Neighbor's tree. Yesterday's storm
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Anonymous
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I was following the threads closely after the big storm, as we have a ton of large trees in our yard. Thankfully we were spared. Yesterday, during the midday storm, our neighbor's tree came down partially, and now is precariously perched partially on a limb of one of our trees, and partially on our privacy fence. It is a very large tree, but how it is leaning, and how it was caught by our trees and fence prevented it from taking down our fence and falling down all the way. DH is not comfortable taking care of the limb on the fence, as he fears the tree may fall the rest of the way on the fence and take it down (or injure him). Since the crux of the problem is off our property, we are also not comfortable contacting a contractor to remove the tree. He could not do it from our property. (plus we do not want to take on the expense).
The house is currently vacant, and under contract. We do not know the owners as it was rental. My thought is, we now will notify them (I guess with a certified letter) that they have a dangerous tree on their property that is mostly dead, and putting our property/family/children at risk. Is that the route you would go? Do I need a lawyer involved? or will a certified letter suffice? I have contacted the realtor, letting them know there is a problem, and that I would like the sellers to contact us. I am a bit worried they will try to ignore it as the house is probably close to settlement, but 1) I do not want my first dealings with new neighbors to be about this and 2) the tree began to come down before it was the new owners house. |
Anonymous
| Call the listing agent ASAP. |
Anonymous
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Yes! Send the certified letter ASAP, but after that, it could go in many different ways:
1) They take care of the tree. 2) They decide not to do anything about and take their chances that the tree will not damage anything (and they will not be liable for any damage). 3) Leave it to the new owners, and the new owners have to decide whether or not take option 1 or option 2. NOTE: If the new owners move in and the tree is still there, make sure you send them a certified letter about the bad tree so they will be responsible for it, if it falls. 4) If the (new) neighbors do not do anything about the tree, it's up to you to decide whether to take your chances and leave it alone, or wait for it to fall on your house and let their insurance take care of it. |
Anonymous
| Yep -- it's the current owner's problem, and I'm guessing the buyer will want it resolved before they close, which is good because they'll be motivated to take care of it before the next storm makes it even worse. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, you tree freaks are on your own. Pay to have it removed or STFU. I am so very tired of hearing about how paranoid you are. |
Anonymous
Said the lady with lots of old big trees that she doesn't tend to. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
You are contradicting yourself with #2 and #4 - #2 says they don't do anything and won't be liable for any damage. #4 says they don't do anything and if it falls their insurance will take care of it (implying that they are liable). do you know which is correct? |
Anonymous
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PP here. I have plenty of trees, as they have a purpose in the world (unlike snarky PP) - however, none happen to be big. We pay for our own tree issues, as if it is any of your business.
OP, suck it up and pay for your own tree issues. No one owes you anything. Ever. |
Anonymous
look up the owners on the county or city website. get an address and send them plus realtors and city/county the letter. If they moved out of DC yet clain homestead deduction and rented the property BOO HOO for them. Take photos with date/time stamp and attach them. Also se3nd to your insurer. |
Anonymous
Listen up. OP's tree problem is neighbor's tree. And OP can't send tree removal company over to fix it. Got that? |
Anonymous
Sorry - Meant to write that they WILL be liable (in #2).... and that's only because there is proof (certified letter) that they were warned about their dangerous tree. That's why I said to send the letter ASAP (to cover what could happen in the meantime while a decision is being made as to what to do with the tree). Actually, they may want to check with their insurance to make sure that the partially broken tree falls under the "dangerous" tree category (like a dead tree would). |
Anonymous
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Thanks for the replies. Already contacted listing realtor, and was able to find name of current owners through the realtor we have used in the past. Will send off letter ASAP.
And to those who told me to take care of my tree myself, as I mentioned this is a VERY, VERY large, mostly/dead tree that is not on my property, but is hanging precariously over. I try not to trespass on my neighbors property, but thanks for the advice. Wondering if it is the same snarky poster/s who put the exact same reply on each tree thread. We chose our neighborhood because of the wooded nature of it. We, unlike the absentee landlord who has not done an ounce of work in the 7 years we have lived here, prune and maintain our trees. |
Anonymous
| As a practical matter, the listing agent will be highly motivated to fix this. They don't want anything to interfere with closing the deal. It's possible that you will pay a part of the costs, but I think that's OK. |
Anonymous
Any reputable tree company (which is what OP will want to use with a big old leaning dead tree) will not cut down your neighbor's tree at your behest. We just went through this and they won't do it without approval of the owner. The anger on this is really odd. |