The owner of the property next door and I had a verbal agreement (which is supported by emails back and forth) to split 50/50 the cost of a new fence on our property line (Riverside county CA). We were in total agreement and a lot of work on mine and my husbands part (he took down the old fence and hauled it away, I got all the quotes for the new fence and made several trips to Lowe's for the materials and we up fronted the money). The day the fence went up we asked her (in front of witnesses) how she wanted the fence to go up and she said that she did not care, it did not matter to her. So we put it up with us getting the flush side. A few days later she informed us to expect payment with a 10% deduction because we go the good side of the fence. Which we did, but we were willing to change it and gave her to option to change it (vinyl panels) to a "good neighbor" fence but she declined she just wanted the discount. I have proof on an email from her admitting she said she didn't care but now she considers that an upgrade. Do I have a case?

Then you tell her to add half the money it told for your expenses as well.
You did the work, you have the emails and the witnesses so you could take it all the way to court if that is the way she wants to do it.
Hope you saved all the receipts.

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Originally Posted by N0help4u

Then you tell her to add half the money it told for your expenses as well.
You did the work, you have the emails and the witnesses so you could take it all the way to court if that is the way she wants to do it.
Hope you saved all the receipts.

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Yup, have all the receipts all the emails printed out, and affidavits from the witnesses. Even have a email from her boyfriend thanking us for all the hard work we did. We go to court on Feb 25th. That's a good idea, I will tell the Judge (if he thinks a discount should be given to her) then to put the claim toward our time and labor. Because there was no agreement to pay for our time and/or labor, but there was an agreement on which way the fence went... namely she didn't care. So obviously agreements mean nothing. At that point I have nothing to lose.
Thanks

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Originally Posted by nmackell

Do I have a case?

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Hello n:

You asked if you have a case. Then I see you already filed it and are waiting for court...

If it was ME, I wouldn't have sued her. What's 10% - $150?? $250??

For THAT amount, I would have eaten it. Good neighbor relations are worth FAR more than that.

excon

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello n:

You asked if you have a case. Then I see you already filed it and are waiting for court...

If it was ME, I wouldn't have sued her. What's 10% - $150???? $250???

For THAT amount, I would have eaten it. Good neighbor relations are worth FAR more than that.

excon

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Thank you for your response. I wanted other people's opinion because even though I think I have a case an objective opinion(s) can be helpful. Yes 10% is roughly $150.00 Keep in mind a couple of things. One, she is not my neighbor, she owns the house next door but doesn't live there. Two, (which I didn't bring up before) she has a reputation for ripping people off ie: she fired her gardner, paid him his last check and then cancelled it. She owns four other homes and her boyfriend is an appraiser, so they weren't ignorant in what they doing. The lawsuit actually was about $2,000 higher to begin with. After years of trying to get her share the financial burden of replacing the fence she finally had to because her tenants dogs broke through the fence and mauled our minpin. Her insurance company refused to pay the claim (vet bill) at first but after much correspondence I was able to refute their reason for denial successfully and they paid. If it started as only the fence I would have eaten too but not because of the good neighbor thing because, as I said she is not my neighbor and she is not a nice person but rather, because it is just too much of a hassle. But now we are in it and I would like to take it to the end to at least have the chance to help her find out that there are repurcussions to her actions. I should also mention that the reason the fence was in such poor condition is that while we both have concrete on either side of the fence, she has no drains which forces water (when it rains and such) into the pathway of the fence which rotted the posts and the bottom of the fence... we went vinyl due to this.
Thank you for responding:D

Hello again, n:

Well, that cleared things up nicely. Since SHE already fractured the relationship, sue the crap out of her.

excon

In my area the "good" side MUST face the neighbor. The "bad" side must face "in." If it is installed in any other fashion, even if the neighbors agree, the person who paid for the fence or arranged for the fence gets the bad side.

Obviously not in your area - ?

Yeah I was going to say the good side HAS to face the neighbor but since they went in together on this I figured it really probably didn't apply here.