California's Good Neighbor Fence Law places equal responsibility for the maintenance, costs and replacement of fences that property owners have all or partially in common.
If the two property owners agree not to be equally responsible, a written letter of agreement can be drafted that alleviates one of the property owners from some or all responsibility for the fence. Also, if a fence did not previously exist, one property owner cannot be forced to contribute to the installation of a fence simply because the other property owner desires a fence between the two properties. If a property owner with a shared property border decides to erect a fence where one already exists on the shared border, the property owner must pay the neighbor for half of the fence and be equally responsible for it.
