A fence over 6 feet built to spite a neighbor is a private nuisance under MGL c.49 §21, and the injured owner sues for damages. Boundary fences must sit on your own land, and fence viewers settle division-fence disputes.
Massachusetts law protects neighbors from spite fences: any fence over 6 feet erected or kept maliciously to annoy an adjoining owner is a private nuisance under c.49 §21, and the harmed owner brings a tort action for damages under c.243. Boundary and partition fences between adjoining lots fall under the fence-viewer statutes in c.49, where each town's fence viewers assign and settle cost-sharing disputes. Build fences fully on your side of the surveyed line to avoid encroachment claims.
A spite fence exposes the builder to a tort suit for damages under c.243 and a court order to lower it. An encroaching fence must be removed, and division-fence cost disputes go before the town fence viewers.
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