Are fences in a residential area required by law?

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Are fences in a residential area required by law?

There is an existing wooden back yard fence that we share with
our neighbor in Northridge, CA. Our neighbor wants to upgrade
to a better fence tells us that we have to share the costs
of either upgrading or replacing the fence. We have no
interest in sharing any costs do not believe that there
needs to be a fence in the 1st place. He says that he’ll take
us to small claims court if we don’t contribute to the costs.
Do we have to have a fence? He put up the existing fence
paid for all of it about 16 years ago.

Asked on July 2, 2018 under Real Estate Law, California

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 5 years ago | Contributor

While it is not impossible that your town has some local ordinance requiring fencing (it would be *very* unusual, but not impossible--you can check this easily at the town/city clerk's office), as a general matter, no: there is no state or federal law requiring residential fencing. You are under no obligation to pay for this fence--if he wants the fence upgraded, repaired, replaced, etc. he can pay for it; he has no legal grounds to make you contribute.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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