Neighbor's Tree (anyone have similar issues?)

Let me preface this by saying I love trees, have several on my property, and am not looking to go cutting down trees needlessly. That said, my neighbor has a large tree that is on their property, but hangs over my driveway, yard and parts of my home. I have approached her on 3 separate occasions about the number of dead limbs which have fallen into our driveway and yard, one of which hit the roof of my husband's car and took out a 4 inch diameter chip of paint. They keep saying they will have it serviced, but to date, the only thing they've done is cut the ivy that has grown up the tree for years (my guess is that it's choking it out by taking necessary hydration to continue growing up the tree). My insurance company suggested taking pictures and sending the homeowner a certified letter, again asking them to cut the tree down or have it properly manicured. I have taken the pictures, and am working on the letter today to get it in the mail (hopefully today as well). Just curious if any of you have had to deal with this type of situation before, and how you handled it, what the insurance company did (if anything), etc. The way I understand it, if it falls on my property, I would handle the damage with my insurance company. But my ins company said that if proper notice was served onto them, and they refuse to do anything about it, they would in turn sue the homeowner/their ins co. (subrogation) for reimbursement of expenses paid out.

Just interested in anyone else's experiences with similar situations. Thanks much!

This message was edited Jul 31, 2009 6:56 AM

Yes, I have been in both situations - I understand protocol is that if a tree falls on the neighbors property (and causes damage) you are responsible* (or insurance companies can work out the claims if large, or involve injuries.) Also, now, I have a very large silver maple in my yard, w several huge limbs are over neighbors yard. (Tree sheds branches in wind.) They have the right to cut off and prune the tree parts over their property (but not to the point of killing the tree). It would be their choice to do so and their expense. And, the expense of service for the tree is quite expensive. If the situation is worrisome, suggest both of you obtain quotes for service, work together - save the tree, keep folks/ drive safe. Retain the neighborly relationship.... Although, this is not always an easy situation.

* In a past situation, neighbor's tree fell over fence and branches over my shed, and my neighbor said would do something. Months passed and nothing happened, no response after 2 conversations. I cut it up all myself. It wasn't worth dealing with the deductible of insurance and rate issues.

That is the law in NJ too.... that you can cut whatever is hanging over into your yard. Good luck.

I've consulted with my insurance company, as well as the local county/city government to see what -- if any -- laws/ordinances are in effect that apply to this situation, and they couldn't offer any. My insurance company said that since I've talked with them on 3 separate occasions to address the matter, and they've taken no action, to send a certified letter to them detailing the conversations and concerns, as well as pictures, to protect myself and show that I have addressed the matter with them. I did this yesterday, and filed a copy with my insurance company in the event there is property/person damage in the future. My insurance company said that if something happens, and the homeowner/their insurance refuses to pay for damages, my ins company will cover me, and sue the homeowner or apply a lein to their home. I just don't want to have to file against my own insurance for something that will possibly raise my rates when they should be responsible and take care of the problem in the first place.

I would be on the side of trying to save the tree; however, there are so many large dead limbs on it that I don't know if it's possible to cut them off and save the tree. It's like the tree is slowly dying a long death and dropping limbs every couple weeks. With hurricane season coming, I'm worried about the winds bringing more limbs down on our home or cars, or even the random limb falling on someone in our driveway (e.g., my daughter while she's playing, etc.)

As far as keeping "neighborly relations" with them, I'm not really concerned. This couple has never extended any sort of pleasantries with us or anyone else in the neighborhood. The husband -- specifically -- has a thing about cutting down trees. He has several growing on the back of the property line where there are power lines ahead. A couple years ago, the power company came out to cut them back as they were too close to the lines, and he was out there yelling and calling them every name in the book. We all have the same easement on the back of our properties (in our 'hood) because of the powerlines, but he seems to think it doesn't apply to him for some reason. The more he yelled, the faster and louder the equipment operated to trim the trees back. It really was quite amusing to watch. The company wasn't killing the trees or cutting them down, just trimming them. But with his reaction, you'd think they were taking a wrecking ball to his house or something.

Obviously it would be best if you could get them to trim the tree, but if the rules in NC are the same as they are here, you are within your rights to have any branches overhanging your property trimmed as long as it doesn't kill the tree in the process. So if the certified letter still has no impact and you don't mind spending some money to prevent the tree from damaging your property and causing more headaches, then I'd get an arborist to trim the parts that hang over your yard.

What state governing body/department would typically have that information? I've called the county and city, and they said they don't have any laws/ordinances for such a situation. The only thing I found was a prior court case in NC (Rowe vs. McGee. 5 N.C. App. 60) where a homeowner informed the neighbor (in the same way I've done), and the neighbor still didn't take any action. The tree ended up causing damage to the neighbor's property, and the neighbor sued, and the ruling was in their favor (against the tree/property owner) for negligence in applying duty of care in remedying the hazardous condition of the tree in a timely manner from when he was notified of it.

Wiki Answers says: The responsibility rests with the owner of the property on which the rotting tree is standing. However, the person whose property is damaged may have the burden of proving the tree owner knew it was a hazard (foreseeable versus merely potential) and that the damage was caused by negligence rather than an "act of God". A person is responsible for insuring his or her own property for damage caused by unforeseen accidents.

Also, the only semi-official looking local info I could find is here: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/forestry/pdf/ag/ag696.pdf, where it says that a property owner is responsible for trees on their property, AND: "You should also be careful
not to remove trees on your neighbor’s property, as you may be subject to civil and criminal penalties under North Carolina law." Now, that doesn't specify "pruning" the tree; only removing it, but I don't see how I can even prune it without killing it, given most of the tree is over my property line, so it'd be considerable pruning that would likely be too much for the tree to survive. Also, I doubt they would give me approval to do it, given they have barked at the power company who actually DOES have an easement and right to cut the trees in the back of their yard.

Well, two updates/tid-bits of info:

1) I found a state law/ordnance/whatever that says if I cut down a part of their tree even if it's hanging over my property, it IS a misdemeanor, so that's out.

2) I plugged in the tracking number on the certified letter I sent them last Friday. They've denied acceptance, and it's being returned to me as sender.

I've already informed my insurance company of the denial so they have it on record as well. Ironically, Mr & Mrs "We Don't Have the Money" had a carpet installation company in their home this week. Go figure! Hubby says to heck with them; we'll keep all the cars in the driveway, and if one of them gets damaged by a limb from their tree, we'll go knocking on their door and ask for their insurance company info. My only concern, though, is that if their ins co finds out they were notified about the hazard, and did nothing about it, they will deny a claim, and thus we'll be forced to sue to the homeowner directly.

I also finally located a contact in the city to see what can be done, and left a message for them. Maybe if the city weighs in, they'll reprioritize their spending habits and be more considerate of their neighbors ... Or maybe not. :- /

I hate seeing trees being cut down, and I'm not advocating that it be cut down. It may be that a simply pruning is all the tree needs, but they haven't lifted a finger to even see if that's the case or not. Grrrr! This kind of stuff puts me in an unpleasant-neighbor mood!

To protect the safety of your family you need to try another way. Could an Arborist possibly do a complete evaluation of the tree as a concern for the safety of your family. Ivy is a big problem in the Northwest where ivy can does choke out very tall trees. Insects and disease could be killing the tree as well. Do you have a state tree association that can help you find an Arborist or several for evaluations. Keep the pressure on, it's the only way. Your responsibility is to the safety of your family. I believe your persistance will pay off.

the story really gets under my skin. This misdemeanor business is ridiculous. There should be some flexibility with the law when there's a high damage risk on a daily basis.

And please don't park under it, there's another angle to support your case.

Believe me, I have pointed out the potential damage to our cars to include the damage that was already done to my husband's car on the roof from one of their dead limbs falling on it, as well as potential for damage to our home, landscape, and most importantly, to my family. They just really do not seem to care, which seems odd because they're not what you would expect to be careless people. We have a nice neighborhood, nice homes, and they're not wealthy, but certainly not hurting for money either. I don't get how you can have something that has already caused damage to someone else's property, know it has a ton of other dead limbs with potential for more damage, and not do something about it. Not to mention how unsightly it is to have your tree dropping dead limbs all over the yard, someone else's driveway, and public street. Quite frankly, I'd be embarrassed that I appeared to be so careless in not remedying the situation.

I have two trees that come up through our deck (deck is built around them). One of them had a large limb about 16" in diameter that went straight over my daughter's bedroom. I didn't even risk the chance of something happening, and that limb coming down through the house on her if we had bad winds, ice or a hurricane -- I had it removed. But I guess that's the difference between a responsible and irresponsible person.

Sounds like the insurance company isn't acting out their due diligence to remedy the problem or protect their client. Your probably very tired of trying to find a solution and have completely given up.

Insurance companies in general try to do the least amount of work possible for their clients, and also deny claims, or further coverage. The normal process is to appeal, appeals can be done up to 3 times within a given timeframe, probably 6 months or so.

My parents live in a residential care home, and my mom has been recovering from surgery after falling and breaking her hip. She's getting physical therapy everyday and Physical Therapist have said she makes progress everyday. And was clear that she's moving around better than before the break. Well just last week at the Assessment, the insurance company said that she "reach a plateau" and were going to cancel her coverage for physical therapy. I felt their was a discrepancy in wording so I appealled and won the appeal. I found out later that the form the insurance company was trying to complete was a Notice of NonCoverage. I'm sure glad that I appealled and won.

Back to trees, There are some nearby streets in my neighborhood with 80+ yr old maple trees, beautiful trees after a year long evalution was done of about 30 maples suspected of having an insect infestation, about 1/4 of those had to be taken down. **The city conducted the testing because the limbs hung over the street.
The city doesn't want to be sued by a passing motorist if the city denies looking into it.***

Actually, there's not much my insurance company can do at this point except what they've done, which is to advise me of what to do in terms of talking to the neighbor and sending the certified letter. They've retained copies of the letter and certified mail denial in my property file so that if/when damage or injury does occur, they have the evidence to provide to the neighbor and/or their insurance company that the neighbor was informed of the problem and therefore negligent and responsible for damages. I'm simply trying to be proactive in having them tend to the tree, rather than wait until it falls on our vehicles or causes damage or injury. The difference being -- if I didn't tell the neighbor, then my insurance company would be the ones to cover it, thus I'd be filing the claim and might see a raise in my rates as a result, which in my opinion is not fair because 1) it's not my tree, and 2) I've done all I can to prevent any damage.

In most of the cases I've read about in these situations, the responsibility falls back to the insurance company of the person who was injured/received damages simply because they did not have evidence that the property owner knew of the problem. I've taken care of that by what I've done. So, now, it's a matter of waiting until the neighbor either gets their head out of their bum, or the tree starts falling down again and causes damage. I just would prefer to not be without my vehicle or shelling out money for repairs until it gets resolved, which is why I was trying to be proactive in having them tend to the problem now.

I did contact the city, and they said that since it's on private property, they do not get involved.

That's a rough spot to be in. It's interesting that you can't cut the part of the tree that hangs over your property. In Ohio the law is completely different. Anything that hangs over your property line is yours. You can prune it back to the line as high up as you wish. You don't need permission as long as all the work is done from your side. You obviously can't go on the other guy's property to prune. If the tree, shrub or whatever dies it's tough luck for the owner who's planted it. It solves a lot of problems. In some cases however equipment can't get to tree because of lack access and you're still stuck.

I did once offer to pay for the removal of a neighbor's Silver Maple and for a replacement tree of their choice planted any where else but in that spot. Surprisingly, they agreed. Boy was that a happy day. Oddly, they didn't replant. Have you thought of wearing a hard hat to and from the car? Just kidding.

I'm also surprised that you're not allowed to trim what's on your side of the property line. Our rule here is similar to the rule in Ohio, except that if you kill your neighbor's tree by trimming it on your side then you are responsible for that, but you can do what you want on your side of the property line as long as it doesn't kill the tree.

I agree with you all. If it hangs over my property with the likely potential to cause property damage or personal injury, I agree that I SHOULD have the right to take care of it when the negligent owner does not; however ...

NC statutes:

1‑539.1. Damages for unlawful cutting, removal or burning of timber; misrepresentation of property lines.

(a) Any person, firm or corporation not being the bona fide owner thereof or agent of the owner who shall without the consent and permission of the bona fide owner enter upon the land of another and injure, cut or remove any valuable wood, timber, shrub or tree therefrom, shall be liable to the owner of said land for double the value of such wood, timber, shrubs or trees so injured, cut or removed.

(b) If any person, firm or corporation shall willfully and intentionally set on fire, or cause to be set on fire, in any manner whatever, any valuable wood, timber or trees on the lands of another, such person, firm or corporation shall be liable to the owner of said lands for double the value of such wood, timber or trees damaged or destroyed thereby.

(c) Any person, firm or corporation cutting timber under contract and incurring damages as provided in subsection (a) of this section as a result of a misrepresentation of property lines by the party letting the contract shall be entitled to reimbursement from the party letting the contract for damages incurred. (1945, c. 837; 1955, c. 594; 1971, c. 119; 1977, c. 859.)


14‑128. Injury to trees, crops, lands, etc., of another.

Any person, not being on his own lands, who shall without the consent of the owner thereof, willfully commit any damage, injury, or spoliation to or upon any tree, wood, underwood, timber, garden, crops, vegetables, plants, lands, springs, or any other matter or thing growing or being thereon, or who cuts, breaks, injures, or removes any tree, plant, or flower, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor: Provided, however, that this section shall not apply to the officers, agents, and employees of the Department of Transportation while in the discharge of their duties within the right‑of‑way or easement of the Department of Transportation. (Ex. Sess. 1924, c. 54; 1957, c. 65, s. 11, c. 754; 1965, c. 300, s. 1; 1969, c. 22, s. 1; 1973, c. 507, s. 5; 1977, c. 464, s. 34; 1993, c. 539, s. 68; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)


The owner has not granted me his/her approval to service the tree myself. And knowing what #@$%@#$ they've been so far, and seeing how they tried to have the electric company-contracted tree service removed when they were cutting back the trees touching power lines, I do not expect them to give me their 'ok' to have the work done. Some people aren't happy unless they're miserable and making others around them the same. I think that's basically what I have for a neighbor. : - /

I'm reading in those ordinances you can't go on their land and trim them, but doesn't say you can't be on your land and trim.

I agree with flowerjen. In the ordinances presented here there is no prohibition against you cutting anything that extends over your property line, provided you don't go on their property to accomplish the trimming. Perhaps there are other "neighbor laws" that apply in NC. Can a boom truck reach what you need trimmed from your side? If so get an estimate. If there is a legal prohibition against that, then the tree company will refuse to do the work.

Hmmm, I hadn't considered it in that context (that I'd be doing it from my property vs. entering theirs) in terms of how these statutes are written. I could definitely access the limbs that need to be cut from my driveway as the tree is only about 4 feet in on their side of the property line and there is no fence between the front yards. I just wish I could find more definitive answers about doing so first. I can't believe that it's this hard to research something in this state that -- with as many trees as we have -- is probably not an uncommon occurrence.

I also agree with flower and snapple. I've had all sorts of issues with a neighbor with many trees overhanging my property. Unfortunately I have to remain pleasant because he is very high up the food chain in the organization that I work for. He has a huge dead tree overhanging our property, particularly our parking pad and power lines. For 2 1/2 years my husband and I have asked him to do something about the tree - the guy makes almost $300k a year so money is not the issue, he is just lazy. We successfully sued the former owners of our house when they hid some bad plumbing they did (and it leaked and ruined our kitchen ceiling - both hubby and myself are attorneys - but that doesn't seem to matter to our neighbor. At one point he suggested we try to take it down ourselves, that he "wouldn't mind" - the thing IS GIGANTIC. It definitely requires professional attention. Each time we have a windstorm or snowstorm I'm terrified that tree is going to come down. Ironically, one of the neighbors healthy-looking trees came down last year but fell completely onto their property. With the direction that the wind comes during storms, there is a chance the dead tree would be blown onto their property and take out THEIR power lines.

I know the kind of neighbor that you must have, ours isn't that offensive, just lazy and neglectful.

ic conifers, have you considered calling the power company that owns the power lines? They might trim those dead branches for free! It sure beats having to come out and repair the lines after a storm.

Goldenberry, it is an entire dead tree leaning towards the power lines, not just a few branches. It actually has almost no branches left, they have mostly fallen off over the years. It might be a good idea to call the power company though, just to see if they might take it down.

Look what happened just south of Raleigh today -- 2 injured, one killed due to a falling tree! http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5830979/

These older trees are going to continue to cause property damage and take lives. This is the VERY thing that has me concerned in the case of my neighbor's tree! I'm all for them replacing the removed tree with another one that perhaps has a long life but doesn't get quite as big and intrusive for others, but it's only a matter of time.