Dead Tree Limbs Falling In Our Yard

[Anonymous]

Our neighbor has a dead tree in their yard and whenever it storms, huge limbs fall off the tree into our yard. We've already approached them nicely about the hazards of their dead tree leaning towards their house. We notified them for insurance purposes (if dead tree falls on our house, and they are aware of the dead tree, they are liable for paying for any potential damages out of their insurance).

It's been awhile now and it doesn't seem like they have any intentions of cutting the tree down (they have several dead trees in their yeard). The issue for us now is that we keep spending money to have someone cut up and remove the dead tree limbs from our yard. We're thinking it may be cheaper just to have the whole tree cut down vs. calling somone out to remove pieces at a time.

I'm hesitant to ask them to help pay for cutting down a tree they have no intentions of cutting down (doesn't effect them at all), but at the same time, I'm annoyed that we have to pay for a dead tree that keeps breaking apart into our yard.

WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our neighbor has a dead tree in their yard and whenever it storms, huge limbs fall off the tree into our yard. We've already approached them nicely about the hazards of their dead tree leaning towards OUR house....

[Anonymous]

You are legally responsible for damage from any branches or trees that fall from your neighbors yard into your yard. THAT IS CORRECT, DEAL WITH IT. Whether it's DC, MD or VA that is the law. I am a lawyer. Now. If there is a branch hanging into your yard from a neighbor's yard, you can cut it (even before it falls) and or fix whatever damage there is from it. But you will have to PAY FOR IT YOUR SELF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are legally responsible for damage from any branches or trees that fall from your neighbors yard into your yard. THAT IS CORRECT, DEAL WITH IT. Whether it's DC, MD or VA that is the law. I am a lawyer. Now. If there is a branch hanging into your yard from a neighbor's yard, you can cut it (even before it falls) and or fix whatever damage there is from it. But you will have to PAY FOR IT YOUR SELF.

"I AM A LAWYER." OOOhhh, looks so important but sounds redundant on a DCUM board. We're all lawyers or married to lawyers or parents are lawyers or were lawyers before we decided to leave the paid workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are legally responsible for damage from any branches or trees that fall from your neighbors yard into your yard. THAT IS CORRECT, DEAL WITH IT. Whether it's DC, MD or VA that is the law. I am a lawyer. Now. If there is a branch hanging into your yard from a neighbor's yard, you can cut it (even before it falls) and or fix whatever damage there is from it. But you will have to PAY FOR IT YOUR SELF.

OP - Maybe I should have made my question more clear. I wasn't asking if we should take legal action to see if we could hold the neighbors accountable for the tree in their yard. I'm wondering if it makes sense to possibly ask them again if they would help pay for the cutting down of the tree. If my tree was causing damage to a neighbor's property, I wouldn't pay for it all myself, but would pitch in. How do others feel about that?

[Anonymous]

NP here. In Fairfax County, there is a law that says yoru neighbor would be held legally accountable for any damage to your property from a tree in their yard IF (and only if) you have warned the in writing via certified mail that you are concerned about a dangerous tree on their property. Then you can document they were aware of the issue and your concerns.

What I would do, if I were you, would be to go ahead and send a letter to them and include something along the lines of "If you are interested in taking down the tree within the next X months, please let us know and we may be able to share the cost with you." I'd put a deadline on that offer though, so if they ignore your letter and the tree DOES fall on your house, they can't claim that you were somehow offering to pay half of damages or something.

[Anonymous]

Also has an arborist certified that the tree is dead and/or dangerous?

[Anonymous]

If 11:35 is a lawyer than I am a size 0. Total bullshit in either case. Lawyers never call themselves lawyers, ever. They would have self referenced as an attorney. They would also have better sentence structure, and not rely on bolding or flagrant capitalization to get a point across. They would also convey accurate information, which they did not. MD and DC follow the Massachusetts precedent, while VA broke precedent a few years ago and allows for a more liberal interpretation of when a property owner is responsible for neighboring property damage. They would also include that negligence plays a very large factor in determining liability. The fact that the neighbor was put on notice that the tree posed a hazard may deem them negligent in this case. OP, document your interactions with your neighbor regarding the tree. If indeed any future damage results from their inaction you probably have a case and should seek the advice of a real attorney, WHICH I AM NOT!!!!

[Anonymous]

What I would do, if I were you, would be to ask the neighbor's permission to have an arborist look at the tree, and go on from there. As far as I know, you can't send anyone onto the neighbor's property without permission, but you can cut down limbs that overhang your property. I am not, however, a lawyer.

We had some trees removed because they were hanging too far over the fence and it was much less expensive than we expected. You may not find it necessary to convince the neighbor to share the cost if he is willing to allow your workmen onto his property.

[Anonymous]

Or just pay for to have all the overhanging limbs cut down. You don't need permission but I'd mention it to the neighbors.

[Anonymous]

OP, I second 12:00. Laymen really can't tell whether or not a tree is healthy.

Ask you neighbor for permission to have an arborist enter his yard to inspect the tree. Many tree service firms will send an arborist for to inspect for free. Get the arborist to put his opinion about the health of the tree in writing along with a written estimate of the work that needs to be done.

If the tree is unheathly and in jeopardy of falling during the next storm, send a copy of the report to your neighbor along with a written time-limited offer to split the cost of taking the tree down, assuming the cost is too high for you to cover it all. This puts your neighbor on notice.

If the arborist says that the tree is reasonably healthy, then just prune the limbs back to the property line.

[Anonymous]

Just throw the fallen limbs in your neighbors' yard while they're at work or in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If 11:35 is a lawyer than I am a size 0. Total bullshit in either case. Lawyers never call themselves lawyers, ever. They would have self referenced as an attorney. They would also have better sentence structure, and not rely on bolding or flagrant capitalization to get a point across. They would also convey accurate information, which they did not. MD and DC follow the Massachusetts precedent, while VA broke precedent a few years ago and allows for a more liberal interpretation of when a property owner is responsible for neighboring property damage. They would also include that negligence plays a very large factor in determining liability. The fact that the neighbor was put on notice that the tree posed a hazard may deem them negligent in this case. OP, document your interactions with your neighbor regarding the tree. If indeed any future damage results from their inaction you probably have a case and should seek the advice of a real attorney, WHICH I AM NOT!!!!

There are a lot of lawyers out there who are crappy writers and/or crappy lawyers. You obviously haven't met my BIL.