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Hi,
Our tenants mentioned branches were scraping the roof from the neighbor's pine tree. Since it's near the chimney, I called the neighbors about getting them trimmed. I was willing to share some of the cost if it came to that, but when I called and inquired about it, the neighbor was kind and gracious and said he'd take care of it, and he'd get someone out in the next few days.
Today he has done an abrupt about-face. He said he is worried about legal responsibility if our home is damaged when the man cuts the trees. The trees are on his property but since they're pines a lot of the branches go over the fence into our property.
They're nice neighbors and I don't know the reasoning behind this change. The branches in question are quite high, so we can't do it ourselves, I'm sure it will be a considerable expense to get someone out to cut them.
I know I'm ALLOWED to cut the trees since they're on my property, but who is REQUIRED to do it? Just want to get my facts straight before we talk again. We live in Virginia Beach.
Thanks!
elacklen,
Since they are affecting YOUR chimney, you would have them cut.
Your neighbor doesn't really have to do anything.
iI's not affecting his home, so he doesn't care.
What is the big deal? I don't understand.
Just call a tree service and have them cut down to
protect YOUR property.
If it costs a litle money, oh well, welcome to home ownership.
Your collecting rent anyway, right?
Well, just use it to trim the trees.
Your neighbor probably talked to somone who scared him with tales of absurd liability. The courts in our country do absurd things all the time, so everyone is afraid to do anything they do not absolutely have to do. If he had the trees cut and the branches fell and broke your roof, you would sue him. If they fell and broke your tenant, he woudl sue the nighbor. If the tree guy falls on your roof and then rolls off and lands on your neighbor, all three would sue him. I am not sure you can require him to cut the branches. Are they actually damaging your house?
From the research I have done, they have to remove the tree if it is "dangerous." They're not dead, I just don't know what else qualifies as dangerous. The branches are near our chimney. If a spark lights the tree on fire, who is responsible?
From other tree trimming we have had done (because we actually cut and maintained all of the other trees), this will probably cost $500-$1000. We have the money to do it, but I didn't want to get all gung-ho about scheduling it if it wasn't our complete responsibility.
Thanks for the tip Butterfly, if only the rent wasn't going to a little something called the mortgage!
I've always gone by the rule.... you can cut anything on your side of the property line. This goes two ways in the trunk is on the neighbors side and the branches are on your side
1) It sucks if the only beef you have with the tree is that it is touching your roof. You have to pay to remove the branches due to a necessity.
2) This law is great when you have a large tree with lots of branches hanging on your side that is causing too much shade. You can cut every single branch hanging over on your side as high as you want to go. No neighbor permission required.
I would just hire a tree company and let them do the work.
End of problem.
PS: I know when branches are on your property you are by law allowed to cut them, but what would happen say you cut a lot of branches all on your side, then a heavy snow or ice storm came and then all the branches on the other side would make the tree heavy, thus falling into the owners property, would you then be liable for the tree falling because there were no branches on your side to give the tree balance.
I hope I explained this right.
but in any event, if the tree branches were grazing ny roof, i would call a tree service. They would know what to do
Also, aren't tree limbs supposed to be cut at a certain time of the year (i.e., Spring or Fall when it's cool)?
If the tree dies after the limbs are cut (on your side), what happens then? This is another reason your neighbor should have been involved (instead of backing out).
Yeah, apparently if we prune the tree and it dies, we're responsible for paying the neighbor damages. Damned if you don't, damned if you do!
Not sure why it made sense to plant pine trees between the houses X number of years ago-but I digress.
If your going to go through the expense of cutting the branches, make sure you have them cut all the way back to the property line. You don't want have to pay to have this done every other year.
How about this, call the neighbor and tell him you appreciate his concern so why don't WE hire a guy to trim it. That way you hired the guy with him. He can't complain if the tree dies and you can't complain if someone gets hurt doing the trimming. Sounds like a win-win to me.
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