The fence thing is a sticky situation. There is no legal obligation to pay for it if you don't do the work. I can totally see the "it's a dick move" argument, but communication in a fence build is sooooo bloody important. The way I look at it you are 5 levels of crazy if you even consider the idea of a fence without having a sit-down with the neighbors.
You also can't offer up the option to not pay and then get pissy when nobody pays. I realize the kind thing to do would be to pay, but you can't give your neighbor an option like that and then hold a grudge when they don't make the decision you want.
My brother-in-law has a tinge of racism in him. Not a big fan of people that aren't white. When he built his fence, he went to his white neighbor to hammer out a deal, but not his East Indian neighbor. As a result when it came to collect the bill his Indian neighbor just told him "I'm not in a financial position to give you $1500 and I didn't want a fence in the first place." He looked into it and his hands are totally tied. Doesn't really add to the thread, but I tell that story any chance I get to hammer home the importance of talking to neighbors about fence building.
|