New neighbor - do we need to move the oil tank?

Always amazing how new neighbors immediately make themselves really unpopular in the whole neighborhood over a few centimeters. Or do they need the 10cm for something? (Garage or something similar?)

What is the new neighbor doing?

We were at the holiday property this week with the new neighbor. We rang his doorbell to look at the disputed boundary point together. He refused. He had no witnesses. ??? Whatever there would be to witness. Apparently, the new neighbor does not understand that you cannot just pocket and steal the land, even if we step on it. His wife immediately wanted to forbid us from entering the land, although it is our common boundary. When asked whether he had ever looked at the boundary point, he became nervous and said yes. Of course, I immediately asked "with witnesses"? Total nonsense, but whatever.

We then said that we would just look again by ourselves and get a better plan from the land registry office. Our old plan (30 years old) shows the fence as it runs. At that spot, we then found a disturbed hole and a marked stone that looked like an ordinary rock.

At the office, we were then able to inspect the cadastral map. It became clear that the boundary actually runs through this rock. It is a glacial erratic used as a boundary marker. No one had recognized it as a boundary marker 30 years ago either. Our fence is therefore misplaced. It is about 10 to 15 cm off. It is too slanted. The tank protrudes about 20 cm because the slope increases towards the back.

I should perhaps add that this concerns a holiday property on the Baltic Sea where we spend about 2-3 weeks a year. The rest of the time it is rented out to guests. The plot is over 2500 m². We would definitely not argue over 20 cm.

Then the lawyer came. We explained the situation to him and how the incorrect fence came about 30 years ago. We would of course be willing to have the tank moved as soon as it gets warmer again. We would also remove the incorrect fence if desired, but not put up a new one. The new neighbor can do that if he wants. It is now only a matter of 10 cm.

In addition, the neighbor wanted us to trim the hedge at the boundary so that his land would not be affected. My father said he could very well cut off whatever bothers him himself. But the neighbor wants us to do it regularly. I then told him that we can hardly drive 500 km up there all the time. It is all or nothing. If the hedge bothers him, we would probably remove the whole hedge. Then he would have neither a fence nor privacy screening towards us. It takes 10 years for a hedge to grow that big and beautiful again. If he wants that, no problem. Basically, it is his hedge, because then he would have different guests staring onto his land every week. We do not mind.

He did think about it briefly, but I believe it will probably end up with us tearing everything down at the boundary in spring. I do feel sorry for the hedge because of the birds, but of course, we will do it if he wants.

It's always amazing how new neighbors can make themselves so unpopular in the entire neighborhood just over a few centimeters. Or does he need the 10cm for something? (Garage or something like that?)

No, he hasn’t even managed to get the house painted or do any renovations within a year. So I find it hard to believe that he’d start renovating just behind the boundary building. But it is "his". I have to say, there’s no fence at all behind the boundary building. There are maybe 2 meters between the houses. That way it’s easier to move around if you want to get there. Now he wants to put up a fence there. Well, if it makes him happy.

On the other hand, he’s already started a fight with the neighbor, and our previous neighbor, who sold to him, said he would like to shoot him. So he seems to be a likeable character.

Oh dear …… reads like a novel. Missing you in the Ehevertrag Forum

Oh dear …… reads like a novel. We miss you in the Ehevertrag Forum

Yes, neighborhood stories certainly seem endless. We’ve already had the topic of land acquisition and becoming an owner, where as a newcomer you think you have to "guard" your land. A fascinating phenomenon, especially with those who, as tenants, never cared about other people’s land before and cheerfully trampled all over it, etc. We assured the neighbor once again that it remains his land even if we step on it sometimes and there was no fence in between, and vice versa. But that found no understanding. What this has to do with marriage, however, is not quite clear to me now. I’m glad I don’t have such problems in my marriage.