If I have a tree and an old concrete base that the neighbors say is on their property, can they have them removed and send me the bill?

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If I have a tree and an old concrete base that the neighbors say is on their property, can they have them removed and send me the bill?

My neighbor put up a string on 2 steel pins which she had her son put in the ground without seeing her deed or mine and said that is her property line and according to the string the tree and concrete base are partially on her side. She had asked me at first if I could keep it trimmed so they could mow and I obliged and now she wants it cut down. I told her that if she could produce the deed that shows me her property line and it matched my deed and there was a law stating that I must cut it down then I would but she produced neither and had people there giving her estimates for both.

Asked on October 4, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Ohio

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

If you have property (including trees or concrete bases) on a neighbor's property, the neighbor can either ask you to remove them at your cost, or if you won't do that, remove them herself and send yo the bill. But she *must* be able to prove that it's on her land, and conversely, you can prove that they are not. If you care about this tree and base, you should go to the court and seek an injunction preventing her from removing them and a declaratory judgment that they are on your land--obviously, you'd need to be able to produce deeds, surveys, etc. establishing that it is on your land. If you don't care about them, an option is let her cut them down, but don't pay if/when she gives you a bill; that means that if she wants the money from you, she'd have to do to the trouble of suing you, at which point she'd have to prove they were on her land and you'd have the chance in court to prove they were not.


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