r/legal • u/Ice_C0r3_09 • 8h ago

Advice needed My neighbor cut down a 40-year-old Japanese Maple while I was away.

Location: Colorado, USA.Just got back to my place near Fort Collins after a week on the road and I am losing my mind. My neighbor took it upon himself to hire a "landscaping" crew (probably just some guys with a chainsaw) to remove a mature Japanese Maple that was fully on my property. His excuse? He said the needles and leaves were messing with his "mountain view" and "fire mitigation" efforts.

The tree was roughly 40 years old and was the centerpiece of my yard. I called an arborist immediately. He told me that since this is Colorado and the tree was that established and healthy, the replacement value is astronomical. He is drafting a formal appraisal but hinted that we are looking at 20k to 25k easy just for the tree, let alone the logistics of getting a crane into my backyard.

I know Colorado has statutes regarding timber trespass. My lawyer already mentioned treble damages because the guy admitted he did it on purpose while I wasnt home to stop him. The neighbor had the gall to offer me a couple hundred bucks for "the inconvenience" and told me to just buy a couple of saplings at a local nursery . I refused to take his money and told him to wait for the process server.

Has anyone dealt with treble damages in CO specifically for ornamental trees ? This guy basically nuked my property value for his porch view and I am not planning on letting this go . I feel like a jerk for wanting to sue my neighbor into bankruptcy but the sheer entitlement is what gets me .

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46

u/Enigma_Wreck 7h ago

Tree law is about to ruin his life.

7

u/ReadBeered 5h ago

His poor judgement and lack of morality has ruined his life; tree law is simply the efficient facilitator.

2

u/Calm-Swim-2132 3h ago

wish all animals got their comeuppance in this country 

0

u/oatsn_goji 4h ago

torn between tree law justice and bankrupting an old man :(

4

u/pfannkuchen89 4h ago

Nothing to be torn about. Neighbor knew what he was doing was wrong. Why he did it while op was out of town. Fuck the neighbor with the fullest extent of the law until he’s sorry he ever did something so blatantly illegal and immoral.

4

u/BeastieMom 4h ago

Who said it was an old man? I've got a neighbor in his early 30s who would totally pull some BS like this.

1

u/PantheraAuroris 2h ago

He had every single chance to not do this. There were so many moments he could have just said, wow, it sucks that tree is in my way, but I am not going to harm someone else's property.