Can a neighbor build a fence on their property if it blocks an exit from your house?
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Can a neighbor build a fence on their property if it blocks an exit from your house?
Neighbor built a fence approx. 12 inches from side steps to entrance to my house
from driveway. It is possibly on the property line looking at survey to see –
hard to tell. Now it is physically impossible to enter house from driveway
without having to go down an alley, up another street then across my street to
get to my front door.
Asked on July 23, 2018 under Real Estate Law, New Jersey
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
A neighbor may not entirely block you from accessing your property, but he *may* make it inconvenient for you, if the source of that inconvenience is that he is preventing you from access or crossing his property--you don't have a right to use his land, even just a tiny sliver of it, for your own convenience.
For this answer, we will assume the fence is in fact on his property, not yours. If it is on his property and it interferes with you getting from your driveway to your door, that is because you were crossing over, stepping, etc. his land--a fence on his land would not impede you if you were not going on or accross his land. He is allowed to keep you off his land, even if it inconveniences you, so long as you can get to your home--which you write that you can.
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