Washington Court of Appeals Addresses Boundary Tree Trespass Claim

Two lot owners in a homeowners association share a property line which runs parallel to a row of Leyland Cypress trees. Some of those trees are located entirely on one property, but some straddle the common property line. One owner removed approximately the top third of the trees. The other owner sued for timber trespass under RCW 64.12.030. In a recent unpublished decision, Division II of the Washington Court of Appeals decided that the defendant did not have the authority to cut the trees in that manner. It noted that trees located directly on property lines are the common property of the adjoining owners and that each owner is entitled to maintain such boundary trees as long as their maintenance does not interfere with the rights of the other owner. In this case, such substantial cutting reduced the trees' effectiveness as a privacy screen for one of the owners.