Vancouver couple awarded $21K in property line dispute

The BC Supreme Court has awarded a Vancouver couple who was going up against a neighbour over a backyard property line more than $21,000.

According to court documents, the dispute started in 2022, when Timothy Chan and Carmine Lee wanted to build a new fence between the two properties.

Land surveys showed the old fence had been installed well inside of Chan’s property line.

After Chan provided that information to his neighbours Shih Ju Liang and Shan Zhou, the court documents explain Liang’s father-in-law grabbed Chan’s arm and said if he built the fence, he would “tear it down.”

Chan went ahead with plans to install the fence anyway. But at several points during the work, Zhou’s father is said to have interfered with contractors, by standing in their way and demanding they put the fence in a different location.

“Ms. Zhou told Mr. Chan and the contractor that the area between the old fence and the new fence location was the defendants’ property,” Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth McDonald wrote. “Ms. Zhou told Mr. Chan that he had to get a new survey to confirm the location of the property line and she told Mr. Chan he had to pay for the new survey. After this conversation with Ms. Zhou, Mr. Chan sent a text message to Mr. Liang confirming that he was arranging for a new survey.”

Chan obtained the new survey at a cost of $1,050, which confirmed the old fence was installed well within his property line. 

When work finally started on the new fence in November 2022, the court documents explain Zhou’s parents came out and started shouting at workers.

“Mr. Chan’s evidence is that while he was standing in his backyard, Ms. Zhou’s mother and father approached the property line and began yelling at them and physically blocking the workers from installing the fence posts,” McDonald wrote.

“Then, Ms. Zhou’s mother pushed Mr. Chan causing him to fall to the ground. At that point, Mr. Chan called the police. He said the officer who attended attempted to mediate the situation. The police officer suggested that Mr. Chan show Ms. Zhou’s parents the old and new survey and Mr. Chan did that. However, Ms. Zhou’s parents continued to insist that the old fence was the correct location of the property line.”

The fence still hasn’t been built because of the ongoing conflict.

Chan argued that his neighbours were guilty of trespassing on his property, as well as nuisance for interfering with the installation of the fence.

The BC Supreme Court agreed, awarding Chan and Lee $10,000 for trespass and nuisance. The courts also levied special damages of $1,050 for the new land survey, and punitive damages of $10,000.

“I reach that conclusion because the issues raised are not complex and they can be decided on the basis of affidavit evidence,” McDonald wrote. “Further, the amount of damages sought are modest and easily ascertainable. In my view, the costs of a trial would greatly outweigh the amount involved and the plaintiffs would be prejudiced by the delay and additional expense of having to go to trial.”