Legal: Duke Power cut down a tree in my yard without telling me :(

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gregh1

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My renter says Duke Power (or a proxy i assume) came by stating they needed to its cut branches near the street's power lines. (They do this every X years). The renter stated that she was just a renter and gave them my contact info. Welp, Saturday, while the renter was out of town someone came out and chopped it down, leaving a stump and a ton of wood for me to clean-up.

It was a tall, ancient silver maple, plenty of dead parts, but it had leaves still on some limbs and 3 yrs ago an arborist said it had some life left.

I'm pissed. The yard is extra hideous without a replacement, i now have to scramble to get cleanup at the busiest time of the season, b4 a ton of travel. They didn't get my permission. They didn't give me a chance to hire my own crew.

But they also didn't charge me the big bill for removal. A neighbor said it was 4 guys out there all day, i'm guessing a few thousand $ worth of work. 5+ year ago Duke (Barlett as the delegate) offered to remove it for free. So i'm guessing I won't get a bill for removal.

There's a chance they got into it and found it hazardous, like a few dead limbs i guess. But I wonder how they prove or define hazardous. The limbs were never over the lines... i feel they were heavy handed in the past when trimming back, just cuz the tree isn't that close to the road.

I feel like someone owes me some cleanup, maybe a new tree. WWYD?
 
gregh1 said:
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Just went through this but they asked my permission. I definitely had to sign something. I believe it was the contractor and not a Duke employee that I spoke with but they did mention several times that they were working in conjunction with a Duke employee who was telling them which trees they needed to service.

I did try to negotiate them taking the wood away and that was a hard no.

I would call Duke but not sign anything until you speak with the lawyer. Trees can be worth thousands of dollars when someone like your neighbor gets upset with leaves or something falling down and decide to chop it down without permission.
 
Barlett, working on behalf of Duke Power, came about a week ago and cleared out tree limbs that were overhanging the power line behind my house. The only thing I agree to, which I readily did, was give Barlett permission to cross my property to get to the power line easement. The power line easement is over property actually owned by the HOA on the other side of the woods from my backyard. I really don't think a property owner has any right to refuse a Duke Power request to rim trees along a power line easement. The alternative would be for the homeowner to be liable for any damage the homeowner's trees caused if they fell on the power line. I definitely don't want any of that.
 
05C40 said:
Barlett, working on behalf of Duke Power, came about a week ago and cleared out tree limbs that were overhanging the power line behind my house. The only thing I agree to, which I readily did, was give Barlett permission to cross my property to get to the power line easement. The power line easement is over property actually owned by the HOA on the other side of the woods from my backyard. I really don't think a property owner has any right to refuse a Duke Power request to rim trees along a power line easement. The alternative would be for the homeowner to be liable for any damage the homeowner's trees caused if they fell on the power line. I definitely don't want any of that.
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Right, I'm fine with that, though they're often heavy-handed.

This is more like trespassing lol
 
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Batt Boy said:
only if you want to lose money
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That's the second similar response from people that would probably know, but it's just surprising to me. I've heard trees are worth thousands or maybe tens of thousands of dollars. I realize attorneys fees can rack up but how much would it cost to take a lawsuit like that forward?

Also, can you not Sue to recover attorney's fees if you win? I guess this is a North Carolina question but maybe if you or calheel have experience in a different jurisdiction, that would be more appropriate.
 
gtyellowjacket said:
That's the second similar response from people that would probably know, but it's just surprising to me. I've heard trees are worth thousands or maybe tens of thousands of dollars. I realize attorneys fees can rack up but how much would it cost to take a lawsuit like that forward?

Also, can you not Sue to recover attorney's fees if you win? I guess this is a North Carolina question but maybe if you or calheel have experience in a different jurisdiction, that would be more appropriate.
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I'm not aware of any basis for recovering attorneys' fees in this situation. In NC you generally can only get attorneys' fees where authorized by statute, and the grounds are fairly narrow. I guess you could try to spin up an unfair trade practices claim against Duke but that seems pretty unlikely to be successful in this scenario.
 
Is the stump located on a utility right of way? Silver maples grow fast but don't live long by tree standards. They planted a whole lot of in the beginning of 20th century. The city of Asheville spent a lot of money cutting theirs down.
 
whatntarnation said:
Is the stump located on a utility right of way? Silver maples grow fast but don't live long by tree standards. They planted a whole lot of in the beginning of 20th century. The city of Asheville spent a lot of money cutting theirs down.
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it's 25 steps from the curb, definitely outside of the right o way.
 
whatntarnation said:
Is the stump located on a utility right of way? Silver maples grow fast but don't live long by tree standards. They planted a whole lot of in the beginning of 20th century. The city of Asheville spent a lot of money cutting theirs down.
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Yup. Builder planted one in my back yard. The thing was pretty huge by year 5. But it has weak joints.

If OP wants another he’ll have a decent size tree pretty quickly.
 
Apparently they have rights outside the right of way too. This is a WIDE berth right here from their website
A hazard tree, a subset of danger trees, is a structurally unsound tree that could strike a target, such as electric lines, when it fails. Danger trees and hazard trees are often targeted for removal.

Aside from danger trees and hazard trees, other trees may be targeted for removal for other reasons. These include:

  • Tree species incompatible with nearby power lines
  • Trees that must be severely pruned and have no chance for reasonable natural development
  • Trees that will remain unsightly because of excessive pruning
  • Trees whose removal will create a more aesthetically pleasant right of way and provide for more cost-effective line maintenance
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Lol at the third, since all their prunings are unsightly
 
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Calheel said:
I would not contact an attorney. There is no way it is economical to hire an attorney for this - unless NC attorneys have lower hourly rates than I would imagine.
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In cases of inverse condemnation, where a condemning agency or a corporation with condemning powers like Duke, enters onto your property and damages it without your prior express consent or a condemnation action, they actually owe attorneys fees.

But if there was a signed right of entry agreement, or one of Duke's notoriously broad utility easements in place, then I'm with you on this.
 
Even if there were a fees theory, you’d need to front a shit ton of fees to your own attorney first. Not worth the risk unless you have an attorney family member.
 
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