Generally, yes — if a licensed survey confirms your fence sits on your neighbor's land, they can sue and a New York court can order the encroaching fence removed. But a lawsuit is the last step, not the first. Most Long Island fence disputes are resolved with a survey, a conversation, and a written agreement, and in limited cases a long-standing fence can even ripen into ownership of the disputed strip.
Start With a Licensed Survey, Not an Argument
Neither your deed description, your memory of where the markers were, nor the previous owner's assurances settle where the boundary actually runs. Only a licensed surveyor can. Before conceding anything or digging up posts, get a current survey — and compare it against any survey your neighbor is waving around, because surveys can and do disagree.
Keep in mind that many encroaching fences were installed decades ago by prior owners. That history matters: it shapes the legal analysis, and it usually lowers the temperature. This is a boundary problem to solve, not an accusation to defend.
The same lesson applies in reverse before you build. If you are installing a new fence, get the survey first, follow your town's permit and setback rules, and walk the line with your neighbor before the posts go in. Fence disputes escalate faster than almost any other neighbor conflict, and the parties still have to live next to each other when it ends.
Ways to Resolve an Encroachment Without Moving the Fence
If the fence really is over the line, you and your neighbor have options short of demolition:
- A boundary line agreement that fixes the legal boundary where the fence stands, signed and recorded so it binds future owners.
- A license — written permission for the fence to remain, which the neighbor can revoke. Simple, but fragile.
- An easement granting a durable right to keep the fence in place.
- Buying the strip of land outright and recording a corrected deed.
Whatever you agree on, put it in writing and record it where appropriate. Handshake fence deals evaporate when either house sells, and an unresolved encroachment can complicate a future sale or title insurance for both properties.
Bring your title insurance policy into the conversation as well. Depending on its terms, coverage questions can arise on either side of an encroachment, and knowing your position before negotiating strengthens your hand.
Adverse Possession and What Happens in Court
You may have heard that occupying land long enough makes it yours. New York does recognize adverse possession, but the bar is high: the possession must be hostile, open, exclusive, and continuous for at least ten years, among other requirements. And a change in New York law in 2008 made fence cases much harder — minor, non-structural encroachments like fences, hedges, and sheds are now presumed permissive, which usually defeats a claim based on the fence alone. Older, pre-2008 fact patterns can be treated differently, so long-standing fences deserve a real legal analysis before anyone concedes.
If no deal is reached, the neighbor can sue for trespass or ejectment and ask the court to compel removal. Ignoring letters is the worst response — by the time an injunction motion is on the calendar, your options have narrowed and your costs have multiplied.
Courts also retain some flexibility at the remedy stage. Where an encroachment is small and removal would be wildly disproportionate, a court may weigh the equities in fashioning relief — but no owner should count on that mercy. The reliable outcomes are the ones you negotiate.
Key Takeaways
- A neighbor can generally obtain a court order removing a fence that encroaches on their land.
- Get a licensed survey before conceding or litigating anything.
- Boundary agreements, licenses, easements, or buying the strip can all preserve the fence.
- Record any agreement so it binds future owners of both properties.
- Adverse possession requires ten continuous years, and since 2008 fences are presumed permissive.
This article is attorney advertising and provides general information about New York law; it is not legal advice for your specific situation and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your circumstances, speak with a licensed New York attorney.