TheDirtyWord
Footballguy
Asking any attorneys in here...maybe more specifically in Georgia. But would love insight/advice/guidance based on the facts as to how I lay them out below.
Last month, I was on my deck, and noticed something askew about my view. A whole bunch of 30 foot high Leyland Cypress trees were no longer there. 7 to be precise.
Holy!
A little history. I've lived in the same house for 20+ years. Our house was actually the first house in the neighborhood. It is 100% accurate to say we've seen everything go up.
My house is on a raised level, meaning the back of it looks down on the row houses beneath me. The back line of my property also spans 3 different homes, but the missing trees only were along the adjacent property line of the house on the far left.
In 2010, as more and more people started to move in after the housing collapse, wifey and I determined it was time to landscape this slope and we brought an architect in to plan it all out and then execute. As with any slope of this nature, some of it was my land, some belonging to the properties below me. We took great care to ensure all work was done on our property. Over the years, everything grew in and gave us privacy to anf from the homes below.
Fast forward 15 years later, and here we are.
So I have taken all sorts of pictures and even went back and was able to find the original receipts and plan of the work that was done (wifey is a hoarder) as well as the site plan for our lot from the builder. I've also done some looking into state law which delves into trespass and timber removal which indicates pretty stiff penalties based on fair market value of the trees for the act this neighbor committed.
One issue is that based on the size of the trees as they stood prior to getting cut down...you simply can't find those on the market. The largest ones you can get are around half the size. Secondly, it would almost be impossible to access the site where the trees had been planted now from my property as everything else has grown in. Lastly, I likely wouldn't replant as now that wifey and I are empty nesters...we're more likely at the end of our tenure here versus the beginning when the kiddos were single digits.
By chance as I was walking along the back, the neighbor was working on hacking out another tree which was on his property. Evidently, this tree fell over onto his house and while it caused minimal damage he obviously needed to have this cut down and the only thing that remained was a keeled over stump. He had worked with the HOA over a 6-month period to gain approval to get my trees cut down as he considered those 'a threat'. But I guess in the process, noone did any homework with respect to who the trees belonged to. Point to note: He moved into this house in 2019.
Long story short, I indicated I'd be looking for restitution.
Since then, what I have noticed is that I do believe he had a surveyor come to confirm the information I told him about the plot and where the property line was and I have photographs confirming that the stakes the surveyors put in showed the trees to be mine.
Also, I took pictures of the stumps and on one of the stumps was a 'grid' pattern that has been cut into the wood. Chat GPT suggested that this was a way to determine value by square inch which would imply that he not only had the trees/cut/removed, but also profited from it. As I think about it...of course he did, right?
So anyway, I put together a settlement package as I'd prefer to not go to court over this and settle this as neighbors. Had it delivered to him via FedEx with a signature requirement.
They declined delivery of the package which I'm not surprised by in that it doesn't take a genius to know that he's likely in deep doo-doo with the law on a number of fronts (trespass, theft, unlawful timber removal).
So I'm now securing 'free consultations' to get a clearer legal picture on how to move forward. While my settlement offer was quite fair/reasonable...I'm inclined to close that door and maximize the penalty.
I've seen many a folk document their journeys on various endeavors and ordeals...and despite being here for 25 years...this would be my first (save for the ill-fated kidney stone thread). But to the question, any advice/direction?
Last month, I was on my deck, and noticed something askew about my view. A whole bunch of 30 foot high Leyland Cypress trees were no longer there. 7 to be precise.
Holy!
A little history. I've lived in the same house for 20+ years. Our house was actually the first house in the neighborhood. It is 100% accurate to say we've seen everything go up.
My house is on a raised level, meaning the back of it looks down on the row houses beneath me. The back line of my property also spans 3 different homes, but the missing trees only were along the adjacent property line of the house on the far left.
In 2010, as more and more people started to move in after the housing collapse, wifey and I determined it was time to landscape this slope and we brought an architect in to plan it all out and then execute. As with any slope of this nature, some of it was my land, some belonging to the properties below me. We took great care to ensure all work was done on our property. Over the years, everything grew in and gave us privacy to anf from the homes below.
Fast forward 15 years later, and here we are.
So I have taken all sorts of pictures and even went back and was able to find the original receipts and plan of the work that was done (wifey is a hoarder) as well as the site plan for our lot from the builder. I've also done some looking into state law which delves into trespass and timber removal which indicates pretty stiff penalties based on fair market value of the trees for the act this neighbor committed.
One issue is that based on the size of the trees as they stood prior to getting cut down...you simply can't find those on the market. The largest ones you can get are around half the size. Secondly, it would almost be impossible to access the site where the trees had been planted now from my property as everything else has grown in. Lastly, I likely wouldn't replant as now that wifey and I are empty nesters...we're more likely at the end of our tenure here versus the beginning when the kiddos were single digits.
By chance as I was walking along the back, the neighbor was working on hacking out another tree which was on his property. Evidently, this tree fell over onto his house and while it caused minimal damage he obviously needed to have this cut down and the only thing that remained was a keeled over stump. He had worked with the HOA over a 6-month period to gain approval to get my trees cut down as he considered those 'a threat'. But I guess in the process, noone did any homework with respect to who the trees belonged to. Point to note: He moved into this house in 2019.
Long story short, I indicated I'd be looking for restitution.
Since then, what I have noticed is that I do believe he had a surveyor come to confirm the information I told him about the plot and where the property line was and I have photographs confirming that the stakes the surveyors put in showed the trees to be mine.
Also, I took pictures of the stumps and on one of the stumps was a 'grid' pattern that has been cut into the wood. Chat GPT suggested that this was a way to determine value by square inch which would imply that he not only had the trees/cut/removed, but also profited from it. As I think about it...of course he did, right?
So anyway, I put together a settlement package as I'd prefer to not go to court over this and settle this as neighbors. Had it delivered to him via FedEx with a signature requirement.
They declined delivery of the package which I'm not surprised by in that it doesn't take a genius to know that he's likely in deep doo-doo with the law on a number of fronts (trespass, theft, unlawful timber removal).
So I'm now securing 'free consultations' to get a clearer legal picture on how to move forward. While my settlement offer was quite fair/reasonable...I'm inclined to close that door and maximize the penalty.
I've seen many a folk document their journeys on various endeavors and ordeals...and despite being here for 25 years...this would be my first (save for the ill-fated kidney stone thread). But to the question, any advice/direction?
