You arrive at your apartment building to see somebody has just finished trimming a tree on your property or maybe replaced a small section of fence. It could be either one.

The work looked o.k..

Only problem is that you never contacted anybody about doing any tree trimming or replacing any fence.

You don't really have any ordinary damages but can you sue the company and collect anything maybe punitive damages for their error of going to the wrong property and doing work you never asked for??

I should also add that the building owner across the street did order the work and gave them his correct address. The company just made a mistake and did the work at the wrong property.

Can you file lawsuit and collect anything??

Yes, that's true Jim.

What I'm wondering if this would be a situation that might result in punitive damages?? Not to compensate the plaintiff but to punish the defendant??

If the contractor who did the work is licensed in California, then he must have a $15,000 Bond. Even though you do not have a contract to do the work, you send the Contractor a Demand letter spelling out your damages, then send a copy to the Contractors Bonding Company. You can also have the neighbor across the street provide you with a copy of the contract with the right address, not yours.

Then the bonding company will give the contractor a chance to fix things. If not, then they Bonding company will pay your damages and turn off that contractors license so they can no longer work. Period.

If that does not work, you sue the neighbor across the street, the contractor who cut your tree/fence and both of their general liability insurance and/or home owners policy.

Why would anyone want to cause trouble for a stupid person? They are punished enough for just being stupid.

They are not only embarrassed by going to the wrong address, they have to do the work over, at the correct address.

dino I just posted a new tree cutting that may help you.

I thought the same thing about tree cutting. Our state if you cut some ones tree or trees down-- those trees have a value. The value is placed at 7500.00 per tree. Yes case law. Yes there are punitive damages also.

Get the insurance company and legal agents info and serve these folks notice. you can see what where doing.

It's like I tell UPS. We are required to place numbers on property's-- you should be required to hire people who can read them. Why should my neighbor or someone else in another area be getting my packages?

Some really weird posts coming from here. You go to the wrong address and you think that should be let go? NOT! so now this person has learned what lesson? NONE. When you sue they lose insurance coverage-- coverage that shouldn't have in the first place. We must do our part to support Darwin's Theory.

Perceptions of benefit can vary. Everything that is new and shiny is not good.

Was the tree trimming useful or was it done in a way that would weaken the tree?

Was the fence panel replacement needed and why? Was it done in a way that matched or complimented the prior piece, and was of good material and workmanship, or would otherwise cause issues down the road that you would not otherwise have had, or would not have had until many years later? Did it otherwise cause boundary fence issues? Think of some of Robert J's past posts about a neighbor building a fence that did not last, or installing fence posts that rot.

The mistake could be to your benefit, or it could be the landscaping equivalent of replacing hardwood with carpet.

Thanks for responses for some useful info but maybe I didn't make it clear. This was a "what if" type question. It did not happen.

I was wondering whether the legal system would compensate a plaintiff that did not suffer actual damages but rather experienced what I would consider egregious behavior by a company that was not exercising their obligation to use reasonable care and due diligence. Would they be punished by the court in the form of punitive damages which are designed to punish the defendant??

myob, I'm glad you were so diligent. Hopefully it should make things easier. From your other thread I see that the tree trimmer has a liability policy. The homeowner may additionally have coverage. Your attorney may consider pursuing them both.

dino, I experienced similar egregious behavior as myob. Case law varies by state. In many states it is well established for trees, but the specifics may vary from state to state. It may depend upon the state for fences. Most cases are settled before court. If you go to court, a lot depends upon the judge and the jury, if a jury is involved. You would have to describe damages. There are multiple types of damages in legal parlance, not just actual and punitive. As myob experienced, the person doing the egregious behavior may lie or try to describe something as a benefit, but they may actually be costing you greatly, either directly or indirectly. Those are damages. The blocked culvert situation that myob described could have been very costly. Myob has sufficient proof of intent and lying, both by the tree trimmer and the neighbor. Dealing with lying S...Bs can be a real pain. If they are the type of neighbor who is likely to do something similar again (or to escalate behavior or to infer implied consent to their future infractions because you did not object strenuously enough to their current one), you have to determine whether pursuing them to discourage such behavior in the future is worthwhile.

dino and walter the amounts we are seeking is EXACTLY what recent court awarded. Trees at 7500 per and punitive at 300K.

don PA sorry but your wrong. as posted the amounts shown 7500 and 300K were recent awards by the local court.

You mention outrageous conduct? what can be more outrageous then cutting your neighbors 15 trees down? what can be more outrageous than saying you only cut 3 of them when in fact you cut 15? what can be more outrageous then delimbing the trees and walking off with 60feet of the 15 trees left swaying in the wind and claiming she didn't pay for those to be taken to the ground?

Only the limbs off the trees. Telling the customer "Oh you can take all the limbs off the trees and they will grow back"? These were 90ft trees-- mature trees and I should be thankful he cut them and left a desert of a back yard?

OMG,.. Really? a lawsuit? How much will it cost you in legal fee? Maybe a slip and fall at a supermarket,..no, ar at a house you might rent would be more profitable. Just be sure there are no cams arounf to see your "fall".

Don PA I'm sorry my first sentence came off to harsh. The new me (for today anyway) Don I think YOU MAY BE WRONG ON THAT!

Yes, Dino, in California one can sue anybody for anything and find one of the 163,000 California lawyers to take that case. While the plaintiff suffered no damages, he feels entitled to a lotto jackpot “just because”.

Anyone who would do that makes me puke. Takers and moochers.

JR ME Plaintiff suffered no damages? JR try some preparation H for that upset stomach.

You know in Maine your neighbor would respect your property. Who do you know in the tree business in your area would go into the back yard neighbors yard and cut down 15 mature oak trees and think that's OK? The people I know from Maine would have been shooting the men out of the trees.

Your just looking for a conflict or argument?

MYOB, clearly I was replying to Dino, who started this thread before you hijacked it. That’s why I referenced no damages as he outlined in his post and CA lawyers as that is his state.

Talk about looking to start an argument? Look in the mirror.

Punitive damages are to punish a wrongdoer for intentional wrongful conduct. In Cali, the defendant must be shown to be guilty of fraud, oppression or malice.

Carelessly going to the wrong property address to perform tree trimming is none of these. No punitive damages allowed.

In CA, the punitive damages must be rationally related to the actual dames. No actual damages in the hypothetical, so no one is getting rich on punitives.

Ray I've posted to several questions so to clear up.

2 years ago this neighbor asked if she could trim the limbs hanging over the fence in her yard. Here in GA that is permissible. So I told her sure no problem.

my back yard is 60 x 120. She took down 15 full size trees. 14 were left with 60 ft in the air and no limbs-- all cut off. 1 tree was cut at the base. When i asked the tree company man if he was taking them all the way down he said no. This as his men packed it in at 8am in the morning. They left all the cut up logs and limb mulch in my yard. His reason-- she didn't pay to have that work done. When the cops arrived he let it be known that 2 months prior he cut the limbs overhanging. The neighbor called him back to take the rest down-- in my yard. OH and BTW she was out of town when this happened.

any idea what it looks like to have 15 trees that had leaves on them all of a sudden have no limbs and no tops left-- just trucks. it was a shocker.

Hey MYOB, this is Dino's post; many of your retorts are to people who posted in reply to Dino, not to you.

tim AZ so I get it now. Only respond to the original poster not what I've experienced to relay to others? BTW AZ your only post here to give your advise and input was to yell at me for posting my recent experience.

AND this is not Dino's post-- when he posted it was to solicit input. What was your input BTW?

And your experience is what Tim?