Neighbor's Dead Tree
June 23, 2010 3:37 PM   Subscribe

Very much like this post, our neighbor has a very tall & a very dead tree in his yard that will almost definitely be falling on our house at some point in the future (and cause a considerable amount of damage). Large branches have already been falling in our yard.

What makes this different from the post that I linked to is that we aren't sure if anyone is living at the house. There are never any lights on, there is never trash on the sidewalk on trash day, and we have only seen a man on the porch a handful of times (and he is only our there for a few seconds). We were told that two female, retired school teachers live there, but we have never seen them.

On boston.gov, we found a man's name as the person who pays the taxes. We sent him a registered letter explaining our fears about this tree, but the letter was never accepted. We have knocked on the door a few times, but no one has answered.

We called Boston's Mayor's Office 24 hour hotline, but they told us that since it's residential property they can't do anything about it, but we could cut down the branches that hang over our property. This will do us no good since it's not those branches that we are worried about.

Is there anything I can do? I'd like to prevent the tree from falling, but, to my knowledge, I can't do anything. And, when the tree does fall, what can I do to prove that it wasn't an act of nature so I don't get stuck with the bill? I'm going to take some pictures (which I will have to go on to his property to do). Is there anything else I can do? I thought about contacting our insurance company, but I have a fear that they can then refuse to insure us if they knew about it.


Thanks!
posted by toddst to Home & Garden (21 answers total)
 
Best answer: First off, if the Certified or Registered letter was returned to you, keep it (unopened) in a safe place. It will at least show a court or insurance company that you made a diligent effort to address the problem.

Second, are you sure it is a problem? By this I mean we are all amateurs at assessing what sort of risk trees and such really are. I would contact an arborist for a professional assessment. Get it in writing. This is additional ammunition.

Third, hire an attorney. If you do have a substantial risk to your property, an attorney may be able to get through to the adjacent property owner, his insurance company or other people we can't even think of because of our amateur status.

Good luck!
posted by Old Geezer at 3:46 PM on June 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


If the falling tree has the potential of taking out power lines -- and I mean power lines to the neighborhood, not just the ones to your house -- you might be able to convince the electric company to get involved.
posted by crunchland at 3:52 PM on June 23, 2010 [3 favorites]


Which tree is it? Wasn't obvious from street view.
posted by jeffamaphone at 3:54 PM on June 23, 2010


Response by poster: The certified letter was returned to us so we will hang on to it.

A professional landscaper friend of ours pointed out the severity of the rot on the tree.

I'll get in touch with someone who can make a professional assessment and see if I can talk to a lawyer friend who might be able to help me out.

Thank you very much for your response!
posted by toddst at 3:56 PM on June 23, 2010


Best answer: Good work so far. Definitely hang on to that letter!

The next step is to hire a certified arborist to make a professional assessment of the tree. If it's a danger, he or she will be able to "officially" say it is a hazard, and then more avenues for possible action will open up to you, depending on your locals city and county codes.
posted by Aquaman at 3:56 PM on June 23, 2010


Response by poster: jeffamaphone - If you can figure out where I live that quickly, I'm impressed. It's the tree on the left that also hangs over the row of shops (by the billboard). And, seeing this view just made me think that I should talk to the owner of the shops since his property is also in harms way.

crunchland - Yes, there are power lines, but the company didn't seem to care when I called them.
posted by toddst at 4:03 PM on June 23, 2010


The next step is to hire a certified arborist to make a professional assessment of the tree. If it's a danger, he or she will be able to "officially" say it is a hazard, and then more avenues for possible action will open up to you, depending on your locals city and county codes.

Nothing to add here, just confirming, having been there, that this information is correct.
posted by mhoye at 4:11 PM on June 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


(toddst- it's in your profile, under location, if that address/streetview is correct. I was confused at first too.)
posted by supercres at 4:15 PM on June 23, 2010


I don't see any shops by those coordinates, so, I assume you moved.
posted by jeffamaphone at 4:21 PM on June 23, 2010


Response by poster: supercres- thanks for noting that. Have no idea when or why I did that.

Aquaman & mhoye - thanks for the confirmations. I'm going to contact an arborist tomorrow morning.
posted by toddst at 4:23 PM on June 23, 2010


Response by poster: jeffamaphone - yep, that was an old address.
posted by toddst at 4:23 PM on June 23, 2010


Best answer: Already good advice, but some key things:

- I wouldn't involve your insurance co. unless you have to. Based on my experience, your instincts are good - they're not going to be helpful with the problem, and could jack with your rates.
- in my state, liability for trees falling does hinge on whether the tree was known to be dead and some weight is given to whether the property owner was warned. In my state, anyway, if my live tree that's in good shape falls on my neighbor's property due to a storm, for example, I'm not legally liable. But if my tree was dead and I was negligent about tending to it, I am. This (obviously) is your situation. So, as has been stated, make sure you hang on to documentation about your efforts to warn the homeowner.
- I like the idea of involving the power company, and if you can get them engaged, most utilities have the power (and the motivation) to get out and top or cut down trees that might take down power lines, without much recourse on the part of the owner. You might have to get past the headset monkeys and engage someone at a higher level to get traction, but if you can get someone to pay attention, I bet they might take some action even if, strictly speaking, they have to stretch a point to do it. Even if it is just the ones to your house, it will still be the utility's liability and expense involved when a live wire goes down.
- re: the city - the city ought to be helpful here as well. I'd start with your councilman/alderman/commissioner, whatever you call your elected representive in your ward/precinct/district/whatever and get their attention. Failing that, start calling planning/zoning, etc. There is usually a department that does condemnations for unsafe structures and/or enforces things like keeping the grass cut or the like - this seems like a parallel case. I would really stay on the city or town, because there has got to be some ordinances concerning this.

Maybe a strange idea, but if you're having trouble getting traction or attention, contact your local Chamber of Commerce. They usually know the officials involved, and usually are pretty good with these kinds of situations. A call from one of them might help get things moving.
posted by randomkeystrike at 4:48 PM on June 23, 2010


You can consult a certified arborist, or if you can find one, an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, or an American Society of Consulting Arborists member or a "Registered Consulting Arborist". As far as proving it wasn't an act of nature, you might check your policy fine print about "acts of god", but I think it might help to inform your insurance company. They may just tell you you're on your own, but if you are covered, it would be in their interest to have this knowledge. Dead trees only become more potentially dangerous over time.
posted by Red Loop at 5:01 PM on June 23, 2010


Oh, and I'll link to this site again; you may have to pay for information, but tree laws are the specialty of Victor Merullo, and it may be worth it for you (or your lawyer?).
posted by Red Loop at 5:04 PM on June 23, 2010


Response by poster: randommonkeystrike - great advice on trying harder with the electric company. I'll give it another shot. I'm also going to contact my councilman.

Redloop - thanks for the contacts.

I'm going to have a busy day tomorrow!
posted by toddst at 5:23 PM on June 23, 2010


When we had an aging sugar maple ready to drop that was in city territory, we sent a letter to the city. When they did nothing, we sent them a letter with a photograph that showed how it would take out power and block our busy road. They were out a week later.
posted by plinth at 5:47 PM on June 23, 2010


To help cover your butt if this doesn't get taken care of before the tree goes (if I were you) I'd send certified letters and a copy of the report from the arborist to everyone. City council, the utility company, get an address from everybody you're talking to by phone and ask them who you need to send the letter to. Also, take notes about your conversations. Document everything.

I don't know what segment of the city government it is, but we have somebody who issues tickets to people when their lawns get out of hand or weeds get too high. If you have something like that in your area they might be helpful.
posted by TooFewShoes at 6:36 PM on June 23, 2010


I don't know if this bears mentioning, but you should keep all your evidence somewhere besides your house. At a friend's place, or with your lawyer, or somewhere.

If the tree goes down, and if your evidence is destroyed when the tree hits your house, you'll not only be up a creek but you'll also feel very foolish.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:51 PM on June 23, 2010


Make sure to document the tree's condition now. Take a picture of the areas that are clearly rotting. You can print them out and send them to yourself so they're postmarked with the date you took them if you're being extra cautious.
posted by emilyd22222 at 6:55 PM on June 23, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the great advice. I'll post any updates in a few weeks.
posted by toddst at 9:24 AM on June 24, 2010


Response by poster: Update: I got a professional arborist from the ISA site listed above. He came over, explained the dangers of the tree and is going to send me a letter within the next few days. It will cost $125. Yeah, it is pricey, but if it helps when the tree falls, it will be worth every penny (and I'd rather be on the safe side). Once I get the letter, I'm going to send it to the mayor's office and my city councilman.

The power company hasn't been helpful, but I'm going to send them a copy of the letter when it arrives.

If there is an update in the future, I'll post it. Thanks again!
posted by toddst at 2:31 PM on July 21, 2010


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