Yored L'sedei Chaveiro
Property #7 Taking Away the Enhancement
Q: My neighbor complained that my kids’ bikes littered my yard. One day, I saw that he set up a prefab shed in my yard. When I asked him about it, he said that he was going to remove it. Can he?
A: The enhancer cannot remove the enhancement against the owner’s will if doing so will weaken the owner’s property, such as if he planted trees (C.M. 375:2). However, if he built something and wants to remove his structure, he can, since this will not weaken the property (C.M. 375:6).
Nonetheless, if the owner already indicated interest in keeping the enhancement and paying for it, he acquired it through kinyan chatzer so that enhancer cannot take it back. Similarly, if the property is certainly fit for such enhancement, just as the owner cannot say “remove your wood and stones,” so, too, the enhancer cannot say that he will take it, since he made the enhancement with intent to leave it there (Rema, C.M 375:6-7; Sma 375:13-14; Gra 375:17; Aruch Hashulchan 375:11).
