It can be great to be a renter and have someone to help you with apartment maintenance, but sometimes landlords make decisions you don’t like. One renter turned to Reddit for help dealing with a landlord who cut down all of his trees.

On the forum page r/legaladvicecanada, an angry tenant asked if he could take action against his landlord’s behavior. In the post, he wrote about renting a house with a large backyard lined with trees. He pointed out that each tree was at least 50 years old and over 15 feet tall.

When someone knocked on their door one day and said he was there to cut down a tree, they noted: “I asked which one and he said, ‘Looks like all of them.’ Within 15 minutes he started and 8 hours later every tree, shrub and flowerbed was removed… I am speechless. I am an avid gardener and rented the property because of the green space. We also rented because we thought there would be shade in the summer to help with the heat. … So my question is: is what he did legal?”

This Redditor seemed to have neighbors who were on his side. Those who live in an HOA or are renters with a landlord can try to band together to advocate for rule changes. Restrictions from HOAs often interfere with people’s ability to make environmentally friendly choices. Many HOAs impose strict rules on traditional lawns and often encourage water use to keep yards green even during droughts.

This loss of green space makes the OP’s home less pleasant and can have a detrimental effect on the entire neighborhood. New Scientist wrote about a 2021 study that detailed how increased tree cover can keep certain cities across Europe cooler by up to 12 degrees Celsius (about 21.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

The helpful folks on Reddit had lots of ideas for the OP. “In Alberta, you can get in big trouble for pouring concrete on an area previously covered with grass or gravel without a permit. Concrete causes big problems with water drainage,” one person suggested. Other commenters responded that the rules may vary depending on the city or municipality.

Someone else complained: “This is awful. This would literally make me cry.”

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