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

[Anonymous]

Bottom Line: OP can't afford to remove the tree; therefore, she wont. She doesn't understand what it means to be a responsible home owner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Trees are more likely to come down during storms and in wind. Highly doubtful the neighbor's grown children will be on the swingset during a storm or the OP's newborn will be out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Trees are more likely to come down during storms and in wind. Highly doubtful the neighbor's grown children will be on the swingset during a storm or the OP's newborn will be out there.

Ok. I just know a guy who was killed when a tree fell on him. It was really sad.

[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.

Some swing sets cost $10k! It doesn't matter what it cost, it's his, on his property, and for whatever reason it is still there and he doesn't want it damaged. Op doesn't get to decide if the thing her neighbor wants protected is actually worth it. Maybe he has nieces and nephews who use it. Who knows. It's irrelevant. He's concerned a dead tree will cause harm to his property and OP Dgaf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a dead tree that could come down on a swingset that is on his property (near the property line or not...doesn't matter) than it's your responsibility and duty to take it down. Sorry, but it's true.

The neighbor has the option to move or remove the swing set. It was dumb to put it under a tree he feared to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a dead tree that could come down on a swingset that is on his property (near the property line or not...doesn't matter) than it's your responsibility and duty to take it down. Sorry, but it's true.

The neighbor has the option to move or remove the swing set. It was dumb to put it under a tree he feared to begin with.

The tree wasn't always dead, simpleton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottom Line: OP can't afford to remove the tree; therefore, she wont. She doesn't understand what it means to be a responsible home owner.

No, you don't understand that being a homeowner doesn't make you king. You don't get to make decisions for other homeowners about what they should or should not do. OP does not agree with her neighbor's assessment. He is not king. Sorry. Your only right is to complain loudly and bitterly about your neighbors' not being up to snuff -- but then we already know that about you....

[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.

WRONG
WRONG
WRONG
WRONG AS HELL

[Anonymous]

What kind of tree are we talking about, OP? If it is something like a dead Leyland Cypress, it could also pose fire hazard. When dried out and dead, they are quite flammable. Same with some other evergreens. Have an arborist out to take a look. Take it down if possible. Nobody needs that kind of worry or liability.

[Anonymous]

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

BS. Don't acknowledge that is is "dead". It probably is not. You are not there to be at his service, it's your property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Trees are more likely to come down during storms and in wind. Highly doubtful the neighbor's grown children will be on the swingset during a storm or the OP's newborn will be out there.

+1

Right? WTH? PP is nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

LOL. I don't think they bother to smile or chat, PP. OP, just ignore them. Crazy people hate to be ignored. Anything they say will be on them; and the authorities know what is really going on here. I guarantee it. There is one in every neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

OP, do what you feel is right. Do your research and act accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Is the tree dead?? If it is dead and you know about you really have NO choice but to remove it.

This neighbor is trying to help you by getting a good price. Either work with him or hire someone else to take it down. But take the danged thing down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

You can pay/influence people to say what you want. Everyone knows this. If you are smart, you won't be influenced, if the matter doesn't concern you. OP, don't engage the crazy. Of course, you "risk" (not really the crazy neighbor escalating, which they will, but that will surely be their problem, not yours.