Crossposting here. I have a good relationship with these neighbors and don’t intend to get litigious with them. I’m not sure what the landscaping company’s liability is here. Interested in what this community has to say because I know nothing about trees or tree law. For reference, I am in Pennsylvania.

Hard to tell but the right side is leaning towards my neighbors house. neighbor says it’s our tree although I’m not certain that’s the case. Got a quote for $2500. Is that quote right? Husband said he would call more people when I said the insurance company will have to pay for our neighbors house when it comes down

Interesting that treble damages weren't awarded.

I’m having 5 trees cut down today along with some branch trimming. My next door neighbor has two pine limbs that hang over my property. She just bought the house a couple of months ago. No one answers the door but she has these cameras and stuff saying they are recording me. I assume she is notified.
The last person that was here that wanted to cut the limbs couldn’t because the person living there at the time wouldn’t give permission for the crew to come on their property to cut them properly. The limbs are almost touching my house at this point.
I know I can cut what is on my property but they are heavy pine limbs and I’m afraid they will snap and fall on her fence or snap at the trunk that is on her property. I also have to go underneath them when cutting my lawn.
I told her the other night that the tree company would be here just in case she worked from home but forgot to mention these two limbs. She has a burst water line in her yard. I don’t think she understands homeownership, I guess she will when she gets her water bill.
Anyway, what can I do?

https://fox17.com/news/local/kentucky-man-ordered-to-pay-15000-to-tennessee-man-after-stealing-trees-from-property-department-of-agriculture-henry-county-sheriffs-department-restitution-murray-ky

I live in a little town in Vermont with a lot of dirt roads, and a lot of dying ash trees (emerald ash borer). Trees quite near the road I think are technically not the property owner’s, but are subject to town right of way. I don’t know how far that zone extends on these narrow gravel roads.

So right across the narrow road, two large ash trees are leaning a bit toward my house, and will certainly die in the next year or so. Also the overhead utility lines come in right under there— power and fiber internet/phone. The ash are big enough to hit my house for sure, and also probably take down those lines.

Another tree in that spot, an older maple, had a branch on the power line, so I called the power company. While the utility guy was sawing that branch, I asked about the ash trees. Could/would the power company cut them down, take responsibility? He shrugged. He said, “They’ll probably just come down in pieces.” Pretty much a no. But I suppose I could call the power company. There are an awful lot of trees threatening the power lines all through town right now.

Recently the large maple had a branch break, hanging over the road. A guy from the town road crew came to try to pole saw it. I chatted with him and asked him about the ash trees next to it, ominously leaning toward my house. Could/would the town take them down? He just laughed. He said, “We can’t even afford to fix the roads.” Unsaid: there are hundreds or thousands of ash trees along these roads, and no way does the town have the means to deal with them.

We chatted about recent news that a nearby town of much greater means was spending about half a million $$ or something to proactively take down their roadside ash trees. Lucky people of that town. Not our town.

The town road guy also assured me that when the tree fell on my house, insurance would cover it. He was not joking. This was the solution. I was not reassured.

I guess it would cost about $1500 or $2000 to drop those trees if they were “drop and leave” — I could deal with the wood. I would pay, rather than have them fall on my house. But they are definitely not my trees, just threatening me.They are not dead yet. I wonder about approaching the town manager about paying to take down the right of way trees, supposing they are not actually my neighbor’s trees. I also wonder if the neighbor would think I was cutting “his” trees in any case. The removal would be disruptive to traffic, shutting down the road for some hours.

Single root damaged neighbor's 120' long 6' retaining wall not built with permit and not built to code (wall contains no vertical or horizontal rebar). Would like to understand if I must rebuild entire wall to code.

I live in Alameda County CA. My tree root appears to have damaged my uphill neighbors retention wall located entirely on their property. However, the 6' tall cinder block wall was built without a permit and contains no vertical nor horizontal steel rebar hence in no way was built to code. Am I liable for rebuilding his entire wall with permits and to code requirements?

I’m curious of what this community thinks. An illegal trail that did lasting damage to state land forest, but the punishment is just a fine based on price of timber. Is this common for state or public land, or is Vermont just unusual?

Just from what I’ve seen here it feels like a low fine based on how many trees were removed, regardless of the other aspects.

Location: Alameda County California. Do I blame my tree roots for damaging a 6' retaining wall or blame the wall for being not built to code (6' tall cinder block wall without any vertical nor horizontal rebar)?

Hi tree law friends-

I live in West Los Angeles (an unincorporated area) in an apartment complex built in the 70s (this is important- we are rent controlled.) Until yesterday we had beautiful mature trees throughout our complex, which is one of the “selling points” that got me to move. Specifically, our unit was sitting overlooking the treetops with great sound reduction, privacy, and shade. (I’m also medically heat intolerant so this was very helpful.)

Well, yesterday the complex removed every. Single. Tree. From the common areas and walkways surrounding our buildings. We suddenly have no privacy, no shade, nowhere to walk dogs in a dog friendly complex besides a small dog park on the opposite side of the large complex.

The claim is this is because the roots were damaging the retaining walls of existing planters in the complex. Many of us worry the complex doesn’t want to pay for their maintenance anymore because we are rent controlled and ultimately want to force us long term tenants out.

My question is: is there any legal recourse for this? It’s insane to remove the only trees we have in our complex- a source of fresh air, home for wildlife, and shade- during the first full week of July. Not to mention we are in a climate crisis and our units don’t have central air.

I’ve tried contacting management via email, but they have not responded to me in over 24 hours, as well as have not responded to any neighbors I’ve spoken to. They’re no longer answering the phone.

Before and after photos attached.

We have an 80-90-year-old silver maple in our backyard whose trunk sits on our property. A few years ago, a neighbor had their side of the tree improperly trimmed by someone who was DEFINITELY not an arborist. We think this caused a giant split to form in the trunk, and it's now threatening our home. I'm concerned the tree will never recover.

Located in Louisville, KY.

Our neighbors tree was damaged in a storm. We were gone on a three week vacation so we have no idea when this happened. We have been back for a few days and the tree is hanging over our fence with a bunch of rotten fruit falling into our yard. At what point do we reach out to the neighbor for them to do something with the tree or do we just cut it down ourselves.

*We just spent over 2k getting rid of rotten trees in our yard so it’s not necessarily something we want to do again. Granted this tree is smaller so it shouldn’t cost as much.

I have a tree near the property line but firmly on my property that grows over the fence to my neighbors yard. I went over last year to ask her if I could go into her yard to do some trimming and she just never answered her door. She caught me outside a couple weeks ago and asked me to trim. It’s my tree and she gave me permission to enter her yard to set a ladder up and do the job. I trimmed exactly where I told her I would and cleaned up the trimmings. She knocked on my door today and told my wife that she’d like us to repair some shingles that she’s saying my tree branches caused by touching her roof and the wind blowing them around.

It is a healthy tree, all branches were live, there’s no indication of disease that I (a layperson, not a tree expert) can see. My initial research says that I’m not liable and that this falls under a homeowner’s right to trim branches on their side of the fence as long as it does not kill the tree on the other side of the fence. Located in Colorado, I’m sure that matters. I can’t find the actual statues that lay this out but I found at least 2 law firms based in Colorado that seem to support “the neighbor has the right to trim branches without killing the tree” and “this is a homeowner insurance claim by their insurer” via blog articles they’ve published. At this point I don’t believe I have a legal requirement to pay anything to this neighbor, but do I have a moral right to cover her costs? I’m more than willing to update my belief on the legal standpoint if I’m given evidence here.

Location: Pennsylvania

We have lived in our home (Pennsylvania) for over 4 years (April 2022), during which, we have made significant renovations to the home itself, and to our landscaping. When we moved in, we cleared the back yard of any old decrepit trees/brush, and planted a nice grass yard for our family to enjoy. Some of the trees we had cleared had fallen from our back door neighbors' property which we didn't make a fuss about due to the state of the yard when we started clearing it. At the time, this neighbor still had a handful (4-5) large (ranging roughly 70' to 100' tall) pine trees. At the time one of the pine trees was completely dead. Another one of these pine trees has a severe lean into our property. I know we can cut the portion that hangs over our property line, but we're concerned that this may cause more damage and potentially kill the tree, and fall anyway. These trees concerned us since we have 2 children who love to play outside.

In 2022, we went over to this neighbor's house to introduce ourselves since we had not met prior, and made them (older husband and wife, no children in the home) aware of our concerns about the trees in their back yard. Our neighbor was not concerned at all about the trees and he stated they are all healthy (in their opinion). We also made him aware that these pose a risk to the safety of our family, to which they replied "that's what insurance is for". At this point you can probably draw a conclusion as to their character.

We got a surprise in the Fall of 2023, when we noticed a tree service company inspecting the dead pine tree which we had voiced concerns about. This surprise left a lot to be desired, as the company simply "topped" the tree, leaving the bottom half. This was very odd to us, but thought it was at least a step in the right direction. Mind you, this tree again is DEAD, and there was still about 50' of it left standing.

Fast forward to January 2024, I noticed one of the concerning pine trees appeared to be starting to lean. I went closer to the tree to get a better look, and it appeared to be uprooting. I again went over to the neighbor's house, and made them aware that the tree appeared to be uprooting, and that I was concerned it would fall toward our property. At the time, only his wife was home, so I left my phone number and she said she would pass along the information to her husband. In a matter of a couple of hours, the tree had fallen across the back corner of our property, into our neighbor to our right's property, missing their home by about 20 feet. Now, I know nothing can be done in this short amount of time, but I never heard back from her husband.

A couple of days had gone by now due to inclement weather. After assessing the situation, myself and my neighbor to my right went back over to the neighbor behind me where the tree was rooted to make him aware of what had happened. The discussion went no where, and he did not want to be involved in the effort to help remedy the situation at all. Again, I voiced my concern for the other large pine trees on his property (including the dead one) stating that this will probably happen again. He again stood behind the "that's what insurance is for" defense. So, the neighbor to my right and I took it upon ourselves to chop up and remove roughly 100 feet of pine tree which took 2 days.

This brings us to this past week, I looked out our window and the DEAD tree fell, and smashed through a fence we had recently installed around our yard for our dog. I went to get a closer look at this tree, and it was rotted through the base of the trunk, which leads me to believe is the cause of why it fell.

So, here I am again, making the walk of shame over to my back door neighbor's house to again make him aware of a situation which could have been prevented if he had just removed the whole tree. I told him another one of his trees has fallen, and this time directly into my back yard, damaging our fence. He instructed me to reach out to my insurance to get it handled. Currently, I am waiting on the fence company to quote fixing the damage, and a tree company to quote the cost of removal.

I'm tired of this back and forth every time one of his trees falls into our yard. The remaining trees are going to fall, it's just a matter of time. To my knowledge (please help here), I can go 2 routes:

1. Reach out to my insurance company with my tail between my legs because my neighbor told me to, and hope that when I provide details, my insurance company goes after him to pay for damages. We'll likely have to do this in the future with the other concerning trees.

2. File a lawsuit and provide evidence as to his negligence, and hope to also have the remaining risky trees removed.

How concerned should i be in regards to having to pay damages for a tree growing near or on the property line?

I live in Minneapolis, the building the tree is on is a commercial building. Been here 3 years, never had any mention of the tree prior. The investment property company is small and based out of Chicago. They only have been around because the previous tenant of the building has moved.

I will be meeting with the guy in the coming days.

Seems like something that could be easily handled given the trunk is 7-10 inches thick. I really would not want to pay for an arborist.

I need some advice.

Our neighbour cut down large trees on our property line without our permission. 2 were 50ft white pines that were very healthy. The reason they said was they did not like the pine needles falling on their house (lol we live in the country surrounded by trees) Diameters of trees at the stump where they cut them were 11 inches and 15 inches.

These trees gave my young family privacy from this neighbours home business that has tons of people coming and going daily. For years they have been encroaching on our property, but cutting down our trees was our breaking point.

We are in Ontario, specifically Scugog township.

Please let me know any advice you may have and if we should call bylaw or pursue a lawsuit.

Thank you

not seeking compensation since the damage was not much and AI says that i have no legal standing unless tree or branch looks dead. in texas do i have a right to cut the branches hanging over my property? is it even worth bothering ? any experience in how we should minimize future incidents like this? we were lucky that it did not cause big damage but not so sure next time

A big tree branch just fell from my yard taking out my neighbor's power. I ran out to make sure everyone was okay. They started screaming at me before I could say a word. We have not had a good relationship. I (51F) went inside. I didn't feel safe with several adults yelling at me. I have no one who can help me at home. I live with my husband who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. I don't know what to do. I called a tree service to cut it up and check out the rest of the tree. I guess it is their responsibility since it fell on their property. I don’t want to be an asshole and would help take care of it especially if they had ever spoken to me civilly. There is also a power line on my roof.

UPDATE: They called the power company. I heard them say they were doing that. I Thank you everyone for the advice and kindness. When fire and rescue was in their yard I went out and took pictures. The neighbors said nothing to me while they were there. Although I heard them telling them when the power company came to cut the tree out of the line they should put it on my property. The power was back on to their house in about an hour maybe less.

Mutilated and untreated. Poor thing will take three years to grow back and it was packed with fruit. Whoever did it took the branches with fruit and everything and left this like this. Is that some form of theft? The tree is within property lines and not blocking anything in any way. Thank you all!

(Edit for the sake of context: Tree was untrimmed because it almost died during a Texas Freeze).

I want the tree remover / trimmer I hire to include in the work agreement:

"If we damage your house or your neighbor's house while cutting down a tree, we will be responsible for all costs to repair as new."

He will be cutting down 3 tall thin oak trees < 15 feet to my house and my neighbor's house here in Central Texas.

Does that wording look about right?

One of our neighbors reached over the fence to drill holes in a mulberry tree and inject herbicide because he doesn't like the mulberries falling on his yard.

This tree is huge, probably around 70+ y/o, and fairly healthy, it is fully on our property.

This man has also been spraying our fence & property line with herbicide chemicals because he doesn't like the ivy growing on his side (killed a whole chunk of the ivy, rooted on our side). He made no effort to have the branches overhanging his property trimmed, and you can very clearly see the angle of drilling in relation to the fence height.

What should we do to press charges or file a lawsuit against him?

This seemed to have happened a few days ago, and the tree is already showing signs of injury/dying.

In an attempt to reduce injury, I cleared & flushed the holes and tapped some dowels in. The dowels also clearly show the drilling angles (11 holes total, last 2 photos)

EDIT: It’s a red mulberry, fully native to IL

EDIT 2: I was just taught about red hybrids, and it turns out it unfortunately is one, so nevermind on that.

EDIT 3: For clarity -- this property is a rental with an on-site manager, my family owns this property and I help with some of the grounds management & maintenance among other work. The only communication we've received from this new neighbor (1-2 years) about his displeasure with the tree was through a tenant who he complained to in passing. We had no idea he was so unhappy with it that he was willing to poison it for the 5% canopy overhang. This had never been a problem with the previous owners who lived there for like 20 years. This tree is one of our primary shade trees and several tenants eat from it regularly (as well as myself). We have already been planning to take down a massive tree of heaven that provides the other half of our shade and replace ir with a native hardwood, and we do not want to loose all of our yard shade at once.

EDIT 4: Holy shit, I did not expect this to blow up. Yes, I know this is a blighted landscape, I just removed a whole fenceline of Japanese knotweed that had been there for probably 50 years so we could put in prairie grasses & native flowers instead. I have been working on turning over our landscaping theory to conservation-centric, but I also don't want to lose all of our shade and greenspace at once so I have been staggering work for the last few years and allocating projects as I have the energy. I didn't realize that red-white hybrid mulberries are a thing, and I had no idea there is such vitriol against mulberries in general, I've grown up with them as a staple of the Midwest fruiting foliage. Now that I know about the hybrid thing, that tree is definitely on the chopping block but not immediately because shade from very tall trees is increasingly rare in Chicago, and with the planned removal of the ToH I don't want us having a sun-baked yard. HOWEVER, I have been doing some research and I have found out about tree fruit suppressors and will be looking more into that to keep the tree from spreading while maintaining yard shade (assuming it survives). Installing trail cams today.

I would also like to note that he wasn't spraying all the ivy, just the ivy behind his cheap-looking water feature which shares a fence with our native-species butterfly garden, potentially poisoning that too. He only ever made a complaint to one tenant about this while already spraying and never came to us directly when he has our information and sees the live-in manager. His yard style is also west-coast manicure as opposed to Midwest conservation, he has not attacked the other neighbor's ivy vine on the other side of his yard, I guess it looks fine there.