YouTuber Philip DeFranco Caught in ‘TreeGate’ After Neighbor Allegedly Cuts Down His Trees

YouTube star Philip DeFranco, who is known online as PhillyD and has 6.62 million subscribers, is embroiled in a controversy his wife, Lindsay, is calling "TreeGate."

Their family moved from Los Angeles back to their native Atlanta in summer 2024. One morning, they woke up to the harsh reality that their neighbor allegedly cut down their trees, which provided them with a wall of privacy, without their permission.

In a TikTok video that has 3 million views, Lindsay says the neighbor in question lives two doors down but shares a backyard area with them. In September 2024, the neighbor said he wanted to extend his backyard and fill in a retention pond area, which included cutting down some trees on his property, and it might include cutting down some trees on the DeFranco property, according to Lindsay.

"We went over there, and we told him that we wanted to be able to maintain our privacy," Lindsay says on TikTok. "We do not want all of these trees cut down, and he agreed. He said, 'OK, here's what we'll do. We'll mark the trees that we will want to cut down, and we'll let you know before we do that.' We said, 'Fine—it will just be a couple of trees?' And he said, 'Yes, it will just be a couple of trees.'"

Lindsay says an entire year went by, and they didn't hear anything. Then the neighbor sent them something that asked if they had their approval to start work on the retention pond, and move forward with the plan the neighbor had provided them.

Lindsay said OK, but she didn't sign anything.

"Remember, he said if he was going to cut down our trees, he was going to let us know," she says.

At this point, Lindsay's backyard was surrounded by tall, lush, mature trees that provided a huge amount of privacy.

"So imagine my surprise when I wake up one day to see complete and total destruction," she says.

Lindsay tells her viewers that her home’s previous owners had purchased the lot next door for privacy.

"The privacy is all gone," she says.

"I don’t know exactly how many trees were cut down because they’ve removed all the stumps, but I can tell you it is over 100," Lindsay writes.

She says she's devastated by this and is in the "mad stage" now.

"I sent him an email saying 'What the hell, you had no right to do this,'" she says. "He wrote back to me and was like, 'Yeah, we didn't want to have to lose all the trees either, but the city said we had to cut down all the trees to do this.' I'm just thinking, 'Those aren't your trees to cut down. You should have told us. You promised that you would tell us. You would ask us. You wouldn't cut down every tree.'"

Lindsay wrote him back again, asking for the contact information of every person who's been working on this project so she could find out how this was allowed to happen. She then contacted a land surveyor to stake out the actual boundary line.

She later shared a text from the land surveyor on Instagram that said, "I have never seen this bad an encroachment ... wow."

"I told the neighbors they are not to set foot on our property again until we have the boundary lines staked out and a written agreement that they are going to fix what they've done," she says.

Lindsay says that because of the cut-down trees, "I truly feel so violated and taken advantage of, and really kind of just naked."

Lindsay breaks down in tears, describing how beautiful her backyard was and how safe it felt before the trees were cut down.

"And now, we're just like completely exposed," she says. "I just don't feel safe. I just feel icky about it."

She continues, "I don’t have the time or energy for this. This is going to be so much work on my end to make this right, and it’s not fair. I hate this."

In her latest TikTok video, Lindsay says she's in the process of hiring an attorney and an arborist.

"I got a great update from the HOA," she says. "They held a meeting about it yesterday, and they said that the permit that they got from the city did not include our property at all. So that's a huge deal."

As she assessed the damage on TikTok, Lindsay says, "He cut down all of our trees. He did not have permission from the city, nor did he have permission from us to do this."

Lindsay writes, "The forest was so dense, I didn’t realize what they were doing on the other side until it was too late."

Legal recourse

"Tree law" defines the rights and responsibilities of property owners regarding trees located on or near their land. These rules are usually set by local authorities such as state, county, and city governments.

Arborist Marty Shaw of Green Season Consulting, who works as an expert in "tree law" cases, says, "You think it's just a common everyday tree, but you’d be surprised how many legal complications can arise. It's a very nuanced area of the law."

Shaw says most jurisdictions nowadays are going to prevent people from arbitrarily cutting down trees—especially without a permit.

"Society has decided that trees are valuable, and they're not easy to replace," he says. "Most municipalities generally want to preserve the tree canopy."

Attorney Chad D. Cummings, of Cummings & Cummings Law, says if someone cuts down a tree that is not on his or her property, the person responsible may be held liable under common law or statutory “timber trespass” rules.

"Before taking any action involving a neighbor’s tree, it is essential to verify the exact location of the property boundary," he says. "This should never be done by visual estimation or mobile app. While deeds and plat maps are available through the county recorder’s office, only a survey by a licensed professional provides legally reliable boundary confirmation. Acting without this clarity risks civil liability for trespass or property damage."

In common-interest communities (such as homeowners associations), individual rights to trim or remove vegetation may be limited by governing documents.

"These internal restrictions often override default state rules," says Cummings. "Property owners in such communities should consult the association’s bylaws and secure written approval before taking any action involving trees."

In addition to working with the HOA, recommended next steps for Lindsay include: (1) ordering a boundary survey; (2) confirming the source and extent of any encroachment; (3) notifying the neighbor in writing, documenting concerns; (4) consulting legal counsel.

"Everyone's like, 'You're gonna make so much money, sue them, blah blah blah,' but that doesn't fix the problem," says Lindsay. "That was like decades, if not centuries, of tree growth."