Saga ofa Fallen tree

[Peter Parker]

I limb fell on my neighbor's property this weekend He says he heard it hit the roof and slide into the yard It is currently on the ground and one end has knocked a hole in my fence. The pickets in the fence are facig in toward my property.

I see no broken limb in my trees and i do see one on his property. He insists that the limb came from my property and that I not only must pay to have it removed but that he should choose who does it. So far he has spoken to my wife twice---both times within a minute or so of me driving off.


I want to keep pace in the neighborhood but I don't care for how he went about this. He is now saying I have another limb over his house and he wants that cut off I agree with that I would be happy to have that removed before something happens but this is ridiculous.

any suggestions?

 

[Bob Haller]

call your insurance agent and smile.........

if a tree in your yard blows into your neighbors yard and even flatens his home, its his problem./

it becomes his property as it crosses the property line

I had a tree limb do that and hit my neighbors car, he was out of luck and had zero comprehensive insurance. it was a junk car, right after that the engine blew and it went to the junk yard...

the only exception......

if your informed the tree is a hazard. someone comes and says hey your tree is dying, it could blow over and flatten my home...

if it does your on the hook........

now cooperating with your neighbor is always best, neighborhood wars are bad.

but call your insurance and ask, then tell your neighbor its not your problem.

then offer to help him clean up.......... and perhaps trim the overhanging branches.

but those are his responsiblity too.

when a tree overhangs a property line, the property owner it overhangs is responsible, and can prune as they wish,

 

[Peter Parker]

Well the thing is Bob i think it was his tree limb not mine.

 

[nonrev]

Its time for you to put on your CSI hat and figure where the limb came from. Take pictures if you see evidence it came from his property.

 

[Skyhi]

What state are you in? Laws regarding this situation vary from state to state.

 

[Peter Parker]

Va

 

[HD MM]

call your insurance agent and smile.........

if a tree in your yard blows into your neighbors yard and even flatens his home, its his problem./

it becomes his property as it crosses the property line

I had a tree limb do that and hit my neighbors car, he was out of luck and had zero comprehensive insurance. it was a junk car, right after that the engine blew and it went to the junk yard...

the only exception......

if your informed the tree is a hazard. someone comes and says hey your tree is dying, it could blow over and flatten my home...

if it does your on the hook........

now cooperating with your neighbor is always best, neighborhood wars are bad.

but call your insurance and ask, then tell your neighbor its not your problem.

then offer to help him clean up.......... and perhaps trim the overhanging branches.

but those are his responsiblity too.

when a tree overhangs a property line, the property owner it overhangs is responsible, and can prune as they wish,

Bob is exactly right. My wife works for an insurance company in the property division. She said the same thing. You are not liable "unless you were notified previously that it was a hazard". Most property claims aren't as tricky as car collisions. Meaning, there is no one person at fault. If the damage is on his property, his home owners insurance should take car of the cost to repair his house and lawn. If the fence is on your property, then your insurance will take care of that.

 

[Skyhi]

Bob is exactly right. My wife works for an insurance company in the property division. She said the same thing. You are not liable "unless you were notified previously that it was a hazard". Most property claims aren't as tricky as car collisions. Meaning, there is no one person at fault. If the damage is on his property, his home owners insurance should take car of the cost to repair his house and lawn. If the fence is on your property, then your insurance will take care of that.

Thats correct with a small exception: If the tree was dying/had dead branches all over it and a reasonable person would have known the risks it posed, then you potentially could be negligent and liable for damages.

From a practical standpoint, however, proving this is in court would be so expensive that it wouldn't be worth it for your neighbor/his insurance company to do....just tell him to let his insurance handle it.

As far as the branch that is growing over his house: As long as its healthy, he should bear the cost of having it removed.

 

[Peter Parker]

Thats correct with a small exception: If the tree was dying/had dead branches all over it and a reasonable person would have known the risks it posed, then you potentially could be negligent and liable for damages.

From a practical standpoint, however, proving this is in court would be so expensive that it wouldn't be worth it for your neighbor/his insurance company to do....just tell him to let his insurance handle it.

As far as the branch that is growing over his house: As long as its healthy, he should bear the cost of having it removed.

Legally you might be right about him being liable for that but frankly if he would stop trying to get me to remove the limb I would be happy to remove the limb that might be a hazard.

 

[wainwright]

I limb fell on my neighbor's property this weekend He says he heard it hit the roof and slide into the yard It is currently on the ground and one end has knocked a hole in my fence. The pickets in the fence are facig in toward my property.

any suggestions?

First, take pictures - lots of pictures. Buy or borrow a high pixel digital camera with optical zoom and take pictures of everything.

The branch
Closeups of the end where the branch broke
The broken branch stub in the neighbor's tree
The neighbor's roof (any debris or torn shingles?)
The hole in your fence
Your intact trees

Make sure you take a couple wide angle shots showing where everything is relative to each other. And transition shots showing that the closeup of the tree is actually your neighbor's tree.

Next, call your insurance company and let them know.

Finally, sit back and wait. If he drags you into small claims court, you have enough evidence to win the case and possible get his rear end into serious trouble.

 

[Bob Haller]

just give him a copy of the law..........

then explain you will help clean up the downed limb but doubt its yours, you are doing it to be neighborly.

same with the overhanging limb, offer to split the cost..

its fare more than he deserves or is legally entitled too

 

[Peter Parker]

I spoke to him. He will get rid of the tree. At tghe same time he will get quotes for the fence (VERY MINOR) and the limb over his house. We will split the cost of the fence and I will pay to remove the limb over his house but I obvisouly can decide who removes the limb and repairs the fence.

I suppose I could have made him pay for it all but this keeps peace in the neighborhood and frankly the tree is mine.

 

[TBoneit]

It all sounded to me as if he had someone at a tree service that was going to pad the bill and do a kick back in $$ It also sounded as if he was angling for a free new roof. It sounds suspicious that he came over twice right after you left to me too. If I'm wrong then apologies for my misunderstanding.

Is your tree shading his house in the summer and not your house? I think I would remove the whole thing and let his cooling bill go up.

Since he was claiming that the branch came off of your tree I would want a statement from the tree service you hire to the effect that they observed no missing limbs of that size on your tree when they came to do the pruning. A simple case of CYA. Don't forget to have them check out the whole tree for any problems. Rot, bad crotches etc.