When buying their homes, the last thing residents on Saginaw Parkway thought would happen was seeing their clearly-defined backyards shrink.
But several homeowners backing onto what a few years ago was the Saginaw Golf Course could be losing several feet of what they thought was their backyards because of a fence line erected beyond their actual property line by their former neighbour.
“It’s just totally unfair,” said an exhausted Dave Clark, whose yard is being expropriated for the new development.
Clark has lived at his Saginaw residence for over six years and thought his property line ended at the fence, not 10 feet behind it.
“When you buy a house and look at your backyard, you assume that the entire fenced-in part is your property,” said Clark.
Since moving into their home, the Clark's have built a shed and have had extensive landscaping done in their backyard. The removal of the shed and a few trees to re-organize their space will cost around $10,000 to renovate, Clark estimates.
Although Clark knew about the development being built prior to moving in, some of his other neighbours were not as thrilled about the green space being turned into a new subdivision.
Roger Cunningham and his wife live next door to Clark and are facing the same issue of watching their backyard shrink.
“Just leave it alone. It’s not fair that we have to lose our backyards to this new development,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham worked for the City of Toronto for over 30 years and has since retired in Cambridge. He has built an extensive garden in his backyard that is in the encroachment zone and will have to be torn apart if the developer takes their land back.
“I grew all those shrubs back there. We really value our privacy and this nice big tree is just going to be gone,” Cunningham said. “We bought this house and this is our property, how can they take it from us like that.”
Back in 2018, the Cunningham family fought the new subdivision, claiming they paid a premium to back onto a green space, not more homes. They ultimately lost the challenge and the development is currently entering its first phase of construction; cleaning up what they claim is their property line.
John Teixeira is the former president of the Cambridge Association of Realtors and says that it’s the buyers agent's responsibility to list all of the details of the property, including potential conflict for property lines.
“It’s always important to know where your property ends and begins,” said Teixeria. “The best thing to do is have a survey done so the purchaser is covered and reassured.”
He also said it's possible for the homeowners to come together and file a class action lawsuit against the realtors if any misleading information was provided prior to closing.
Another step they could take is hiring a real estate attorney to look into the matter and any potential rights to the land.
Bill Schwarz is part owner of PSH Law in Cambridge and thinks the homeowners may have a leg to stand on if they can provide enough evidence in a court of law.
“Both sides can make a valid argument for ownership of the land,” Schwarz said.
If the previous owners put up the fence and essentially drew their property line there, the remaining portion that extends into the backyards could stay with the homeowners, he explained.
“If they can get a possessory title on that land for the uninterrupted years it has been theirs, they can argue that they have title to that property.”
Surrounding neighbours who are impacted by the subdivision received a letter from the developer outlining their plans to remove the old existing fence and erect a new one.
In the letter it explains to the homeowner that the fence extends into the property and affected backyards could lose “significant” portions of their backyards.
Clark and his neighbours are claiming this is the first they are hearing about land being taken from them. They plan to continue fighting for what they believe is their right to the land.
Schwarz warns anyone who is buying a home to make sure you know where your property lines are to avoid conflicts with neighbours and other land disputes.
“If you are buying a house for $750,000, you want to make sure you are getting what you pay for,” Schwarz said. “So if you don't want to spend the $2,500 to actually guarantee your $750,000 title, then that's up to you. It's kind of buyer beware.”
