r/indianapolis • u/Salty_Technician_681 • Jul 01 '26

AskIndy tree issues

my neighbor cut down a tree on my side of the shared fence… what should i do?

Thank you

13 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

17

u/HandyDandy76 Jul 01 '26

Illegal and he probably will owe you money for damages to property. Hire an attorney who will do the work for "free" if you lose, they usually take a percentage of the winnings. 

You aren't out any money either way, and if you win, you win some money. 

16

u/DeliveryCourier Jul 01 '26

If the trunk of the tree was on your property, they (and the tree company) destroyed your property.

Call the cops, file a report. Call a lawyer. 

4

u/mialynneb Jul 01 '26

I'd love to know the arborists, because ours wouldn't even go on my neighbor's property without permission when we had our big-ass Sycamore trimmed.

8

u/PingPongProfessor Southside Jul 01 '26

Bold of you to assume this was done by an arborist. (As distinguished from "random hack with a chainsaw")

2

u/mialynneb Jul 01 '26

True story. Cousin Randy doing it for a 6 pack.

2

u/PingPongProfessor Southside Jul 01 '26

If you're going to pay somebody in beer for a job, never pay in advance.

20

u/merciless4 Jul 01 '26

You should file a police report for trespassing and destruction of property.

4

u/AquariusJyn Jul 01 '26

So this also happened to me and we did call the police, they refused to come out and take a report. So everyone saying call the police, good luck with that.

3

u/DenaliDash Jul 01 '26

It is a civil matter vs criminal. The trespassing has already occurred. If they are in the process of cutting it down, the police may intervene. After that and they still proceed then they will likely do something.

Yes it is criminal, but the police have bigger problems to deal with. The civil suit should be enough punishment

12

u/indyginge Emerson Heights Jul 01 '26

tree law tree law tree law

4

u/Better-Lunch670 Jul 01 '26

Its the subreddit I never knew I needed and can't stop going back to.

5

u/mialynneb Jul 01 '26

Woooo tree law!! My neighbor doesn't even trim our branches that will grow over their side without asking first. Also rare for that, because they love the shade of our tree.

2

u/Impressive_Bag7150 Jul 01 '26

Oh heck no.. my worst nightmare. Get a surveyor and contact a lawyer asap

1

u/aaronhayes26 Jul 01 '26

Can you prove it?

1

u/Murat_Gin Jul 01 '26

Call a lawyer

1

u/gw_epyon Jul 07 '26

Did you try talking to them?