I'mWhat Turned You off While House Hunting?

Are these plants that were on YOUR property? If so, they should be legally required to make restitution for the destruction of your personal property.

ETA: After your "So What Happened" I am still unclear as to whether the forsythia sits on YOUR property, or on the developer's property. If it is on yours, by all means, make your complaint to the BBB. If it is on his property, you really don't have room for a complaint. Sure, the hedge would be nice, but if it isn't your personal property, then he has the right to do with it what he wants.

Get some pricing on plants and labor and give the bill to the contractor. Tell him to pay it (nicely) and if he refuses, contact an attorney. If they were truly on your property, then you have rights. Good luck.

I wouldn't make my home so undesirable to buy that only a undesirable people like a sex offender will purchase it. Your scheme could end up really back firing on you. Tell the builder to replace your plants or you will sue him.

let me get this straight. You want to keep the people that ripped your garden up and your beloved plant, around LONGER? so you can see them every day and be pissed. HONEY if I were you I would be out front and dragging people to see that house to buy it. I wouldnt want them there any longer than they have to be.

whats clearer is that now you want you entire neighborhood to suffer with an unsold house. Got it.

The energy you are now wasting on anger could be spent getting that quote on replacing your plants. If they jerk contractor won't replace your shrubs that were truly on your property, tell him you are going directly from that conversation to your town hall to file a complaint against him; you are contacting the Better Business Bureau; and you are writing a letter to the authority that licenses building contractors in your area. He can make it right or he can have you writing, calling and visiting all those offices. Why on Earth waste any time or energy making your OWN yard unpleasant just to keep out some future buyers you don't even know, who may be OK people? Or would you punish them, too, for what the contractor -- not they -- did to your yard?

I'm writing this as someone who has seen THREE houses go up on three sides of our property in the past year. If you try to make your property ugly or off-putting, you're sure letting your potential new neighbors know you are a vengeful person. Don't bother -- a great house is going to sell anyway. Put the anger where it belongs, on the contractor. Then -- follow through and DO pursue it if he won't replace your property.

E.,
I understand how upsetting it must be to have your yard damaged. Be the mature one...it will not make you feel better to be vindictive about this. Yes, the guy was a jerk. Don't sink to his level.

What I would do is print out the cost of a new forsythia. See if a nursery can give you a quote for a mature forsythia, since I am sure there is a big difference between a new plant and a mature one. Take the quote to the developer and tell him you expect him to replace it.

Good luck. I hope he will make it right.

Okay. Look. I understand about your forsythia. I do. I had some of my great-grandmother's standard tea roses planted in front of my house (my grandmother had been dead many years; we had transplanted the roses from her house when she died). We re-did the landscape in front of our house, and I went over and over with the landscaper how important these roses were to me. I almost had a stroke when I came home from work and saw my grandmother's roses all pulled up, in a heap. But at that point, what are you going to do? Is being all pissed off going to bring them back? Nope. It's not.

Your best bet is to get him to replace the plant. No, it's not the same, but mistakes happen. Let she who has never made a mistake cast the first stone, right?

Not sure what you are asking. Have him replace the bushes. Non-negotiable.

Um, you know the builder will be able to prove what you are doing and sue you for damages. Doesn't seem like revenge is worth that.
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After reading your what happened you just don't get it! Yes it will cost him and those costs are called damages. He can SUE you for those costs and he will win because you are being malicious! Hell he can probably get punitive as well because you are intentionally trying to cost him money!!

What he did was probably an accident, he forgot to tell the contractor who was clearing for the fence that he said to leave the bushes alone. You on the other hand are trying to hurt him, that is childish and unlawful!
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Oh and he tore down a house and put up a house, that is not a development, he was not legally obligated to send you an abutters notice! Sorry but you say you can't afford an attorney, but if an accountant can spot all the laws you don't understand, you can't afford to not have an attorney!

ETA: Um, people? this question is obviously a little tongue-in-cheek.
and its not a neighbor, its the DEVELOPER !!!

Oh! You need a few cars on blocks and a toilet or two with plastic geraniums in them in your yard!

Is there time to start a pig farm? Cause that is a STENCH!!!

If the damage was done on your property, you need to address it via small claims court. You don't need a lawyer for that.

If the plants were actually on his property, you have no legal grounds to protest the removal or stop it. In fact, it might have been in his legal best interest to pull them out, because you may have been able to file a squatter's claim to that bit of land had he not done so. That varies by state.

If you can't afford $100 for a lawyer to consult with you on the plant issue, you sure can't afford to be hauled into court end up with $1,000 in nuisance fines for trying to obstruct a sale.

My SO works in construction and those guys are on the move 24/7. There are many of them and sometimes these things happen. If he makes a promise to a homeowner he follows through-even if it comes out of his own pocket.
This guy may just be hoping that you're over it and don't cause a stink, report him to the association, angieslist etc. Really-he probably cares about his reputation. So, talk to him.
What turned me off when home hunting were mostly interior issues. I didnt pay close attention to the neighbors. I still don't.

if the forsythia were on your property (i assume they were, it's not quite clear) then you have legal recourse. talk to the zoning people, the town council, and the department that issues permits. call angie's list and the BBB.
better yet, tell the schlub that you're GOING to do these things and see if that motivates him.
if it doesn't, then nail him. legally.
it will be far more effective, far more satisfying, and far less risky to you than sabotage.
not that sabotage doesn't feel good. but don't go there, hon.
khairete
S.

If it was on your property, hopefully you have pictures of it, take pictures of the damage. He should be paying to put in new plants (as one poster said below, mature plants, not baby plants. It sucks that it happened, but you need to talk to him and have it taken care of, preferably with a quote from one or two nurseries in hand. If he doesn't, talk to a lawyer and report him to the BBB.

If those were your plants on your property then by all means he should be paying for a replacement. Have you actually talked to him about what his bulldozer operator did?
I am a plant person too so I GET how devastated you would be at losing such mature and lovely plants.
However, I really DON'T understand why you would want to slow the sale of the house. That just doesn't make any sense to me. Why would you want those people there any longer than necessary? And if the house is empty, and not selling, that just reflects poorly on your whole neighborhood.

I'm not sure most people really understand what you're asking.

Is YOUR house on the market? But the people behind you have annoying contractors? So you want to wait to sell your house so potential buyers won't be turned off by the contractors. Is that your question? Your point?

If it is, then the contractors alone will be enough. You don't need to do anything else to slow down the sale. Buyers will realize it's temporary and maybe ask for a longer escrow period so they don't have to move in while the work is still being done. Or you could offer to sell but rent back (meaning you still live there and pay them rent) for a couple of extra months so the new buyers don't have to listen to the contractors.

Anyway, I realize how upset you are about the forsythia, but potential buyers won't know that the contractors did that, so they won't be offended and upset the way you are.

Maybe you just needed a chance to vent?

Erin:

Really? You want to slow the sale of the guys house and keep him around longer? It's not petty. It's insane.

When you saw your plants being pulled up - did you run out and tell them to STOP? I don't understand why they were on your property in the first place....let alone what your plants were doing **THAT** close to their fence or property line anyways.

Was HE in the bulldozer when the plant was ripped up? I mean - really. plant it again. Encourage the sale of the home - get them out of your neighborhood!! How do you know for a fact he lied?

If I were you? I would do whatever I can to get the house sold and get them out of there.

Our houses are super close to each other and when one next door was for sale, this old, grouchy couple came to look at it. I was in a pissy mood anyway and they parked in front of our house which isn't allowed (we have guest spots). So I was cheap white trash loud from hell neighbor. I was screaming at the kids with the door open. Encouraging our big dog to bark and when we left, I went zooming out the driveway with music blaring. They didn't buy and we now have the most wonderful neighbors. :) So you could be loud - you could put your dog out or get a barking machine. Or loud music blaring all the time. Of course, not always easy to be home when it's being shown. How about ripping out their new landscaping at night?... First I'd tell him he has to replace it or you're taking him to court. If he doesnt, go tit for tat. I won't call you petty. He was a jerk.

I doubt that anything you do or don't do will slow the sale of the house. Continue on this path and I fear the only outcome will be that you drive yourself and your family nuts! Go over and talk to the guy...get some estimates to replace and see if he will cover the cost to replace. Otherwise if it gave you that much pleasure...you now have a blank slate start over...you could probably make it even better.

Instead, make him pay for the plants he took out. Tell him that if he doesn't, you will be putting negative information about him on BBB. Also tell him that you'll be talking to the city inspection people about his work.

He will NOT want negative BBB comments, so he'll get his crew to plant wat you want. It won't be the same, that's for sure.

I have to say that I would have been out there guarding my plants. I'm sorry that you weren't.

Btw, Leigh's answer is spot-on. You'll enjoy doing all of that, I promise. When you tell him that you are doing all of what she said, he'll fall all over himself getting the planting done...

I completely understood what you are saying. I think you got him on not sending you an abutters notice. That should be a town requirement, which means it may not be permitted (deck too). If you really want to give him grief, go to the town building department. If he did not follow the regs, he may have to pull them down - especially if there is an upset neighbor that was not notified. As for the forsythia, if the base of the bushes were on the line or on his side of the property line, then there is very little recourse for you. A verbal promise would not get you anywhere even if you could afford a lawyer. However, if they were on your side of the property line, then you have all sorts of legal ground and you can at least have a lawyer draw up a threatening letter for very little money, sometimes nothing if you are willing to take a monetary settlement and share it.
Good luck,
C.

I, too, am confused by the wording of your post so I will just answer the title question.

I bought my townhome AFTER the heyday of the House Hunter, etc. shows. I din not know to negotiate, askk for, or anything, My dad did not want to leave his recliner to help me.

I now know that I overpaid and someissues could have been negotiated during the sale.

Still pissed after 8 years.