Bill Text: CA AB1404 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Real property: boundaries.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-08-12 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 86, Statutes of 2013. [AB1404 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1404-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1404	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 30, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Judiciary (Wieckowski (Chair), Alejo,
Chau, Dickinson, Garcia, Muratsuchi, and Stone)

                        MARCH 12, 2013

   An act to repeal and add Section 841 of the Civil Code, relating
to real property.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1404, as amended, Committee on Judiciary. Real property:
boundaries.
   Existing law defines the rights and obligations of owners of real
property. Under existing law, coterminous owners are equally bound to
maintain the boundaries between their properties. Existing law
further requires coterminous owners to maintain fences between their
properties, except as specified.
   This bill would ,  instead  ,  require 
adjacent   adjoining  landowners to share equally
 ,   with certain exceptions,  the responsibility
for maintaining the boundaries and monuments between them. The bill
would establish a presumption that  adjacent  
adjoining  landowners share an equal benefit from any fence
dividing their properties and, absent a  lawful 
 written  agreement to the contrary, are equally responsible
for the reasonable costs for the fence, as specified.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    This act shall be known, and may be
cited, as the Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 841 of
the Civil Code is repealed.
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.   Section 841 is added
to the Civil Code, to read:
   841.  (a)  Adjacent   Adjoining 
landowners shall share equally in the responsibility for maintaining
the boundaries and monuments between them.
   (b)  Adjacent   (1)    
Adjoining  landowners are presumed to share an equal benefit
from any fence dividing their properties and,  absent a
lawful agreement to the contrary,   unless otherwise
agreed to by the parties in a written agreement,  shall be
presumed to be equally responsible for the reasonable costs of
construction, maintenance,  and   or 
necessary replacement of the fence. 
   (2) Where a landowner intends to incur costs for a fence described
in paragraph (1), the landowner shall give 30 days' prior written
notice to each affected adjoining landowner. The notice shall include
notification of the presumption of equal responsibility for the
reasonable costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary
replacement of the fence. The notice shall include a description of
the nature of the problem facing the shared fence, the proposed
solution for addressing the problem, the estimated construction or
maintenance costs involved to address the problem, the proposed cost
sharing approach, and the proposed timeline for getting the problem
addressed.  
   (3) The presumption in paragraph (1) may be overcome by a
preponderance of the evidence demonstrating that imposing equal
responsibility for the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance,
or necessary replacement of the fence would be unjust. In
determining whether equal responsibility for the reasonable costs
would be unjust, the court shall consider all of the following: 

   (A) Whether the financial burden to one landowner is substantially
disproportionate to the benefit conferred upon that landowner by the
fence in question.  
   (B) Whether the cost of the fence would exceed the difference in
the value of the real property before and after its installation.
 
   (C) Whether the financial burden to one landowner would impose an
undue financial hardship given that party's financial circumstances
as demonstrated by reasonable proof.  
   (D) The reasonableness of a particular construction or maintenance
project, including all of the following:  
   (i) The extent to which the costs of the project appear to be
unnecessary or excessive.  
   (ii) The extent to which the costs of the project appear to be the
result of the landowner's personal aesthetic, architectural, or
other preferences.  
   (E) Any other equitable factors appropriate under the
circumstances.  
   (4) Where a party rebuts the presumption in paragraph (1) by a
preponderance of the evidence, the court shall, in its discretion,
consistent with the party's circumstances, order either a
contribution of less than an equal share for the costs of
construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence, or
order no contribution.  
   (c) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:  
   (1) "Landowner" means a private person or entity that lawfully
holds any possessory interest in real property, and does not include
a city, city and county, district, public corporation, or other
political subdivision, public body, or public agency.  
   (2) "Adjoining" means contiguous to or in contact with.