My neighbor cut down, topped or damaged my tree without permission. What can I do?

What is actually happening

Most of these cases start with a view, a fence line, or a contractor who did not check where the line was. Sometimes the neighbor trimmed overhang and kept going. Sometimes a crew removed the wrong tree. Occasionally it is deliberate. Whatever the motive, the physical facts decide the outcome: where the trunk stood, what the tree was, what condition it was in, and what was done to it.

Topping and heavy pruning count. A tree that was topped is injured under the statute even though it is still standing; the appraisal measures the loss of value and the cost of cure, which for a topped tree can approach its full value.

What does California law say about a neighbor cutting your tree?

• Civil Code 3346. Wrongful injury to or removal of trees on another's land: treble damages, reduced to double where the trespass was casual or involuntary or the cutter had probable cause to believe the land was theirs. The text →
• Code of Civil Procedure 733. A parallel treble-damages remedy for cutting trees on another's land without lawful authority.
• Ownership. Civil Code 833 and 834. If the trunk straddled the line, the tree was co-owned and neither owner could remove it without the other's consent; cutting it is still actionable by the other owner.
• Self-help defense. The neighbor will say they trimmed overhang. That defense ends at the property line and at the point the cutting injured the tree (Booska v. Patel).
• Limitations. Five years for a Civil Code 3346 claim (3346(c)); three years for other injury to real property (Code of Civil Procedure 338). Act far sooner; evidence disappears in days.

Does my city have extra rules?

If the tree was protected under the city's ordinance, removal without a permit is a separate violation with its own penalties against whoever did it, often including replacement-tree requirements and fines up to the appraised value. File a report with the city; its enforcement record is evidence in your civil claim. Penalties by city →

What the report and appraisal do for you

1. Dispute Assessment Report (Boundary Tree, from $850): documents the trunk position against the line, the species and size from the stump or remaining wood, pre-injury condition from your photographs and dated imagery, exactly what was cut, and whether the cutting exceeded lawful self-help. The liability record.
2. Tree Appraisal (through Urban Forestry Guide, $850 to $2,500): the dollar value under the CTLA Guide, with the method shown, which is the number Civil Code 3346 multiplies. The damages record.

Both from one site visit, quoted together. Attorney-retained work billed hourly under a retention letter. For attorneys →

What should I do first?

1. Photograph everything before anything is moved: the stump with a tape measure across it, every cut limb, the whole scene, the neighbor's side.
2. Keep the wood. Ask that nothing be hauled or the stump ground. Put the request in writing so it is dated.
3. Find earlier photographs of the tree: yours, listing photos, dated aerial and street imagery.
4. Get the contractor's name if a company did the work.
5. Text (415) 881-0124 now. We can usually be on site within 2 to 3 days. Intake →

Sources

1. Civil Code § 3346; Code of Civil Procedure § 733; § 338.
2. Civil Code § 833, § 834.
3. Booska v. Patel (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 1786; Scholes v. Lambirth Trucking Co. (2020) 8 Cal.5th 1094; Russell v. Man (Cal. Ct. App., 4th Dist., Div. 2, Nov. 17, 2020, No. E072266).
4. Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers, Guide for Plant Appraisal, 10th ed.