>> Judge Judy: Ms. Clark, you
understand that you have an
uphill battle in this case?
You moved into a house that was
owned by whom?
>> I bought it from a flipper,
William [bleep].
I don't know who the original
owner was.
>> Judge Judy: Who did you
move in with?
>> I moved in -- my niece and I
moved in at the same time.
>> Judge Judy: Okay, so, you and
your niece moved in, and your
niece had two dogs.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: So, you wanted
to fence in the yard.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Because she had
two medium-sized dogs,
whatever they were.
When you bought the house, the
Burtons were already living
there.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: How long have
you been in the house?
>> 14 years.
>> Judge Judy: And you wanted to
put up the fence at your own
expense.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: Because it's
something you wanted.
According to you, you got the
consent of one neighbor on
one side to put up the fence.
The fence that you put up that
is in between your home and
the Burtons' home was put up in
the wrong place.
You didn't know it at the time,
but you actually put your fence
on their property.
And would you just go over, and
show me where their house is,
and how much property your fence
encroached on their property?
>> Sure.
This is the Burton house
and this is my house.
>> Judge Judy: Mm-hmm.
>> This blue line is the
property line, according to
taxation, this is the fence.
>> Judge Judy: Which is the
fence?
>> It actually is inside the
blue line here, up to this point
is when it encroaches on their
property, and then cuts back
over to mine.
>> Judge Judy: So, how many feet
does it encroach onto their
property?
>> It is about 9 inches over at
the back, and I'm going to say
a couple of feet at the front of
the fence.
>> Judge Judy: So, several feet
in one place, going to 9 inches
at its narrowest point.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: Is that about
correct?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Yeah.
So, there came a time when
one of the Burtons asked you to
move the fence.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: When was that?
>> June of 2017, two years after
the fence had been erected.
>> Judge Judy: June 2017,
they said, "Please move the
fence, it's on our property."
>> Well, that's not exactly what
she said.
>> Judge Judy: What did she say?
>> [ Laughs ]
She approached me in my driveway
and her exact words were, "You
need to take that fence down."
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
She said, "You need to take
that fence down."
You said, "Why?"
>> I said, "Why?"
>> Judge Judy: And she said?
>> "I don't have to tell you
why."
>> Judge Judy: Is that what
you said?
>> No, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: What did you say?
>> Initially, my husband
approached her first,
a couple weeks after the fence
was put up, and asked her to
remove it.
>> Judge Judy: That was
two years before this
discussion in the driveway.
>> Yes. Yes. We --
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
Tell me about that discussion,
Mr. Burton.
Where did it take place?
>> It took place when I was
cutting the yard, front yard.
She was out doing some work in
her garden, or she was in the
front of the house doing
something.
And I approached her, and I
asked her if she could take down
the fence.
Also advised her that I have
a real estate license, that she
was encroachment over to
the property, and she wasn't
trying to hear that, so...
>> Judge Judy: Okay, in any
event, there has been
discussions about taking down
the fence, whether it was
one discussion with her,
or more with him and her.
They resorted to self-help,
and took down the fence.
>> In the middle of the night,
with their children.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care if
they did it on Shabbos.
If the fence is on their
property, whatever fence is on
their property, they're entitled
to remove, because there is
a law called the law of adverse
possession, which means, once
you've been told to remove
a fence, and you are using
somebody else's property by
putting up a fence, so that they
can't get onto their property,
and if you leave it there for
a certain number of years --
difference in different
jurisdictions, some places,
it's 10 years -- then you own
the property.
Then, in effect, that property
becomes yours, because it has
been openly used as somebody
else's property.
What?
>> What I want to tell you, is
that I was never adverse to
moving the fence.
I did not have that conversation
with Tim.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
I said, when I started my
statement to you, I said,
whether you had one conversation
or more than one conversation,
you were put on notice that they
wanted you to move the fence.
Now, what a person should've
done, Ms. Clark, at that point,
let us assume that what you told
me was true, that Mrs. Burton
said to you, "I don't have to
tell you why."
Let's assume that's true.
But now, she's told you to take
down the fence, so what
a reasonable person would do,
a prudent person would do is
say, "She's telling me to take
down the fence.
There has to be a reason.
And the only reason she could
feel as if she has the right to
tell me to take down the fence
is because it's on her
property."
That's what I would think.
So, the next thing that I would
do is get a surveyor, and have
the surveyor come out, and say,
"Well, she's right.
It's on her property."
>> And I don't disagree with
you at all.
I would've moved the fence.
I'm still happy to move the
fence.
The new fence is going in
further in towards our property,
where it doesn't encroach on
them at all.
My issue is that I asked them to
walk the property with me, to
show where it was going to be.
Then when the fence company
came out to actually start
putting the fence in, they
spray painted the yard.
Tim was out working in the yard,
as he very often is.
We see each other a lot
in the yard.
And I said, "Tim, that's where
the fence is going to go in.
Are you okay with it?",
and he said, "Yeah."
I was trying to avoid this.