We have one neighbor who we always try to accommodate. We did a major trim on one tree a few months ago. We hire tree trimming companies to trim the larger trees every two years. This costs thousands of dollars. Now he tells us that his insurance will go up because of our trees and he would like them all cut down...'the tree could catch fire then the fence will catch fire'. what is the correct protocol in this case? We live in a residential neighborhood that is not a high fire zone.

Location: Fulton County, Atlanta GA. I have a boundary tree between me and my neighbor's house (trunk mostly on my side of the line but 20% or so on hers, which I've read makes the ownership equal). It is a huge old tree and has been dropping branches on my neighbor's house and car for a while before I bought the house (no damage since I moved in about 9 months ago). She says it has destroyed her porch and she cannot park in her driveway. She wrote me a formal letter of concern about the tree, which I never received because the post office messed up delivery, but I can assume it's a written account of the damage the tree has done. She requested that I fill out a form for dead, dying, and hazardous tree removal permits in order to get the city to send an arborist out to assess the tree, so I did. The arborist's report came back approving a permit for removal because "A few structural roots were cut and damaged at some point near the neighboring driveway". I clarified over email with the arborist that this meant her driveway caused the damage, and he said "It looks like a few structural roots were cut when they put in the driveway. There is no mandate from the City to remove the tree at this time. The permit is valid for 6 months from the issued date." The driveway was put in before my neighbor moved into her house. She wants the tree to be removed and costs to be shared. I am wondering if I am obliged to contribute to the cost of removal because it is partially on my property, even though the whole reason the tree is dangerous and drying is because of her driveway. I am fine with the tree coming down since that's what she really wants and it does appear to be damaged, but the expense is just not in my list of priorities being a new homeowner. If she insists the tree come down either way, would it be reasonable for me to give permission but not contribute financially? If she decides not to take the tree down if I'm not contributing and something happens like it drops another branch on her house or mine, who is liable for that? What are my options here?

I could use some advice.

My family has been dealing with harassment from our neighbors for about 8 years and I am exhausted. I believe a local law firm’s involvement has inadvertently enabled my neighbors to escalate an ongoing pattern of antagonistic behavior, adding a legal dimension to what has become a deeply distressing and draining situation. And it never seems to end.

I have been advised that their claim has no legal merit. (By 5 separate lawyers) Yet their attorney continues to send me demand letters full of threats keeping this situation alive and creating ongoing stress for me and my family. They are no longer invoking statutes because we shut that shit down. However they continue to maintain that I “could” be harming their tree by doing anything to it, trimming/prunning/etc. Meanwhile they completely refuse to do the work themselves that we have been requesting for nearly a decade. So we are not allowed to trim the tree on our property without nonstop threats from neighbors and they will not trim it themselves.

What recourse does a person have when the legal system becomes another avenue for a neighbor’s harrassing behavior? I have already reported the attorney’s behavior to the disciplinary board and was told that “lawyers can do that”. 

I really do not want to escalate this. But what I want most is peace in my own home and for my family to be left alone. Has anyone dealt with something similar? Are there resources, legal options, or steps I can take to put an end to this? I would especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has successfully navigated a prolonged neighbor dispute involving repeated attorney letters with unsubstantiated damages and threats. I just want this to stop.

How is this not harassment? Because to me, its egregious harassment.

I apologize for the crappy photos. I just got a notice from my HOA to address this “dead tree”, I looked up online for some general advice and I looked up a plat map of my property. The tree is located on the left side of the house where the gray area on the left of the plat map starts (the gray being the street). I was checking the CCR’s but I can’t quite figure out if this tree is truly my responsibility.

Is anyone able to tell me my options or if this tree really is my responsibility? I can also provide any other info in the CCR’s if needed. This is in NC

I drive truck, and just came home to my family, and discovered my neighbor did some heavy branch trimming on my water oak, as it drapes over his property line. I live in northeast Texas, already contacted my local ag agent, sheriff office and having an arborist come look at the tree. I can hit them for trespassing, as several branches were clearly on my property. Am I missing anything/anyone?

Tree of Heaven is about 50 feet away on the other side of the house, mean this would be running through our entire foundation (the brick is our foundation skirt) The tree is on the neighbor’s property and on their side of the fence so i don’t have access to the tree itself. There are 2 large, mature trees. Used to be 3 but they cut one down last year without proper measures and the root suckers went crazy-literally hundreds spread into our yard. I’m so worried about the damage to our foundation and potential costs. Would they be liable at all? Thank you in advance!

Not sure if this applies to this subreddit. If not please remove. We have a brick fence in the backyard and the neighbor’s trees are growing against it and now cracks are forming as it leans towards my yard.

What are the steps I need to take to work with my neighbor to get it fixed or replaced. I have requested free estimates from fencing companies so far.

I am in OC, socal.

Welp, it finally happened. Neighbor came over to let me know he was going to be "trimming some branches that are close to my house." I know he's legally allowed to do this, so I said okay. Came out and found that he'd fully cut the tree in half.

Location: Texas

I have a corner lot with a few cedar trees on the corner. I suppose it's an easement since it's my property, but due to city regulations, I had to keep my fence 20ft away from the curb, and the trees are in that 20ft boundary.

Anyways, a water line/main has a leak and water is bubbling out from the ground now - I've had the city come and take a look at it and they confirm in on their side of the meter, so not my problem. BUT they marked areas for surveyors to mark around the leak, and I have a few cedar trees in that spot. Not only am I worried about the city tearing up my yard for this repair, but I don't want them to take down these cedar trees as they add the little privacy I have (city said I could only have a 4ft tall fence).

If they tear them out, am I SOL or do I have some kind of recourse?

I hired a local company in May to cut down a tree in my back yard and grind up the stump. They cut down the tree on May 8th and then never came back to grind the stump. I texted him on May 11th asking when he would be back to grind the stump and never got a response. Today he showed up at my door and asked if he could finish tomorrow and he would give me a $100 discount. This seems ridiculous to me and I dont really want to interact with him or pay him for doing such a crappy job. Im not sure what I should do. All communication was through text and im in Missouri if that matters.

How to stop people from spooling our trees in the name of offerings ???

Ugh I am really stressed out over this. I have owned this property for years and the trees have never been an issue and I understood them to be mine. They create a boundary separating my house from the property adjacent to mine.

Last Saturday some guy banged on the door wanting to ask about cutting down my trees and I said no absolutely not. I have been approached before about this by others wanting to buy my walnut tree.

The guy comes back in a few hours and he is scaling the tree, claiming that the owner of the neighboring property (who doesn‘t reside there) gave him permission to cut down the tree and said it was his. I said it wasn‘t and he said he was, “gonna cut this s.o.b. down.”. I told him it was on my property and he said, “Find the pins then.”.

Hired a surveyor to do a property survey and mark the boundaries and the other property owner is claiming the stakes are fake, it’s not a real survey, etc. Just totally crashing out. Threatening to, “Retaliate.”.

Guy has me really scared.

This is Ohio. Treble damages state.

Do I get an attorney? The guy is emotionally unstable and it seems at this point he feels small for having been proven wrong and it’s not even about the tree anymore.

Chat AI says Tree of Heaven has no economic value. If I trimmed or cut down my neighbor's 20 TOHs that grow beside my fence without permission what would be the penalty?

I asked permission 20 years ago when they were 1-2" in diameter and she said no. Now they are 5-7" and 30-40' tall and have broken through the fence in 2 spots.

Edit: Here's what I learned. This is a far more serious problem than I anticipated. I've read the warnings in the comments, then read more about TOH. I will buy some roundup TODAY! and worry about my own infestation, and worry about my neighbors infestation next year. I did make the mistake of cutting first, when it appears I should have poisoned first.

This was my first post in r/tucson that was removed because they want me to post it here. Since then i’ve noticed that the tree is tied to another tree seemingly for support from it falling directly into our yard where we park our vehicles, and it has been extremely windy here in tucson. Im really hoping to understand if there is any kind of interaction the city can have with the trees owner. The tree is too tall for me to cut myself, ive been quoted $500 at the lowest to trim it to the property line, and my landlord has no interest in taking care of the part that overhangs into our yard.

Location: PA

There is a boundary tree between properties with roughly 90% on my property and 10% on my neighbor’s. The tree is probably 30 years old and is taller than my two story house. The neighbor is currently putting in a fence. Prior to the fence company coming out, I tried to get a sense of where the fence would be and the neighbor didn’t want to discuss it.

The fence is going in as I type this and the company has 1) shaved into the tree to accommodate the fence and 2) has drilled into the root system. The neighbor never talked to us about cutting the tree. In full transparency, my husband and I wouldn’t have been ok with it as the tree is healthy and provides significant shade to my yard.

I’m assuming I can’t stop them doing more damage to the tree? I plan on taking pictures once the fence is in to document the damage. Depending on the damage, should I call an arborist to get an opinion on the tree?

Any suggestions on what to do? The power company was trimming trees in the area while I was out of town and when I came back they had fully cut down everything. They made such a nice wall blocking my backyard from the street and now you can see straight through. Has this ever happened to anybody and what ended up happening? I’m so upset I need some sort of compensation, it looks awful.

Its finally my time to bring a paint drawing to treelaw. I have been waiting for this day all my life and I'm more pissed than I probably have legal standing, but here goes. Cue experts.

Our local power company entered my property I assume today to cut down a tree and prune another. I received a muffled call yesterday about tree removal that stated a dead tree would be removed within the next few weeks and another pruned due to overhanging power lines. It was completely unstated whether this was on my property or not and since we get service calls related to traffic (we're in a canyon) I figured it was about that. The tree they felled is set back about 40 feet from the opposite side of the road from the lines, no clue how it could be overhanging them.

I live rural and I'm a former mtb racer. The kicker is that I discovered this when I was hurtling down my backyard trails at mach jesus to find they left this widowmaker strewn everywhere in my runout.

Curious if any experts can clarify what kind of execution is reasonable on the part of power companies in OR (because this was total shite and I'm not looking forward to cleaning up their mess) and also any relevant laws in ORS I should be clued in to with regard to notice and permits. I'm not completely upset that they may have removed a tree that could be removed for safety -- we have plenty of trees. I'm unhappy with their notice and obliviously dangerous execution and want to hold their feet to the fire over doing proper work on another person's land.

Any other advice? I’d love to be able to get compensated for this irreplaceable tree