Karen Cut Down My Fence for ‘Access’ — So I Bought Her Property Line at Auction
Karen Cut Down My Fence for ‘Access’ — So I Bought Her Property Line at Auction
If you’ve ever dealt with an entitled neighbor, you know how fast things can go from mildly annoying to absolutely unhinged. But when one woman took a chainsaw to my private fence claiming she “needed access,” I decided I wasn’t just going to rebuild — I was going to own the situation.
Literally.
It Started With the Fence
Let’s rewind.
I live on a quiet suburban street — nothing fancy, just a normal home with a modest backyard. My neighbor, who we’ll call Karen (because of course), had always been… difficult. Constant complaints about “your tree drops leaves in my yard,” or “your wind chimes are too loud,” you get the picture.
But one day, I came home from work to find a 20-foot section of my wooden privacy fence completely gone. Just… gone.
Standing in the middle of the wreckage? Karen, holding a chainsaw, with no shame in her face whatsoever.
“I Need Access to the Easement”
Her excuse? “I need access to the utility easement behind your property line. Your fence was in the way.”
That would’ve been somewhat reasonable if:
She had asked me first.
The fence was actually on the easement (it wasn’t — I had it surveyed).
She hadn’t completely destroyed my property to get what she wanted.
When I told her she’d be paying for the damages, she smirked and said, “Good luck proving anything. It’s just a fence.”
Big mistake.
The Auction That Changed Everything
A couple of months later, I stumbled across something wild while browsing county property auctions out of curiosity.
Apparently, a sliver of land behind Karen’s property — about 3 feet wide, running the entire length of her backyard — had gone up for auction due to unpaid property taxes. It was technically an old access easement that had been separated from the deeds decades ago.
Guess who didn’t even know she didn’t legally own that strip?
Yup. Karen.
And guess who bought it for $500?
Me.
New Fence, New Rules
Once the paperwork cleared and the land was legally mine, I didn’t waste time. I built a brand-new fence, not just where the old one was, but all the way up to the new property line — effectively cutting off Karen’s direct backyard access to anything behind her house.
She lost her gardening shed access.
She lost her illegal compost pile setup.
And yes — she had to knock on my door and ask permission to step onto my land.
Let’s just say… she wasn’t thrilled.
She tried calling the city. No luck. She tried threatening legal action. Turns out I had receipts, surveyor reports, and now… the deed to the land she thought she could cut through whenever she wanted.
Petty? Maybe. Satisfying? Absolutely.
All Karen had to do was ask nicely and respect property lines. Instead, she whipped out a chainsaw like a suburban Viking and thought there wouldn’t be consequences.
Now, every time she steps out back, she’s reminded that the land she once trespassed on is mine.
Sometimes karma doesn’t knock — it buys the land under your feet.
Have a similar neighbor horror story? Drop it in the comments. Petty revenge is always welcome here.
