The Beginning
Michael’s heart raced as he busted through the doors and ran down to them. He was shouting at them to stop. He waved frantically as he tried desperately to get their attention.
He was angry as he told him that he never agreed to this. Immediately, the man stopped cutting the tree, dialled a number, and handed him the phone. This was just the beginning.
Dream House
Michael and his wife, Emma, lived in a nice area just outside Nashville, Tennessee. Recently moved, they wanted to make some small changes to the backyard to really make the place their own.
As with many houses around the area, their yard was big and was lined with many trees along their property line.
The Trees
In fact, the oak trees that lined the end of the backyard were one of the reasons they decided to buy the house. They were a beautiful array of colors all throughout the year.
But there was one errant mulberry tree that seemed to always block the sunset and so, they decided to start looking around for quotes on the cost to chop it down. That’s when the trouble started.
A Strange Request
But there was one errant mulberry tree that seemed to always block the sunset and so, they decided to start looking around for quotes on the cost to chop it down. That’s when the trouble started.
He had even offered to pay him, but Michael and his wife loved the shade they provided and the privacy the enormous oak trees afforded them from the road. Michael hadn’t thought much of the strange request at the time. Unfortunately, his neighbor hadn’t forgotten.
Pure Luxury
You see, Michael’s neighbor had spent a lot of money building a front porch just before Michael and his wife had moved in. It included a fire pit, hanging lights, a jacuzzi, and a pizza oven.
Michael was even a little envious of his neighbor’s lavish outdoor entertainment area. But this new addition to the house had one problem.
His Bugbear
Every day after work, Michael’s neighbor would kick back and relax in the jacuzzi. But something would reliably ruin his mood.
To his great annoyance, the huge oak trees on Michael’s property line spread its branches across the sky and cast the neighbor’s new deck in complete shade during the prime hours of the afternoon. So, of course, he jumped at the chance to ‘help’ Michael when he approached him.
Getting 'Help'
Michael’s next-door neighbor owned a tree-cutting business and so Michael asked him if he could come around to have a look at the potential job and get a quote off him.
He was going to compare his price to everywhere else he was inquiring after but hoped his neighbor wouldn’t charge him as much. If only he knew what his neighbor actually had in mind.
Newbie
After he showed him around, he told his neighbor that he would be out of town for a week, and his neighbor told him he’d work out the numbers and drop the quote in his mailbox when he came back. But he never did.
Michael thanked him for his help and told him he appreciated his time as he knew very little about tree-cutting costs. The last house he lived in didn’t have a garden so this was all new to him. As was what soon followed.
Arriving Home
It was one week later when Michael found himself enraged, shouting at a stranger to stop what he was doing. What on earth was happening?
Michael and his wife had just arrived back home from their trip. As a lawyer, she works incredibly long hours, so she rushed straight to the office. So Michael was the first to see the horrific scene unfolding right before his very eyes.
Horrific Surprise
A week after Michael’s neighbor popped over to provide a quote, he came home to the sound of engines. Confused, he followed the sound to the back of his house and his eyes opened wide.
In his yard was a number of large trucks and equipment from his neighbor’s tree company. Then he saw what they were doing.
Race Against Time
They had already started to cut down trees at the end of his backyard. And not just the one they wanted gone. No, they had already cut down a number of their beloved trees.
Michael’s heart raced as he busted through the doors and ran down to them shouting at them to stop. He waved frantically as his voice was drowned out by the loud machinery.
Sudden Stop
One worker saw Michael sprinting toward him and immediately shut off his engine. When he understood what he said, he immediately hopped out and waved at his crew to stop what they were doing.
Michael looked around at the devastation and angrily asked him who had given them permission. He replied that they had been told to chop down these trees by their boss, his neighbor.
The Damage
Michael briefly surveyed the damage and felt like crying. His yard was now mashed grass, stomped-on flower beds, and fallen branches. And amid it all, the barren and sawn-off stumps where his beautiful oaks had once stood.
Michael began to fume. He couldn’t believe that his neighbor had done this!
Confusion
Michael, intensely confused, told him that he never agreed to any work taking place here. Immediately, the worker rang his boss, Michael’s neighbor, and handed him the phone.
After a heated, short conversation, they hung up. The workers left his property and Michael was left with huge fallen trees and debris scattered around his yard. This was just the beginning.
What Could He Do?
Michael stewed about what to do next, but there was nothing he could do. The trees were gone, callously sawn down to a row of dead stumps. He tried to confront his unbelievable neighbor, but he was lying low and his phone went straight to voicemail.
Then, to add insult to injury, he found a note that his neighbor slid underneath the front door.
Insult To Injury
When Michael read the note he was incensed. He took to Reddit to ask for some anonymous advice.
“When I returned from vacation last week, I came home to two tree stumps, mashed up grass, and a letter telling me to expect a Venmo payment for $2000,” Michael angrily explained in a Reddit post. His neighbor really thought that throwing money at the problem would make it go away.
Devastated!
When Michael’s wife came home, she was devastated that her beloved trees were gone. And she hated now being able to see the cars pass on the busy road that hid behind their old trees.
The next day, they wanted to sort this out with their neighbor but there was a problem. The trees that were cut down and left messily on their land had slid onto the busy road after a night of heavy rainfall.
Knock Knock!
They woke up to the cops knocking on their door. They were informed that the trees were their responsibility, so they would need to pay for the expense of the city moving these massive trees.
They explained the situation, and with Michael’s wife being a lawyer, she was able to calmly and effectively avoid blame and responsibility for this. But that’s when things got interesting!
Answering His Prayers
Michael’s Reddit post had attracted hundreds of comments in just a few days. Many users were just as stumped as he was, but then one of them advised him to repost his question on another thread called “r/treelaw.”
He scrolled through that particular Reddit thread and couldn’t believe what he was reading.
Tree Law
Michael had no idea that there were lawyers who specialized in ‘arboreal arbitration.’ “Tree law is anything that you can imagine that might give rise to disputes between people concerning trees,” says Barri Bonapart, a California tree lawyer.
Shortly after he moved his post to the new thread, everyone was telling him to get an arborist in ASAP. It turned out that Michael could do something about his audacious neighbor after all.
Tree Doctor
After weeks of back and forth, and growing annoyance at the loss of their beautiful trees, Michael finally had a plan.
They ended up hiring an arborist, or 'tree doctor,’ to determine the value of the trees they had lost as a way to get their neighbor to admit his wrongdoings and pay up.
Rabid Followers
Redditors on the r/treelaw Reddit thread waited for an update from Michael with bated breath.
“I assure you, we are all anxiously awaiting how many zeroes are in the estimate that the arborist gives you so you must promise frequent update posts,” one user wrote. “Who doesn't love a good bit of well-deserved justice?” salivated another. And when he did, everyone lost their minds.
Valued!
To the couple's astonishment, their trees were valued at a ridiculously high price as they were rare oak trees that took hundreds of years to grow.
They then hired an attorney and equipped him with all the knowledge they gained from the tree doctor and the overhanging bill left by the council to clean up the road. It was then when he told them of how much they could sue his neighbor’s company for...
Out Of Town!
Their neighbor’s mistake led to a $1.2 million lawsuit to cover all damages created by this incident, including covering attorney fees, road clean-up fees, and the value of the decades-old trees he cut down.
The neighbor declared his business bankrupt and shut it down. He sold his house and moved out of town, too. Michael and his wife didn’t have to pay a penny!
Victory
“It's going to take a long time apparently (several months, possibly all the way until September since the process didn't start until just this week due to the Holidays),” Michael wrote on his update, “but I will have all 12 trees back on my property at no cost to me!”
“I want to thank everyone for all their advice, it was a huge help!” he continued, “I didn't know you all were so into trees, but I'm glad you are!”