Fence & Boundary Dispute - San Jose SFH (Blossom Hill)

[Yang Lu]

Hello friends,

My wife and I bought a house here in Blossom Hill, and it was a trust sale as the previous owner passed away. 

Recently we decided to build an ADU, so we did a land survey. The results of the land survey show that the side fence between our neighbor and our house was built 1.5ft into our side, leading to a 3.5ft width of our side walk alley and a 6.5ft side walk alley on her side. This fence has been built for many years, it seems like. The 3.5ft width on our side probably will pose issues going forward. Also, since we discovered this, some people told us we have 3 years to fight for the land back, or there is some kind of statute of limitations after that, in which we will lose the land...

We showed her the survey result and we offered to pay for a new fence altogether (the old fence is falling apart as well), but she refused to agree, and said she is not interested in dealing with us. We talked to the Santa Clara County mediation office, who called her about mediation, but she said she does not want to do mediation. She is not accepting our calls, or answering us when we ring the doorbell.

At this point, we're not sure what to do. Can anyone provide some guidance?

Thank you!

Yang