# Legal question - Illegal dumping



## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

My next door neighbor is a real tool.
She has been raking up leaves from our trees and dumping them over my vinyl fence into my yard with a bucket. 
My other neighbor, ( which is in law enforcement) says there is nothing legally I can do. She has the right to do so.
Is that really true?
We can go around to our neighbors and dump our yard waste in anybody's yard and not get in trouble?
What say ye, is there any legal action I can take. It's really a bunch of crap what she is doing.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

If they are your leaves then they belong in your yard. Plain and simple. If my neighbors dog craps in my yard and I see it, guess what? He gets it thrown back in his yard.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> If they are your leaves then they belong in your yard. Plain and simple. If my neighbors dog craps in my yard and I see it, guess what? He gets it thrown back in his yard.


Dog crap and leaves are apples and oranges, IMHO. 
If you can't see that, you've got a real problem.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Ridge, I’m not sure on the legality question but I would offer to go rake them up and take care of them for her. It would probably only take a few minutes and you could relieve yourself of the neighbor worries. Being a peacemaker in the neighborhood always pays dividends.———-SS


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

ridgetop said:


> Dog crap and leaves are apples and oranges, IMHO.
> If you can't see that, you've got a real problem.


Are they your trees? Then it's your problem, or better yet your responsibility. If you can't see that then you have the problem.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

My 2 cents - If everybody did what they are legally able to do while disregarding how their actions made other people feel, we would have a world full of tools.

I don't think there is anything you can do legally as the trees are yours but how many decent people are there that rake up leaves in their own yard from trees that arent theirs and then dispose of them themselves rather than dump them back on where the tree roots property is so you have to redo the job? I bet they out number people like your neighbor 50-1 at least.

If you dont like someone elses leaves in your yard kindly ask thy neighbor to come over and rake them up. Dont insult them by doing the work and then dumping them back over the fence to be picked up twice. Geezus.

I agree your neighbor is a tool. You are legally allowed to excercise your right to free speech and give them a piece of your mind. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

ridgetop said:


> Dog crap and leaves are apples and oranges, IMHO.
> If you can't see that, you've got a real problem.


Meh, guess I've got a real problem. Here's how I see it:

Dog: If your dog makes a mess in the neighbor's yard, you ought to go clean up the mess because it's your fault that it happened in the first place, not the neighbor's. After all, it's your dog.

Tree: If your tree makes a mess in the neighbor's yard, you ought to go clean up the mess because it's your fault that it happened in the first place, not the neighbor's. After all, it's your tree.

Growing up, the neighbors always cleaned up the needles and cones from their pine tree that found their way into our front yard. We wouldn't have been upset if they didn't, but it was a nice gesture that helped everyone get along.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> Are they your trees? Then it's your problem, or better yet your responsibility. If you can't see that then you have the problem.


We both have trees. Although I do have more trees than her.
The thing that p*sses me off is the fact she's always doing crap like this to make a point. She complains about everything( I can list a 100 things she has complained about over the years) but honestly, she has never complained about the leaves. She has definitely made her point. 
She's just a bitter, spiteful unhappy person.
I am going to give her some garbage bags to bag the leaves up and I'll haul them off for her. She won't allow me in her yard to do it myself.
I'll see how that goes over with her. 
I've bent over backwards to be as accommodating as possible over the years but no more.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

I looked into the laws and I am NOT responsible for the direction my leaves my fall in any given year.
It part of nature. 
But she could be charged with trespass for dumping waste in my yard.
Although most judges would be really p*ssed if something like that went to court.
I'll try to work it out with her but good hell, who does something like that?
Maybe even a threat of a trespass citation may get her to stop.
Wish me luck.-O,-


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I think that you are on the right track by offering her some bags and letting her know that you'll haul them off. I also think that escalating it by threatening a trespass citation might throw gas on the fire. 

Man, I am glad that I get along with all of my neighbors. It makes life a lot more peaceful.


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## neverdrawn (Jan 3, 2009)

That's a tough spot you're in. If the trees provide her home with shade in the summer perhaps you remind her of that. My neighbor to the west has big trees that provide afternoon shade in my back yard and I have no problem raking a few leaves in the fall to enjoy the shade in the summer.


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## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

Hang a trail camera on the tree in video mode to get some evidence.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Dealing with problem neighbors is always a no win situation. I once had to go to my next door neighbor and let him know if his Rottweilers got into my yard one more time he could come over and pick up the carcasses. His dogs never got into my yard again. I think really your only option is to offer her large trash bags and let her know you'd be happy to take care of the leaves once she bagged them. Bake her an apple pie and bring it over when you take over the bags to make the offer...:grin:


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

LostLouisianian said:


> Dealing with problem neighbors is always a no win situation. I once had to go to my next door neighbor and let him know if his Rottweilers got into my yard one more time he could come over and pick up the carcasses. His dogs never got into my yard again. I think really your only option is to offer her large trash bags and let her know you'd be happy to take care of the leaves once she bagged them. Bake her an apple pie and bring it over when you take over the bags to make the offer...:grin:


 Lost, wished it was that easy but I'm dealing with the most horrid, wretched witch on the face of the earth. Long ago we tried to give her gifts only to have them returned to our door step a week later, stating that she would not except anything from us or anyone else on our street.
A neighbor boy once offered to help her with her yard and she commenced to tell him to go take care of his own yard because it looks like crap and called him a retarded pervert. seriously, this is the kind of _*psychopath *_
I'm dealing with.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Critter said:


> I think that you are on the right track by offering her some bags and letting her know that you'll haul them off. I also think that escalating it by threatening a trespass citation might throw gas on the fire.
> 
> Man, I am glad that I get along with all of my neighbors. It makes life a lot more peaceful.


If it wasn't for my sweet wife trying so hard to get along with her. Even though the witch has made her cry and told my wife to her face that she was the worst mother she has ever seen. 
I would have been at full fledged war years ago and some pretty strong words would have been directed towards her to her face. 
Normally, I respect all women but this witch is so far from a lady that she's known by all the kids on the street as the "mean lady". They won't even go to her house on Halloween because of how scary she is in real life.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

compost. Mulch that stuff, and quit buying Miracle Grow in the spring!


I'd be thanking her.


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

There is always a way....


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

I love mature trees, and the shade they provide. My neighbors all have much larger trees. I have never thought it was their fault.

That said, if this will always be a problem I would just dump them back over the fence.

Yep, I am a child. Two can play that game (no they can't, yes they can, no they can't.....)


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

ridgetop said:


> Lost, wished it was that easy but I'm dealing with the most horrid, wretched witch on the face of the earth. Long ago we tried to give her gifts only to have them returned to our door step a week later, stating that she would not except anything from us or anyone else on our street.
> A neighbor boy once offered to help her with her yard and she commenced to tell him to go take care of his own yard because it looks like crap and called him a retarded pervert. seriously, this is the kind of _*psychopath *_
> I'm dealing with.


Nah man she's just plain EVIL !!!! Must be awful living your life hating everyone and everything.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Just be ready with your leaf blower when she starts dumping them over. Could be fun


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## Groganite (Nov 14, 2012)

if all else fails you could always run an electric horse line across the top of your fence with a gamecam so you can show me later lolz


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

This is pretty clearly not a rational human. Therefore, any retaliation would likely not go well at all in the long run. Sounds like a hermit type who just gets all worked up with thoughts in her head blowing small things out of proportion. Ive dealt with a similar neighbor who even seems to have bipolar tendencies. Seems the only solution is to deal with her directly, not passive aggressive things. I would deal with her face to face and begin kindly with the bag offer, if that not works then move to what she is doing is completely unacceptable and completely illogical and legal issues may arise if her senseless passive aggressive acts continue. FWIW


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

N


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks for the input.
It has given me some things to think about.
We are expecting some very strong winds tonight from the South and she lives on the North side of me. I have a feeling she's going to get a few more leaves in her yard by morning. ;-)


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## deljoshua (Jul 29, 2013)

Too bad you have to deal with such a pain in the butt neighbor. She must be absolutely miserable and wants to bring everybody along for the ride. I don’t have any productive advice but I tell you what...make my wife or kids cry or hurt them when they are doing nothing to cause it, we will have words even if the wife says no. I guess try the bag thing as a last resort. After that I’d take the gloves off.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

There are worse things neighbors do than dump leaves.

Here is an article from 2002 about my a$$hole neighbor shooting my dog with a .303 British rifle. He blew out his kitchen window and shot my dog in my fenced backyard. It had nothing to do with the dog, he was suicidal and was going to kill my dog or his wife. That was her choice, she opted for the dog. I was in the house with my 3 young daughters at the time of the shooting. I heard a BOOM! followed by my dog yelping. I went out back and saw my Springer trying to crawl with a broken back. I saw the broken window at the neighbors house and I hauled butt back inside, locked the doors, grabbed a .45 and called the cops.

Anyway, the point I guess I am trying to make is try to settle the situation before anything gets out of hand.

Here's a link about my neighbor: https://www.deseretnews.com/article/919482/Tooele-man-is-accused-of-killing-neighbors-dog.html


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## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

Fowlmouth said:


> There are worse things neighbors do than dump leaves.
> 
> Here is an article from 2002 about my a$$hole neighbor shooting my dog with a .303 British rifle. He blew out his kitchen window and shot my dog in my fenced backyard. It had nothing to do with the dog, he was suicidal and was going to kill my dog or his wife. That was her choice, she opted for the dog. I was in the house with my 3 young daughters at the time of the shooting. I heard a BOOM! followed by my dog yelping. I went out back and saw my Springer trying to crawl with a broken back. I saw the broken window at the neighbors house and I hauled butt back inside, locked the doors, grabbed a .45 and called the cops.
> 
> ...


:shock::shock::shock:


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> There are worse things neighbors do than dump leaves.
> 
> Here is an article from 2002 about my a$$hole neighbor shooting my dog with a .303 British rifle. He blew out his kitchen window and shot my dog in my fenced backyard. It had nothing to do with the dog, he was suicidal and was going to kill my dog or his wife. That was her choice, she opted for the dog. I was in the house with my 3 young daughters at the time of the shooting. I heard a BOOM! followed by my dog yelping. I went out back and saw my Springer trying to crawl with a broken back. I saw the broken window at the neighbors house and I hauled butt back inside, locked the doors, grabbed a .45 and called the cops.
> 
> ...


That really sucks about your dog but don't go being one of those "one uppers".
I have a family member like that, no matter what your going through. They can "one up it"
with a worse story of their own.
This is not about a few leaves, it's about having a neighbor that has no respect for anyone around them and can't be reasoned with.


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## ZEKESMAN (Sep 14, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> That really sucks about your dog but don't go being one of those "one uppers".
> I have a family member like that, no matter what your going through. They can "one up it"
> with a worse story of their own.
> This is not about a few leaves, it's about having a neighbor that has no respect for anyone around them and can't be reasoned with.


Ridge, wow just wow. Vic


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## ZEKESMAN (Sep 14, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> There are worse things neighbors do than dump leaves.
> 
> Here is an article from 2002 about my a$$hole neighbor shooting my dog with a .303 British rifle. He blew out his kitchen window and shot my dog in my fenced backyard. It had nothing to do with the dog, he was suicidal and was going to kill my dog or his wife. That was her choice, she opted for the dog. I was in the house with my 3 young daughters at the time of the shooting. I heard a BOOM! followed by my dog yelping. I went out back and saw my Springer trying to crawl with a broken back. I saw the broken window at the neighbors house and I hauled butt back inside, locked the doors, grabbed a .45 and called the cops.
> 
> ...


Fowl, you are a better man that me. Vic


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

I had a neighbor once that liked to feed dogs antifreeze. She killed one of our dogs that way. She also used to call the cops because our dogs were barking...even when they were inside. We had to go to court to fight a citation over it too.

Has that for a "one-upper?" Not as good as yours Fowlmouth...

...Honestly, Ridge, you are coming across as an "A$$" in this thread. I wonder if the problem is you and not the neighbor!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

ridgetop said:


> Thanks for the input.
> It has given me some things to think about.
> We are expecting some very strong winds tonight from the South and she lives on the North side of me. I have a feeling she's going to get a few more leaves in her yard by morning. ;-)


This is what happens at my house. My neighbor to the South only has a couple smaller trees and very little comes from him.

I have a couple maples and a large locust tree. My neighbors to the north get almost all of my leaves because the wind blows into their yard. And by the time they get around to cleaning them up, 3/4 of my leaves have already blown farther down the street.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

A thought that was shared with me when I was young that may serve you well in this situation:

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Spit in it when nobody is looking, and serve it to those who pissed you off."

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Even if that means spraying the hose on her driveway in the dead of winter 

Ok, that probably wouldn't be good. 

In all seriousness though. My parents could never get along with our neighbors growing up. Granted, they were really annoying people that had a bunch of beater cars parked in front of their house (we lived in a nice newer neighborhood so this house was an eyesore) and they never scooped up their dog poop. When we would eat outside on the back patio, a breeze would carry the smell of dog poop and flies. 

Things finally came to a breaking point when my parents tried to be nice and weeded a shared flower bed (half of it was in our yard, the other half was in the neighbor's yard) and my mom pulled a couple aspen shooters up. My neighbors threw a fit over the act of kindness (btw, our sprinklers were what watered this flower bed), so my parents threw up a fence between our front yards, shut off the sprinklers, and poured an extra driveway over it. Needless to say, their flowerbed died shortly afterwards.

Finally my parents moved away when we were all grown up and had no need for a large house anymore. Sometimes I drive by and laugh at the weird disagreements they had with our neighbors.

I for one was never that bothered (aside from the time they kept homing pigeons and they would roost under by bedroom window and I had to sneakily shoot them with my BB gun), and their kids were pretty good kids. But by golly my parents still gripe about how awful they were to this day!


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

ridgetop said:


> That really sucks about your dog but don't go being one of those "one uppers".
> I have a family member like that, no matter what your going through. They can "one up it"
> with a worse story of their own.
> This is not about a few leaves, it's about having a neighbor that has no respect for anyone around them and can't be reasoned with.


Like I said, the point I was trying to make is try and settle any differences before things get out of hand. I didn't do anything to my neighbor, but he still went ballistic. I think if you and your neighbor start doing negative things to each other then it will escalate into bigger problems.

And your original post was about a few leaves, and that's what started this whole conversation. You didn't mention anything about respect or reasoning in the first post.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Bax* said:


> In all seriousness though. My parents could never get along with our neighbors growing up. Granted, they were really annoying people that had a bunch of beater cars parked in front of their house (we lived in a nice newer neighborhood so this house was an eyesore) and they never scooped up their dog poop. When we would eat outside on the back patio, a breeze would carry the smell of dog poop and flies.
> 
> Things finally came to a breaking point when my parents tried to be nice and weeded a shared flower bed (half of it was in our yard, the other half was in the neighbor's yard) and my mom pulled a couple aspen shooters up. My neighbors threw a fit over the act of kindness (btw, our sprinklers were what watered this flower bed), so my parents threw up a fence between our front yards, shut off the sprinklers, and poured an extra driveway over it. Needless to say, their flowerbed died shortly afterwards.
> 
> ...


Be careful Bax, you will get labeled a "One Upper"


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Fowlmouth said:


> Be careful Bax, you will get labeled a "One Upper"


Or a "Flat Brimmer" :mrgreen:


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

wyoming2utah said:


> I had a neighbor once that liked to feed dogs antifreeze. She killed one of our dogs that way. She also used to call the cops because our dogs were barking...even when they were inside. We had to go to court to fight a citation over it too.
> 
> Has that for a "one-upper?" Not as good as yours Fowlmouth...
> 
> ...Honestly, Ridge, you are coming across as an "A$$" in this thread. I wonder if the problem is you and not the neighbor!


That really doesn't surprise me that you would make a comment like that.
The majority of your comments on my post are usually in the negativity manner.
You sure do have a problem with me , don't you W2U?
As for coming across as an A$$, look at yourself in a mirror.
In the OP, I simply wanted to know if dumping leaves over my fence that may or may not be mine or my neighbors(could be from down the street) is legal to do. 
Within minutes, I get attacked with a negative response from Fowlmouth.
Just giving a little back in his direction.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> Like I said, the point I was trying to make is try and settle any differences before things get out of hand. I didn't do anything to my neighbor, but he still went ballistic. I think if you and your neighbor start doing negative things to each other then it will escalate into bigger problems.
> 
> And your original post was about a few leaves, and that's what started this whole conversation. You didn't mention anything about respect or reasoning in the first post.


I'm usually in a huge hurry and don't have time for all the details. Sure, it would of helped to see the big picture if I would have explained more but your the one that came at me with a negative response within minutes of my OP.
I do get what your saying though about trying not to escalate things.
Thanks


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

ridgetop said:


> I'm usually in a huge hurry and don't have time for all the details. Sure, it would of helped to see the big picture if I would have explained more but your the one that came at me with a negative response within minutes of my OP.
> I do get what your saying though about trying not to escalate things.
> Thanks


I didn't come at you with a negative response. My response just didn't fit with what you were hoping to hear. Good luck with your neighbor.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Interesting article:

*Does my neighbor have to rake up his leaves which blow into my yard?

No. The travel of leaves, twigs, branches, needles, and other tree litter onto adjoining lots is a natural condition. In 1954, the Utah Supreme Court said that to order tree owners to prevent such natural occurrences would "condemn to abolition all shade trees in communities sufficiently settled to have perils of such experiences . . . and our communities would revert to blistering, windswept desert." Cannon v. Neuberger, 268 P.2d 425 (Utah 1954).*

http://www.cbclaw.com/Newsletters/UTAH-TREE-LAW-LEAF-ME-ALONE.shtml


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> I didn't come at you with a negative response. My response just didn't fit with what you were hoping to hear. Good luck with your neighbor.


You got that right!
I wasn't expecting you to say that you would so the same thing if you were my neighbor.
And that it's the tree owners responsibility to try and recover all their leaves that blow off their trees.
Didn't see that one coming at all.


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