Homeowner seeks advice after neighbor trespasses, butchers tree: 'She has no right'

One Redditor's nightmare manifested itself in the form of their neighbor, who literally and figuratively crossed the line over a landscaping dispute. 

"I have an incredibly pushy neighbor who likes to tell me how to be a better homeowner," they began their post in the r/treelaw subreddit. 

They explained that after moving into their Michigan home a couple of years ago, the neighbor immediately requested them to trim an overgrown shrub and has repeatedly pestered the original poster over menial gardening tasks. 

"I've played 'the good neighbor' and took care of the landscaping that she didn't like, sprayed the lawn to take care of the 2 or 3 dandelions, and even helped her with random chores," they said. "This Summer I paid a small fortune to have all of our trees trimmed. She was aware of this and even complimented the results."

Despite this, the neighbor still had a crew of three uninsured college students enter the OP's yard to trim off any branch that crossed property lines.

"Now the tree looks funny missing all of its branches about 20' up on one side. The tree is now lopsided and I need to have a professional determine if it's at risk of falling toward my house in a wind storm," they added.

The botched job left the user wondering if they needed to hire professionals to assess the damage or if it required legal action. 

Unfortunately, Reddit is littered with similar tales of homeowners dealing with trespassing neighbors who overstep their boundaries. One person had their neighbor mow all of their flowers, while another received a bill from a neighbor who reduced their tree to an oversized stump without permission.

Much like those instances, the comment section was quick to offer the original poster empathy and suggestions.

"I can understand if she wanted to remove some branches overhanging her car or roof or something up to the property line, but she has no right to hire unlicensed help to come onto your property and damage your property," one person wrote. "I'd definitely call an arborist and assess the damage done to your tree, if any. And get a camera that sits high enough to not be touched by others." 

"A higher camera would have been key. I never wanted to be the paranoid neighbor with cameras all over, but it would have made this case easier," the user responded, noting that they had a camera but that it was "suddenly angled toward the ground the day the work was done" in another comment.

"It's not paranoia, it's security. If you have fire extinguishers in your house, you're not paranoid of fires, you're prepared," the first commenter replied.

"Stop humoring her by 'taking care of the landscape she didn't like.' This is a person you can't give an inch to," another Redditor said. "Get an arborist. Report her to the HOA. Tell her to stay off your property."

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