Advice Needed RE: Bartering Situation Gone Bad

[JenniferJJ]

I have a bartering problem - I've left a messege w/ the free legal aid org, but have no idea when they will contact me. Warning: a little long

THE BACKGROUND: I have a "friend" (neighbor who lives 4 blocks away) who I've done some bartering with the past few years. He's usually shoveled my drive and cut my lawn (70x158, so rather big for me) and in return he keeps car parts and a very nice Mustang in my 1-car garage. Nothing was ever written. Although I have not been able to garage my car, it's been a good deal because I realized after my 1st summer that my lawn was too big for me.He's done extra things that I did not care about - don't know why, maybe the cost of storing a car is rather high and he just wanted to make sure that he was fulfilling his end of the bargain. (Extra things have included putting my trash cans out - unnecessary, installing a thing to hang up my hose - nice, but not requested and putting the black boundary around my trees after I said I didn't care for it - but not a huge deal.The biggest extra thing (that I did not ask for) was to be taking down my chain-link fence and installing a new one.The chain link fence was a little rusty and I don't care for chain link.However, it is very common in my neighborhood.Nothing has ever been in writing.

THE PROBLEM: I've had my house on the market for a month now and it is not doing well.It is a definite advantage to have a fence in my area, especially since I am on a busy road.Last summer, he started work on the fence by removing most of the chain link fence.Although having a fence is a definite pro, it is worse than not having a fence at all because there are about 6 poles just sticking up - really detracts from all the curb appeal that I've worked hard to do with my landscaping in the front. (Realtors who've been on my area's home tour and one that showed the house even agree that the front looks very nice.)

MY CORRECTION FOR THE YARD: I've decided I will call fencing companies for estimates and just contract to have a chain-link fence installed ASAP.

RETRIBUTION WITH MY NEIGHBOR????: Here is my ultimate question: I had thought that a criminal case - I was looking at it from the point of view that someone took down my fence. I've called and was told that this is a civil complaint and depending on the amount of money I am looking for depends on which court I go to - small claims or not. My plan is go give him in writing 5 days to rebuild it to comply with city regulations/code. If that is not done, get a chain link fence installed.and sue him for the amount which I have to pay plus legal/court costs. Is this the right plan? Can I get him to pay my legal and court fees?
What about his stuff in my garage? Is this techinically mine? Somebody told me that since we don't have a contact that states he can store stuff that it may be. Can I move things? I was thinking of using the Mustang as leverage - towing/storing it at my parent's garage until things are equal. What about all his car parts - can I move them? When potential buyers are serious, they will want to see the garage and I want it to be clean. I've asked him twice in the past month when he will do it and his answer was that when it stopped raining. Well, although we did have a lot of rain in SE Michigan, we've also had plenty of rain-free days.

I really hate any part of this, especially the thought of suing him, since he and his wife and friends of mine. However, I've realized that he isn't too concerned about friendship if he's leaving me in a lurch like this.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Gilgamesh37]

well the obvious question is, what does he say when you ASK him about putting hte fence back up? Have you told him your house is on the market and the half-existing fence/posts are detracting from potential sales? From your description, it sounds like you haven't discussed this with him at all, despite your description of him and his wife as "friends"--I don't know, but it seems to me that when you're bartering back and forth with neighbors like this and then your very next step is looking into filing criminal charges against him, that part of the story is missing. jmo.

[Kayaksoup]

I don't know anything about legality, but i think you should fix your fence and be done with it.
When did he take your fence down? I know you have asked him WHEN he will fix it, but have you communicated WHY you need it urgently?
I am sure you could do what ever you want with his car, but it all sounds a little extreme to me, especially since he is your "friend" and has done things for you without being asked. JMO as Gilgamesh said.

[JenniferJJ]

Yes, he knows that my house is on the market. In fact, they were hoping that her sister could buy the house land contract from me so that they could still keep the Mustang in the garage. But since I want to use the equity from this house to buy another one, I cannot do a land contract.

I'm torn...I've thought about getting a new fence and be done with it and just learn not to barter about anything that's not little. (I've already have had to pay someone else to mow my lawn.) I could ask that he stop storring stuff in my garage, but all the parts stuff he may not actually want any more and then I have to clean that out. (He said he would clean the garage out three months ago when it was on the market for about a month the first time.) But if he does not really want the parts anymore, then me cleaning that out just falls under the "take care of it and be done with it category"

Another part is to get a new fence and ask for the monetary value. With this decision, I would definitely have a serious discussion with him first (it has to be done within x days, do you realize that random posts sticking up detracts from the appeal, etc.)

I guess I would be less frustrated if I had asked him in the beginning to do this. I really don't know why he decided to do it - it could have thought to be a kind act of service if it had not taken more than a year.

[leebee]

You say nothing is in writing. What about an explicit verbal agreement? I'm thinking there is not, because you said you never asked him to work on the fence. So he helped you removed part of your fence, which is something you may (or may not...?) have expressed a desire to do. I think the right thing to do would be to have the fence replaced at your own expense. If it was rusty & didn't look nice, it would have hurt your curb appeal, regardless of your nice landscaping, and you more than likely would have had to replace it anyway (if fenceposts are a detriment, a rusty fence probably would have been moreso). I also advise you don't do anything with his car. What if he goes home & begins tallying a bill for all the work he's done for you & decides a counter-suit is in order? I think you are on shaky ground. I would suggest you give him notice to move his car, etc, since you are trying to sell the home. If you officially "take possession" of the car & something happens to it, his insurance company will come after you for repayment. He's the owner (I'm assuming his name is on the title, and he has the vehicle registered & insured in his name), so you might have a real mess on your hands. It might be cheaper just to replace the fence on your own.

[BarbaraL]

I'm a little confused about your agreement with this person. He just randomly does things around your house without your knowledge? It sounds like your "agreement" was he could store his car, etc in exchange for shoveling your driveway and mowing your lawn. But then he installed a black border AFTER you said you didn't want one? You just came home one day, and the fence was gone? Did you say anything to him after he did any of these unwanted "extras" or did you just go along with it? I think you'd have trouble making your case if you didn't tell him to stop making changes without your consent.

Is it possible he's trying to mess up the sale of your house, so you'd be willing to make a deal with his sister? Is he maybe making changes HE wants, expecting that his family will eventually get the house?

I would definitely NOT do anything to his car or his stuff. I'd talk to him and follow up with a letter telling him that, as he'd removed your fence without permission, you expect him to replace the fence by a specific date, and you expect him to remove his car and possessions from your garage by a specific date. It would be best to have the advice of a lawyer, but DO NOT damage his property, and document everything you do. So sorry that you have to deal with this.

[JenniferJJ]

Well, I think that having a somewhat rusty fence does not hurt my curb appeal nearly as much as the current condition. I was not going to replace it - it would have been nice. However, you work on your house and you work on your house and at some point, if you are not going to live there forever, you just have to stop.

But leebee, you are right in that he could just tally everything up. I don't know how much it costs to store a car and car parts, nor do I really know how much it costs to have my lawn mowed. He could then discuss the stuff that I have never asked for (either I am fine to do myself or just really don't need) but want to count that.

[sharon]

Why on earth would you want to sue him? The first thing the court would make you do it mediate the claim (I think most small claims court across the country follow this practice), which is an effort to resolve the problem amicably and without the hostility that litigation breeds. Judges don't like to get in the middle of these things and try to split it down the middle. You certianly aren't going to come out ahead and I would bet that the result in court is that he is told to get his stuff out and you are told that the fence was never part of the agreement, but he only offered it to be nice and helpful.

I would strongly suggest you ask your nieghbor over for coffee and have a kind and gentle chat with him regarding the situation. Tell him that you are happy about the arrangement you have had all these years but with the house on the market you need to make some changes. The first one being that he has 30 days to get the stuff out of the garage in the event the house sells quickly. The second is that you would like to ask his advice on the fence since he was the one that removed it. Ask if it is something he can fix quickly if you buy the materials (nice compromise)? If he says not, suck it up and hire someone else to do it.

BTW, people only get away with things that you allow them to do. If you didn't want him to do the fence all you had to do was say no.

[JenniferJJ]

Thanks very much for your advice. I've already started calling fencing companies. I'll just pay for it and chalk it up to "In the game of life sometimes you win, sometimes you lose $1000."

I don't know why he decided to replace the fence - if he just wanted to do something kind or if he thought that he should as part of his deal. I never asked for it. Whatever his reason, it's not nice and helpful when it takes a year and impacts the sale of my house.

Regardless, I need to take action as he, not I, have this problem.

Thanks again for your feedback, and I hope you enjoy your evening.

[Escher]

Must....hold back....temptation....to ridicule mercilessly.....

No...too strong!

Jiminy crickets, JenniferJJ, you always struck me as a woman w/ her head on her shoulders---you were wwaaaaayyyy off the mark here.

Lady, what in the bejeebus were you thinking?!?

For starters, verbal agreements oh so rarely work out.

Secondly, the moment he started throwing in "freebies" would've sent my danger antennae all atwitter.

Additionally, you've got the liability of this guy coming over and doing work on your property....if he gets hurt in your service, who do you think he's gonna sue (since invariably he's not insured)

Finally, your solution to take this to court was the most foolish thing I've read today.... and I've been reading a lot of politics today, so that says a lot!

Seriously, don't tie up the courts with such tomfoolery. It's not a criminal issue, and the matter is so complicated that taking it to court is just begging the judge to humiliate you.

Take your lumps and buy a fence. It's what you should've done to prep for your homesale in the first place.

Oh, and one final note. End the verbal agreement and give the guy his car back. If you try to take his car and hold it hostage...(especially a Mustang--my personal fav) you are just asking to have your butt kicked. Holding a car for ransom may be illegal and would definately deserve the dingleberry award of the day.

End the agreement, buy a fence and next time hire a lawn care company.

[alicerh]

But you don't have to have a fence. Why don't you just remove the 6 fence posts and get him to get his stuff out of the garage by a certain date or it will be given to the Good Will?

[Jazzmatazz49]

Escher, you cheeky monkey!

[HejazSunKat]

I think I'd want this situation to go away therefore I'd probably go the route of paying to have a new fence put up or paying to have the posts dug out (whichever were cheaper). It's probably going to add value to your property and maybe help you sell it anyway. As for the car and parts, I'd give him a specific date, in writing, for those to be removed and if they aren't then I'd throw the parts in the car and drive it over or have it towed over to his house. Halas (finished) and a lesson learned.