ABA Family Legal Guide

Home Ownership

Managing Neighborhood Problems

Fences

What can you do about a "spite fence"?

A spite fence is one that is excessively high, has no reasonable use to your neighbor, and was clearly constructed to annoy you. For example, suppose you live atop a canyon with a view and you've been feuding with your neighbors, who live further down the slope. The neighbors suddenly erect a twenty-foot-high stockade fence near the property line. Unless your neighbors can demonstrate a reasonable need for such a high fence, such as extra privacy concerns, you can sue them under the doctrine of private nuisance. The case may be difficult to win, however, because most fences or other structures have some arguable utility to the owner.

Your remedies, depending on the law of the state where you reside, may include an injunction (court order) to have the fence removed (or at least lowered to a less offensive height) or compensatory damages (a financial payment to you). Factors the court will consider in determining the appropriate amount of compensation include the diminished value of your property and any annoyance caused by the erection and maintenance of the fence.

Most spite fences spring from a history of bad feelings in the neighborhood, which deteriorate into anger and spite. That's why it pays to be neighborly in the first place.