gr8smile1966
Member
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???
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???