One day a couple years ago my property manager calls with a very unusual tale about a homeowner adjoining our multifamily property. Describing the area, we were operating a community of over 200 ranch style apartment units in central North Carolina. pinetree hill condo The property was actually located north of Fort Bragg in Spring Lake, North Carolina. People referring you to the area would call it Fort Bragg/Fayetteville.

One of the neighbors had decided that he had to have a satellite cable television connection. Unfortunately, we had a number of very tall stately and mature pine trees on our property that blocked the line his antenna needed to provide good reception. I am sure the gentleman had exhausted all his options before he showed up at our office door to announce the issue and his intended solution. You see. He had concluded the pine trees had to go and that we clearly had no right he could identify to get in the way of his television viewing enjoyment. Therefore, he intended to come to our property with is chainsaw where he would efficiently and quickly dispatch the offending stand.

This was the point where I became involved. Of course, the issue was a serious one. However my manager and couldn't help laughing at some length. The event was definitely beyond our usual experience. After some thought, we drafted a letter to the individual and sent it over with our maintenance manager. pinetree hill condo  The letter said:

Dear Neighbor,

 

 

We understand and empathize with your situation and wish we could accommodate. Unfortunately, the trees in question are an important part of the landscaping and grounds for our property. Because of this, please do not take any steps to remove the stand.

 

 

Further, if you should choose to do so, we will have to take whatever legal recourse we have available to us to resolve the situation.

If you have questions please feel free to call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe

Property Manager

 

 

The maintenance manager delivered the letter and because several of our investors were lawyers the following verbal message. "Sir, As you will note in the letter, please do not remove the trees. Also, I really personally think it would be an awfully bad idea. Our property is owned by a bunch of Washington lawyers and I think removing their trees will cause you endless aggravation."