- Jurisdiction
- Maine
Hello,
I hope that I am posting this in the appropriate section. I have a question regarding a potential timber trespass/boundary line tree case.
I purchased my current home in the summer of 2022, right after the sudden passing of my husband. At that time, I had a large wall of trees between my property and the property next to me. On that property, there was a vacant house in an obvious state of disrepair, but it never bothered me and I could hardly even see the house from my property due to the wall of trees. This property went up for sale in the fall of 2022, a few months after I moved in.
Fast forward to the spring of 2023, this property was sold and the old, dilapidated house was demolished. I then did not see anyone on that property for the remainder of the year.
Come spring of 2024 (April to be exact), there was obvious construction that was commencing on this property. I figured that the new property owner was building a new house and I didn't really think anything of it, that is until I returned home from a weekend away with my boyfriend to find that the ENTIRE wall of boundary line trees had been cut down. I was in absolute shock and was horrified. It looked absolutely terrible. Also, the removal of these trees entirely stripped me of my privacy and I could hear every bit of road noise, which I could never really hear before (I live on a fairly busy main road in my town). Eventually, it became clear that it was not a single family home that was being built next door, rather a 2-story, 4-unit apartment building. Obviously, I was NOT the least bit happy about this, but I figured there probably wasn't much that I could do; however, as time went on, the noise coming from this property as well as my lack of privacy got worse. Once tenants started moving in upon completion of the building, it quickly went from bad to terrible. The noise is almost nonstop, I can see directly into the windows of this apartment building, and I am dealing with a great deal of light pollution from the headlights of cars coming and going from this property at all hours of the night, which light up nearly my entire house, frequently waking me up and disturbing my sleep. My 3 upstairs bedrooms (one of which serves as my office since I work from home) all directly face this property, as does the large picture window in my living room.
At the end of last year, my boyfriend, my best friend, and my parents all finally convinced me that I very likely had a solid case for a lawsuit since boundary line trees cannot be removed without the agreement and consent of both property owners and they urged me to seek legal counsel ASAP. They also informed me that the removal of these trees very likely diminished the value of my property. I did consult with my realtor, who is also a friend of mine, and she 100% agreed. I began doing some research and I found the planing board meeting minutes on the town's website, which outlined the plans for construction of this complex. This meeting took place in Mach of 2024. I immediately knew that I had a case upon reading this:
"As shown on the Proposed Site Plan in Appendix 15, all proposed site features are located
within their respective setbacks. The proposed development falls under the category of
"B-3: multifamily development" according to the town Zoning Ordinance and is a
permitted use within Residential Zone B. Furthermore, the residential units will share
aesthetic characteristics of surrounding buildings. The Applicant is proposing to maintain
the proposed tree line along the property lines to provide a natural buffer, and plant
trees as needed to meet parking buffer requirements."
Clearly, the property owner was blatantly dishonest with the town when applying for his building permit. Only a few weeks later, he had removed the entire tree line while I was away for the weekend. I did some digging online and found the name of the property owner, which is listed as an LLC, and I was able to find his registered agent, who happens to be a local attorney. I immediately sent an email to his registered agent, who got right back to me and informed me that he had passed my email along to the property owner, who called me the following day. We hadn't even been on the phone for a full minute when he said that he wanted to purchase my property from me via a private cash sale and asked me what my price would be. This caught me totally off guard. I do not want to sell my property, at least not at this time. I haven't even been in this home for 4 years. I told him that I wasn't really considering selling and that I would really need to take some time to think about it before I gave him a definitive answer. I then proceeded to tell him that I simply wanted either wanted the trees to be replaced or, at the very least, some sort of privacy fence put up where the trees were. He insisted that all of the trees that he cut down were on his property and that he had every right to cut them down. This conversation took place last summer.
Last fall, after going back and forth with the property owner multiple times and getting absolutely nowhere, I sought legal counsel. I found an attorney who told me that he thought I had a VERY strong case and that the settlement would likely be quite large due to the age, number, and size of the trees. Also, I live in Maine, which has VERY strict timber trespass laws and allows you to sue for 3x the value of each tree, and there were at least 15-20 trees that were cut down. This attorney took me on a contingent basis and I agreed to his fee if I were to win. He was also going to send an expert to survey the property line. However, a few weeks later, my attorney reached out to the previous owner of my home, who told him that she thought the trees were on the other property. My attorney immediately then dropped me, stating that, due to likelihood of failure based on his conversation with the previous owner of my home, he could no longer represent me on a contingent basis, and that was that.
This brings me to current day. I am seriously considering seeking new counsel. The situation is only getting worse between my total lack of privacy and all of the noise. My sleep is being interrupted on almost a nightly basis from headlights shining in my windows from the tenants of this building coming and going all throughout the night. I have been in contact with the my town's code enforcement officer since the owner of this property did not abide by the site plans of maintaining the tree line, who is currently looking into the situation and will update me later. However, my question is do I have a case??? Should I even bother seeking new legal counsel and continue pursuing this matter? I sincerely do not understand why my previous attorney dropped me simply based on what the previous owner of my home thought. She is far from an expert, but whatever she told him was obviously enough to make my attorney believe that we no longer had a solid enough case to proceed.
I'm exhausted and beyond frustrated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I hope that I am posting this in the appropriate section. I have a question regarding a potential timber trespass/boundary line tree case.
I purchased my current home in the summer of 2022, right after the sudden passing of my husband. At that time, I had a large wall of trees between my property and the property next to me. On that property, there was a vacant house in an obvious state of disrepair, but it never bothered me and I could hardly even see the house from my property due to the wall of trees. This property went up for sale in the fall of 2022, a few months after I moved in.
Fast forward to the spring of 2023, this property was sold and the old, dilapidated house was demolished. I then did not see anyone on that property for the remainder of the year.
Come spring of 2024 (April to be exact), there was obvious construction that was commencing on this property. I figured that the new property owner was building a new house and I didn't really think anything of it, that is until I returned home from a weekend away with my boyfriend to find that the ENTIRE wall of boundary line trees had been cut down. I was in absolute shock and was horrified. It looked absolutely terrible. Also, the removal of these trees entirely stripped me of my privacy and I could hear every bit of road noise, which I could never really hear before (I live on a fairly busy main road in my town). Eventually, it became clear that it was not a single family home that was being built next door, rather a 2-story, 4-unit apartment building. Obviously, I was NOT the least bit happy about this, but I figured there probably wasn't much that I could do; however, as time went on, the noise coming from this property as well as my lack of privacy got worse. Once tenants started moving in upon completion of the building, it quickly went from bad to terrible. The noise is almost nonstop, I can see directly into the windows of this apartment building, and I am dealing with a great deal of light pollution from the headlights of cars coming and going from this property at all hours of the night, which light up nearly my entire house, frequently waking me up and disturbing my sleep. My 3 upstairs bedrooms (one of which serves as my office since I work from home) all directly face this property, as does the large picture window in my living room.
At the end of last year, my boyfriend, my best friend, and my parents all finally convinced me that I very likely had a solid case for a lawsuit since boundary line trees cannot be removed without the agreement and consent of both property owners and they urged me to seek legal counsel ASAP. They also informed me that the removal of these trees very likely diminished the value of my property. I did consult with my realtor, who is also a friend of mine, and she 100% agreed. I began doing some research and I found the planing board meeting minutes on the town's website, which outlined the plans for construction of this complex. This meeting took place in Mach of 2024. I immediately knew that I had a case upon reading this:
"As shown on the Proposed Site Plan in Appendix 15, all proposed site features are located
within their respective setbacks. The proposed development falls under the category of
"B-3: multifamily development" according to the town Zoning Ordinance and is a
permitted use within Residential Zone B. Furthermore, the residential units will share
aesthetic characteristics of surrounding buildings. The Applicant is proposing to maintain
the proposed tree line along the property lines to provide a natural buffer, and plant
trees as needed to meet parking buffer requirements."
Clearly, the property owner was blatantly dishonest with the town when applying for his building permit. Only a few weeks later, he had removed the entire tree line while I was away for the weekend. I did some digging online and found the name of the property owner, which is listed as an LLC, and I was able to find his registered agent, who happens to be a local attorney. I immediately sent an email to his registered agent, who got right back to me and informed me that he had passed my email along to the property owner, who called me the following day. We hadn't even been on the phone for a full minute when he said that he wanted to purchase my property from me via a private cash sale and asked me what my price would be. This caught me totally off guard. I do not want to sell my property, at least not at this time. I haven't even been in this home for 4 years. I told him that I wasn't really considering selling and that I would really need to take some time to think about it before I gave him a definitive answer. I then proceeded to tell him that I simply wanted either wanted the trees to be replaced or, at the very least, some sort of privacy fence put up where the trees were. He insisted that all of the trees that he cut down were on his property and that he had every right to cut them down. This conversation took place last summer.
Last fall, after going back and forth with the property owner multiple times and getting absolutely nowhere, I sought legal counsel. I found an attorney who told me that he thought I had a VERY strong case and that the settlement would likely be quite large due to the age, number, and size of the trees. Also, I live in Maine, which has VERY strict timber trespass laws and allows you to sue for 3x the value of each tree, and there were at least 15-20 trees that were cut down. This attorney took me on a contingent basis and I agreed to his fee if I were to win. He was also going to send an expert to survey the property line. However, a few weeks later, my attorney reached out to the previous owner of my home, who told him that she thought the trees were on the other property. My attorney immediately then dropped me, stating that, due to likelihood of failure based on his conversation with the previous owner of my home, he could no longer represent me on a contingent basis, and that was that.
This brings me to current day. I am seriously considering seeking new counsel. The situation is only getting worse between my total lack of privacy and all of the noise. My sleep is being interrupted on almost a nightly basis from headlights shining in my windows from the tenants of this building coming and going all throughout the night. I have been in contact with the my town's code enforcement officer since the owner of this property did not abide by the site plans of maintaining the tree line, who is currently looking into the situation and will update me later. However, my question is do I have a case??? Should I even bother seeking new legal counsel and continue pursuing this matter? I sincerely do not understand why my previous attorney dropped me simply based on what the previous owner of my home thought. She is far from an expert, but whatever she told him was obviously enough to make my attorney believe that we no longer had a solid enough case to proceed.
I'm exhausted and beyond frustrated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
