Massachusetts imposes no general duty to split a boundary fence's cost; each owner fences their own land. The one statewide neighbor rule is MGL c.49 §21: a malicious fence over six feet is a private nuisance the neighbor can sue over.
In Plymouth County a shared boundary fence is a private matter. No statute forces one neighbor to pay half of a residential division fence, so cost-sharing happens only by voluntary written agreement. A survey establishes the true line before building; an encroaching fence is resolved in civil court, not by the county or town. The statewide protection every neighbor keeps is MGL c.49 §21, which turns a fence over six feet built maliciously to annoy an adjoining owner into a private nuisance carrying a tort action for damages.
An encroaching fence is a civil trespass a court can order removed. A malicious spite fence over six feet exposes the builder to a nuisance suit for damages under MGL c.49 §21.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Plymouth County, MA
No Plymouth County or state law limits holiday lights, inflatables, or yard displays. Towns rarely regulate seasonal decorations at all, and where a bylaw to...
Plymouth County, MA
No Plymouth County rule governs garage-sale signs; towns handle them through local sign bylaws. On your own lawn a yard-sale sign is generally fine, but a si...
Plymouth County, MA
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Plymouth County, MA
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Plymouth County, MA
Massachusetts has no statewide just-cause eviction law, and no Plymouth County town can add one. A landlord ends a tenancy at will with 30 days' written noti...
Plymouth County, MA
Rent control is illegal across every Plymouth County community. Massachusetts voters banned it in 1994 through Question 9, now codified as MGL c.40P §4: no c...
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