My customer arrived home after a weekend away to find a limb cut from their Oak tree. Turns out that their neighbor had a dead Spruce removed and the company parked in my customers backyard for the removal. They didn’t have permission to use the property or to cut the limb. They left a nasty stub, tire ruts, and a bit of debris from the Spruce. The company didn’t bother to leave info or reach out to these people after the fact. Supposedly the Spruce was leaning on the Oak limb and they couldn’t remove it without cutting the Oak. Any suggestions on how they should proceed? I’m inclined to tell them to contact the company via certified letter asking them to pay for remedying their mess? If that fails, small claims? Contact an attorney? Overall seems like an unnecessary hassle. Looks like the removal happened with a grapplesaw crane. A couple photos attached….
How to proceed…..
- Thread starter XTREEC
- Start date
flushcut
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Delavan, WI
Certified letter first and see if tree company will make it right. If not possible legal action.
southsoundtree
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Olympia, WA
Damage and trespassing... the company would be smart to make it right.
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
Very disappointing to see. The neighbors are not blameless.
A freind of mine cut down some Euc trees for a contractor on a vacant lot. Ended up they were over the property line and on a neighbors lot. $75k and a couple years of court dates later....
A freind of mine cut down some Euc trees for a contractor on a vacant lot. Ended up they were over the property line and on a neighbors lot. $75k and a couple years of court dates later....
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
FWIW
Trespass is obvious
You will be entitled to treble damages
Start looking for an attorney as well as a qualified arboris
Don’t go low when you submit a claim
Trespass is obvious
You will be entitled to treble damages
Start looking for an attorney as well as a qualified arboris
Don’t go low when you submit a claim
Treetopflyer
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Coastal N.J
Some of the people I see with grapplesaw truck need to learn how to do real tree work so they don’t have to get that truck everywhere to do a job! He could’ve avoided a lot of headache that rightfully deserves with that act , how thoughtless or lazy ,maybe both. We have a lot of folks that are not full time residents to my area and I do get approached time to time about doing work whilst so and so neighbor is not home for xyz reasons whatever they are. Stay far away from that stuff without written permission from neighbors you will know right away when you bring that up if they are straight shooter or not! I’m doing two projects coming up I require neighbors permission. For work on thier property at my clients expense and the extra leg work can be annoying sometimes, but a lot less than any sort of penalty for going about it incorrectly. You gotta learn to say and no take no in business sometimes.
Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
As for the oak I’d vote for leaving the stub to sprout or die back vs cutting to the main stem. But it is ugly and probably doesn’t really matter as there are other huge cuts already.
Winchman
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Southwest Georgia
I left what I thought were ugly stubs on this oak because I didn't want to make a large cuts close to the trunk to remove them. I came back a year or so later to find new growth had almost entirely hidden the ugliness.
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
Honestly I’m not seeing the damages in a monetary sense. The stub will likely resprout and the tree will take many years to show ill effects. I’m not too sure how that would play out with a tree appraisal.
However I worked with a client on a timber trespass case, the neighbor hired a guy to do some view pruning, they topped many trees on dudes property and it was pretty clear he got exactly what he asked for. Yet the tree crew topped a tree which was across the property line (who really knows if this was part of the job).
Anyway, my client was pissed and the neighbor blamed the contractor (likely a handshake or nothing of substance on paper). Totally threw the contractor under the bus. This became obvious when my scope of work was limited to the property line trees and not the other 2/3rds that got the same treatment.
All the trees are within critical areas, and it was a slash fest with no cleanup.
They sent a demand letter, and turned out won $80k in damages after a decent fight with the contractors insurance company.
Anyone can write a demand letter, and it would be cheaper than hiring a lawyer. First call would be a consulting arborist to document the damages, second would be an attorney, third would be a letter to the contractor, neighbor, and appropriate insurance companies.
Insurance will likely string it along, but settle as it is overall cheaper than arguing it out with lawyers in court for a case with no determinant outcome. Still a gamble which will cost money in the short term with no guarantee of return or remedy.
Round here the state publishes verification if contractors insurance policy numbers and company. My policies state I’m to report any POTENTIAL claim and has some pretty clear language with potential lawsuits. They don’t want to be caught with their pants down and scramble to cover their butt at the last hour
However I worked with a client on a timber trespass case, the neighbor hired a guy to do some view pruning, they topped many trees on dudes property and it was pretty clear he got exactly what he asked for. Yet the tree crew topped a tree which was across the property line (who really knows if this was part of the job).
Anyway, my client was pissed and the neighbor blamed the contractor (likely a handshake or nothing of substance on paper). Totally threw the contractor under the bus. This became obvious when my scope of work was limited to the property line trees and not the other 2/3rds that got the same treatment.
All the trees are within critical areas, and it was a slash fest with no cleanup.
They sent a demand letter, and turned out won $80k in damages after a decent fight with the contractors insurance company.
Anyone can write a demand letter, and it would be cheaper than hiring a lawyer. First call would be a consulting arborist to document the damages, second would be an attorney, third would be a letter to the contractor, neighbor, and appropriate insurance companies.
Insurance will likely string it along, but settle as it is overall cheaper than arguing it out with lawyers in court for a case with no determinant outcome. Still a gamble which will cost money in the short term with no guarantee of return or remedy.
Round here the state publishes verification if contractors insurance policy numbers and company. My policies state I’m to report any POTENTIAL claim and has some pretty clear language with potential lawsuits. They don’t want to be caught with their pants down and scramble to cover their butt at the last hour
Last edited:
Stumpsprouts
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Asheville
I’ve never heard of a demand letter. I’ll look this up later, but if you have the chance to describe what that looks like in this context I’d love to hear.
Appreciate everyone’s thoughts. I don’t think this is a big damages kind of situation. I don’t think my customer is looking for anything other than for it to be cleaned up to their satisfaction. They’re rightfully angry and the company dropped the ball. Probably wouldn’t be having this conversation if they had left their info and offered to clean up their mess. The stub will likely get cut back as it’s glaringly obvious when you pull in the driveway.
Last edited:
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
It’s pretty simple. Cleanly describe the situation…
Hello xxx,
On (date), you were preforming tree work for my neighbors spruce tree which was broken. As you can see in the attached photos one of the limbs from my oak tree was also removed across the property line. I did not authorize the work and to the best of my understanding this constitutes timber trespass which contains a treble damage award.
Please pay xxx so I can have these damages corrected by my arborist as my tree was disfigured. (Insert a detailed quote, for the stub removal and future pruning needs to get the tree back into shape) (and or include the cost of a replacement tree, and projected establishment costs.)
You have until x date to reply with payment for xxx, if this is not resolved by xxx please be informed notice of suit will be filed in xxx court.
Thank you for your understanding and prompt response.
CC: insurance company (policy number), neighbor.
Wet signature and date
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
But this is not legal advice and should be reviewed by a lawyer, potentially under their letter head.
Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
They get delivered as Certified Mail often too. Great way for some folks to push around neighbors too: a branch fell off your tree on x date and is a hazard that should be removed immediately. But worded by the rich owner of the rental property without an actual hazard assessment…
Al_trees
Participating member
- Location
- Connecticut
Well said, although replacement of the tree does not seem reasonable or necessary.
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
Maybe but maybe that limb served a irreplacenable function.. As others noted the tree has had some large low stuff removed, but who knows? Maybe that limb blocked the neighbors motion light?
TreeCo
Carpal tunnel level member
Looks kind of trivial and I would not get involved in it.
Most of it has nothing to do with arboriculture, IMO.
Most of it has nothing to do with arboriculture, IMO.
Al_trees
Participating member
- Location
- Connecticut
Possible, although that was not brought to our attention. However yes in that case a tree planted to grow up and cover the light would not be unreasonable. However not taking the rest of the tree down.
There is one other possibility here and it is that the neighbor told the tree contractor, "go right ahead I have their permission for you to drive in and do the job."
"But there is also a branch in the way we would need to cut."
"Don't worry about it I already asked them and they said no problem."
People lie all the time about permission and access.
It is usually easy to spot though. The minor details. A "they won't mind" means nobody ever asked and the person is assuming and will throw you under the bus afterwards.
I just called a woman and her husband out on that the other week.
A vacant property next to her where I was asked to park in the driveway, cut three trees back to the trunk. All belonging to the other property. They gave me a bunch of b.s. explanations I didn't care to hear. Including that the city even said to go right ahead. They probably said she can cut whatever hangs over her property. The place is kept up.
I simply told her it would be trespassing for me to go over there without permission from the owner or custodian of the property. Any made believe additional cracks in the old driveway would be seen as my responsibility to replace the driveway. The trees which would eventually die would have been my responsibility to remove and replace as well.
It was at this point I was informed she had received several other estimates and that mine was the highest to prune only what was over her yard and she would have to go with someone else.
No doubt all non Arborists conducting illegal pruning. I said well good luck and left.
New threads New posts
-
test
-
-
-
-
-
Light 14 or 16" narrow kerf bar for 200t or 201t- Started by southsoundtree
- Replies: 9
-
