There is a large mulberry tree on the corner of my lot in Washington, DC. My neighbor in the adjoining lot has started excavating his lot to apparently dig out his basement and add more parking. In the course of the excavation, about half the roots of the mulberry tree are now exposed and will likely be destroyed as part of the neighbor’s project. I think it is very possible that the tree won’t survive this process and could even fall down.
My question is: does my neighbor bear and of the cost/liability for this tree coming down? How should I proceed? Getting a tree removed in a DC alley is no cheap or simple task. I doubt I can get a crew on the job right away.
I guess if it just falls down on my house/neighbor’s house I’ll file an insurance claim, but of course that’s not the safest way to resolve this.
A little background for those curious: my neighbor’s project has been stalled for months. We first realized that they were doing something major when we came home from a few days away and saw that their backyard was a big muddy hole. Then the city issued a stop work order and the hole filled with water and my basement started to flood. I called the city and an inspector came out and took some notes, but not much else happened. Their stop work order was lifted and now there is a crew with a Caterpillar digging away to make up for lost time.
It’s my understanding that, at least in general, your neighbor can chop off any part of your tree (I guess that would include the roots, right?) that are over the property line, but they’re also responsible for any damage it causes unless it couldn’t have been expected. So, in my interpretation of that, they’d be responsible if they cut out part of the root system UNLESS they called in an arborist who said the tree would survive doing that.
In the mean time, take pictures of what you’re seeing. Take pictures of the roots exposed, the roots being cut. Take pictures if whoever is doing the work. If he’s having it done, get pictures of the business trucks.
Once everything is covered back up it’ll be a lot harder to prove it was done.
I’d also suggest contacting a lawyer or at least going down to the city hall and talking to your city inspector or engineer. If the have an arborist on staff, that person might even be able to come out and give you a report stating that, in their opinion, the work being done will cause the tree to die and/or fall over.
If you think it’s going to fall on your house, your insurance agent might be willing to step in as well.
Fun fact: If your tree falls on his house, he makes the claim with his insurance company. In the end, you or your insurance will pay, but since his house is damaged, he has to make the claim.
This case might be a bit different since he would be directly responsible for the tree falling, but in general, if a tree falls on a house, the person who’s house is damaged makes the claim, not the person that owns the tree.
I’d try to get the neighbor to pay for removing the tree and if they do that then let it go. It should not cost much for that construction crew to bring down that tree if that Caterpillar is big enough and it shouldn’t be hard for them to remove the remains either.
Yeah, I plan on talking to my neighbor once I have some more facts. The woman who owns the house and I are on good terms, but her brother who is moving in and overseeing this project is a pain.
My guess is it’s going to be at least $5,000 to take down this tree. It’s in a city alley with lots of wires and houses around. They’re going to have to take it down in sections and lower it.
I had a willow tree that was diseased, rotted out from the inside, and fell across the fence into my neighbor’s yard, so I’ve actually had some experience with this tree thing. First thing is, if the tree falls because of natural causes and not through YOUR negligence, you are not responsible for any damage to your neighbor’s property. Their home owner’s insurance has to take care of that. Since THEY are doing the excavating and the damage to the tree’s roots, anything judged as negligence would be THEIR negligence. You would be clear.
If it were up to me, and just for the sake of CYA, I would send a certified letter to them stating that their excavation could destabilize the tree and create a hazard. What happens after that is totally on them.
Ah, that does make it more complicated. The construction company may still be able to help defray costs with their equipment, but it depends on the local tree services cooperating.
As an aside, growing up right around the corner from you in Bethesda we had a mulberry tree growing in the front yard.
I had a neighbor attempt to remove an 80’ Douglas Fir from my property. He said he needed to have it removed so he could have 7 trees removed from his property. He was selling the trees as timber and wanted then dropped full length. Besides damaging my tree, he also had the power shut off to my house without my permission and was going to remove some bushes and a flag pole from my front yard so the landing zone for his trees would be my front yard. I told him and his crew to remove themselves from my property and never return. I called the power company and had my power restored, that cost the neighbor $250 because it was an unauthorized request. When he called the power company, he used my name. I also called a company that specializes in selling and planting large trees. His estimate to replace my 80’ tree was $4500. The neighbor gave me $1000 to cover the damage and he hoped the tree would not die.
His plan to make some money from his trees cost him a lot more than he made. The trees had to be taken down in 8’ sections which ruined the value as timber. They guy never said a word to me the rest of the time I lived in that house. The 80’ tree is still standing with the 4 branches it has left.
Mulberries are incredibly messy, I pretty much can’t use my back deck from July-August because of all the rotting berries. Between them and the cicadas, summer 21 is going to be a sticky mess.
Mulberry trees are great! We had one when I was a kid to protect our cherry tree from birds. The birds preferred the sweet mulberries over the sour cherries. We’d run around it in bare feet (“pop goes the weasel” instead of “duck duck goose”) and come in with our lower halves stained purple. It’d take more than one bath to be completely clean again.
I’m sure there’s a Rule 34 recipe combining cicadas and mulberries.
While you can cut off branched that are over the line most of the time, damaging the roots that stabilizes the tree is quite a different matter. In some states your neighbor would be on the hook for emergency tree service to take it down, or liable for when it falls. Document what was done, take pictures while its open and visible.
You are correct that the person whose property is damaged must file a claim with their homeowner’s insurance, who will usually cover it. But in general the tree owner is not liable, and there is no subrogation to recover the money from the tree owner or the tree owner’s insurance. If the person whose property is damaged has no homeowner’s insurance, or inadequate insurance with a high deductible, they have no recourse.
The exception is when a tree owner was previously notified by the neighbor of a dangerous tree that was likely to fall, and failed to act to rectify the situation.
*at least in most U.S. states, I’m not sure if there are exceptions
This would vary on the coverage one has. My across the back fence neighbor had eight or nine 100 ft. trees on his side of the property line. About 10 years ago one limb broke off in a thunderstorm and landed on my roof, crushing the rain gutter. His insurance guy signed off on it and I had a new gutter across the entire back of the house in a week.
Fast forward to last year, same trees, new house owner. Straight line winds of 80mph+. Branches fell and crushed my back fence and both side fences. Insurance guy checked it out the next day, tree guys were there in a few days to clean up and cut down all his trees, set up a temp mesh fence until they were done. Fence guys showed up and replaced all damaged fencing.
If you can get them to pay for any part of this you’re doing yourself a favor, and they’re doing one for you. Eventually that tree will need to come down and this will defray those costs. Maybe even cover all the costs.
Thanks all. I’ve contacted the city and asked them this question via their website. They responded that they will contact me and maybe send out an inspector.