Will she win a lawsuit??

What is the name of your state?New York

sorry this is long, but I want to be complete as possible so I can get the best possible responses.... thanks!

Back in May, my husband was arrested on trespassing charges.

He and I had gone onto my neighbor's property and cut back shrubs along the property line that were damaging our fence. We laid the branches on the neighbor's property to let the foliage die back before we disposed of it. We didn't do this maliciously or with bad intent. We thought the property was vacant due to non-maintenance for several months. In the meantime (less than a week later), the neighbor came to the property and signed a complaint against him for trespassing. So we didn't reenter the property to remove the brush. He went to court in June and was given a conditional discharge with the condition being that he didn't get in trouble for 6 months.

In the meantime, she moved into the house.

In the interest of being decent neighbors (and maybe trying to save our asses), we sent the neighbor a letter of apology explaining why we entered her property (she never went to court for this) and offered to remove the brush which had been our intent before this happened. This was back in June. She didn't reply for about 45 days. (mid-August). She said that she would allow us to remove the brush, and correspondence started in setting up a date.

Over the summer, I had a survey done to determine the property lines, and we found that the shrubs are right along the property line, with some being on my side (trunks that is) and some on her side. (As well as an encroaching retaining wall!)

My husband and I set up for a village truck to be delivered to dispose of the brush, and we requested a notarized letter from the neighbor giving him permission to enter the property so that he wouldn't get in trouble for trespassing again. We requested it to be delivered by a certain date for planning purposes. She didn't notarize her permission and it arrived a day late. We cancelled the truck and notified her that we wouldn't be removing the brush. This is where we are at in what I'm sure is not the end of the story.

The shrubs we cut back WERE growing vigorously up until recently, when either the lousy weather we've had or something neighbor did to them harmed them (I have pictures of the new growth that isn't there now from months ago for court). The brush is still sitting where we left it back in May.

We were introduced to our neighbor on the day my husband got the Trespassing ticket via the local police officer. The property had been up for sale, no sold sign was ever put up, and the maintenance on the property had ceased months before. No maintenance had been performed on these shrubs since I have lived here (7 years) except when I had cut them back to install a fence between the properties about 6 years ago.

In hindsight, we recognize our responsibility in trying to find out who the new owner is, but we didn't, and hence the trespassing charge.

Neighbor and us have NEVER spoken, EVERYTHING has been handled through correspondence via US mail.

My question is, based on this scenario, can she sue us legitimately for anything (meaning does she have good chance of winning a case against us?). I mean, she didn't request us to remove the brush to prevent damage to her lawn, and she waited what seems to me an inordinate amount of time to respond to our offer. She also didn't give us the notarized statement allowing us access to her yard to remove the brush, nor has she taken any steps of her own to prevent damage to her lawn. Also, the shrubs were thriving and now they aren't. And now that I have sent a letter requesting her to remove her encroaching structure from my property, I'm sure that she will try to bring this whole incident up again (her last letter to us stated that she retains her "rights to seek other remedies" , although up until now she has done nothing. She has not been proactive in rectifying this whole situation at all, except for calling the cops on us in the beginning. The rest has been initiated by us.

Please help!! I have a feeling this is going to become a full blown legal battle soon, and I just want to make sure that I am prepared. I have contacted a lawyer, but since nothing really has been done yet, I haven't retained one yet.

Does anyone here see any possible outcomes for this?? Does anyone know of any revenge tactics??

We plan on putting up another longer fence, and we plan on walking on eggshells (but only on our property) for as long as either of us still own our homes. It's really a shame that she had to call the cops instead of talking to us first. We're not unreasonable people.... but once bitten, I will try to bite back!!(legally of course). I have contacted the code enforcement officer about her property maintenance issues and sent her a letter "respectfully requesting that she immediately commence action to remove her encroaching structure". What else can I do???

Can I throw my dog poop over the fence???

Just keep doing what you are doing and if she does not remove the encroaching structure hire an attorney to write a demand letter. Then, if she doesn't remove it, sue her ass.

Leave the issue of the branches alone. She had her chance and now she can get her fat a$$ out there and do it herself.

As to the shrubs, you can trim ONLY that part of the shrubbery that is on your property. The better solution would be to errect a fence about a foot into your property tall enough to hide the shrubbery then neighbor and shrubs are gone forever .

And don't throw the dog feces. Throw the dog instead. A 100 lb mastif should do the trick.

Other options

I would definitley get hot on taking action against the encroaching structure, I think after so many years some states may allow the neighbor to claim the part of the property the encroaching structure is on.
As far as revenge tactics go, if you don't care for the shruberies at all, I'd douse them with stump killer from your local hardware store. I think it is safe to assasinate shrubs, as I can't see the state going as far as spending money to perform an autopsy here. This is also a good technique for getting rid of trees some counties claim you can't remove from your own property for environmental preservation purposes, even if they are a threat to the house. If you decide to take out the shrubs, just watch out for the Knights who say NEE!!

meerkat3232 said:

I would definitley get hot on taking action against the encroaching structure, I think after so many years some states may allow the neighbor to claim the part of the property the encroaching structure is on.
As far as revenge tactics go, if you don't care for the shruberies at all, I'd douse them with stump killer from your local hardware store. I think it is safe to assasinate shrubs, as I can't see the state going as far as spending money to perform an autopsy here. This is also a good technique for getting rid of trees some counties claim you can't remove from your own property for environmental preservation purposes, even if they are a threat to the house. If you decide to take out the shrubs, just watch out for the Knights who say NEE!!

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Two problems with your answer.

1. What you are describing is prescriptive easement and it takes MUCH MORE than 7 years and action on the part of the 'taker' of the land. This situation doesn't even come close.

2. The poster stated that 'part' of the shrubbery is on her land. By placing stump killer on the shurbs she is not only destroying her shrubs, but her neighbors, for which a lawsuit WILL ensue.

The trespassing issue would not have been an issue if you had gotten the survey and presented it. The encroachment is a separate issue.

thanks for the replies...

actually, when we were cutting the branches, we didn't know or care at that point whose they were because we actually believed that we were doing the property a favor by making it look better- not knowing that someone had bought it, and that maybe even whoever did buy it was benefitting from the free labor. These shrubs were/are junk shrubs, wild growing type that MOST people don't PUT on their property, but would spend the time and money to REMOVE them (at least in my experience). This property hasn't had any landscape maintenance in years except for regular mowings of the lawn, which was done by a company hired by the old bat who lived next door and never went out her backdoor. I would call them weeds out of control. And the reason I put the fence up in the first place was to block them out and in the course of 5 or six years they grew up and over and through my fence to height of about 15-20 ft. New neighbor called them "Lilacs" in her trespassing complaint, although she's never seen them bloom. And probably never will, unless the undergo a dramatic genetic transformation (maybe that's why they appear dead right now, due to this metamorphoses? )... But it is her property and I respect that. I'm just glad I cut the branches BEFORE she showed up! Looking forward to her next certified return receipt response to our certified request to remove her encroaching structure. It gets funner by the minute...

gr8smile1966 said:

thanks for the replies...

actually, when we were cutting the branches, we didn't know or care at that point whose they were because we actually believed that we were doing the property a favor by making it look better- not knowing that someone had bought it, and that maybe even whoever did buy it was benefitting from the free labor. These shrubs were/are junk shrubs, wild growing type that MOST people don't PUT on their property, but would spend the time and money to REMOVE them (at least in my experience). This property hasn't had any landscape maintenance in years except for regular mowings of the lawn, which was done by a company hired by the old bat who lived next door and never went out her backdoor. I would call them weeds out of control. And the reason I put the fence up in the first place was to block them out and in the course of 5 or six years they grew up and over and through my fence to height of about 15-20 ft. New neighbor called them "Lilacs" in her trespassing complaint, although she's never seen them bloom. And probably never will, unless the undergo a dramatic genetic transformation (maybe that's why they appear dead right now, due to this metamorphoses? )... But it is her property and I respect that. I'm just glad I cut the branches BEFORE she showed up! Looking forward to her next certified return receipt response to our certified request to remove her encroaching structure. It gets funner by the minute...

Click to expand...

**A: ok so as I see it, the only problem you have left is the encroaching retaining wall that we talked about in your other thread correct?

Homeguru:
That's what I'm worried about, is the retaining wall the only issue I have now?? Can I consider the brush issue dead (and let myself believe that she can sue me till the cows come home, she doesn't have a tree branch to stand on? )

gr8smile1966 said:

Homeguru:
That's what I'm worried about, is the retaining wall the only issue I have now??

**A: possibly but let's explore this further.
*****
Can I consider the brush issue dead (and let myself believe that she can sue me till the cows come home, she doesn't have a tree branch to stand on? )

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**A: what would her cause of action really be on this brush issue?
If I am understanding this correctly, the brush was cut and the debris not picked up. This happened in the past. What else is there on this issue?

Just an FYI:

If, in fact, these are lilacs, judicious pruning will revive their ability to bloom. Many older shrubs need new growth to bloom.

nextwife said:

Just an FYI:

If, in fact, these are lilacs, judicious pruning will revive their ability to bloom. Many older shrubs need new growth to bloom.

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**A: I have never heard of lilacs growing to 15-20 feet. Were these the flowers in the Jack and the Beanstalk story?

Sweetie, the "old fashioned" lilacs DO grow 10 to 20 feet. The newer and imported Japanese varieties (Miss Kim, for example) remain smaller.

http://www.djroger.com/old_fashioned_purple_lilac.htm

nextwife said:

Sweetie, the "old fashioned" lilacs DO grow 10 to 20 feet. The newer and imported Japanese varieties (Miss Kim, for example) remain smaller.

http://www.djroger.com/old_fashioned_purple_lilac.htm

Click to expand...

**A; you are correct. I was referencing the Miss Kim variety from Asia.
Wasn't this strain from Manchuria rather than Japan?

WE were both wrong, Miss Kim's origin is Korea.

http://www.colorwithplants.com/ts/ts_lilacs-misskim.asp

I'm waiting to hear the rest of the story.