Property ?

[dogo]

I am having proplem with a guy and his wife that bought the property next to me. Back in 1988 when I purchased the land with the understanding the land be surveyed, which it was. The surveyor said it was exactley 40 acres . That was what it was suppose to be and I was satisfied. Now lets jump to 2011 I sold some hard wood next to Mr. A to get on a Government program to plant Long Leaf pine to help 5 spicies that were on the endangered list. A good program the Government would pay 50 %. Anyway the cutter got over on this man's land and cut a few tree's mostley 12 to 15 year trash cut over. In other words the lady who had control over the land before she went into the nursing home cut every and anything to the bare ground. and never replanted . So what was there just came up on its on.. But still I got a few of Mr A's tree's ans at first he told my son's wife to be it was'nt a big thing don't worry about it etc. The next thing I knew he kelp calling my son and his girl. I called and told mr A that My son did'nt have a thing to do about it and I said I was sorry and I really did'nt mean for that to happen. I said what was gotten was very little and I would do right about it. He wanted me it seems to pay to have his back and side surveyed. I told him I knew where my corner's were and he could shoot that one line. Anyway next thing I knew he had a Forest Ranger come to my house said said there had been criminal activley that I had cut over the line and several trees were cut. He said He had to have it surveyed and would have to pay for them to count the stumps. And if found guilty would have to pay double what thet were worth. Well I got 7$ a ton for hard wood pulp. He had that one side surveyed while I was gone somewhere. I did'nt see or know who the surveyer's were. BUt from whatMr. A told my son was he had 40 acres. The previous owner said 39. So that is to be decided. AS long as he don't get from me ! Anyway him and his wife are driving these 6 ft. steel fence post on the PROPERTY LINE. He said the surveyor told him he could put the post directly on the line. I'm sure he can. My QUESTION IS WHEN HE DOES THIS ? DOES THAT POST BELONG TO ME ALSO ? CAN I MOVE IT ? It seems if he put it on the line it's just as much mine as itis his > Can someone give me an Answer ? Thank you

I am curious why you would care if he puts a fence on the property line .

[blufford]

So you have to pay for Forest Ranger stump counting. Now that's an interesting concept.

[elevenpoint]

good fences make good neighbors.....I have been working on the fences that surround my farm this past year and I don't think they are MINE, in a perfect world whoever shares that line would both maintain it, however, I have the time and the barb wire is not much so I am keeping the fences maintained, replacing some corners, etc.....and the fences were here before I bought this farm so considering how much it would cost to run 5000'+ of fence, I am more than happy to maintain them.

[eggzackly]

If he puts it even a half inch over, it is yours, and you can do as you please with it. You cannot remove one on the property line, is my understanding.

[mountainwmn]

Our rules here are it has to be 2' on your side of the line. So you can fix it if you need to. If you have zoning you might want to call and ask them.

[dogo]

WVHB I really don't care about the post being onthe line . As long as it is on the line. I don't think I should pay for his survey . Even on one side. I know where my corner's are he could shoot a line from corner to corner. The corner's are marked real well. He told my son that his survey cost him 800.00 and he paid the stump counter's 250.00 and I had cut 78 of his tree's. My son and I reccounted the trees. The stumps were marked with orange paint. . The biggest according to his survey was on my side "5" there were other's. Some were old some on the line. Now I got 7 dollar's a ton for Hard Wood pulp. Even if you counted all the tree's 78 how many ton's would there be in " PULP " Keep in mind that these were what I would call trash tree's from a clear cut before Mr. A bought the property. What would be fair for both of us. That's all that I ask. He threaten my son saying we need to settle before he gets a lawyer. That he would stick me with his Lawyer fee plus the survey his stump counter's and the 78 tree's That I supposenly cut ? Which is wrong. He told my son he had about 3000 dollar's in it so far. But would settle fo about 1500.00 or 1600.00. He said out of pocket so far was the surveyor's and the stump counter's. He needed to know what I want to do and quick. Why does he call my son instead of me ? I told him a while back that my son had nothing to do with this property! That I owned it to see me. But he tells my son to tell me such and such, etc, etc, . What is wrong with this guy ? He know he is wrong and a shame to admit it.

[blufford]

You said in your first post....."cut a few tree's mostley 12 to 15 year trash cut over"
Now its closer to 78.

That's about 20 bucks a tree. Offer him 1500 bucks and be done with it.


besides, depending on where you're are located you could sneak over at a later date and steal his ginsing.

[Stonybrook]

I agree. This could get really nasty (-ier) pretty quickly. An attorney would easily cost you more than $1500 in a flash. I would be done with it, but first I might be really inclined to run a line (string) from corner to corner on the survey you had done and make sure they match. If they don't match, you have a different problem.

[springvalley]

Well I don`t think we know the whole story, but if your tree cutter took some of his tree`s, YOU are in the wrong, not him. Here each landowner is responsable for their half of the fence. I have no idea what your laws are. > Marc

[Molly Mckee]

I don't know where you are but here in WA it's 3 times the value of the trees + the owners costs. It doesn't matter what you sold them for, it's the value of the tree. Honest loggers are very sure where the property line is and stay away from it.

[kirkmcquest]

You cut 78 of your neighbor's trees!!! You did wrong, I'd be furious if you were my neighbor. You've got a lot of nerve, fella.

[dogo]

Yes fellow I have plenty of nerve when I'm rubbed the wrong way. It just so happens out of the 78 25 were on my side of the line and the other 1/2 was old cuts. There is more to this than meets the eye. When he first got the place I still had farming and hunting rights to said property. I never enforced the lease. I'm sure I will get rich at 7 dollars a ton. I offered to pay him for the trees or replace them in the begining . What would you call a clear cut that has grown over ? Trash trees . Black jack, dog wood , popular, sour wood to name a few. NO SAW LOGS JUST PULP. I hate that the cutter got over. I would never had that to happen if I had known. I know how this guy and his wife are . They look for an easy buck or something for nothing. If not he would be willing to sit down and decide on the right thing for both parties.

[Vydra]

I agree that you really should determine where the property line is.

And I may be wrong, but I don't think dogo is saying he cut 78 trees. The #78 is what the stump counters and neighbor are claiming he cut. However, how did the stump counters know where the property line is?

Whatever the case, you do admit you cut some of his trees; so perhaps you can call him yourself and try to work it out so he doesn't continue to call your son?

[Lisaa]

I would see if you could find an attorney to have a FREE consultation with, or even a few attorneys......... if you talk to more than 1 and they tell you the same things about the laws, then you can be pretty sure you are getting the right info..... you could also go to the court house and ask people in various offices where to find out the actual laws in your area.

[sashay]

geez dogo...I don't get your anger so I apologize in advance if I missed something. but YOU are acting all ----y and it would seem that YOU did wrong. Okay granted it was not on purpose...but you are still responsible for cutting down your neighbor's trees. If I were your neighbor I would be plenty upset about this and here you are harping on the guy calling your son...maybe because he does not want to deal with your attitude that YOU have been wronged when that is hardly the case? Surely your son has the intestinal fortitude to tell the guy to call you if he does not want to talk to him. You are harping on WHERE the property line is and while that is important...the fact that you cut your neighbor's trees is the big deal. NEVER MIND that you did not get rich...and that does not matter either. If I were in a position to have clearly done wrong, on purpose or not, I would be over at my neighbor's trying to reach an understanding that we could both live with and not harping on crap that does not matter (like him calling your son and your perceived value of his trees that you cut down). If he makes good on his threat to get a lawyer...well YOU are still in the wrong and the price you pay to fix this is going to skyrocket. No matter what...you are going to be living next to this guy for awhile...do you really want bad blood over YOUR error? Geez louise take him a pound cake and a check already. Not worth fighting over when you are wrong. Just my opinion...but let there be peace on earth...and let me be brave enough to admit when I screwed up. Just fix it already....while you still can.

[nancy237]

If you have the corners marked and can run a line I can't figure out why you didn't clearly mark the property line before he cut..You knew he was going to be right next to the property line.

neighbor wants it cleared up & you keep telling him you know where the line is.
If you know you should have marked it for cutters. I say he has a right to survey .

The post he is putting in..is it a fence or just corner post to mark the line

[Danaus29]

Your state most likely has laws covering line fences and property line marking. Without knowing your state no one here can help you find that info.

I've got a neighbor who if he cut my trees would have a hard time keeping warm this winter because his propane tanks are right on my line, not 10 feet away as is required by propane regulations. And I would sue him for the damage to my property.

[BarbadosSheep]

Those might be trash trees to you, but they were HIS trees. Maybe he was planning on letting it go back to natural forest again. I'd be highly upset if my neighbor harvested a bunch of trees off of my property and then had the nerve to get mad at ME for it.

[FoxyWench]

personally id offer him the $1500, get him to sign a statment saying the case is now settled and that no further acton will be taken by either of you and move on.
let him put up the fence as long as its on his side or ON the property line...
personally id be quite happy for a neighbor to fence on the line as thats one less section of fencing i need to put up lol.
but make sure it is on that line, if it crosses onto your property at any point move it directly onto the line (or have him move it) but otherwise i wouldnt bother with it...

personally i would lay some kind of rope or something right along your property line so he nows you nwo where your boundry line is too.

remember, youve got to live next to this guy and while 40 acres is alot of space between you...
well id be avoiding unessicary conflicts.

sounds like hes being arkward to be arward, but overall id just move past it.
especially since if id have been your neighbor, id be upset too...trash trees or not...
you clearly state your property line is very clear, so why not mark it out for your arborist so this wouldnt have happend? all it takes is some rope strung from corner to corner if its a straight line.