Can my neighbors cut their Arborvitae on my property against my will

5 years ago

Hello all and thank you for any advice you have regarding my situation.

so anyway, we have lived in this home (own) for 8 years now. The neighbors in question lived here before we came. In our backyard are his Arborvitae that line the fence on our property. The base are very close to the fence. So quite a bit of the shrub grew into our side. Including branches that lead to the tops of the plants (Towards our side) we are very reasonable people. When we first moved in. I let the guy come into our backyard to trim them because he wanted to do it. Also, we have a row of Arborvitae that lines our properties in the front of the house. They are on our property but we only kept them because the neighbor asked that we do. Also we let him have his boat cover partially on our property in the section pictured here. So it's fair to say we have been more then good neighbors. Well it turns out they are both raging alcoholics and the relationship went south fast. They have reported us to the city 3 times, two were unfounded, And one forced me to move a ton of gravel for parking and move our boat or we would be fined. (we had our boat in the front. They tell the neighbors that we steal from them etc..

So here is the issue he trims them all bare and gross on his side. So that he can see into our yard (Whats the point of the shrub then?) and when he trims the tops that lie on our property line it falls into our yard. Forcing me to clean it up and that's no fun.. Also my Aunt can't plant a garden or flowers there because the trimmings would just fall on them anyway. So about two weeks ago he was trimming the shrubs. And my uncle (the actual home owner) told him that "If any of that 'stuff' falls in my yard i'

m gonna charge you to clean it up" Needless to say words were exchanged. So he did not cut our side. We were very happy. Until two nights ago, the neighbors wife came to our back gate while we were gardening and said she called the state and that they are allowed to trim our side and that it can fall in our yard. Also told us she got a lawyer and that "we can get one too if we want." But that at 8 am Sunday morning he will be out there doing it. She was drunk and cussed out my entire family but this is beside the point. Other than to capture my motivation to have my property rights not violated.

Featured Answer

User

5 years ago

There is no use in doing anything until the OA can establish for sure where the property line is. You are calling people 'psychos' that may be entirely within their rights by pruning trees on their own property. They definitely aren't, in my book, someone you can call 'good neighbors' but then how you approach someone can dictate how they respond to you.

Get get all the facts first, then you approach them with confidence and explain why you are contesting their actions.

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Comments (16)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years ago
If the trees are on their property, they are free to prune off whatever they want that they can reach from their side. What they cannot do is venture onto your property to do any trimming without your permission. That is trespassing.

I'm not sure real estate law addresses how the trimming should be handled but common courtesy would suggest the one pruning - creating the mess - do all necessary clean up. But again, they would need your permission to do so on your property.
Austin Sahota thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
alley_cat_gw_7b
5 years ago
I'd have the mentioned property line surveyed and request POL markers...points on line- before anything else.
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User
5 years ago
Yes^. Fences are many time installed inside the property line of the owner. Our town has a mandate to ensure this. So those arborvitaes may be inside his property line.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
5 years ago
Some states have laws that say if you have maintained a piece of property for a certain amt of years, that's on a property line etc that might have belonged to someone else somehow it can become your property. The best way to find out the laws is to investigate your own state's laws or consult with an attorney.

Usually, if a tree is growing on your property but branches are overhanging into your neighbor's yard, they have the right to cut anything on their side of the property line.
Austin Sahota
Original Author
5 years ago
yes I get that. Thank you for your contribution. On the other end of that if the homeowner Does not want there part of that tree cut touched or otherwise disturbed we dont want them to see into our backyard anymore then they already can. And we've lived here 8 years now.
Austin Sahota
Original Author
5 years ago
Bill_minn when you say "inside his property line." Are you referring to me or the neighbor
User
5 years ago
Neighbor/Owner of the fence.

When a fence is installed here, you have to put it a few feet inside the property line, with the smooth exterior side of the fence toward the outside of the enclosed area.

He could possibly have property outside of the fence. The line could perhaps be somewhere on your side of the arborvitaes by a few if not several feet.
User
5 years ago
I did some further checking. This may be different in your area.

There are buried metal stakes marking the property corners/lines in our development.

We can request the city come and show where these stakes are. There is a charge.

That would tell you exactly where the line is.
roccouple
5 years ago
irritating but it sounds like you are dealing with psychos and this is the least of your problems. I’d be talking to a lawyer and installing cameras. sounds volatile and I wouldn’t worry about a few trimmings. Could get worse. I’d distance and de escalate. Consider moving. Figure out how to get them to leave you alone as much as possible or move.
Embothrium
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I have more than one adjoining neighbor with a history of taking unauthorized gardening actions on the edges of my 0.6 acre lot. And sometimes farther in than the edges. When I asked my lawyer - a real estate specialist who is also the city attorney for a community in my State - what to do about it he said I had to set up cameras and film the entitled trespassers in the act before he would be able to do anything about it.
User
5 years ago
Again, you have to know if they are actually doing anything wrong before you can contest it and knowing where the true boundary lines are would be a necessary component of that. Evidently the OA doesn't know that for sure.
Whatever
5 years ago
Oh my sounds like wacko neighbors
Get a dog to stay in your backyard .
plant some trees on your own side or get a taller fence if allowed
Embothrium
5 years ago
Again, you have to know if they are actually doing anything wrong before you can

With filming being a way to do that
alley_cat_gw_7b
5 years ago
That's right Bill......there's no issue here untill property line is confidently determined...everything else is speculation.
User
5 years ago
Embo,

You forgot the rest of my statement. :-)

'knowing where the true boundary lines are would be a necessary component of that.'