]

Have you checked the deed and the survey points against the fence line to see exactly where the boundary lies?

[Luna_H]

Sometimes I wonder if the real issue is trust or money, not the pin on the map. I started focusing on making a reasonable plan, but the neighbor still pushes back and I drift back to the same place.