Neighbor told me that I have a dead tree and wants it cut down

[Anonymous]

And you know what, plenty of people in this area rent because they know they can't buy a house and cover the mortgage and responsibly plan to cover exigencies like that that need to be built into any homeowners budget. So I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who buy anyway because they simply MUST own a home and then can't pay for proper upkeep and maintenance of their home or property. She's making this the neighbor's problem because she can't figure out how to pay for her own crap.

[Anonymous]

Just had a neighbor try to pull this on us. Didn't try to say the tree was dead but was trying to get us to use the same tree company. Turns out he didn't give them money but traded services for the work. Was trying to get us to agree to work that would lower his bill. It is fine to get tree work done, just pick your own company.

[Anonymous]

Our neighbor catty-corner across the street complained to the county that we had "two dead trees in the yard that were dropping branches into a neighbor's yard." It has absolutely nothing to do with him -- he was across the street! Also, we'd had the trees inspected and they were perfectly healthy.

Luckily for us, he'd made so many complaints to the county by this time that they just filled out the form as "issue corrected" and closed out the ticket before they even notified us of his complaint!

Some people have nothing better to do than keep track of other people's business. These are the worst neighbors. Nobody can stand them, though they smile and chat politely......

Good luck OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is so far back from both of our homes that is why we did not notice it. However, he does have a swing set back there on the property line (his kids are grown and no longer use).
Also, we really don't have the money for this or any other tree to be removed right now. I honestly don't care if it falls.

Tell him to kick rocks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have money for it, I wouldn't worry about it. People are just trying to scare you into taking it down without any legal basis. Your neighbor is not a county official. His "notice" is not a legal one. You don't have to take it down if you don't want to.

Ha. That's not how this works. Here is what could happen: tree falls and damages something or injures someone. OP claims no knowledge. Neighbor says bs. I told you that it was dead and you did nothing. Neighbor submits evidence from arborist. OP is screwed.

Only OP already said this tree was way far back out in the yard and not near either home. No homes to damage.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are giving excuses for not taking responsibly for your own property and then you want us to agree with you. Most "decent adults" on this forum will tell you to get the tree cut down as soon as you can. Let your neighbor know you are going to cut it down, but also let them know it will be a couple of months before you can do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have money for it, I wouldn't worry about it. People are just trying to scare you into taking it down without any legal basis. Your neighbor is not a county official. His "notice" is not a legal one. You don't have to take it down if you don't want to.

Ha. That's not how this works. Here is what could happen: tree falls and damages something or injures someone. OP claims no knowledge. Neighbor says bs. I told you that it was dead and you did nothing. Neighbor submits evidence from arborist. OP is screwed.

Only OP already said this tree was way far back out in the yard and not near either home. No homes to damage.

Houses aren't the only things that count. OP - you clearly aren't going to do anything. So, the risk is yours.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't the notice have to be in writing for it to shift the legal burden back on to the property owner where the tree originated? Otherwise it's just he said/she said without evidence.

That being said call an arborist (we use save-a-tree) to find out if it's really dead and what you can do about it.

[Anonymous]

I went through this with a neighbor recently. She approached us after a storm and was concerned about two trees that were on our property. The trees were fine in the storm but she was just "scared."

Long story short, she called and harassed several arborists in town to come out and look at the trees. Since the trees were on our property, she couldn't technically have anyone come out and get on the property to examine the trees. She sent us harassing emails and we had to speak to several of these arborists in town. All said the trees were not in danger of falling and recommended not to remove. Several arborists also told us that she was calling them non-stop about this issue! She wouldn't drop it though. We worked with the top arborist in our city who gave us a written report stating the trees were not in danger. Well, she found someone (she paid them) to come and give her a report, in writing, saying the trees were "a danger to life and property." We then took another step and had our arborist perform a tree biopsy (we paid $300) which we were told was the only scientific way to show if a tree was damaged. Well, it failed by the slightest of margin but this report takes a lot of things into account. The arborist explained it as the tree was really not damaged and def was not in danger of falling but, since this test showed her what she wanted to ultimately see, we were probably screwed. The arborist also said the other tree could be examined in spring to see if it came back and would be safe until then.

She also obtained numerous quotes from business who could take down the trees. I came out of my house one day with my twins to go to the ped office and a crane operator was out there examining my driveway!

My husband is an attorney so familiar with the laws and did not want to take the trees down just because she was scared. Of course we wanted everyone to be safe and remain neighborly but she really went too far. We had told her from the start that if the report comes back that the trees are dead we will of course take them down. But not if they are healthy and because she was scared. A neighbor can't just dictate what you do on your property because they don't like it. She accused of not having the money to take them down. Not true but also don't want to spend thousands to take down healthy trees that we actually enjoy.

BTW-This is the same neighbor who harassed us about painting our retaining wall that faced her property because she didn't like it. And yes in the end we did take down the two trees, her husband came over to apologize for her behavior and offered us half of the cost.

Call an arborist-not a tree removal business. A tree removal business makes money by removing trees. I'm sure most are legit but their business is to remove trees. An arborist is only interested in the health of the trees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does he know it's dead? If it's free, I would get an assessment and estimate (from another removal company) on the tree. Is it close to any houses such that if it falls it would damage his or your home?

OMG people. It's JULY. It's not that hard to tell if a tree is dead. Are you really that clueless and out of touch with the natural world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that you have notice, you will be responsible if it does any damage, so I would get it taken down.

This is your biggest concern right now. If the tree isn't going to cause any damage if it falls, then NBD that it's dead. But if it does fall onto your property or your neighbor's and causes damage, then you're going to incur more costs than just tree removal. Estimates are usually free, so you can probably have someone come look at the tree. And, while it's true that if you do more than one tree at a time you get a discount, not everyone gives you an equally good discount if it's a neighbor's tree and they are dealing with two different property owners.

This is not true. The neighbor's insurance would take care of the neighbor's damage. Look into your insurance. It does not matter where the tree originates. The person with the damage uses their insurance to deal with the damage.

But DON'T tell your insurance co you are worried about the tree or the tree is dead. They will say that since you knew, you have to take care of it and insurance will not cover you. BTDT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does he know it's dead? If it's free, I would get an assessment and estimate (from another removal company) on the tree. Is it close to any houses such that if it falls it would damage his or your home?

OMG people. It's JULY. It's not that hard to tell if a tree is dead. Are you really that clueless and out of touch with the natural world?

I already posted upthread that we had a busybody neighbor complain about dead trees that had zero effect on him, but we had already had the trees inspected and were told BY AN EXPERT that they were healthy and safe. So there ya go.

Busybodies will always find something to keep themselves amused.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why OP should take down the tree. If it falls it will damage.... a swing set? Even IF her insurance or his insurance don't cover it.... is it more expensive to replace a swing set or take down a tree?

OP, I took down two trees, used JL family tree, got a discount because I did it sometime in late winter/early spring. FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does he know it's dead? If it's free, I would get an assessment and estimate (from another removal company) on the tree. Is it close to any houses such that if it falls it would damage his or your home?

OMG people. It's JULY. It's not that hard to tell if a tree is dead. Are you really that clueless and out of touch with the natural world?

I already posted upthread that we had a busybody neighbor complain about dead trees that had zero effect on him, but we had already had the trees inspected and were told BY AN EXPERT that they were healthy and safe. So there ya go.

Busybodies will always find something to keep themselves amused.

Is the neighbor a busybody? Nothing OP wrote suggests that he is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why OP should take down the tree. If it falls it will damage.... a swing set? Even IF her insurance or his insurance don't cover it.... is it more expensive to replace a swing set or take down a tree?

OP, I took down two trees, used JL family tree, got a discount because I did it sometime in late winter/early spring. FYI.

I would be more concerned that it would somehow hit a person/kid. Per OP, OP doesn't care. Most reasonable people would care enough to at least investigate the neighbor's claims.