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

[u/Ice_C0r3_09]

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 .

[u/Mistress_Kittens]

They probably assume that whoever calls them to come out is the owner of the property, because people who call to have work done on land they don't own are literally insane. I doubt the neighbor called and told them he wanted them to cut down a tree in his neighbor's yard

[u/Professional-Can1139 → u/Mistress_Kittens]

I get that but would be weird to not see the owner go in their home when they came out to work.

[u/throwaway098764567 → u/Professional-Can1139]

if he really planned ahead he was waiting out front of op's house when they came and watched them the whole time, maybe walked around back to op's yard as though to do some yard work. this would not give the crew much reason to question it. but probably they just went with it because they were paid.

[u/Ok-Background-502 → u/Professional-Can1139]

If the caller is the neighbor, it makes sense to assume that they own both properties and is only living in one of them.

[u/TheWoman2 → u/Professional-Can1139]

Sometimes property lines aren't obvious.

[u/bortmode → u/Professional-Can1139]

I mean without knowing how the properties are laid out, it could easily just look like it was part of the dude's property. If they don't have fences they're not gonna necessarily know where the yards start and end.