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Neighbor cut down our tree (2 Viewers)

greedygoat said:
The guy is in construction, he knew exactly what he was doing.
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This is my take, being in the industry myself.  Figure out how much it'll cost to replace it with something at least somewhat similar and have him foot the bill.  He's going to want to make things right you'd think... 

 
top dog said:
What about questioning the tree cutting company directly? "Hey Tree Guys! The neighbor said you cut down my tree by mistake! WTF??!!".. 

Bet you find out real quick if it was truly a mistake...
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When I stopped them yesterday, they were like "no, this was one of the ones marked to come down".  It didn't seem like any mistake to them yesterday.

 
Foosball God said:
He probably had the tree stuff scheduled in advance, hence trying to get a hold of the OP when he was unfortunately on vacation.  Yes the neighbor is the one starting things off on the wrong foot, but the question is, are you going to escalate this or are you going to be the bigger person and find some common ground.  It could have been a miscommunication between the neighbor and the tree company.  It is absolutely true that there is no way to replace the tree, so you'll get some money, that won't bring the tree back, it won't make you less upset that the tree got cut down.  All it is really going to do is further sour a potential relationship with your new neighbor.  If it were something that a monetary award would reasonably give you the ability to replace what you loss I'd probably feel differently.  In this case I'm not seeing how it is going to help anything.  This is also all before the neighbor as had to chance to offer any compensation at all.
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Again, IMO, he should have postponed the tree stuff until he spoke with the OP.  No excuses.  

I agree you give the guy a chance to make it right before jumping to action, but if all you get is an apology and a passing of blame to the tree company, you get litigious.  If he wants to blame it on a miscommunication, that's fine.  Threaten to sue the tree company.  They'll immediately divulge any communication between your neighbor and them if they're not in the wrong.  If they ARE in the wrong, win/win - you get paid, neighbor doesn't pay, all is well (except you still need to plant some trees!)  If they were just acting on the neighbor's orders, he's got some 'splanin' to do if he's telling you otherwise.  

I totally agree money won't get your tree back, but it also will let the neighbor know he can't just do whatever he wants on your property.  Neighbor issues are no joke - Anybody who treats something like cutting a tree down that isn't on their land needs a lesson.  I have a huge line of white pines that run along the back of my property.  They're 10 feet inside my property line and I know that via survey and a transit I used to site the line.  I want to cut them down at some point, but I'd discuss it with my back neighbor first as those trees are the screen between his house and mine.  I might not do what he wants me to in that case (and those trees are 100% mine), but I'll at least have the discussion with him and take his points into consideration because cutting them impacts his view.

 
If he follows through with the survey it means he is sincere about the matter. In our state it is 3x damages to cut down a tree. Its not just based on the value of the lumber.

If the survey comes back in your favor I think its likely that you can come up with a settlement though getting $ from the logging company would be the first choice.

 
TheIronSheik said:
I feel like you're just trolling me now.  If someone does something to your property, you'd just be like, "Well, I don't want to make them mad, so I won't say anything."  Talk about a doormat.
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I'm not trolling you. But in this situation, I'd give the neighbor the benefit of the doubt because:

1. It may have been an accident.

2. He quickly acknowledged the mistake.

3. He's trying to clarify the property borders, presumably to understand the magnitude of his mistake.

4. Cash wouldn't remediate the damages, at least not for me - I'd want the tree replaced, or nothing. But a single tree on a wooded acre lot isn't super important in my eyes regardless.

5. We haven't even heard his offer to fix the damage.

6. This interaction may shape their neighborly dynamic for years to come.

If I thought it was intentional, or a repeated pattern of behavior I'd definitely hold him accountable. Or the tree had sentimental value beyond the aesthetics and shade it provides. 

But the calls to "lawyer up" or start shopping for luxury cars are a bit much, imo. The former will surely make the situation more contentious, and I don't think a new Lexus will make things better either (see #4).

 
Nigel said:
You could say this about a lot of one-or-a-kind items, art for example. You saying if something is irreplaceable you just shrug if someone destroys it? Weird take.
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That's not what I'm saying. But I don't think a check for some relatively arbitrary value would sway me to go through the hassle and potential to alienate my neighbor for what was probably a mistake.

 
Ghost Rider said:
I definitely think the neighbor knew what he was doing and then tried to play the "blame the tree company" game.  
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I wasn't thinking this at first. But as it was brought up here, the more I think about it, I think this is almost certainly what happened.

First, this guy is an executive VP for a construction company and he's been in the business for over 25 years. He knows what he's doing. You don't have huge trees close to a property line taken down with unclear instructions. You don't hire a company to do this that doesn't get clear instructions on what to remove.

But, more importantly, those same 2 guys were there today. They were doing work as usual. I went out to take pictures and toward the end of the day asked them to leave the stump there for now. They seemed surprised and didn't seem at all aware that they had made any mistake. Surely if they were in the wrong, the owner would have said something to them this morning after speaking with me. On top of that, when I asked them yesterday to stop as they took down the tree, they told me at the time it was one of the trees marked to come down. They wouldn't do more and wanted to wait until it was clarified between the 2 of us. So they certainly seemed confident they were told that tree was to come down. 

He's not getting the survey until next week yet he still has them clearing out that tree. I had to ask them to stop a couple hours ago or that stump would have been gone.

 
gianmarco said:
I wasn't thinking this at first. But as it was brought up here, the more I think about it, I think this is almost certainly what happened.

First, this guy is an executive VP for a construction company and he's been in the business for over 25 years. He knows what he's doing. You don't have huge trees close to a property line taken down with unclear instructions. You don't hire a company to do this that doesn't get clear instructions on what to remove.

But, more importantly, those same 2 guys were there today. They were doing work as usual. I went out to take pictures and toward the end of the day asked them to leave the stump there for now. They seemed surprised and didn't seem at all aware that they had made any mistake. Surely if they were in the wrong, the owner would have said something to them this morning after speaking with me. On top of that, when I asked them yesterday to stop as they took down the tree, they told me at the time it was one of the trees marked to come down. They wouldn't do more and wanted to wait until it was clarified between the 2 of us. So they certainly seemed confident they were told that tree was to come down. 

He's not getting the survey until next week yet he still has them clearing out that tree. I had to ask them to stop a couple hours ago or that stump would have been gone.
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So, now you think he's been lying. How will that change your approach to the situation?

 
I had a similar thing happen last year except mine involved pine trees instead. I thought I started a thread but can’t find it. 

To recap, my neighbor wanted me to go in on cutting down some ginormous pine trees on the property line that kept leaving pine needles and pine cones in his driveway. But 3/4 of them were on my side of the property line. I said I wasn’t interested in discussing it and certainly would not be chipping in any money for it. 

Then one day I came home and all the trees on his side of the property line were gone and 4 on my side were gone too. When he saw me, he actually gave me a bill for my trees in relation to the total bill. I think they cut down 12 trees so he wanted me to pay 25% (although he said by right he could demand 33%).

I laughed in his face and told him where he could stick his invoice. He made it out like he was doing me a big favor. I not only refused to pay but told him I would explore legal options. Then he refused to finish up cleaning up the stuff that he cut down on my side of the property line. He of course went the route of “the work crew cut down the wrong trees so why she he have to pay for it or clean it up.”

I basically told him if he cleaned up what he did to my trees on my side of the property line I wouldn’t do anything else or go after him, so he begrudgingly took away the mess and that was the end of it. 

 

 
Anarchy99 said:
I had a similar thing happen last year except mine involved pine trees instead. I thought I started a thread but can’t find it. 

To recap, my neighbor wanted me to go in on cutting down some ginormous pine trees on the property line that kept leaving pine needles and pine cones in his driveway. But 3/4 of them were on my side of the property line. I said I wasn’t interested in discussing it and certainly would not be chipping in any money for it. 

Then one day I came home and all the trees on his side of the property line were gone and 4 on my side were gone too. When he saw me, he actually gave me a bill for my trees in relation to the total bill. I think they cut down 12 trees so he wanted me to pay 25% (although he said by right he could demand 33%).

I laughed in his face and told him where he could stick his invoice. He made it out like he was doing me a big favor. I not only refused to pay but told him I would explore legal options. Then he refused to finish up cleaning up the stuff that he cut down on my side of the property line. He of course went the route of “the work crew cut down the wrong trees so why she he have to pay for it or clean it up.”

I basically told him if he cleaned up what he did to my trees on my side of the property line I wouldn’t do anything else or go after him, so he begrudgingly took away the mess and that was the end of it. 

 
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You got badly taken advantage of.here. The cleanup was hardly sufficient.

 
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The fullest the law would allow. He told the guy he wasn’t interested in removing the trees. The guy did it anyways. What conclusion do you draw in that case?

Poor behavior like that needs consequences. Maybe he’d think twice next time.

 
Ranethe said:
The fullest the law would allow. He told the guy he wasn’t interested in removing the trees. The guy did it anyways. What conclusion do you draw in that case?

Poor behavior like that needs consequences. Maybe he’d think twice next time.
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Not sure. But unlike the OP, this guy intentionally ignored his neighbor's request. Depends how much I valued the trees and my free time to make the ##### accountable for his actions.

 
You know for a fact he didn’t tell them specifically not to cut that tree down.    They wouldn’t have cut it down if he did, it’s a giant tree, if they were told not to touch it they wouldn’t have. Not tree guys fault here. 
 

eta: I see you agree with this now 👍

 
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mozzy84 said:
You know for a fact he didn’t tell them specifically not to cut that tree down.    They wouldn’t have cut it down if he did, it’s a giant tree, if they were told not to touch it they wouldn’t have. Not tree guys fault here. 
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You may be right, but it isn't beyond belief that a worker(s) did something stupid. 

If the neighbor was hell-bent on downing the tree, why attempt to contact Gianmarco at all? He could've just played really dumb and plead ignorant of the tree's relationship to the property line.

 
Terminalxylem said:
You may be right, but it isn't beyond belief that a worker(s) did something stupid. 

If the neighbor was hell-bent on downing the tree, why attempt to contact Gianmarco at all? He could've just played really dumb and plead ignorant of the tree's relationship to the property line.
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I dunno, it costs a lot of money to cut trees down.   Normally you walk around with the guys and mark all the branches/trees that are coming down.   It Would be a pretty big mistake (and a lot of extra work) by a tree crew especially if they were told not to touch it like they should have been being he didn’t know if it was his.   But you correct any thing is possible these days. 

 
mozzy84 said:
I dunno, it costs a lot of money to cut trees down.   Normally you walk around with the guys and mark all the branches/trees that are coming down.   It Would be a pretty big mistake (and a lot of extra work) by a tree crew especially if they were told not to touch it like they should have been being he didn’t know if it was his.   But you correct any thing is possible these days. 
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All true, but I still wouldn't put it past an incompetent and/or intoxicated worker(s).

 
"I'm a bit pissed about the tree but not enough to get into a squabble with my new neighbor.  I heard you run a construction company?  Good.  You owe me a hookup in the future.  Want a beer?"

 
I've come around on this based on all the other information offered here. Really doesn't seem like an innocent mistake and this guy took advantage. #### him.

 
I think I am changing my mind also. He’s doing to many suspicious things. You better tape off the stump with a do not remove sign until you get an estimate from someone or it will be gone at some point.

 
Did he have permits to cut the trees down? In some places, you need them, depending on tree type.

And dude is in construction. Measure-twice, cut-once kind of guy probably. In that profession, you mark or label $(%^ all the time. Put a big X on each cabinet you want pulled off the kitchen wall, or a beam you want removed. That kind of thing. If he didn't mark that tree to be cut down, it's probably because he didn't want to, perhaps for deniability. I find it hard to believe he just pointed to a bunch of tree and said "cut those." Usually you tie a ribbon around a tree or trees you want cut down. 

You should try to talk to the crew. Were they a one-off hire? You may find out they're some dudes who do regular work for him, which may make it hard to get the full story. Ask him for the crew's info. That may give you a sense of how willing he is to play ball.

 
The Iguana said:
I could see trying to get something from the tree company, if you really want. Otherwise, I doubt it would really be worth it to get a few bucks at the risk of making an enemy of a new neighbor, is it?
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This happened to a friend of mine (neighbor took down a tree on my friend’s property during a construction project).  There was a legal dispute and my buddy ended up settling for something along the lines of $50,000. Still may not be worth it depending on your perspective, but it was more than a few bucks. 

 
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AAABatteries said:
If the options are the owner did it on purpose or the tree company screwed up I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be in favor of Gian getting reimbursed properly?  
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I’m not against it, though I doubt proper reimbursement (restoration of the tree) is even possible.

I don’t like the calls to escalate the situation before the neighbor gets a chance to make it right, nor the assumptions he downed the tree intentionally.

ETA It’s interesting that early responses were mostly of the “let it go” flavor, while later ones are more “#### that guy” 

 
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Foosball God said:
So your new neighbor attempted multiple times to contact you, was apologetic about a mistake, and you're thinking of putting the screws to him for 3x the value of the tree.  Don't get me wrong, I understand why you're upset, I would be too.  But this seems like a poor way to start a relationship with your new neighbor.  Did you guys even talk about potential compensation yet?
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this-IMO.

good luck with your new property.  sounds wonderful.  plant a couple of Autumn Blaze Maples.   Bright red color in the fall.

 
bigbottom said:
This happened to a friend of mine (neighbor took down a tree on my friend’s property during a construction project).  There was a legal dispute and my buddy ended up settling for something along the lines of $50,000. Still may not be worth it depending on your perspective, but it was more than a few bucks. 
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we need a WOW emoji.

50k? was this tree a sacred redwood or something? 

 
bigbottom said:
This happened to a friend of mine (neighbor took down a tree on my friend’s property during a construction project).  There was a legal dispute and my buddy ended up settling for something along the lines of $50,000. Still may not be worth it depending on your perspective, but it was more than a few bucks. 
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I never would have imagined there could be that kind of value placed on a tree. Thought the same earlier when people were quoting some prices. 

 
Cjw_55106 said:
You think guys that scale 50 ft trees with chainsaws routinely show up to work drunk? I get where you are coming from on your stance in the thread, but this is reaching quite a bit. 
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I think a lot of guys who do backbreaking labor do so under the influence of something. And as a rock climber, I’ve certainly seen more than a few people down some beers and smoke pot pre-climb.

I have a friend who is a tree trimmer; I’ll ask the next time I see him. Also, I’ll ask how commonly the wrong tree is cut down.

 
Amicable solution IMO is to have replace the tree. Assuming it's on your property you can probably get a albeit smaller version of the same tree, say maybe 10' from a local nursey. Hickory's grow fairly quickly (2' a year) so in a few years you'll have a sturdy addition to the backyard.

 
glvsav37 said:
we need a WOW emoji.

50k? was this tree a sacred redwood or something? 
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I posted a link above that show calculators for this stuff.  That number doesn't seem crazy at all when you figure that most states figure triple the damages.  From what I'm seeing, mine is in the ballpark of $20K, at least.

 
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