My wife and I just bought a house that had a very mature American elm in the center lawn. Previous homeowner said the tree was 200yrs old…no idea if that part is true. The tree was not on anyone’s property lines, not near telephone wires, etc. we showed up the other day to put our new floor in to find it completely cut away…neighbors got us the name of the company who did it. Tried to call but no customer service available on weekends. We assume this is a mistake and the tree crew went to the wrong address and didn’t do due diligence to verify. Obviously someone could have been plotting to cut it down while the old owner moved out..but I think that’s less likely. What do we do?? The grass and yard is also dead and fucked up from the massive trucks they had on the lawn, and the driveway and road are filthy with tire tracks and dirt/mud.
by ARivet10
16 Comments
r/treelaw
Get a lawyer
Lawyer time.
I’d be so angry; irreplaceable
You are underestimating what neighbors do when the “people move”
So sorry to hear this happened.
1. Complete your research to establish the tree company details. Do you have a State Licensing database for your state? Try and look them up there. In most States you need a license to practice tree work.
2. Get lawyered up and retain a consulting arborist who has TPAQ ( tree and plant appraiser qualification). They will establish a fair value for the tree and can do forensic analysis such as looking at photographs and even Google Street View to establish the condition and health of the tree.
Good luck and I hope at least you receive fair compensation for the loss of your tree.
We get scam emails sometimes trying to get us to cut trees down at unoccupied homes that are for sale. It is usually easy enough to tell it’s not legit, but thats my best guess.
Posting for an update when you hear from them tomorrow!
Hopefully you’re in a state with good tree laws. In the right state you’d get a lot of money in a settlement for a tree like this. Not that it’ll bring back an ancient tree.
We humans really need to learn how to respect our elders.
Tough
Sorry to break it to you this is not an American elm it’s a piss elm or siberian elm it’s a trash tree. They did you a favor. American elms are beautiful and I can tell you this is not an American elm. This is a dirty and storm damage prone tree. However if it meant that much to you get a lawyer.
Sorry for your situation! They have literally butchered it. Did the company got the payment for this job? It will then be easy to find who’s behind this innit?
I’d kill a man for less
Ditto
When you find the crew that did it, I’d have them plant some fruit trees after grinding that stump out; that would even things out for me in the end, otherwise it’s r/treelaw and you might be making some money on your end and plant your own trees.