Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

My neighbor's large creeping fig has grown into the block wall that separates our homes and has completely overtaken it. For years I battled it but eventually decided to make it my friend and have kept the wall tended and pruned. This one enormous vine has attached itself to well over 1000 square feet of block wall between my backyard and two other neighbors. It is attractive and it keeps my yard cooler in the summer. So here is my question: what if my neighbor decides to cut the plant down on his side of the wall? The original owners passed away and I live in fear that new owners may decide to eliminate it. This, I am sure, would not only leave me an ugly and expensive mess to eliminate but would leave our block wall damaged and scarred. I am wondering if I have any legal rights in this area. I don't want to pick a fight with new neighbors and of course will express to them my concerns but I would like to be forewarned as to whether I have a legal leg to stand on in compelling them to preserve this tree. Very little of it, ironically, actually exists on their side of the yard,

Thanks for your time!

Tracy


Asked on 5/26/14, 2:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

If the trunk of the fig is on your neighbor's property, then your neighbor has the right to cut it down and remove it. If it is on your property, he can only trim it back to the property line. As I read your post, it is not at all clear to me where the property line is in relation to the wall and the creeping fig. If the trunk is on the property line and straddles, both of you own the tree.

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Answered on 5/26/14, 3:44 pm


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