We have a private house, and our neighbor unilaterally moved the fence about two meters toward our property. This reduced our territory. Where should we go and what evidence do we need?
First thing: photograph the fence, the fact that it's been moved, and if you have them - old photos of your property or a land-use plan. Then go to your district administration with a complaint about unauthorized land seizure and ask them to conduct a boundary survey of the plots - that will officially establish who's right. At the same time, it makes sense to send your neighbor a written demand through a notary to move it back, otherwise you'll have to go to court. In court you'll need all those photos, your property documents, and the survey results.
Do you have a site plan from your ownership certificate or a cadastral plan? That's the most important thing, because without documentary proof of the boundaries, any photos and complaints will just go nowhere.
I agree that you should take photos, but that's just backup. What really saves you is a cadastral passport or an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate - it clearly shows the coordinates of your plot. If the plan matches where the fence originally stood, then you've got a strong hand. You go to the administration with this document and file a complaint about unauthorized land seizure, and they're obligated to investigate. They can even hold your neighbor liable administratively.
Here's the catch though: if your plot was never officially surveyed, and the fence just stood there "as it was" for years, it's harder to prove the exact boundaries. In that case you might need to pay for a survey yourself - that's money and time. But even that's better than silently losing two meters of land.
Without a cadastral plan or an extract from the property rights registry, you won't be able to prove the violation - that's really the foundation. But at the same time, you need to document what happened: photos of the fence in its current position, old photos of your property if you have them, testimony from neighbors. Then you write a complaint to the district administration - they're obligated to conduct an inspection and bring in cadastral engineers if needed. I know some people who dealt with something similar - their neighbor moved the fence and started digging. They were worried at first that it would be hard to prove, but it turned out a cadastral plan plus dated photos were enough - and the administration issued an order to move the fence back to its place.
A cadastral plan - yes, that's critical, but don't forget about surveying if the boundaries have never been officially clarified. Sometimes it turns out there are discrepancies between the documents and reality, and then the dispute becomes even more complicated. Before you file a complaint with the administration, it makes sense to hire a cadastral engineer to check your plot's boundaries - it costs money, but then you'll have an official report that nobody can dispute. If your neighbor really did take over your land, that document is worth its weight in gold when you're negotiating and in court.
Land surveying is usually handled by cadastral engineers, and that's really the first step before any complaints. If you don't have an up-to-date plan, what are you going to show to the administration? Your neighbor will just say "well, I thought the fence was here," and that's it - the case will stall. You order a survey (a specialist will come out, determine the actual boundaries), get a report - that's solid documentation for claims and court. Sure, photograph everything from different angles and record conversations if you can, but getting the boundaries officially documented - that's what will turn things in your favor.
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