The Washington Court of Appeals ruled on July 21 that Emily and Helene Hofbauer must remove a fence encroaching on a neighbour’s property in Kennewick and pay legal fees to both neighbours. The court affirmed the lower court’s decision, rejecting the sisters' arguments regarding hardship and the initial complaint’s clarity. They will now bear the financial burden of rectifying a boundary dispute they initiated in January 2024.
The feud began after a survey in October 2023 revealed that fences on the sisters' property, purchased in 2019, did not align with official boundaries. The western fence extended onto the land of Kevin Dement, while the eastern fence sat inside the Hofbauer property, encroaching on the land of Jessica Horst. The sisters sued both neighbours, claiming rights over the western strip but failing to clearly state their legal position against Horst.
Horst argued she had acquired ownership of the eastern strip through adverse possession, a principle allowing land ownership after 10 years of continuous, open use. The trial court accepted this, noting the fence had been in place since 2007. The sisters admitted they lacked evidence to counter this long-standing claim. The appeal court upheld this finding, cementing Horst’s ownership of the disputed eastern land.
The western fence dispute turned on conflicting testimonies. Dement claimed the sisters replaced an old fence with a new one that crossed the property line. Helene Hofbauer initially told the court she didn't know the fence encroached, a statement that contradicted her December 2024 declaration, which acknowledged the fence was 1.83 to 4.06 feet west of the legal boundary. The appeals court found no evidence of hardship to justify keeping the fence, as the sisters failed to provide cost estimates for removal.
The sisters also lost their challenge to the legal fee awards. The court ruled that Horst was entitled to fees for successfully defending her adverse possession claim, despite the original complaint’s ambiguity. Dement also qualified for fees because his request for fence removal remained unresolved until trial. The Hofbauer sisters now face the double burden of removing the fence and covering the legal costs of their neighbours' successful defense.