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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this person has an absolute cheek and not to pay up?

135 replies

Otheregos · 29/08/2012 13:58

Good afternoon everyone,
I am a long term lurker, but this has really bugged me so just thought I'd see what others opinions/views are

Here goes... We rent out a house,have Very nice tenants. Received a call yesterday from our tenant to say they have got an invoice for us from next door ( adjoining semi ) for the fence? Wtf? We spoke for a while and it appears our neighbours have gone ahead and ripped down our boundary fence( and the rest of theirs) and replaced it, he is now expecting £400 for this fence...way over priced, it's only about 20feet. This neighbour has had no communication with us or the tenants, the first we knew about it was from the phone call yesterday.

Been to pick up said invoice...which is actually just a typed letter no proof of purchase for the fencing..and if you've not fallen asleep yet reading this post,this is what they have written

Sir/ma'am, due to the recent bad weather and poor maintenance of the fence panels at said property, I have found it necessary to have these replaced prior to contacting you. As you are probably aware the weather has been quite bad of late. This has resulted in said fence panels for the said property which as landlord you are responsible for becoming severely damaged and a health risk due to them being at a state where they could fall down at any moment. as a father of 2 young children I felt that these needed replacing as a matter of urgency, along with my fence panels which I also replace at the same time. The total costs of replacing your fence panels are split into £250 for parts and transportation and £150 labour. The total sum that I request from you is £400 to recompensate me for the costs of having your fence panels replaced at such short notice. I would appreciate payment by cheque of bacs transfer to blah blah account. If you can settle this sooner rather than later that would be very much appreciated as this has left my finances considerably short for this month.

I'm picking now but he spelt panels pannels!

So my problems are,
A) our tenant said the fence was actually ok, we had previously about 4 months ago replaced the other side as our tenant had contacted us about it and like normal people we spoke with the neighbours ( other side) and an agreement was made to go halves and get 3 quotes...so this is what I would have expected from these people.

B) you cannot go asking for money with no proof of costs etc.its a rented house and we have to keep records like any other business

C) even if we are responsible for that boundary( not sure yet as I need to check the deeds) people can't just rip down your fence...surely this is classed as criminal damage ?

I realise I am completely rambling now, but any comments or what you think we should do most appreciated...

Thanks for reading if you've made it to the end! Smile

OP posts:
BagofHolly · 29/08/2012 15:00

YANBU!!!

What if he unilaterally decides your party wall needs ripping out and replacing???
With nobbers like this you need to start as you mean to go on. Check your deeds, and then tell him that if you choose to have no fence at all along your boundary that's up to you!
I'm amazed at the people saying "check the condition of the previous fence" because if you choose to have no fence and bundles of razor wire, that's up to you!
Cheeky cheeky (and dim) idiot!

AmberLeaf · 29/08/2012 15:01

So did your tenant see the works happening?

perceptionreality · 29/08/2012 15:03

YANBU - the exact same thing happened to my PIL but they were actually living in the house. They refused to pay.

I would not pay him a penny - I think it will be hard for him to make you pay. How very high handed of him to do this without asking you first and then to demand money. Basically he has a preference to have the fence replaced and is now trying to get you to foot the bill. Don't pay!

Original poster
Otheregos · 29/08/2012 15:06

amberleave the tenants had been at work and when they got back the fence had been replaced, I think they assumed that was that,but two days later neighbour brings "said" invoice round

OP posts:
Itsjustafleshwound · 29/08/2012 15:08

If you don't want to go scrabbling around in the loft you can go onto the land registry website and you can get the title plan for £4

Thumbwitch · 29/08/2012 15:09

YANBU at all. He's a chancer.
If you own the other boundary fence, chances are you're not responsible for the one he's just had down, so he's not got a leg to stand on anyway - but there is no way you should pay his demand ANYWAY without seeing receipts for proof of purchase/works orders etc.

As for the rest of the emotional blackmail bollocks in the letter, ack, just ignore.

There's no way he should have gone ahead without some effort to contact you first.

Hopeforever · 29/08/2012 15:10

Is this house in Essex? Has he replaced the fences because his Lion escaped by pushing over the fence between your gardens :)

AmberLeaf · 29/08/2012 15:12

Tell him to stuff it then. no way would they win in a small claims court after doing it without your consent.

RuleBritannia · 29/08/2012 15:13

If there's no invoice as such, it's possible that he did the work himself, just buying the panels and posts.

Itsjustafleshwound · 29/08/2012 15:14

Sorry, not an official document but a copy of it ....

Really, you will have to go and look at the deeds to determine who is responsible for the fence. The caution is that if the deeds don't make it clear, then I think 'precedent' comes into any border dispute or responsibility i.e. if you pay then you admit joint responsibility for the maintenance of the fence (or could be argued that way with evidence).

He is a cheeky git

JumpingThroughMoreHoops · 29/08/2012 15:14

I have found it necessary to have these replaced prior to contacting you.

Tell him to piss off, he's trespassed on your property, destroyed your property - sue the bugger!

TheMonster · 29/08/2012 15:15

Hopeforever lol

Tittywhistles · 29/08/2012 15:18

Just gad our boundary fence done and it cost £450 for 6 panels, posts etc so it sounds about right Sad
Our boundary fence is the next doors driveway and we went round to check they didn't mind being without a partition for a week or do. But we wouldn't have dreamed of asking them for half. We decided the job needed doing. So we payed for it. Stick to your guns

Tittywhistles · 29/08/2012 15:20

God I hate iPhone spellcheck!

controlpantsandgladrags · 29/08/2012 15:21

What a cheeky fucker!!

If its his boundary tell him to do one.

If its your boundary, tell him to do one and demand the return of the panels he removed. The twat has probably flogged them!

We're in a terraced house and own the fence on the left.

maytheoddsbeeverinyourfavour · 29/08/2012 15:27

What a cheeky git Shock

I honestly don't know how some people have the nerve to do things like this. Do you think theres a forum somewhere like an anti-mn not nethuns where all the tossers we discuss on here go to get encouragement? Grin

Stick to your guns op

naturalbaby · 29/08/2012 15:32

'recent bad weather' where is your rental house, Florida? It's not even autumn, let alone winter.

Thumbwitch · 29/08/2012 15:32

what, like a chancersnet, maytheodds? Grin

maytheoddsbeeverinyourfavour · 29/08/2012 15:41

Exactly thumbwitch Grin

Or SelfishbastardsRUs.net

Or cheekyentitledwankers.co.uk

Or terriblecunts.com though that sounds like one you wouldn't want to google

Scholes34 · 29/08/2012 15:43

We're in a semi and our fence is the one on the left, as you look down the garden.

Thumbwitch · 29/08/2012 15:44

Grin - I wonder if they have laws against domain names like that?

Scholes34 · 29/08/2012 15:45

. . . and when we replaced part of the fence last year - 80ft with concrete posts concreted into the ground and solid enough fencing which isn't going anywhere in any wind for a very long time - we paid about £1,500. I hope your neighbour had an equally good job done for what he paid.

Ithinkitsjustme · 29/08/2012 15:49

The fact that his letter states clearly that he did the work PRIOR to any communication with you about the state of the fence completely absolves you of any responsibility at all to pay anything. If you want to contribute then fine, if you don't then it's his hard luck. If it was YOUR boundary fence that he ripped down then you have the right to take him to court if you so wish, but tbh, if he has put up a half decent fence then I probably wouldn't bother.

vintageviolets · 29/08/2012 15:51

Do not pay.

Get a decorator to paint his house the same colour as yours next week & send him the bill.

Tell him it looked a bit grubby, and you wanted it to look as nice as yours, so you rang someone short notice.

Cheeky bastard.

MigratingCoconuts · 29/08/2012 15:52

I really hope the deeds say its his responsibility Grin