Recorded on: April 22, 2025
Length: 60 minutes
Description
Working with the Block Watch Society of BC, we asked British Columbians about problematic neighbour issues. Lawyer E. Craig Watson answers common questions involving neighbours and fences, trees, maintaining property, parking, and dealing with conflict.
Highlights
In this webinar, you will learn:
Fences
Whether you can replace a broken fence unilaterally if your neighbour won’t cooperate, and whether you must bear the full cost if you do. [2:45]
Whether your neighbour is legally required to repair or replace a shared fence that they damaged. [5:10]
How to resolve a property line issue with your neighbour when they won't acknowledge that their fence is on your property. [6:40]
What to do if your neighbour puts nails along the top of your shared fence to protect against wildlife and you worry that someone will get injured. [8:00]
Trees
What you can do if your neighbour cuts trees or shrubs on your property without your permission. [10:50]
Whether your neighbour is responsible for damage caused by a tree whose trunk is on their property, and whether the answer would be different if the trunk was partially on your property. [14:20]
Whether you can trim branches from a tree on your neighbour’s property that overhang onto your property without your neighbour’s permission. [18:05]
Whether you can prevent your neighbour from planting trees within two feet of your property line and six feet of your house. [19:50]
Whether your neighbour must repair or replace a shared fence if a tree on their property grows into the fence and damages it. [21:05]
Property maintenance
Whether you can prevent your neighbours from parking boats, RVs and campers with giant tarps over them in their carport for months at a time. [25:30]
What you can do if your neighbour's abandoned garage is infested with raccoons, which sometimes cross over into your property. [29:40]
What you can do if your neighbour refuses to give you access to their property so that you can paint the exterior of your home or fix your gutters. [34:10]
Parking
Who has the right to park on the street outside your home and whether you can put a sign outside your home saying “family parking only”. [38:15]
What you can do if your neighbour won’t let you park your car in front of their home, even though it’s legal. [40:35]
How long people can park on the street without moving their vehicle. [42:30]
Who’s responsible for enforcing parking regulations in your neighborhood. [44:30]
Dealing with conflict
Recommendations for resolving conflicts with your neighbours without escalating them to the municipality or starting a lawsuit. [45:40]
Live questions
What you can do if your neighbour’s property is sliding into your property and they refuse to build a retaining wall. [49:35]
Whether the statute of limitations applies to a property line dispute involving a fence that hasn’t been challenged for over two years. [51:35]
What you can do if you live in a strata duplex and an occupant of a row house down the lane dumps their garbage into your garbage bin, which you privately pay for. [52:40]
Featuring
Craig Watson
E. Craig Watson is a lawyer with Meridian Law Group in Vancouver. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in the areas of insurance defence, complex personal injury claims, construction litigation, and commercial litigation. During over 20 years of practice as a litigator, he has acted for a diverse range of clients — including accident victims, design professionals, lawyers, and entrepreneurs — and has served as lead counsel in all levels of the courts in British Columbia.
Attendee feedback
“Keep up the good work. This might actually help people realize they need to work together and cooperate to resolve their issues.”
“This was my first webinar by the People's Law School. It was very clear and well done.”
“Amazing how many common themes are discussed relevant to our issues. Appreciate hearing proper legal advice.”
“Good questions and great answers.”
“Big thank you to Craig and everyone for contributing your time and effort.”
“Easy to follow and understand presentation. Thank you.”
“An informative session with realistic neighbourhood situations. The practical solution that you emphasized is the importance of behaving in a respectful way to neighbours to maintain good neighbours. A good self-check is: Would you like them to behave in a reciprocal way to you in whatever you are doing?”
“Watching both parts of this webinar, I now realize I live next door to a very hostile and aggressive neighbour, and I should not feel bad about finally giving up on getting along with her… It sounds strange, but knowing this makes me feel so much better! In future, when dealing with property issues, I will now deal with her partner, who is very respectful and considerate.”
“Thank you! Looking forward to more presentations in the future!”
“Please continue what you are doing!”
Additional resources
From People’s Law School:
Also:
Block Watch Society of BC, bringing police and communities together to further community safety
The Association of BC Land Surveyors, for a searchable list of land surveyors
CivicInfo BC, for contact information for municipalities across the province
CivicInfo BC's custom Google search, where you can search across local government websites province-wide to find bylaws relating to (for example) fences, trees, and parking in your community
Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, for information on searching land title records
Civil Resolution Tribunal, an online tribunal where you can bring a small claims matter up to $5,000