Neighbor's dead tree is leaning against my oak and threatening to fall on my property

[Joe]

My neighbor has had a dead tree in the back of his property for about a year, last night the wind finally broke the trunk and it fell a little toward my yard but was stopped by a large oak tree on my property. I'm worried that it might break apart and fall when my children are playing in the yard. I need this tree to come down and I'm worried that my neighbor won't do it. They have a habit of only doing the kind of maintenance that is absolutely necessary. How do I approach them to make sure they take care of this problem? I'm on good terms with this neighbor and I'd like to take care of this in the most tactful way possible but I get the feeling they are going to tell me that if I want the tree down I'm going to have to pay for it myself.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Stop worrying and ask them. Let us know what they say, and we can proceed from there.

[Steve Daniels]

On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:09:11 -0700 (PDT), against all advice, something compelled Joe , to say:

I'm having some weed trees taken down next Friday. It will be $190 an hour. Were I in your shoes, I'd just get it done.

I guess you could present the bill to your neighbor, say his tree littered your yard and this is what you had to do to clear it up, and see what he says. Or you could ask him what he plans to do about it. Or you could have the work done, and then go see Judge Judy.

[ransley]

call your city hall , maybe codes. Talk to the neighbor

[The Ranger]

So are you going to _pay_ to have the work done or are you going to do it yourself?

If you are going to pay for it to be done, then find out how much the job's going to cost and simply tell the neighbor, "To take that dead wood away, the contractor's willing to charge me $X. Your portion will be $Y." If he balks, then you can tell him that the weekend clean-up for your neighborhood is on so-and-such-weekend and you'll help move it to his curb that weekend."

If you are thinking of doing it yourself, then ask for his help (unless you think he's the widow-maker) as a form of payment. We do this all the time in my neighborhood. It's driving the tree-trimmers nuts but it allows most of us to relive our Yout' by climbing limbs and stepping out from the top-step pruning ladders. :)

The Ranger

[tmclone]

Umm, it's ALREADY on your property if the only thing keeping it from hitting the ground is YOUR tree. I'd tell them to remove or I'd call the county. Since you like these neighbors, you might want to tactfully "bring it to their attention" (yeah, yeah, they know you know they know) and mention the danger to your kids, etc. If you don't get a positive response such as, "We'll have it removed right away", then call the county. It's a hazard and your neighbor will be ordered to have it removed. Simple.

[LouB]

first just ask nicely. You might gently point out that his insurance company will not pay for any damages cause he could have fixed the problem.

[norminn]

I'd be in favor of waiting a week to see if they take care of it. That is sufficient consideration for a "good neighbor". If it is still leaning then, call your code enforcement authority - the tree has been a hazard for a year (proven by the fact that it came down) and good neighbors, even stupid ones, don't leave hazards in place.

A few weeks ago, a palm tree in our condo property came down on a very windy day. Some palms are eaten up by termites, as was the case with this one. The trunk broke about six feet from the ground and the sound it made was amazing - thought at first it was a sonic boom because the shuttle was about to land.

[HeyBub]

A spin on this is "My insurance will pay for damage to my property, but then they will sue you to recover their expense."

As a LEGAL principle, the neighbor is responsible for all damage something on his property causes on another (excepting acts of God like a lightning strike or armed rebellion).

He's already proven he's not a "good neighbor" by letting the situation reach the imminent peril stage.

[JIMMIE]

Have your insurance company talk to his. If this was storm damage he may be covered by his insurance and can get the tree removed for the cost of his deductable which nmay or may not be a good deal.

JImmie.

Jimmie

[Jim Yanik]

Steve Daniels wrote in news: [e-mail]:

take pictures for evidence.

[ransley]

Contact your city hall, they might have advise and take action for you, talk to him. If it was a good tree and just fell it would not be his fault, but since its been dead 1 yr he knows it, he is negligent not to take care of the issue, he is responsible. Maybe you can get your City Code Inforcement dept or whatever dept to talk to him, they might even ticket-citate him if he doesnt take care of it fast. Now its of harm to people so your city might act for you quickly.

[Colbyt]

First thing I would do is mention it to the neighbor, presented as a safety issue and see what they say.

From a legal perspective (here) alive or dead once it crossed the property line, the part that crossed the line became your property and your problem.

Since it sounds like the bulk of the tree remains on their property where you have no rights you have to work with the neighbor or let your local code enforcement office deal with them.

A dead tree leaning into another property and threaten the safety of property, children or pets would be a 24 hour notice to correct in these parts.

When the city gives you 24 hours to correct a problem it tends to become "maintenance that is absolutely necessary".

Colbyt

[Bill]

A situation like this is the MOST dangerous tree situation there is - so far as taking down the tree. Many professionals would not touch this except with a bucket truck and/or heavy equipment. So don't even think of this as being a do-it-yourself project!

With that said, a professional tree service would need to be called to safely remove the tree. And this would be quite expensive.

And either your neighbor has the money to pay for this or they don't.

If they don't have the money to pay for this, then there is nothing they can do! Period, end of story!

So I suppose if that is the case and you want safety for your kids, then you would need to pay for it.

I suppose if it got to that, you could contact an attorney and have the attorney arrange a repayment contract with the neighbor or some other legal means of getting your money back.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Incidentally, depending on how the fallen tree is leaning against your oak, it could threaten the health of your tree, and VERY QUICKLY. So, if I were you, I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about what to do next.

[RickH]

Ask the neighbor. If you get a cold shoulder and no cost sharing... Then call your insurance company to send out an adjuster. Yours and the neighbors' insurance companies will decide how to pay the bill. Tree cutting is probably the most dangerous occupation, unless you do it regularly I'd leave it up to a contractor. It is a hazard after all.

[Frank]

That's first thing he has to do. I had a neighbors tree fall into my yard and he did not even know it as it was winter and he could not see the area from his house. He, his wife and son came out with a chain saw and removed it. On reflection it was probably my total responsibility. In this case there may be neighbors home owner insurance coverage.

[trader4]

A more pertinent example would be a tree which falls down with no obvious warning onto someone else's property. In most cases, that is viewed similarly and the person who's property it was on is not responsible either.

But if the tree is dead, or already partially falling down, like in this case, then the property owner is held responsible.

I'd just start out by having a discussion with the facts as were presented here, eg, "I'm concerned about the tree falling on kids on my property, etc" and see what the neighbor says.

As Jim suggested, take pictures. If the neighbor won't remove it, my next step would be to contact local code enforcement. They may be able to force them to deal with it because of the safety hazard.

[JIMMIE]

.

ide quoted text -

Normally if your neighbor's tree falls on your house its not your neighbors fault or responsibility. In the case of a dead tree that is obviously a hazard things may be different.

Jimmie

[JIMMIE]

Normally a fallen tree is considered "an act of god". If your neighbors tree falls on your house the neighbor is not liable. The discribed situation is probably an exception. Not taking prompt action may also cause other exceptions. If the "good neighbor" does nothing about it he may appear negligent. If the OP doesnt try to resolve the issue promptly this may lessen his case because he made no attempt to mediate damages..

Jimmie

Jimmie