On May 18, 7:40*am, Frank wrote:
On May 17, 5:58 pm, (J.R. Freedman) wrote:





Does anyone know what we can do about our neighbor's huge 80-foot tall
tree directly next to the property line; at least half of the tree hangs
on our side.

We are in a high wind area, frequently in excess of 60+ mph, always
blowing in the direction of our house, putting our house in danger of
the tree falling.

Presently the tree is "raining" sap and sap-laced particles that cover
our house, cars and all the walkways. Just walking in the back yard the
bottoms of our shoes are caked with it.

Our cars need to be washed several times a week or the sap bakes into
the paint.

About 99% of all the leaves and sap and danger affects us and he
experiences almost none of it.

The tree was trimmed once about 5 years ago, but now the neighbor says
money is tight and he won't do it again, even though he stated he knows
it needs trimming.

Legally, what can we do?

Thanks for any advice - we are desperate!

Any part of the tree on your property is yours and you can do anything
you want including cutting it off.


Not exactly. In most cases, the right to the air space above your
property allows you to trim back any tree that extends over the
property line into your air space. But in general, it also needs to
be done in a reasonable way so as to not destroy the tree. Local laws
may vary.

Since it appears money is the issue, I'd discuss trimming it with the
neighbor, offering to pay for it, etc, hoping to resolve it and get
agreement before trimming it.




Another possibility is that tree trimming may be covered by homeowners
insurance. I know of case where insurance company paid for limb
removal from a neighboring tree because limb threatened garage and if
it fell on garage would have cost insurance company much more.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -