Sam and Ella lived in a nice Boston suburb on a quiet street where every house lot was at least an acre. They were good friends with their next-door neighbors, Phil and Rhoda Dendron. Sam and Ella’s daughter babysat for Phil and Rhoda’s children and looked after their pets when they were away. It is good they were always on good, friendly terms considering what was to transpire.
Sam and Ella decided they wanted an in-ground swimming pool in their backyard. They had plenty of room, and their yard backed up to empty woods. It was an ideal setting, and a pool would transform a very nice property to an even nicer one.
Knowing the construction process would be unsettling, noisy and disruptive, Sam very courteously informed Phil and Rhoda of his intentions. His neighbors had no problem with the plan and congratulated him on such an exciting development in the lives of his family. Phil, however, who was a lawyer, told Sam, who was not a lawyer, that he should have his property surveyed before construction began to avoid any possible encroachment on his neighbor’s land, on either side of his property. Sam said he didn’t have to do that because his friend, Vinnie, knew all about stuff like this and he would place the pool completely on Sam’s property. Phil reiterated the danger involved but Sam chose to rely on Vinnie rather than take Phil’s advice. Sam built the pool where Vinnie said it should go.
All was fine for a few years. The pool was beautiful. Sam, Ella and their children enjoyed it every summer. And although it seemed close to Phil and Rhoda’s property, it was not intrusive or offensive as it was used responsibly and considerately as far as neighbors were concerned.
No one will be surprised what happened when Sam and Ella decided to re-finance their home five years later.
One night, Phil received a phone call from Sam. The bank doing the re-financing had a plot plan done on his property and, lo and behold, about ten feet of his pool is actually on Phil’s property. Thanks Vinnie.
Phil reminded Sam of their conversation years ago regarding a survey. Strangely, Sam had no recollection of the conversation.
Sam’s options are not great, but there are options. He can remove the pool and build another, all on his own land. Obviously, this would be a financial disaster. Had Phil and Rhoda been vindictive, or if relations between the neighbors had been strained, they could have insisted the pool be removed.
A more palatable option for Sam and Ella was to trade sections of land with Phil and Rhoda. Sam and Ella would convey a small parcel of land in the front of their lot to Phil and Rhoda and Phil and Rhoda would transfer a parcel of land in the rear of their lot to Sam and Ella so the pool would be completely on their land. This would require the survey that should have been done in the first place, as well as drafting new plans for each property, and deeds, all of which will have to be recorded with the registry of deeds.
This could still have been a financial disaster for Sam and Ella. Phil and Rhoda could have demanded an outrageous amount of money to do the suggested transaction. They had all of the leverage but they didn’t. Being the good neighbors they were, they agreed to the transfer for no consideration, providing Sam and Ella paid for all expenses including surveying expenses and legal fees.
But Sam and Ella were not out of the woods yet. Any transfer of land had to comply with zoning requirements. The size of the respective lots had to remain in compliance with the applicable zoning laws and, more risky, the frontage along the road had to be enough to satisfy the zoning requirements. This was particularly relevant to Sam and Ella’s situation since they were transferring some of their front area to Phil and Rhoda.
Sam and Ella lived a charmed life. They made a huge mistake, even though they were warned about the possibility, but they got out of it relatively unscathed. It cost them some money, but it all worked out. Zoning did not prohibit the land transfers and it was done.
A very different, and financially devasting, result could have occurred if these neighbors had not been on good terms, or if greed had governed the actions of Phil and Rhoda.
Two lessons to be learned here. 1. Don’t try to cut corners when undertaking a major project. Get and follow the advice of professionals who have experience in the matter you are pursuing. 2. Stay on good terms with your neighbors!