Houston real estate question...I bought an older house built in the 80s and there is a house next to mine that was built in the 90s. At some point in the past, either the builder of the newer house or owners of the newer house built a fence that encroached on my property as much as 3, 4 and 6 ft on my lot (not a straight line).

I bought the house recently. The lot line and the fence is clearly marked on the survey. We did not object because we see fences encroaching on property in Houston all the time. However, I do want to resolve the matter because of how far the fence is on my property.

As far as documents go, I have the survey and I have the original platt. The survey refences a film code number and the original platt references the same film code number so the property line is documented on both.

I dont know when the fence was built and I cannot find that the neighbor ever filed a petition to possess the property fenced in. Title also did not raise an objection during the buying process and they have the latest survey showing the lot line and the fence.

I plan on just having a conversation with the neighbor and Im assuming I will have to pay for the cost rebuilding the fence. Are there any issues that may arise that I should be aware of? Does adverse possession or squatters rights come in to play here?

How old does the fence look? And how big is the lot? We're talking about a 10% gain in property or 1%?

The lot is a half acre and the fence takes in roughly 3% of our property. The current fence looks to be roughly 5 years old but I dont know if it was built on an old fence line from the past.

The other issue the fence is in an area where I need to build a driveway. I could probably build a driveway with the existing fence but it would be tight.

Are the surveying pins/flags still there? Should be pretty obvious to point out to the neighbor.

Does it bother you that the fence is where it's at other than the fact that he's encroached on you?

If not, ask them to sign a simple fence line agreement that states roughly the following:

• You and him agree that the fence is not built on the property line
• He agrees that you own X' within his fence
• He agrees not to claim ownership of any of your property that lies within his fence
• You and he both agree that if/when the fence is to be replaced, it will go on the property line

If the fence location does bother you then obviously this isn't much help.