California Surveyors Forums

I recently had to search for an original monument that required access on land of uncooperative owner. The sheriff was called and convinced the owner to allow me to continue unhindered. The corner in question was in a dense thicket of sticky bushes. It was necessary to trim/remove several stalks and branches to access corner. The corner was found under some ground level roots that were cut away to verify monument below. I was careful not to trim any more than necessary and cleaned up and removed all trimmings.
The owner now claims I am liable for damages to the plants and has sent me a bill for landscaping and repair. He has threatened to sue if not paid. He says landscaping, I say overgrown scrub brush. I did cut and remove several branches and a small section of root.
Have I "damaged" his property? He claims landscaping is needed to restore to original condition and replace root damage
Is this reasonable? Am I liable? if so, for what?

TIB

I hope you took photos.

How much is the claim? If it's not much it might be worthwhile to pay it to make the guy go away. If it's substantial, make him prove his claim in court. It seems unlikely that he'll go to Superior Court (too expensive). If you go to a Small Claims hearing armed with the code section and photos of the "damage," I think it unlikely that the judge will hold you liable.

How much justice can you afford?

I would wait it out. If you need a defense, cite 841 Civil Code:

841. Coterminous owners are mutually bound equally to maintain:
1. The boundaries and monuments between them;
2. The fences between them, unless one of them chooses to let his land lie without fencing; in which case, if he afterwards incloses it, he must refund to the other a just proportion of the value, at that time, of any division fence made by the latter.

It is not worth pursuing. He would need an expert to testify about the plant, its value, what happens when they are trimmed, etc. If it was me, I'd wait for him to make a move. Do you have the police/sheriff report?

One rainy Saturday many moons ago, in a manzanita brush field, my boss (mentor) and me (chainman) was marking line between two parcels. The area is very rural and normal operating procedure was to cut a 2’ wide swath but we were warned “do not cut brush.” During one of the setups my boss got his pocket knife to trim a leaf blocking the backsite and out of no ware came this lady spitting blood saying “do not cut my brush do not cut my brush.” The lady (spitting blood) was our client and my red faced boss (never seen him this angry) told her either we cut these leaves or go home without marking your property line. The client let us continue.

Moral; one person’s toxic weed is another person’s favorite plant. Assume you are being watched and (videoed nowadays) at all times in the field.

Brian


“We have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy.”
-Sir Winston Churchill

Mr.Smith says it perfectly.

ages ago we had an "issue" with cutting in a rural area. The decision was made to tie back the obstructions with flagging, and then carefully remove the flagging when done.
That became our habit in short order.
I still do it.

I take my hat off to you Peter. I traded my machete and shovel in a few years ago for red and yellow pencils. Still learning and love our profession.