Chap. 500.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 3555 of the Code of Vir-
ginia; and to repeal sections 3556, 3557, 3558, 3559, 3560 and 3561 of the
Code of Virginia. [H B 433]

Approved March 28, 1922.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion thirty-five hundred and fifty-five of the Code of Virginia, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Sec. 3555. Division fences ; by whom to be built and maintained ;
proceedings for the erection and repair thereof.—Adjoining land-
owners shall build and maintain, and their joint and equal expense,
division fences between their lands, unless one of them shall choose
to let his land lie open as hereinafter provided for, or unless they
shall otherwise agree between themselves.

Proceedings for the erection and repair of such fences shall be as
follows:

(a) - Where no division fence has been built, either one of the
adjoining owners may give notice in writing of his desire and inten-
tion to build such fence to the owner of the adjoining land, or to his
agent, and require him to come forward and build his half thereof.
The owner so notified may, within ten days after receiving such
notice, give notice in writing to the person so desiring to build
such fence, or to his agent, of his intention to let his land lie open,
in which event, and if the one giving the ortginal notice shall build
such division fence and the one who has so chosen to let his land
lie open, or his successors in title, shall afterwards enclose it, he, or
they, as the case may be, shall be liable to the one who built such
fence, or to his successors in title, for one-half of the value of such
fence at the time such land shall be so enclosed, and such fence shall
thereafter be deemed a division fence between such lands.

If, however, the person so notified shall fail to give notice of his
intention to let his land lie open, as hereinabove provided, and shall
fail to come forward within thirty days after being so notified, and
build his half of such fence, he shall be liable to the person who
builds the same for one-half of the expense thereof, and such fence
shall thereafter be deemed a division fence between such lands.

(b) When any fence which has been built and used by adjoining
landowners as a division fence, or any fence which has been built by
one, and the other afterwards required to pay half of the value, or
expense thereof, under the provisions hereinbefore contained, and
which has thereby become a division fence between such lands, shall
become out of repair to the extent that it is no longer a lawful fence,
either one of such adjoining landowners may give written notice to
the other, or to his agent, of his desire and intention to repair such
fence, and require him to come forward and repair his half thereof,
and if he shall fail to do so within thirty days after being so noti-
fied, the one giving such notice may then repair the entire fence
so as to make it a lawful fence, and the other shall be liable to him
for one-half of the expense thereof.

(c) Any sum which may be due and payable by one adjoining
landowner to another in pursuance of any of the provisions hereof,
may be recovered by motion, action or warrant, according to the
amount.

(d) No agreement made between adjoining landowners, with
respect to the construction or maintenance of the division fence
between their lands, shall be binding on their successors in title, un-
less it be in writing and specifically so state, and be recorded in
the current deed book in the clerk’s office of the county in which the
land is situate, and properly indexed as deeds are required by law to
be indexed.

(e) Any notice herein provided to be given shall be given to the
owner of the land, if he reside in the county in which the land lies;
otherwise, it may be given to such person as, under the laws of Vir-
ginia, would be his agent; or to any person occupying such land as
tenant of the owner, who shall, for the purposes of this act, be
deemed the agent of such owner.
2. Sections thirty-five hundred and fifty-six, thirty-five hundred
and fifty-seven, thirty-five hundred and fifty-eight, thirty-five hundred
and fifty-nine, thirty-five hundred and sixty, and thirty-five hundred
and sixty-one of the Code of Virginia, are hereby repealed.

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