Neighbor Tree Law

[Robyn55]

OK - a HOA might be able to help you in some ways. First - find out what your rules are - and if you have a Covenants Violation committee. Act accordingly - depending on what you find out.

Second - explain what happened. In our community - these fly-by-night guys would never be able to get through our gate and work here again.

And yes - there was a trespass if your facts are correct. A lawsuit in a case like this is frequently more of an expensive PITA than trying to resolve things out of court. If you get your HOA to go after your neighbor - perhaps you can work out something between the 2 of you in terms of trying to make the tree look right - be a relatively safe tree - and splitting the costs of doing the work to accomplish those things. Robyn

[kcj]

Thanks Robyn. I will dig out the covenants and see what they say. The HOA president knows what happened - word travels fast when it only has to go a few houses down the street. Unfortunately we don't have a gate but there is a decent gossip network going

I really would rather stay out of court. If anything, it would end up in small claims but we are trying to avoid that. I would rather settle it and live in a state of casual indifference than go to small claims and live with drunken hostility. Unsolicited opinion polls on the street think he needs to be knocked down a few pegs by the long arm of the law.

[Robyn55]

HOAs are usually more effective than courts if they have decent rules and enforcement procedures in place. My husband is the chairperson of our CVHC - and I think it would have taken the courts about 10 years to get as much dead sod replaced as his committee did in the last 6 months. Besides - what judge could possibly be interested in a dead lawn case ? Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by kcj

I don't know what is wrong with the queen palm other than I guess they sway more in a storm?

He pruned right up to the tree trunk, which is several feet over the property line. The people he hired came into my yard, put their ladder in the tree, and cut what they wanted to cut. Believe me, I tried explaining to him/the guys he hired (they were kind enough to leave a flyer, so we called them) that he was within his rights to cut up to the property line, and he could do that from *his* property but in no way did they have permission from us or the law to trespass on our property to do the trimming. Chain saw guy said he had to because he couldn't reach otherwise. It was an exercise in frustration for me.

Yes, we have a HOA. The president was by the very next day to look at the tree but I haven't heard anything else.

Palms usually do ok in storms. They have thin canopies - the wind blows through them - and they aren't that heavy if they fall on your house.

It's the trees with thick canopies that are a problem (usually oaks up here - ficus down in south Florida). The thick canopies resist the wind - and the wind can blow them over. Especially if there's been a lot of rain and the ground is soggy. Plus - they weigh tons - so if they fall on your roof - well you've read some of the stories in the paper - yes? Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by kcj

According to the nice police officer (that the neighbor called for whatever reason) no, they are not allowed to come onto our property to do the trimming, but that it would be a civil issue.

The way I understand it, he can trim up to the property line. He can trim to the heavens vertically, but still only as far as the property line and only what he can reach from his side of it. And while he is doing that, he can cause damage such that the tree will die. When he is done, he can pile the branches on the street in front of my house for disposal, since technically they are mine.

One of the things that is really pissing me off is that if he or his chain-saw bearing goons were to get hurt while on my property, I believe that I could be held liable.

The police officer is right. There's a difference between criminal and civil trespass.

Don't know about the garbage rules. But - in our HOA - you're not allowed to put out yard trash until Sunday (for Monday pickup) and there are limits in terms of the cubic yards you can put out for collection on any given day.

Actually - the biggest issue in tree pruning (other than doing it properly) - is getting rid of the prunings. It's easy to cut - hard to get rid of the stuff you cut. Apart from doing things like taking down a big tall dead pine (which is labor intensive) - I think most of the money we pay our tree service for is hauling all of the stuff out of the back yard - putting it in the dump truck sized chipper shredder it parks on our driveway - and hauling the stuff away (note that there is a waste disposal fee for the shredded stuff - and it's not an insignificant amount).

The guys who trespassed could have sued you. But I'd give 10-1 odds that they wouldn't win any such lawsuit. Robyn

[notSilverman]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Palms usually do ok in storms. They have thin canopies - the wind blows through them - and they aren't that heavy if they fall on your house.

I am so glad to hear that about the palm trees being safer (less threatening) in storms. But what about the coconuts aren't they like cannon balls in a good wind storm? The reason I am asking is I have 3 fairly good sized palm trees in my front yard like these and I was wondering. I'm not so worried about the house (I'm renting) but more about people and their cars and such.

[Robyn55]

Palms are safer - but not 100% safe (depending on the severity of the storm).

Coconuts should be removed from trees (they can fall on someone's head on a perfectly calm day). Robyn

[notSilverman]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Palms are safer - but not 100% safe (depending on the severity of the storm).

Coconuts should be removed from trees (they can fall on someone's head on a perfectly calm day). Robyn

Thanks Robyn I talked to Dianna (my landlady) and she said that none of the trees at her house or my house were capable of producing coconuts as we are outside of the zone where they grow, and shes never seen a coconut on a tree this far north in Florida. She also said that down in Palm Beach where her ex is, that they had about 20 palms with coconuts and the gardener removes them all at the same time.(something to do with horticulture)