Would YOU Apologize? - Page 2

Pook · ‎03-20-2010

I can't imagine just leaving you with the expense and mess. When part of one of our trees fell and took out our neighbor's post and clothesline, we cut and removed it, cleaned up their yard and paid t have a new clothesline with new posts put in. It should be a mandate. @RinaRina Does your municipality have laws about this - especially if they are diseased and in bad shape? It's worth checking out as this is a safety risk.

Boehm Collector · ‎03-09-2010

@RinaRina .. report him to your municipality. In our town he would be given a notice for a specific amount of time to correct the problem. If he fails to comply he would be fined.

Plaid Pants2 · ‎03-14-2015

I have seen cases like this on the show, "The People's Court", and if I recall correctly, I think that the law reads that even though the tree itself is on his property, any branches that hang over the property line are your responsibility.

So, therefore, from the earth to the heavens, if branches, limbs etc hang over that property line, it is your responsibility to take care of them, remove them, so that they don't break and fall, and create damage and/or injury.

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

@RinaRina

We went through the same scenario, when a large limb from one of our neighbor's 4 trees, planted right along our adjoining fence lines, crashed into the side of our house and on top of DH's truck in the driveway, doing thousands of $$ in damage.

They were very apologetic and immediately called their homeowners insurance agent who promptly told them that it was OUR responsibility, not theirs, even though it was their tree, citing the same insurance industry standard in these situations of an "Act of G--".

The neighbors stopped speaking to us after finding this out.

We protested to our insurance that we had made many complaints to these neighbors, as their trees had been dropping large limbs on our property for years, but not causing damage till now.

That fell on deaf ears, even with our own insurance company. We had to pay our deductible for repairs and I cringe every time it storms now.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

@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.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

@RinaRina wrote:
See "law" posted above ....
Horrible!

BTW, when I was calling Tree removal companies, one of them told me, "it's customary for the tree owner to offer something".
Ha! And all I expected was an apology!

@RinaRina

An apology and an offer to help pay a portion of our deductible would've been nice to me and is exactly what I would've done if the situation was reversed!

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

CrazyDaisy · ‎03-20-2010

In this litigious society an apology is often conscrewed as an admission of guilt. Unless the city has found that your neighbor has neglected the trees and notified him to correct, it is considered an act of God.

Someday, when scientists discover the center of the Universe....some people will be disappointed it is not them.

RinaRina · ‎03-13-2010

@Plaid Pants2 wrote:
I have seen cases like this on the show, "The People's Court", and if I recall correctly, I think that the law reads that even though the tree itself is on his property, any branches that hange over the property line are your responsibility.

So, therefore, from the earth to the heavens, if branches, limbs etc hang over that property line, it is your responsibility to take care of them, remove them, so that they don't break and fall, and creat damage and/or injury.

My post was not about "branches". I've been cleaning up the branches for YEARS. The ENTIRE 75 foot tree fell in my yard. The other tree that fell the first time was badly diseased and was about 50 feet high. But since it was "sick", much of it broke into pieces after it fell. Nevertheless, it was a mess and destroyed my shed.

THIS TIME, my shed was demolised -- smashed like a pancake, the fenced was demolished - must be replaced, cannot be repaired, the siding on my back porch was ripped off and the tree missed my new HVAC system which was installed FIVE DAYS before by a hair. I literally mean ... a strand of hair!

"The less you respond to negative people, the more peaceful your life will become."

RinaRina · ‎03-13-2010

@KingstonsMom wrote:
@RinaRina

They were very apologetic and immediately called their homeowners insurance agent who promptly told them that it was OUR responsibility, not theirs, even though it was their tree, citing the same insurance industry standard in these situations of an "Act of G--".

The neighbors stopped speaking to us after finding this out.

YOU had to pay for the damage yet THEY stopped speaking to you. Unbelievable.

"The less you respond to negative people, the more peaceful your life will become."

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

Sounds like our ******hole neighbor. We just paid $500 to have limbs hanging over on our property removed before they go thru our roof during a storm. I talked to our Insurance company about it. I was told if the neighbors trees do damage to our property our insurance will pay for the damages & our insurance will go up. I don't know if you can Sue the neighbor if the situation ever occurred. We have talked to our neighbor until we were blue in the face. He kept telling us he was going to have them trimmed & he was going to clean his yard. What a joke. He never did anything. Everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie. I would never apologize to him for anything I have ever said to him. No Way Never Happening. He his nothing more then a lazy slob. Now when we have storms all his tree limbs gets thrown back in his yard. All winter I raked his leaves & threw them back in his yard. We are not bagging his leaves or other garbage anymore. He will get it all back over the fence.

His place looks like a jungle & from living like that his yard is always wet so now he has termites. We were outside Fri & termites were swarming out of his yard all over the place.

I was also told by our Insurance company if you have diseased trees on your property that cause damage they will not pay the claim.

If I were the OP I would get some friends to come over & help move his big tree into his yard so he could have fun removing it.