Neighbor's trees endangering my E36 M3

High winds last night and recent post about trees/ insurance reminded me to address this problem sooner rather than later. Rant included.

Neighbor (5 acre estate, deep pockets) has a 40+ foot silver maple and 50+ foot locust a few feet off the property line, my driveway edge abutting is the line. These trees are within 25' of my vehicles directly in front of my house in an off street gravel parking place I've had forever. No doubt, if they fall this direction they would take out my car, truck and part of my porch, my cable and telephone too. Their cable, telephone and electric run close through there also.

The locust has ants, exposed roots hacked by years of mowing and drops dead limbs in the winds. There is a notorious bend in the locust trunk this direction which makes it highly probable it will fall this way when it does. The maple has hacked roots too. Neighbor has had a lot of trees/ limbs coming down so I asked if they would take them down next time their tree service was on site. Caretaker said NO. Spoke w/ the property manager, still NO.

I was planning on having my last tree on my property taken down this summer/ fall and stumps ground from the last couple trees they took down here. I asked the pro tree guy while he was here to evaluate and add the neighbors two trees to the quote. Like I thought, the locust is gonners soon and the maple won't be far behind. Pro tree guy ain't cheap.

I asked the property manager since the tree service was gonna be here on my property anyway I would have them take down their two trees on my nickel... still NO. OK, we'll have them cut, hauled, stumps and roots ground, filled and resodded. Still NO.

Manager says removing these trees may detract from their property value. HUH? He says they may need a local professional arborist to come in and evaluate the condition of the trees and value. WTF, HUH? Geezus, doesn't take a rocket scientist to see these trees are berkeleying gonners, I'm paying out of my berkeleying pocket to have this work done... and it ain't cheap.... I'm doing you a huge favor here dude. It's not IF they fall but WHEN.

Manager says that's what insurance is for.

My last word to manager.... Subrogation... click.

So, what can I do? No other parking places here, not parking on the street, I'd have to have tons n tons on gravel hauled in to move my parking out of reach of those trees, plus ruin my yard in the mean time, no spare time for that either. Parking on gravel is bad enough (moisture) but I'm not parking in grass either (worse), especially in winter.

Logical solution is to remove the trees, even on my nickel, no problem.

Any advice? Whattyagot GRM.

wait till the next storm, loop a rope around one and pull?

Seriously, I think you are E36 M3 out of luck with your neighbor's attitude. People with deep pockets don't think like you and I

mad_machine wrote: wait till the next storm, loop a rope around one and pull? Seriously, I think you are E36 M3 out of luck with your neighbor's attitude. People with deep pockets don't think like you and I

Oh... ya mean common sense, lol

Gots me some tow hooks on the truck and a lotta rope

This situation is very common. Your local laws very likely will allow you to remove branches growing over your property. If you nicely suggest to your neighbor that you are going to cut off all of the overhanging branches, they will be a lot more cooperative. I've dealt with this situation many times.

Some copper sulfate and a talk with the local town consul will fix the issue. Right?

Hasbro wrote: This situation is very common. Your local laws very likely will allow you to remove branches growing over your property. If you nicely suggest to your neighbor that you are going to cut off all of the overhanging branches, they will be a lot more cooperative. I've dealt with this situation many times.

I have done that. Had some E36 M3ty neighbors with a walnut tree that was overhanging my yard. I got tired of getting hit with falling walnuts while cutting the grass.. so I cut off all the branches over my property line. They went through the roof and even called the cops.. I was in the right and they could not do a thing

Set fire to his house. That's what insurance is for, right?

find out where exactly property line is and cut anything that crosses the vertical plane. i'd go so far as to cut the trunk vertically at the plane for comic effect.

Have your lot surveyed by a good surveyor, have the guy cut straight up from that line.

Start shopping for a low mileage replacement for their insurance company to buy for you

unk577 wrote: Start shopping for a low mileage replacement for their insurance company to buy for you

2012 Sierra w/ 2500 miles

'05 S197... my baby

.... see why I might be pissed

Shotgun?

turboswede wrote: Shotgun?

Surrounding area permitting, its a lot of fun. A mod or tighter choke 12 gauge with clay/dove loads will take down limbs under an inch in one hit, you can gnaw away at stuff up to about wrist sized effectively. Works well up to a bit above typical power line height, great for cutting back the "light show" branches if the power company wont.

Any chance the tree falling will hit an occupied portion of your house? It might be worth pointing out to him that if it falls and kills someone then that's not the kind of thing that insurance is particularly good at solving…

Here's an idea: Tell him you'll pay for the professional arborist's opinion, but if (when ) you hear back that they're a couple of worthless and hazardous tree corpses that simply haven't fallen over yet, he has to pay to remove the trees

My Mom had a tree limb fall on her car. Fortunately, the only damage was a smashed sunroof; the sheet metal was fine. In talking with get insurance agent, the question was asked if the limb was live or dead. Live limbs falling on thing are covered, but dead limbs are not. Trees should be trimmed on a regular basis, for insurance to cover damages caused by falling branches/limbs/whole trees.

Have him sign a notarized paper stating he is responsible for damages?

Contact your insurance company. Say neighbors trees are likely to fall and cause damage to your property. Let them chase the neighbor down.

how dicky is it that the neighbor himself is not in the equation to talk to you?

fasted58 wrote: I asked the pro tree guy while he was here to evaluate and add the neighbors two trees to the quote. Like I thought, the locust is gonners soon and the maple won't be far behind. Pro tree guy ain't cheap.

Having gone thru this last year during Sandy and having to foot most of the bill myself (insurance paid for damage to house). The advise I got from my insurance company was to document the fact that a tree was a hazard.

So get your tree guy to write up his opinion. Then send a copy to the neighbor by registered mail so you get a signature. According to my insurance company this will place any liability for damage on the tree owner.

The neighbors 5 acre estate w/ 40 room mansion was built by a coal/ coke baron back in the heyday. In the 50's it became a monastery. The padres were the best neighbors ever. Chief padre allowed me to cut/ trim trees and brush on their property that infringed on mine anytime. Several months ago the padres were reassigned due to low staffing issues. We neighbors sweated the property would be sold and condoed or re-developed but 'the church' still owns the property... maybe that's a good thing.

The live-in caretaker maintains the manse and grounds and actually improved the appearance, not that I'm sticking up for him at all as he can be a real douche. He has no authority to allow work or spend money w/o approval from the church property manager located in another state... a former engineer who found his calling w/ 'the church'.

Not dissing on the church itself here at all, just dealing w/ two nitwits who don't have one ounce of common sense between them.

In the last couple of conversations w/ the caretaker it alluded to if I might make a 'donation' to the church this tree service could be allowed. So... if I'm getting shaken down for $500 I might be able to have your berkeleying trees cut down on my nickel.

Uh, No berkeleying way.

Also, somebody I spoke with recommended having the trees documented as a 'hazard', maybe it was my tree guy, don't remember.

Get it documented and make sure you send a copy to the property manager not the caretaker. Might be easier to rattle the property manager if he thinks he/they might have some liability.

Wait... dead limbs are not covered by insurance? My neighbor's oaks have several dead limbs hanging above my driveway. It is only a matter of time before they fall on one of my cars.

I've asked him to remove them, and he said he would. We're on pretty good terms, and if this is true in NC it might be worth mentioning to him so we can speed up the process.

Back on topic: I think that the property manager might be thinking that since they are hardwoods they are worth money. I agree that an arborist or a lumber company might be the way to go- have them provide an estimate of what the lumber is worth (if anything) vs. property value.

Hal wrote: Get it documented and make sure you send a copy to the property manager not the caretaker. Might be easier to rattle the property manager if he thinks he/they might have some liability.

While I agree, I would also send the letter to your State Representative, Local PD Chief, Fire Department, Your Insurance Company, the Property manager, the neighbors insurer if you can locate them and the local Council.

On the bottom of the letter add one line stating who received a copy of the letter.

Accountability is a wonderful thing