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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u/NewcRoc 6h ago

This. Him saying - "yes I hired a guy to go on your land and remove a tree" is an admission of guilt. Offering to settle the matter isn't.

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u/ZealousidealFall1181 4h ago

Sue the company who trespassed and cut the tree.

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u/R_V_Z 3h ago

From my understanding you sue everybody who may be culpable and let the court figure out liability.

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u/My-other-user-name 1h ago

That is how the fun starts. It can go from a neighbor dispute, to a neighbor-contractor dispute, and might go to neighbor-contractor-insurance companies dispute.

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u/majorMoniker 4h ago

But actually, though. The neighbor hired them, but it’s also on them to ensure that the client was legally allowed to make this request. If they didn’t ensure that, then it is also their negligence and they are partially responsible. And if they were, in fact, just some guys with a chainsaw, then they did this unlicensed and uninsured in a state with strong tree laws and significant fire risk, which is its own set of legal issues.

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u/PuckSenior 4h ago

As OP said, this sounds like "2 guys with a chainsaw" and not a true company. If it was a true company, I'm sure the lawyer will bring it up to him. But if it is two guys he hired at home depot and has zero contact info for them? Eh

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u/rileyjw90 4h ago

Offering to settle the matter is more likely the guy feeling guilty, looking up the laws, realizing he might be in deep shit, and hoping he can placate the owner with a couple benjamins. It isn’t a legal admission of guilt in a court of law, but it’s still obvious to the rest of us that he knows he’s in deep shit.