There’s a reason why real estate pros say that looking for a home is all about location, location, location. That’s because you can change a lot of things you don’t love about the house itself, making both structural and design changes to create the home of your dreams.
However, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about the location of your home after you’ve purchased it, which means you need to find a place that has both a view and a community that you like. Except one homeowner says that her neighbors are challenging both of those things after they sent a “demand letter” to her about some of the vegetation growing on her property.
According to user AmyWhoKnows, the issue stems from some mature trees and shrubs, which the neighbors contend have ruined their view. They are demanding that she cut them down… or else.
Now, she has been forced to get a lawyer involved as she hopes to avoid an all-out neighborhood war over their complaints.
LMAO at Neighbor’s “Demand Letter”
by
u/AmyWhoKnows in
neighborsfromhell
The Redditor Says Her Neighbors Want Her 5-Acre Property Trimmed Back
Amy shared her story online, explaining how she has several shrubs on her land that can grow to be as big as 15-foot-tall, and trees that can grow to reach up to 60-foot-tall behind her fence. “All are mostly mature now, and none hang over the property line at all,” she began her story.
“I got a certified letter from my neighbor that is titled ‘Demand Letter,'” she continued, saying that the letter itself wasn’t sent from an attorney or anyone official. “It states that the growth of my shrubs and trees have negatively affected the views that existed when they bought the house a few years ago. Their demand says I have 60 days to restore their view to original or face legal action.”
Amy Has Already Reached Out to Learn About Her Rights
Not one to ignore a letter from her neighbors, Amy told Reddit how she did her research, contacting the “governing authority” as well as a family friend who is a lawyer. According to her, both laughed at the idea that something like this could be enforceable, and directed her to ignore future contact from her neighbors.
Amy quickly shared a follow-up a few days after her post, letting everyone know that she’s read their advice and has even taken some of it. “No trespassing signs have been in place for many years,” she explained. “I have a good security system with cameras but none on the fence line. I am having some installed tomorrow along with current pictures of everything. The attorney I spoke to is going to respond to them and include pictures and letting them know the laws and the restrictions.”
And while she went back and forth about approaching the neighbors directly about their complaints, she said her lawyer friend ultimately talked her out of it.
The Law Appears to Be on Amy’s Side
While it sounds like her lawyer is already on top of things, she may feel better knowing that there are no federal laws guaranteeing anyone the right to a view. According to the FindLaw blog, there may be certain state or local laws regarding light and air, but other than that, there appear to be very few laws that would permit one homeowner to tell another what to do with the vegetation on their property solely for the purpose of securing a good view.
That being said, there could be other considerations that homeowners may want to think about when something like this occurs, like whether or not they want to live next door to someone who hates them over the position of a couple of trees.