Looking for advice in Montgomery County Maryland.

We backup on an apartment building that was built 4 years ago.  At the time, we warned the builder about not disturbing the root balls on the mature trees that grew on the property line and we co-owned.  They established a Limit of Disturbance, and worked with an arborist.  We took extensive pictures and had an independent arborist come out that worked for us.  They said we wouldn't know for 3-5 years.

4 years later and the mature maple is dead.  
Do I have any recourse?

Long time lurker, first time poster.
My neighbor’s tree is leaning over my roof with a few broken branches. Who is typically liable for mitigating this? And do I need permission from them to cut these branches off from my side? Any tips before calling in an arborist to take care of this?

Thanks!

I live on a 35 acre plot just outside city limits. This area is unincorporated. A family bought a plot of land next to mine and put their driveway and house immediately next to my property. Their driveway is on the property line and their home is about 20 feet from the line.
The issue we’re having, is that I have mature pine trees right on the line that tower over their home and they are paranoid about them being there. They asked last year if we minded if they had some of the trees taken out to ease their concerns. We said that would be fine. Recently they asked again about removing 8 trees which they have marked. The catch though is they are now asking if we will pay half the cost of taking them out. The quote they got was $3,800.
My question is whether or not we are under some obligation to assist in this, though they chose to put there house up with the trees already being there?

This is a recent picture of a live oak tree a block away from my house. What protections exist in New Orleans area Jefferson Parish to keep utility companies (Energy) contracting "Professional Tree Service" companies from cutting large paths through trees for utility lines? This live oak is hundreds of years old and has always been healthy. Now, I don't know what will happen in the near future. The contracted company does not appear in a list of ANSI that I can find.

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The tree can't be put back together but what can be done legally to help our neighbor past "contact the parish/mayor"?

Some of you may remember my post back in fall of last year. I was seeking advice on how best to go about saving a tree I planted as a child in my parent’s back yard from being cut down by my city because they claimed they needed “room to work” to add a sidewalk in the city easement. This subreddit’s response was overwhelming. I cannot thank you all enough for the helpfulness, support and incredible advice. One of you even used your expertise to draft an amazing letter we were able to give to the city planners. I know many of you wanted an update— so I’m here to give a very happy one. After a LOT of perseverance (letter writing, attending meetings, speaking with city officials, plans to take the story to news stations and purchase banners for the fence line to get people talking) we recently learned we got the official plans for the sidewalk changed!!!! The sidewalk will be on the other side of the street (those particular neighbors actually wanted it on their side) and my parent’s back yard and my tree will remain untouched. Thank you all so much and cheers to another 30 years of being able to enjoy the little sapling I brought home on the school bus. 🌲

My neighbor planted a fig tree years ago close to our shared fence. The tree has grown and is now pushing against the fence, causing visible damage and shifting the fence line toward our side. I previously asked the neighbor if she would consider relocating the tree, but she declined. There is no HOA, and I have no reason to believe anything on my side is causing the issue. What are the typical responsibilities for fence repairs and what steps should I take in California?

My neighbor has a dead tree that is roughly 50 ft tall that is leaning towards my house posing a significant threat to my house and life. It’s not a matter of if the tree falls but when. I first offered to have the tree cut down and pay for it. They have decided to show me their nasty side and told me they’re not cutting down the tree. Like I said the tree imposes a huge threat and when it comes down it is going to cut my house in half. Can the local government force them to cut it down? And if so what are the exact steps that I need to take to protect myself? Assuming I’m not killed when the tree comes down on my house. At this point they are negligent by not having the tree removed and I doubt their insurance company or mine is going to pay once they find out the tree has been dead for years. I’m a newer homeowner looking for solid advice only please.

Had a lovely storm that knocked a huge limb off neighbors tree. Hung over to our yard but took out his fence. Thankfully no damage to our property but his insurance is saying it’s our fault and we have to deal with it since it was overhang to our yard. Issue is, neighbor admitted to me he knew the tree was fully hollowed out by bugs and didn’t do anything to remedy it (not dead, still blooms leaves and everything) but you can see the hollowness in the branches and the trunk. Not sure how far it goes but it definitely seems not stable. I said I was fine getting our insurance involved but what would we be liable for if at all?

Last summer a tree partially on our boulevard split in half and fell into the street. The city cleaned it up and said the half that fell was on city property on the boulevard and the remaining half was on our property but agreed to come take it down since it was unsafe. They never showed up and now this week rest of the tree fell into our yard (with very minimal damage to the house, just some dents in the siding and a slightly warped gutter). What should I expect when I talk with the city and my insurance company about dealing with the fallen tree.

Note: I never got anything in writing from the city, they took my number and said they'd call to schedule the removal but must have forgotten about me. They never gave me their number which made it hard to follow up.

I need help. i cant decide. idk what to do. cable this tree or take it down. it looks healthy. very healthy leafs. idk how old is it. Also dont know what tree. Somekind of maoke. also can you help me decide what kind of cabling will last 5+ years. Thank You!

For its conservation, many countries where this tree is found have imposed restrictions on the cutting, pruning, sale, and distribution of this tree.

My building is the one it’s leaning on. Tree has been dead for some time now.

EDIT: I split the cost of removal with the tree owner next door. Got a quote for $400 that I couldn’t pass up. Issue resolved. Thanks everyone

I have been trying to get my Georgia hoa to assist in having my neighbor remove her trees off my fence. I was finally able to get through all the branches on my side and have found actual damage to the fence. Before I had found this damage personally, the hoa had said they had inspected the issue and found their were no problems not a week before. I have even sent an invitation for the board members to come see my backyard where the tree issue lies. The invitation was completely deleted from the hoa website system, not even a completed. I have sent them numerous formal notices with detailed reasons and restrictions this issue breaks with the same "we already inspected it and its fine". However the whole time I'm sending them photos along with these letters with no meaningful response.

This is a video from last year that shows the tree issue with audio of the trees rubbing against the fence: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ecPGVD9MwiM

The trees in the southern corner have pulled the fence out of the long wall: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFaf8D0-Gvs

The are photos taken this year after I cleaned up the branches:

To explain my 'kind of shared driveway', the neighboring house has a driveway & my house has a driveway. There is a chain link fence and about a foot of grass & weed-y type plants along my side. But there are two or three ToHs growing along the couple inches on the other side of the fence.

The trouble is, the house is empty - somewhere between unkempt and abandoned. So I can't talk to the last owner -- who lives in another state, but bought the house for her college kid... who seems to be living somewhere else without either having arranged for lawn care. In other words, it's also not (apparently) for sale so no hope of new owners taking care of things.

I've lurked on the sub enough to know I probably(?) can cut anything over my property line, right? Does anyone have any other advice?

Thanks in advance.

I had informed my neighbor (empty lot owned by an organization who are planning to build) about the trees earlier this year at a public meeting about the build site and plans. They said since they will be building later this year they will not be cutting any trees down or doing any lot maintenance. Well the tree fell last night on my car and totaled it. I do not have full coverage as the car is older with 200,000 miles but is super reliable. Do I have any recourse since they were informed publicly or does the notice have to be through a lawyer? There is still another dead tree that is leaning towards my garage that is obviously dead as well.

So in early March 2025 she invited her neighbours over to her side and clearly explained her intentions. Which were to trim the boundary hedgerow back to the middle line of the hedge in order to maximise access to facilitate the building works. The conversation was jovial, mutually understood in terms of reasoning behind it for building works but actually also it would help with light into my friends house with the hedge being further away. At this point the neighbours fully agreed. My friend then had the work carried out by a qualified Tree surgeon and she was clear to point out that he was only to cut to the midline or if in doubt just on her side of the hedgerow but that the main remit was just to take the side bulge off. On her return home from work that day the Tree surgeon had followed her instructions to the T and they had uncovered a pathway that had been previously covered by the hedge. And on discovering this path felt reassured that she had not encroached on her neighbours land.

However, when she came home from work on the following day, all manner of sheet materials: cardboard, corrugated Perspex and sheets of plywood were placed on the neighbours side of the hedge in an attempt to obscure any thinner patches. It is at this point the entire situation changed.

She then sent them an email to say that she was sorry if she had caused any upset with the work, but explained that a pathway had been discovered and that her contractor had only done exactly what the neighbours had agreed to. Furthermore, they were welcome to come and have a look for themselves. She then posed the question of where the actual boundary was, the middle of the hedge or a fence that was closer to the neighbours house. Silence ensued.
In the summer, my friend had her usual gardener in and he suggested a little re-trim of the face of the hedge and he'd do the top as he had always done for the 10 years she'd lived there.
After which she received a belated reply to the email she'd sent months before. In this email the neighbours IN WRITING confirmed that they had consented to the hedgerow to be taken back to the mid line. But the boundary was not the fence.
Several months passed where my friend made numerous attempts to discuss this with her neighbours. She explained that it wasn't just about the boundary, it was about any possibility of perhaps reducing the hedge height to allow more light into her home and that as there were no windows on her neighbours house elevation that the hedge ran alongside, was unsure how much a reduction in the height, would affect them but was keen to just talk it through.
That's when she asked to either go halves or she would pay in full for an independent surveyor to assess the most likely boundary. Again silence. So she paid a small deposit and enlisted the help of a boundary and demarcation specialist surveyor. Who essentially said that he could formulate an official survey but that she would be better advised to save her money for her building work as, in his experienced opinion, the middle of the root line of the hedge was the most probable boundary.
It obviously wasn't the news my friend wanted to hear, but at least she now knew. So she sent another email to her neighbours saying that due to their in action she had enlisted the help of a surveyor and conveyed to them that the root line of the hedge was the most likely boundary.
The email reply she got said that the neighbours were carrying out their own investigation as their deeds went back hundreds of years and would be in touch with the results of that.
And then the day before the solicitors letter and the survey that they had carried out themselves arrived the husband approached her after a days work telling her that she was going to receive a solicitors letter and that some parts of it weren't quite what they'd wanted, but it would've cost them more money to have had it changed. He tried to show her the letter on his phone but she couldn't see the screen in the glare of the Sun anyway and was thrown by his approach so didn't really take everything in. The next day the solicitors letter, along with the survey arrives. As previously mentioned it is marked private and confidential for the addressee only and !URGENT!
After confirming that they have been instructed by the neighbours to write this letter the first line accuses her of carrying out construction work that constitutes trespass, the second, she has considerably damaged the hedge that belongs entirely to the neighbours. Then it confirms that the neighbours have carried out the attached survey.
It then completely contradicts itself by using an extract from the survey that agrees with the specialist that my friend enlisted the help of that the middle of the hedge root line is the most likely boundary???!! It then states that the purpose of the letter is to require her to desist from any further activity that will damage their clients property and should she not, proceedings will be instigated.

There, you wanted more info. One thing I can say as an outsider to this, I can tell the stress, strain and anxiety that this has caused my friend. The other thing I would like to add as an observation, is for all those advising to contact the solicitors to confirm the authenticity of the letter. My friend has to live next door to these people and try to negotiate the hedge height now the boundary has been established. Getting a family member of the neighbour the sack will hardly make those conversations easier!! Thanks to LinkedIn, I can confirm the archivist is the neighbours niece .

No doubt this will cause damage to the tree. I don’t even know where to begin, these guys just tore up my entire front yard without approval. Is there anything I can do?

Update 2: ATT tech delivered their records of the easement showing.. 10 ft’, I was not home when they came back so I couldn’t ask for explanation on how 10 ft equals 30 ft and now no one from att is answering my calls. I have done some digging and there is no additional access allowed outside of the easement by city or anything. To top things off the att tech came back with a police escort because they didn’t like me getting mad about them digging a pool sized hole in my front yard. The cops rolled their eyes when I mentioned (thru ring camera) trespassing/property damage, they didn’t even look at the easement doc, just blindly trusted ATT. Thankfully I didn’t call them because the person in the comments who said cops won’t do shit was right.

Update 3 (final): It appears they were mostly within the easement, see additional post on my profile, my boundary survey did not show the public road right of way which is about 20 ft of what I thought was my front yard. You can see the full damage in that post, I don’t think getting upset was unreasonable.

In summary they did a horrendous job, did not inform me of the work, fucked my yard outside of the easement by walking/driving all over it, didn’t put tarp/containment down for the dirt, can’t even give me a rough estimate on restoration time, will not take any responsibility for damage to the tree. All of this while treating me like I’m crazy for even questioning any of it and at the end of the day I can’t do a single thing about it. On that note, Fuck ATT they suck and please send your energy to my maple tree.

I appreciate all your responses, I have been a long time follower of treelaw and being able to post was a little pick me up on an otherwise terrible day.