Neighbor demo left telecom wires and debris hanging over our yards - who fixes this?

Safety

Hey everyone,

Looking for some perspective. I’m in the City of Los Angeles.

The house behind ours recently sold to a developer. They demolished the house about two weeks ago and are starting a rebuild. Along the back property line (where their lot meets mine) there was a very large, overgrown tree on their property that had grown into the overhead utility lines that run across both properties.

After the demo, a mess was left overhead:

  • A large branch (around 5 inches thick) that had grown around one of the wires is now just hanging there, several other small tangled branches remain
  • Three disconnected telecom lines from the old house are dangling low enough to touch our fence
  • Another wire is drooping from a connection point and gets as low as about 15 ft
  • That drooping line looks like it’s being held up by a bungee or some kind of improvised tie

Overall it looks pretty sloppy and a little concerning.

Most of the lines appear to be on their side of the property line (we don’t have an easement there), but they hang close enough to our yard that it feels like our problem too.

A couple questions:

  • Is this something the developer will eventually address by calling the utility companies (telecom/power) as part of the rebuild process?
  • Or is this the kind of thing that can sit like this indefinitely unless someone reports it?
  • Should I proactively call LADWP or the telecom companies?

I’m about 90% sure these are telecom lines, not actual power lines.

Curious what others would do in this situation. Thanks.

Posted Mar 5, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

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