Would YOU Apologize? - Page 10

ScarletDove · ‎07-11-2010

Had a similar problem, except no tree had fallen on my property. But a tree on the other side fell on neighbors tree and it damaged the magnificent 100yr old oak and it took about 3-4 yrs before it was obvious it was sick. Neighbor rented the house so I spoke with owner who blew off my concerns one too many times. Here is what I did; contacted an arborist who examined/tested the tree, gave me a report indicating the problems and the end result of the tree coming down on my house. Arborist suggested how to handle the situation given condition of tree. I gave a copy of report to owner who ignored it. I provided report to the county who also inspected tree and informed owner he had 30 days to remove the tree. It was removed and there were no words, he had no choice. He had to remove it due to the diseased condition and massive damage it would cause to my property! Offer no apologies, don't let it happen again......

viva923 · ‎03-12-2010

have a feeling you may have to sue him to get money for the recovery of your damages.

He is hoping you will either move or just forget about what happened and just go on living.

time to check in with legal aid of some sorts (attorney, lawyer, para legal) someone who can give you some good advice and answers.

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@KingstonsMom wrote:
@KentuckyWoman wrote:
Since it is his tree, I would think his insurance would be responsible for any damage. At least that's the way our insurance reads. If he does have insurance, I'm surprised they haven't insisted he have the tree removed to prevent any further damage.

@KentuckyWoman

You should call your agent and ask this specific question, I believe you're wrong. This is considered the 'Industry standard'.

We even contacted an attorney and were told the same thing.

Unless we had paid an arborist to examine the trees and they deemed them 'diseased' and we had sent a registered letter to the property owners making them aware of the arborist's finding PRIOR to the event, we didn't have any recourse.

That's pretty much how it went when a tree on our property fell and damaged my neighbor's guest house, except for the "prior" part. It fell because of heavy rain and wind during a storm, but our neighbors tried to make a case that the tree had been diseased for years. It had not been, and of course they had no evidence. An arborist came to examine the tree after it fell, and found nothing wrong with it.

We were not responsible because it was an act of G-d. If we had known that the tree was diseased and did nothing about it, that would have been a different story.

fortune · ‎03-14-2010

@Jtdmum wrote:
I have a similar issue with a neighbor whose pine trees are 100' tall and branches break in heavy snow. If something drastic happens and they split and fall forward they will come through my roof and they are positioned over the master bedroom of my house so I may not be alive to post the outcome!
She had a huge tree split and fall over the winter and told me she would have her trees worked on in the spring. Well, she did and didn't touch the pines, just what fell and what could potentially fall on HER house.
At this point for me (and certainly for you!) i call it negligence. My family knows about this, one is a lawyer, and if something happens it's documented.

Do I think you owe an apology? NO WAY! People need to take care of their property, especially if it's hazzardous. If they don't then suffer the consequences of potential lawsuits. I'm not that way normally, we have a great neighborhood and I don't want to stir up trouble, but her lack of attention to this, especially where she knows this is a problem (as does your neighbor) is abhorrent.

BTW..she is quite affluent, money is no issue.

@Jtdmum

This is awful!!! I'm glad you put it in writing. Do you have a homeowners association? Pine trees have very shallow roots. Two came down in the back of my fence and I was shocked at the lack of any roots!!! You may want to talk to a lawyer, since this could be a serious matter!!!

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@RinaRina wrote:
@happycat wrote:
@RinaRina, if I were the neighbor, I would apologize. I'd have had the tree issue taken care of by now tho, too. My neighbors dogs have gotten into their trash several times, the wind blows it onto my property. They do not apologize, nor do they help us pick it up. And it will be picked up, I am not having trash all over my property.
All that just to say, there are some people who are responsible and some who are absolutely not for whatever reason. And it can be infuriating.
If I were you, I would be hot. And it stinks that its your insurance company who is having to pay.
Do you think your insurance premiums will go up?

Yes! The premium went up the first time it happened. But almost a year elapsed and I'd forgotten about the incident. When I got my (premium) statement, I was flabbergasted. The insurance co. told me it simply did NOT matter, that it was NOT "my" tree. The premium went up and it will go up again.
Do you think my neighbor cares?
And, BTW, I wrote him another email telling him my premium went up the first time, and it will go up again.
I've heard NOTHING from him.

I understand your frustration. It's an unfortunate situation. But I don't understand why you're trying to get blood from a stone. He's clearly shown himself not to be a nice guy or a considerate neighbor, so you're better off not expecting or waiting for an apology or a satisfying reply. Personally, I wouldn't be emailing him or communicating with him at all. He's not going to do anything he absolutely doesn't have to do, and I doubt he cares about your premiums. What good would an apology do at this point?

Let your insurance company handle it. IMO you're just adding stress to the situation. (And I am Queen of Adding Stress to the Situation, so I'm not unsympathetic, believe me!)

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@CalminHeart wrote:
It's an act of God unless you can prove the tree was dead or diseased. Then I'd leave it up to your insurance company to fight it out with him or his insurance company.

I agree to let the insurance company handle it. They know what to do, what questions they need to ask, where responsibliity lies, etc.

It's also possible that the neighbor did have the tree examined for disease and that the report was fine. He doesn't sound like a great communicator, and he may have opted not to keep the OP updated. She may have evidence that he said he'd have the tree checked out, but he may also have evidence that he followed through and did so. In which case he would not be responsible.

So the consensus seems to be that he's not a nice neighbor because he didn't apologize. But the bigger issue, IMO, is who bears the responsibility for damages. And it very well might not be him.

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@Cakers3 wrote:
@RinaRina If the WHOLE tree fell into your property then he would be responsible.

If only the limbs of the tree hanging OVER your property fell then you would be responsible.

You have the right to trim anything extending over to your propert; it isn't his responsibility to trim those branches encroaching over your fence or over your property line.

If the tree is diseased, you can call your locality to have the tree inspected; diseased trees are a threat to other trees and should be dealt with immediately.

It didn't work that way for me. A large portion of our tree (not just branches/limbs) fell onto my neighbors' property. Nothing had been hanging over their property. And because there was nothing wrong with the tree, it was not our responsibilty.

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@viva923 wrote:
have a feeling you may have to sue him to get money for the recovery of your damages.

He is hoping you will either move or just forget about what happened and just go on living.

time to check in with legal aid of some sorts (attorney, lawyer, para legal) someone who can give you some good advice and answers.

She doesn't have to sue him. As many others have said, it's not his responsibilty unless the tree was diseased and he did nothing about it. Either way, it can all go thru insurance companies. There's not a lot to fight here. The facts will speak for themselves, and that will be the end of it. (I think the OP pretty much acknowledged that when she mentioned waiting for the results of the arborist's report.)

CalminHeart · ‎03-09-2010

@Isobel Archer wrote:
@CalminHeart wrote:
It's an act of God unless you can prove the tree was dead or diseased. Then I'd leave it up to your insurance company to fight it out with him or his insurance company.
I thought that if it was an "act of God" - something that you could not have anticipated and something you could do absolutely nothing to prevent, insurance would not raise your rates. In fact, that's what their "Acts of God" clauses specify.

However, in the case of falling trees, that would NOT be the case if the tree is dead, dying, or otherwise clearly a meance. That is why it would be necessary to take action to demand that the safety hazard be rectified - and if it isn't - it would likely then become the tree owner's responsibility.

That's what I said. If there is proof that meets insurance standards (an arborist statement or something official), then the homeowner's insurance would cover it. Otherwise, it's considered an act of God.

Last year during a thunderstorm, I had a long, thick limb fall from one of my trees and land on a neighbor's shed. My insurance would pay to remove the limb from the neighbor's yard but would not pay for the shed since it happened during a storm, aka Mother Nature. I hired a company to come get the limb because it was less than my deductible.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

@Cakers3 wrote:
@RinaRina If the WHOLE tree fell into your property then he would be responsible.

If only the limbs of the tree hanging OVER your property fell then you would be responsible.

You have the right to trim anything extending over to your propert; it isn't his responsibility to trim those branches encroaching over your fence or over your property line.

If the tree is diseased, you can call your locality to have the tree inspected; diseased trees are a threat to other trees and should be dealt with immediately.

@Cakers3 Well that's all good we can pay to remove neighbors trees but why should we have to. We did not plant them. The person that bought the house should be responsible because it's on their property. He bought the trees when he bought the house. It's not right. We should not have to pay for the neighbors trees that are out of control. We already paid $500 to have 1 neighbors limbs removed. Are we suppose to now pay $500 to have the neighbors back behind us & to the east & also pay $500 to have the limbs removed from the neighbors in back to the west plus pay another $500 to remove limbs from the trees on the house to the west of us???????????? Who wants to keep forking out that kind of money for your neighbors tree removal. We already paid to have all ours removed. It's a bunch of BS when your neighbors don't have to take care of the property they OWN. We have a pole saw & anything that comes over the property line will be cut & let drop into the neighbors yard for them to deal with. We are so down with the low lifes.