Where is your mailbox? I don't know what state you are in, but in TX, the land next to the road is public property & the neighbor can't stop you from putting your mailbox next to the drive to your house. Or maybe I'm missing something about your situation. Do you own any roadfront? Can you call your county commissioner & ask where you can put your mailbox & sign to your house?

Marti, We attempted to put our mailbox next to the driveway and the neighbors refused to allow it. We live in MD. We have a shared drive situation. To get to our house, you must enter into the neighbors driveway ( shared but not a deeded right of way--our lawyers error as he did not pick up on this during the initial deed search )and make a quick left up a stoned driveway ( this is an empty lot that belongs to the neighbor as well )to reach our house. The 3 properties were set up originally to share the one drive. There is nothing but federally protected wet lands on the other side of our house. We live on a river. No options for changing the driveway situation. That's why a sign may be the easiest way!!!

Have you talked to your lawer about this? even tho its a shared drive you have a right of way or you could'nt use the drive.
oakleif

Jeesh, I just don't understand neighbors or why people can't just be more welcoming in our world. There is enough going on to make life tough to get through than things like this.

I always believed that once you allowed access on your property to another property the access became public or joint ownership. But am in no way knowledgable regarding other states, counties, etc.

If a sign is the only option there are some great old sign makers that could come up with something to "direct" visitors the right way. I had one made from old barn wood. Although you might have to make a separate post from the mail box as I'm not sure you can attach anything to it. Another law to look at.

When you have a shared driveway you have a right of way. Once given it can not be taken away if it is the only ingress to your home. You can do what you want on your own land. Do you have a piece on the road? How far is the corner of your property from the main road.

By the way, it is not the owners decision where the mailbox goes. A mailbox is federal property and the post office tells you where you must put it. So ask the post master if it is in the right place or not? Maybe the mail person will have to trespass on that mans property to get to your land and your mailbox. That would not be a good idea. Hmm, what about the property across the main road. would you be allowed to put your mail box or a sign there. Maybe that neighbor does not care for the old fart either, lol.

Oak, Yes, we have right-of-way but it is not deeded to us, unfortunately. We really don't want to go to court unless we have to--I'd rather work around that as we want to keep this already strained relationship as calm as possible.

Twomonths, We have a piece of the road and our mailbox currently sits on it--it's just that you cannot see our house from the road--you just see a lone mailbox. As I mentioned, we live on a river, wetlands to one side and a beautiful pond on the side facing the road (with the mailbox). The pond side is heavily wooded thus allowing no visualization from the road. The remaining side is the shared driveway from hell.

You are all so kind with your suggestions. Perhaps I will take an idea I had after reading Twomonths post and make a sign that says "Make a right at the old farts house"!!!!!

I don't want to beat a dead horse. But wanted to clarify something. Public roads have easements. Mail boxes are generally placed on the easement (side of the road)

I guess what everyone was trying to say is if your drive (or rather your neighbors drive) is connected to a county road (whether paved or unpaved) then there is more then likely an easement.

I think that is what most were trying to advise you of, that your neighbor has no authority in not allowing you to place the mail box close to the drive as its not his land most likely. Generally roads have 30', 40' or 60' easements. You measure from the center of the road out. So a 30' easement would be 15' out from the center of the road in either direction.

I work for the post office. I HIGHLY recommend you speak with your Postmaster. He can advise you and has the authority for placement.

But . . . if you are so inclined, or if you find out your neighbors drive is not connected to a public road and you still want a sign.

We have lots of roads in our area that "share" drives. I would suggest two signs. First at box stating " ## of house, next right" And another at your next turn giving the house number again. I'm not incline to put your name on a sign, but many do in this area.
Making sure both signs looks similar in shape and/or color.

Still . . . I realize it is shakey ground with neighbor, but you may find a simple solution in speaking with the Postmaster.

Would love to hear what you decided.

In our area, the county 911 authority has designated every single county residence with a house number, *and* they provide professionally made, easy to read, fire engine red and white metal reflecting signs that must be placed at the driveway leading to the home. Even abandoned houses have residence numbers. They even bring the square galvanized pole, complete with a tidy little finale on top, and the county workers install it for you.

In cases of a shared driveway, you'll find a cluster of residence number signs on the main road, and as you turn in, each home has it's indivual number where their private drive turns off. If the road winds back a ways, there can be as many as three signs designating the direction to find say, house number 456789; one at the main road, one where the road divides if you can't see the houses, and finally, one at the entrance of the driveway.

Are you required to maintain your own driveway? If so, you should be able to put up some kind of marker; even an arrow pointing down your drive toward the unseen house would work. If nothing else, try putting up a flag; it's doubtful your cranky neighbor would be taking that down.

Thanks for the advice feathertrader. I contacted the postal service when we first moved in when the neighbor refused to allow us to put the mailbox next to his drive. They told me the 15' rule but would not enforce the placement at all. The neighbor did say we could put our mailbox on the other side of their's--meaning if you were coming down our dead end street, you would still see the neighbors box first having passed our unseen house and still not see our box until you passed his. This would even be more confusing, IMHO, as someone may continue down the road searching for our house after they passed it. ( Remember, you cannot see any trace of our house from the road and there are 5 other homes down the road before it ends ) At least with the box on the road front where our house is located might get someone thinking that there must be a house back there somewhere. I guess we could have put the box next to the shared drive regardless of what the neighbor said, but we did not want to create more of a problem with this neighbor. Currently, these people do not speak to us, do not wave--hard situation when you must share a drive. I have three young kids and they must cross the drive to get to the street so I want to minimize conflict.

Sidebar--when we first moved in we logically thought we would put the mailbox next to the shared drive. One of our contractors bought a 50 lb bag of cement and placed it where the box would go. The neighbors wife ( a mid 60 yr old little lady ) took the bag and carried it back up to our property!!! )

In terms of your sign suggestion, we would not be able to put up the second sign--turn right or arrow sign--as the neighbor would not allow that on his property. We use the drive but the right of way is not deeded to us. He threatened to block our right of way once and I was quite upset because it truly is our only way in and out.

Littledog, I wish I lived in your county. I called emergency services and the fire marshals office. My concern is emergency services not being able to find us easily. They told me to call 911 and give them detailed directions to our house so they could have it on file--so I did.

Didn't mean to get into all this neighbor stuff with my sign question. I'm in a tough situation. You are all very kind and I appreciate everything that was advised.

Get your lawyer to write a letter detailing your rights to the driveway. State laws and all that. Then go to your neighbor and kindly, calmly explain that the situation is unacceptable. Let them know a mailbox and sign will be going up.

Then if you put up a sign or mailbox in a place that you should have rights to and they move it--CALL the cops. That's vandalism and theft.

If the signs are removed, have a *huge* party. Mark the driveway with helium balloons, but NOT the turn off to your drive. Let all the folks drive into their property. LOL That might convince them you need a sign.

They have no right to make your life miserable. They do not own ALL that pavement or dirt. I'm pretty sure state laws give you the rights you are looking for--don't let those folks take them away from you. These folks are bullies.

As far as a sign goes, local craft fairs have folks who make pretty wooden signs. I'm sure you could find something similar for your house number. Sink a sturdy post and mount the sign high enough to be seen from a car. Also consider those solar powered address lights from Home Decorators, if the location gets enough direct sun.

Neighbor has already demonstrated he is not interested in a cordial relationship. Not everyone that uses our country's legal system is a litigious-crazy nut. Of course, trying to squirm a solution out of an almost impossible situation sure gives a person lots to talk about and ruminate over. It's tough when the choice is among all undesirable options.

I would talk to the attorney or whoever did your title search and went over your purchase documents and deed when you bought the property. I believe that someone is responsible for the error, and probably has insurance of some kind that is available to do whatever is necessary to compensate you for the error or correct the problem.

There may also be something illegal about selling you a property that has no access. I would think you have some recourse.

Anyway, if you put your mailbox far enough behind the neighbor's so that theirs doesn't block yours completely, would that work?

Make a nice, handpainted sign that says "123" or whatever your number is, followed by "rear lot, bear left from drive" or something short and sweet that clarifies where you are. Stick it on the mailbox post under the mailbox, or hang it from a bracket below the box so it's visible from both directions. Paint the directions on both sides.

Use a flat piece of exterior plywood with pieces of mitered or butt-jointed 1x2 to create a frame around it. I did this at our last house, which had a long driveway and a lot of trees in front. Enlarge a font on your computer that is easy to read and looks nice until it's the actual size that will fit on your sign board. Transfer the lettering to the board by rubbing the back side of the paper with a pencil and pressing hard on the front to transfer the marks. Then fill it in with paint. I even antiqued mine with a glaze, and sealed it with a spray can of clear polyurethane.

Good luck.

Natti I would make a mailbox and paint it an outstanding creative color (when giving directions state color of mailbox). Then I would sink a post, taller than the neighbors, beside his mailbox and put yours on it. Near the top of the post I would create a large sign with a very large arrow pointing towards the drive and say
"123 Country Lane RT at drive
& RT along stone driveway" or something short, sweet and distinct. Be sure to paint it in night glow paint so people can see it in the evenings.
The more creative you are the more likely people will see it. Mona

If your neighbor "blocked" your only access, he would be held criminally accountable.
I'd contact a lawyer now, trying to settle this when you decide to sell would be a nightmare and would cause you to lose a sale if nothing else.
Annette

Bocron, My husband is convinced that after a period of time, legally, the right of way is ours--deed or no deed. I believe it is 7 years and we are at 5 years-(owned the lot for 2 and lived here for 3). I want to minimize friction with this neighbor--I have 3 little kids and I don't want them growing up with that kind of neighbor situation.

I ended up finding this green, illuminated sign that you can place your own letters on. I bought illuminated letters and spelled out the directions to our house and hung it on the side of our mailbox. Works great--not pretty--but effective. I just want EMS/fire to be able to find us.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and most of all, empathy for this really sucky situation.

Don't know if the originally poster here is still keeping a check on her post, but I agree with some of the other people here, I think you need to get this issue legally straightened out. Mean-while why don't you place a very tall pole (like they use for martin houses) in your yard that can be seen from the public road with a nice decorative sign or even a bird house! with your name and or house number? Wendy

I like monacda's idea. Since your neighbor will allow you to put up a mailbox next to theirs (on the other side), see if you can put it on a taller post so it can be seen above their mailbox. Or if you have to have it the same height (for the mail carrier's convenience), you could put a flag or something on top of it. Make it an unusual color so you can tell people to turn right on the drive when they see the bright purple flag on the mailbox. Then you could put another same colored flag (as long as it is on your land) by the driveway leading to your home.

I know how awful it can be when you are having a conflict with neighbors. It isn't a pleasant situation. I wish you the best of luck with those folks!

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and excellent suggestions.

I, also, hate to beat a dead horse... but I grew up in a home that shared its driveway with another home... it was the only way in or out to the main road.

Every piece of property sold, and I do mean EVERY piece of property, has to have entrance/exit access. It's called EASEMENT. I believe another poster mentioned that somewhere above. Anyway... I wouldn't care what the neighbors thought one bit! You are legally entitled to your "EASEMENT", and no one can keep you from using it! That includes a mailbox and an address sign!

Our neighbors were the same way... crotchety old people with poor attitudes toward all their neighbors. We had an address sign and a mailbox, and they never once messed with it, knowing the legalities of doing so would lead them into court. There's not one thing they can do to you or your children to stop you from using the jointly shared access...

They don't technically own the easement... neither do you... but you both have to share it... If it were me, I'd simply tell them I was posting a sign so people can find my home, people like my attorney, my relatives, the police, etc... I'd say it with a smile, and very nicely... they'll get the message...

No one wants to have a poor relationship with neighbors, but it sounds like they've already made up their minds to have a poor one with you... no one wants to make waves, either, but a person also has to be willing to stand up for what's right...

I hope it works out for you in the best possible way... however, remember that you are in the right! Personally, I like the idea of a larger, more unusual colored mailbox! I might put an arrow on top pointing toward my house... if it were me!

Thanks Jodik. The mailbox seems minor now--this neighbor has now become a landscaper. As you drive up to our house on the driveway I described, this neighbor has piled old tree braches and shrubs on one side of the drive and has taken a rusted children's swing set and put it on the other side. This junk is on his property line but we can see it and so can every other visitor--who comes to our house.

To me, it is an embarrassment. My husband tells me to ignore it since this man will do anything to make our lives miserable if we let him. I try to ignore it but we have a nice house that we worked very hard for. I also have 3 kids who wonder why the hell there is an old swing set practically on the road.

Several months ago, this neighbor cut down about 10+ trees on his property without permission--we live in a critical lands area and this carries a Hugh fine. He had a company on his property for 2 days removing trees and roots (evidence) and planted grass the minute they left. I took
pictures thinking that I may need them for a rainy day. I have a letter and the pictures sitting on my desk wishing I had the courage to send them to our Natural Resource Police. I will be honest, this neighbor is a bully and I am scared of him. I just wonder what he would do next if I sent them. I would send them anonymously since I fear repercussions however, the reason the junk was placed in the driveway was because he thought we called the NRP when he was cutting down the trees in the first place--even though our name was not given to him as the source of the call--he assumed! Lucky for him, the NRP arrived a week after the trees were cut and gone so he was given a warning ony.

I'd really like to move but my husband says NO! I'm stuck.

Howdy:
There is an old saying in Texas..... what goes a'round comes around
but.... then in the Bible it says "Love Thy Neighbor" boy that is really hard many times
Pray for the old man....
I myself would march right up to his door/ in person and try to talk to him... explain about your children and 9ll and say
hey mister... what would you do if I was doing this to you! ?
like I said... I would also have to pray for him daily just so I could handle it myself... and turn the whole thing over
LET IT GO AND....
truly some people , control freaks, trouble makers, are just what they are and will never change...
I heard a football coach say one time..
we don't have control over what the other guy does..
WHAT WE DO HAVE CONTROL OVER IS///
H O W WE R E A C T TO THE SITUATION!

Hang in there = this too shall pass
I'm glad you are NOT like him.

Susie, That's just what my husband tells me--if I get upset--he wins! My husband is much better at it than me!

Nati,

I am new to this forum and have only come across your post today. I dont't understand why you refuse to be reasonable. Its as if you are baricaded in your house by this neighbor and they have not said word one to you. The neighbor seems perfectly content to dish it out and you are completely willing to accept their poor behavior. I do not mean to be insulting but this cowering in your house for fear of the neighbor does not do well in teaching your 3 little children that you and your husband are courageous people and hold your own in the community. Think of it this way. If a bully was treating your kids badly everyday, you would want to do something about it. Now the shoe is on the other foot, you are the ones being bullied and your kids might be thinking that mom and dad are powereless, therefore I am vulnerable too.

Please tell your husband I said punking out is never the solution. Bravely facing a tough situation is the only way to get a positive outcome for you and your family. What would it hurt to just knock on the door and say, Look, the present situation is not working for me. Lets find a middle ground.

Nattie:
Hope things are going better for you and the SIGN:
Hope that God has given you the words to say re:
Safety of the children and you the parents so that 9ll can get to ya'll if there is an emergency....
perhaps another avenue is find out like someone said... the post office and /or have the city/county/ or firedept help you with getting a MARKER on that area for you and your friends to find your place!
I am praying for you and your family.
and I am praying for your neighbor and his family !
God Bless You!
susiesunshine

Natti,
You should go to the county courthouse and see what the law is.
Someone on this forum told you the law, the property DOES have an access easement or the sale would not have been legal.
Ask your county clerk what you should do in this situation.
Do NOT live in fear.
Many bullies will only act that way because you allow them to.
You teach people how to treat you.
Teach him you won't be treated that way.
Good Luck!
What goes around....comes around.
Remember this when HE needs something.

Thanks butterfly. You are right. One way or another, we have a right of way even though it's not deeded.

We are currently working with neighborhood services, a conflict resolution service in our community. We also had the fire dept make an on site visit to our home to verify the dangerous situation we may find ourselves in case of fire.

The gloves are on--I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks for your post.

In Texas you take the box to the county and they provide the post and installation. The state/county right of way is something like 12 feet from the edge of the pavement and they have full control as to where your box will be placed. Generally they will work with you and place it where it is convenient for you.

Also, if you have a title insurance policy and you have trouble with the easement you may have a claim against the title company. I think your neighbor is over reaching his authority.
An easement means you have a right to use the area as you see fit subject only to any subdivision restrictions placed when the land was subdivided into 3 tracts. Talk to your attorney.