Wasn't sure where the right place to post is, but trust the OB braintrust to provide mostly good advice on my situation and tell me if I'm crazy and the best way to proceed.

I share around 150 feet of a property line with a neighbor who backs up to my house. The property line is about 30 feet wide of trees and thick brush; between 0 and 10 feet of which is on my side of the property line. This stretch of land is in my front yard alongside my driveway. The neighbors decided to put up a fence along that stretch.

I found out that a fence was going in after another neighbor texted me to go outside and I discover their contractor cutting down my side of the line to access the property line. Luckily they had only touched the part that didn't have much on my side, nevertheless they did clear stuff on my side.

I told them to only clear out the opposite side, they don't have permission to clear out my side. That was last Friday. I attempted to contact the neighbor via Facebook but did not get a response and nobody was home (turns out they were out of the country until last night). I basically let it be since I had already told the contractor to not touch anymore of my side.

Today, the contractor shows back up and I find them clearing out more of my side and when I tell them to stop they basically tell me to f*** off and I'm not the ones paying them, they needed to clear to run the string line between pins (which is BS). They ended up clearing quite a bit of my side today, roughly 3 feet on average along the property line for them to have space to "work".

I spoke to the neighbor tonight, who I had never met prior since they back up to me, and he was very sorry, embarrassed, etc. all the things you'd hope for in a situation like this. He said he'd make it right, which is great.

My problem is that I don't know how he can make it right, it's a lot of mature trees (biggest one was 10") plus all of the yaupon and other miscellaneous brush and natural cover.

Any thoughts as to how I should be reacting to this and what, if any, my next steps should be? Should I pursue a negligence claim against the contractor? Am I overreacting?

ETA pics…don't have pics of everything yet but here's what I have, 2 before, the rest after

We're mostly visual learners over here. Post pics. What kind of trees?

Yeah, I'm in for this one........

Tear down the fence (after they finish)

Burn down his fence!!!

I love a good tree law story.

Added to OP

You should cut him a check for taking out some yaupon

IN!

Dang, been a while since we had a good "neighbor cut down my trees" thread.


Were they cedar?

Quote:

---

I spoke to the neighbor tonight, who I had never met prior since they back up to me, and he was very sorry, embarrassed, etc. all the things you'd hope for in a situation like this. He said he'd make it right, which is great.

My problem is that I don't know how he can make it right, it's a lot of mature trees (biggest one was 10") plus all of the yaupon and other miscellaneous brush and natural cover.

Any thoughts as to how I should be reacting to this and what, if any, my next steps should be? Should I pursue a negligence claim against the contractor? Am I overreacting?

---

First, this would piss me off to no end. I am a control freak and I don't like people f-ing with my stuff.

HOWEVER...

If I am being totally honest from my unemotional "not my tree or problem" side, I think it's probably OK.

He cleared some brush, probably cut down some hackberries, which are brittle and suck anyway. They will also grow back very quickly. It also looks like they cleared just enough to get the job done, which is kinda nice.

I'd probably go stew and be a pissy ******* while also being happy that I'm getting a kick ass fence that my neighbors isn't even going to consider asking me to split with him.

That's my take, and it's probably a crappy one, but that's my opinion here. The fact that he was embarrassed and wants to make it right is enough for me to let it go. If he'd have said "f--- you, I'll do what I want since I'm paying them." then that would be different and I'd set his **** on fire (not really, but you get the idea).

The contractor, is still an ass for acting that way to a neighbor, by the way.

EDIT TO ADD: If you have pines, and judging by the caliber of the fence he is putting up, you will have your karma on that fence, if you will, after a few storms or freezes.

Trees were a wide mix of whatever grows in east Texas. A couple of small pines, china berry, sweet gum, others I'm sure as not no arborist. It was mostly small stuff under 2" with lots of undergrowth. Only about 10 trees over 2" up to 10". It was very thick and I could not see through it before, now I can.

Is the fence on their side of the property line? Are the corner survey monuments well marked?

If the largest tree they cut down was the one cut in between the fence posts, it looks like it might have been a sweet gum. You may want to ask the neighbor to pay a landscaper to plant a few nice native trees and or shrubs of your choosing as a replacement.

The pins are well marked and the fence is on their side. The posts are right up to the pins to the point that the pins are in concrete too.

OP, you have two options:

1) Go gangbusters and draw a wiener with diesel and roundup in his front yard, or

2) Wait two weeks for all of the yaupon to grow back taller and thicker than before.

Choose wisely!

I'd ask for $200 for every tree 2-4" at the base and $500 for any trees over 4" at the base.

Your choice whether it's replanted or not.

That's not fair replacement value either, if you were to buy and then plant those caliper trees it'd be MUCH more expensive.

Get an arborist to give you a quote on the damage, then use that to sue the contractor. Have beers with your neighbor and keep him entertained with what you're doing to the contractor.

I see no real issue from the pics. Every tree will grow now that it's been cleared, you won't be able to see across in a year and now you have a real fence barrier instead of junk trees. You owe him in my opinion especially if he's a cool neighbor who felt bad you were upset. I wouldn't say anything and be a good neighbor. I wouldn't fight over something that that in the end only benefits you both and which you paid nothing for.

Not trying to take sides but as a rancher and having built lots of property line fence in Texas and in the Ozarks here is just some thoughts.
OP when you bought your property you knew there was no fence between your property and should have known that somebody might need to build one.
Looks like he is building a very quality fence and did not call you to ask you to go in on it so your getting a good fence for free.
I call and talk to all my neighbors before building a new fence and have never asked them to pay on any of it... even if I am building the fence to keep their livestock out as I have none. In your defense he should have called you.. and then, perhaps being a good neighbor, you could have offered to pay for half? Would you have done that?
So what would you have told him about your brush and trees if he had told you he was planning on building it? Would you have told him " well I don't want the fence but if you do build it, stay right down the string line and don't touch my brush or trees? "
You guys are going to be neighbors in the future so maybe the solution is to offer to pay your half and then hit him up on paying for your trees he cut down.
How will you handle it in the future if one of your trees falls on the fence?
I can definitely see your side. The 10" tree would be of concern. The brush and 2" saplings... not so much. Thinning them out would probably make some of them grow better.
I have always asked my neighbors about accessing and the amount of clearing on their side. Not one has ever cared. In fact most have asked if we would clear wide enough so they could get a tractor and bush hog on their side.
You guys should work it out like two grown men and don't bring lawyers into it. If you do one of you is going to dislike the other one from now on.

Take whatever anger you have out on the contractor. Don't burn bridges with your neighbor over this. You're getting a quality fence and not having to pay for any of it. Yeah, your neighbor should have game planned with you, but with his reaction, it's probably best to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I'd go scorched earth on the contractor though.

Pay him double for the chinaberry and sweet gum.

This times 500.

Not good advice. The contractors attorneys are going to bring the neighbor in anyway. He will spend attorney fees also.

Besides... cutting the brush and trees down should actually be a good thing.. that way no birds can build a nest in them, no squirrels will climb in them, no hawks will sit in them to catch a poodle, and no foxes, coyotes or bobcats can hide in them. That would be perfect for all the folks who constantly belly ache about all those birds and animals around their house and yards on the OB all the time.

Of course I knew someone could put a fence in there and have zero issues with that. This fence is in my front yard, my back yard is already fenced. I don't gain anything by having a fence there so no, I wouldn't pay half. I could live here for the rest of my life and not care to put a fence there.

I don't care if they use my property or trim up some things to facilitate building the fence, I'm reasonable and generally non confrontational. However, nobody asked me anything and they went scorched earth by cutting stuff at the base. Sure, some stuff will grow back and fill in, but the section in 3rd picture (1st picture is same area last Thursday) is 15 feet wide where they really did some work and there is nothing left to fill in, there's a similar section further back that I don't have a picture of. Also, again, this is the side of my front yard, we sit out there while the kids play, I had a wall of greenery that was on my property that is now greatly thinned out or gone altogether. I have 300 more feet of this in back that I wouldn't care so much about if it was cleared.

They did most of the butchering after I had already asked them to clear out the neighbor's side if they needed a path to work. I don't feel like I'm being unreasonable and the contractor showed complete disregard to my property. I'm good with the neighbor and don't put the blame on him, he showed me their text messages and he was clear about what to do and the contractor didn't listen. The main thing I'm wondering is whether or not to take action on the contractor - it wasn't just a "whoops", it was intentional and negligent and as others have mentioned, it's not cheap to fix.

The contractor said eff you, we want to get paid.

Remember that and proceed accordingly

BrazosDog02 said:

---

Quote:

---

I spoke to the neighbor tonight, who I had never met prior since they back up to me, and he was very sorry, embarrassed, etc. all the things you'd hope for in a situation like this. He said he'd make it right, which is great.

My problem is that I don't know how he can make it right, it's a lot of mature trees (biggest one was 10") plus all of the yaupon and other miscellaneous brush and natural cover.

Any thoughts as to how I should be reacting to this and what, if any, my next steps should be? Should I pursue a negligence claim against the contractor? Am I overreacting?

---

First, this would piss me off to no end. I am a control freak and I don't like people f-ing with my stuff.

HOWEVER...

If I am being totally honest from my unemotional "not my tree or problem" side, I think it's probably OK.

He cleared some brush, probably cut down some hackberries, which are brittle and suck anyway. They will also grow back very quickly. It also looks like they cleared just enough to get the job done, which is kinda nice.

I'd probably go stew and be a pissy ******* while also being happy that I'm getting a kick ass fence that my neighbors isn't even going to consider asking me to split with him.

That's my take, and it's probably a crappy one, but that's my opinion here. The fact that he was embarrassed and wants to make it right is enough for me to let it go. If he'd have said "f--- you, I'll do what I want since I'm paying them." then that would be different and I'd set his **** on fire (not really, but you get the idea).

The contractor, is still an ass for acting that way to a neighbor, by the way.

EDIT TO ADD: If you have pines, and judging by the caliber of the fence he is putting up, you will have your karma on that fence, if you will, after a few storms or freezes.

---

Appreciate your thoughts, this is where I was at before I posted and still where I think I'm at. My wife said that I just needed the OB to validate my feelings which is probably true (she's pissed too but doesn't hold grudges like me). There's still that part in me that wants vengeance on this contractor.

As I said in another post, the fence is on the side of my front yard so it doesn't serve me any purpose - my back yard is already fenced with a similar style fence that they are building up to. If karma hits, it'll get us both.

No harm. Enjoy your new fence. Other brush / trees will grow back quickly in East Tx.

This is the problem that isn't a proven commodity.

They took what seemed like a dense thick line of vegetation, call it a living barrier, and cut holes in it and thinned it out, on his property. That's the rub.

It wasn't even a mistake by the contractor they admitted to clearing on the wrong side of the property line to build the fence. That's a big no-no, either build it on the line with zero impacts to me or move it back.

Am I overreacting?

Definitely…. And after seeing the pictures of a narrow lane cleared for the fence…. Most definitely.

Well, there's no point in shoulda/coulda/woulda opinions. I agree with some posters here. Tell the contractor to replant according to your specifications. If you like the wall of green, pick some nice large evergreen shrubs and tell him how many you want. If he refuses (and probably will) get an attorney involved. I'd inform the neighbor what you're doing. Sounds like the neighbor had the fence built in the wrong location. If you're not cost sharing with him, then he needs to build it far enough from the property line that the contractor can work both sides of the fence without encroaching on your property or get your permission to clear the property line on both sides.

Suggestion: call the sheriff and report the contractor for property destruction and file charges. Then tell the contractor you'll drop charges if he replants per your specifications. Good luck!

Homer,
Lots of sage advice here. Please keep us posted on your progress. The OB savors a good boundary fence dispute!

Have him buy you one 'memorial' plant for your yard (not too expensive), then see what kind of beverage he likes and enjoy it together.

Good neighbors are gold IMO.

Cutting down someone's tree can be an expensive mistake.

The fence is on the surveyed property line and the OP said it was on the neighbors side. How is it in the wrong location?

you just got a free fence. you should be thankful. For what they cleared to make way for the fence I wouldn't ***** about. It will be grown back up within a year. They actually did you a favor.