Your neighbor’s tree is dropping branches in your yard. Can you take legal action?
Earlier this week, The California Utility Team answered a reader question from Jorge Velasquez, of Elmhurst, who wanted to know what he can do about a neighbor’s tree that has branches overhanging into his yard.
While that answer was pretty clear — you can trim overhanging tree branches or encroaching roots of a neighbor’s tree up to the property line as long as you don’t cause unreasonable damage — Velasquez had a follow up question: What can you do if tree branches start falling into your yard?
To answer, the utility team talked with a real estate lawyer, Robert J. Enos, of BPE Law Group. Here’s what Enos had to say:
What can you do about it?
First, you need to look at what kind of debris is falling. Your neighbor is not liable for small debris such as leaves and twigs, or in other words, anything that will inevitably fall as a natural part of a tree’s life.
When larger branches fall, you need to determine what might have caused that branch to fall. If a branch fell because of an “act of god,” which includes unusually severe storms or earthquakes, your neighbor is not liable. An event like the 100-year storm that brought a downpour to Sacramento last month is a good example of something with qualifying severity.
If a branch falls off during a normal or moderate storm, or when there’s no storm at all, the next step is to figure out whether that tree is properly cared for. If the tree is diseased or dead and the owner isn’t addressing the problem, your neighbor is liable when branches fall and cause damage.
“If a branch comes off and it just lands in the grass on your yard and really doesn’t do any damage ... you’re not going to really have an action,” Enos said.
But if the branch creates property damage, the negligent tree owner’s insurance would have to cover the damage, Enos said.
What should you do to address the problem?
You should talk to your neighbor first, Enos said. Try to work together to come up with a reasonable solution.
If that doesn’t work, you can try to talk to a real estate attorney.
“Have them write a demand letter for starters,” Enos said. “and articulate ‘hey, your tree is causing extensive damage to my pool. Here’s a picture of it. Here’s a copy of an invoice from my pool guy ... we need you to take certain measures or we are going to sue you for the nuisance and trespass or whatever happens to come into play.”
The law protects trees
One of the reasons you can’t do much about fallen leaves or twigs or branches that don’t cause damage is because trees provide a lot of benefits like clean air and aesthetic quality. It’s important to be mindful of those benefits when working through issues with falling debris.
“We’re in the City of Trees,” Enos said of Sacramento. “So you’re just going to have to be tolerant.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Your neighbor’s tree is dropping branches in your yard. Can you take legal action?."