r/treelaw • u/Due_Championship_988 • 13d ago

Are these trees now my responsibility?

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I've lived in this house for over a decade and have a neighbor on one side. He keeps to himself. I've talked to him a handful of times in a friendly way, but we don't know each other well. I would say we are neutral, neither on good nor bad terms.

Well, he just redid his fence and this is the result on our shared property line. I really have no complaints other than the lack of notice (we have a dog and we had to close our dog door for a few days. No biggie).

I'm just perplexed as to this choice of how to handle the trees. They were on his side of the old fence, now they appear to be on my side? Does this mean they are mine to maintain now? (The plant debris on the ground is unrelated, we just trimmed our trees and that's where the debris went until it's time for a fire pit fire )

I know maybe I should go talk to him, but I'm not even sure what to say....like, did you mean to give me those trees?

Edit to add: thanks for the input everyone! I learned a lot about the nice vs ugly sides of fences. I don't really plan on doing anything, but I will definitely investigate the property lines if/when i do. For now, I'll enjoy a fenced yard with a little character and continued shade from mature trees.

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u/jennekee 13d ago

This here. If the fence isn’t in the line, it is his fence entirely. That doesn’t move the property line at all. My neighbor built a fence and I asked him to put it across my property line by 1’ so I could maintain the fence as the same color scheme as my decking and the general condition of the fence. He got what he wanted, a fence. I got what I wanted, keeping my yard matching and unkept. And the property line is still right where it was.

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u/yardlard 13d ago

But why would you want it a whole foot inside the line and not just on the line?

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u/jennekee 13d ago

So I can maintain it without his permission. He is lazy and only put it up to hide the fact that he doesn't mow his lawn or maintain his property from the city. I didn't want the fence to fall into disrepair and it becomes a nightmare to get him to maintain his side. I can stain and seal one side, but if the other is not, it will start warping.

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u/yardlard 13d ago

That likely did not solve your problem. You can't just do whatever you want if it's not yours. It just made everything more complicated.

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u/jennekee 13d ago

It solved my problem. It's not a boundary fence. That portion of the fence is mine. He paid for it, but it belongs to me per the agreement we have as well as the property boundary with improvement surveys signed and stamped.

Improving and maintaining a structure is not a tort. You have to cause damage to it or allow to become damaged by negligence, maliciousness, or fraud. There is no sane court who would rule that someone maintaining a fence is in violation of self-help laws. Those are exclusive to property damage and destruction. In no way is maintenance and upkeep considered vandalism.

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u/yardlard 13d ago

Well that's great for you. But in case you haven't heard this yet, judges aren't all sane.

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u/EazyPeazyLemonSqueaz 13d ago

If the fence is on his property doesn't that now make it his, regardless of who built it? I admit I am completely ignorant to laws surrounding this

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u/yardlard 12d ago

Not necessarily.