Firewood Lawsuit

JimboM said:

... thank your lucky stars we are not your lawyers.

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Best answer so far. Don't think it can be beat. Rick

was a police report ever filed for the "theft"?

a difficult neighbor, no matter how nice you are, will be just that. When we first moved in, our neighbor next door was sort of sedey and put off. his kids would come over only if they had something to sell and would be very nice. next day said hello to them and the kids looked at me like i had 10 heads. Another day, i noticed the husband out side doing some yardwork. he looked me up and down and looked the other way. and so on. I notice their siding is coming off and wood frame around their window is rotting. Been like this for a few years. don't say a word to him. The neighbor behind me is wonderful. we keep to ourselfs and every now and then we will have hour long conversations updating our families and events. they have a firepit and I do supply wood for them when they run out or forget to split theirs.
Anyway I would of either not said a word or just asked the head of the house.
Good luck with this situation

dave11 said:

There is another side to this though. Your neighbor might argue that the wife did not have authority to give away those trees, and the judge might agree with that. She might in fact not be listed on the deed for the property, but even if she is, she might not be automatically able to consent to something like this. Depends on how she seems to the judge.

One caveat to any contract, no matter how small, is verifying that the person you're dealing with has authority to enter the contract. In other words, just because you go on someone's property, and a person living there says "Sure, cut down that tree," doesn't mean they have the authority to say so. And your doing so might be the same as having gotten no permission at all.

I can almost guarantee you that the judge is going to ask: Why didn't you ask the husband for permission? A lot will depend on that answer.

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I disagree. It would be one thing if you asked an adolescent minor for permission or tennants if it was a rental house, but the wife is a competent adult. Most states require that the wife be on the deed to protect them in the event of divorce. This guy has no case. If you need a defense theory about having cut down dead trees, a moisture meter willl solve the problem. the mositure content of standing dead would should be far less than that from a freshly-cut live tree.

Eitehr way, the guy is a jerk. This could be a situation for Liquid @ss.

I thought the wife was the boss anyway? Maybe i need to reevaluate my marital relationship. Around here it is 800 to 1200 bucks for a tree removal. Id draw up a bill just in case but i dont think it will ever go to court especially if the wife admits she gave permission.

I would contact my attorneys Smith & Wesson, seriously, just face the windbag in court, Randy

The wife gave permission & if she was there at the time you cut the trees she also didn't stop you. I'd like to be there when he tells the judge his wife didn't have the authority to let you cut the trees, especially if the judge is a women. I can always use a good laugh. The courts usually deal with "whats reasonable". You come across as very reasonable & shouldn't have any troubles representing yourself, Randy

If a neighbor asked my wife something like that when I was not around, I would be pissed.
You want to cut down your neighbors trees? - manly business - talk to the man OR both of them together - it's called respect.
That being said - the court thing is still BS - don't worry about it.