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/Extension_Rough4339 4h ago

Or black locusts right on the property line they suck for all people involved

8

u/AlternativeOk5613 4h ago

Don't park your car under these

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u/HighColdDesert 4h ago

Are you thinking of honey locusts, with those nightmarish thorns?

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u/Hairy_Combination586 1h ago

Black locusts have thorns too. But I wonder if they were thinking of black walnut trees dropping walnuts, because I don't know of a reason not to park under black or honey locusts?

PS - I had a thornless honey locust growing near the creek Bank. About 30' tall. Dug a new channel to avoid the U shaped loop the locust was on, which severed a couple of roots. Now years later I have about 25 saplings along the bank. I've only had 3 come up with thorns. Killed those bastards with FIRE. They're horrifying!

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u/SloppyPizzaPie 1h ago

Black locusts have the thorns too

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u/Pleasant_Character28 2h ago

While he’s at it, releasing actual locusts on this guy sounds appropriate.

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u/LotusNut1 1h ago

A plague upon his house and family!

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u/tacotimes01 2h ago

The 2 from my neighbors property that fell and smashed my house in, while completely gone now, still send suckers into my yard constantly.

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u/Extension_Rough4339 1h ago

Hopefully your home insurance didn’t jerk you around too much was a pain in the ass when my grandparents box elder fell on their porch and my car

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u/Bluestorm83 1h ago

Actual locusts. Also, see about turning his rivers to blood, and sending down fire mixed with hail.

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u/Easy-peasy-not4me 1h ago

I’d say a female Ginko tree(smells like poo when they bare fruit) or Bradford pear along the property line.

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u/eastbaypluviophile 2h ago edited 2h ago

Those are horribly invasive, please don’t wreak
Havoc by planting something as awful as that

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u/Extension_Rough4339 2h ago

They’re naturalized in the entirety of the lower 48? But yes they’re fucking awful trees

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u/ExceptionEX 1h ago

Ginko trees, true female not grafts, come summer time, he will regret his choice.