OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A photo taken two years ago shows an ash tree that’s now a stump after a stranger rang the doorbell at the home of 94-year-old Robert Banks.

“Well, he said the tree was going to fall over and crush the house,” Robert said.

A tree cutting crew removed the ash, but left the stump and oil spots in the driveway. The senior homeowner wrote one of them a check for $8,000.

“I wrote him out the check and he took it to the bank immediately… I don’t know what to think,” Robert said.

Since Robert is stumped by the cost, First Alert 6 asked Terry Carpenter, an arborist with Sunworks Tree Services, to take a look.

“Whenever someone knocks on the door and tries to sell your work it’s a red flag,” Carpenter said.

The licensed arborist for 27 years tells Robert and his daughter that the senior citizen overpaid for the tree removal.

“It’s double priced, I would say. I would charge $3,000 or $4,000 with the stump and everything cleaned up and that’s high dollar,” Carpenter said. “So, obviously, they got charged double that.

First Alert 6 called the Missouri number for the tree cutter who cashed the $8,000 check. Corey Kreling told us he didn’t overcharge to take out a big, dead ash tree.

But, our expert says credentials are needed to do that job.

“We can’t go on any residential or commercial property unless we have a licensed arborist on staff,” Carpenter said.

We checked with city permits, and Kreling with a Missouri cell number doesn’t have an arborist license on record in Bellevue.

Bellevue city permits has no record that the tree cutters filed a certificate of liability insurance, which requires $300,000 minimum coverage.

The tree cutter, who clams to have business insurance, told us he didn’t know he needed an arborist license to cut down a tree in Bellevue.

Robert’s daughter says her 94-year-old father simply trusted a stranger who knocked on his door.

“And they need a solicitor’s license to go door-to-door, so there were three licenses they didn’t have,” Jetta Banks, the daughter, said. “My dad was concerned that this tree was going to fall on his house so he didn’t question.”

Robert and his family now have answers on who to call if more trees need to be removed from his yard.

First Alert 6 checked with Bellevue code enforcement, which says the ash tree had not been declared a hazard, and there was no order to remove it.

However, the Missouri tree cutter claims the elderly homeowner saw him at a gas station and asked him to take down the tree — a claim that the senior’s daughter calls ridiculous.

—

Get a first alert to breaking news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for First Alert 6 email alerts.

Copyright 2025 WOWT. All rights reserved.