Attorney or Want to be Attorney Advice Needed- neighbor's Tree Fell in My Yard

[Plinker66]

So you’re fixin to sue her for not paying a bill that you haven’t sent to her yet?

 

[BDR1]

If she didn’t pay to fix my fence, she would pay a hellofa lot more than what the fence cost.. later down the road.. it would also be an ACT OF SOMEONE.. but not you of course.. piss on insurance companies and lawyers.. make her prove the house caught on fire because of you

 

[LARGO9]

you have been working on the tree for several months, hope your throwing all the cutting back into her side of the yard.

 

[Bushwick100]

I was a liability insurance claims adjuster for 11 years before I changed careers. You are late in the game to be looking for money now. If the tree was healthy and a storm blew it down it is an act of God and no liability involved.

If the tree was dead and you own the fence. You could make a case for the damage to your fence because the tree owner was negligent in not taking the dead tree down knowing it was a hazard. You would need some type of proof ( photo's ) that the tree was dead but still upright prior to you asking your neighbor to take it down before something happened.

As it stands, you appear to have no proof if the tree was alive or dead when it fell on your fence.

This happened to me yardboss1, is 100% correct.

 

[basstracker89]

Interested to see how this turns out. Keep us posted. I had been working a lot at the time and didn't know about it. My neighbor informed that a tree from my property had fallen and messed his fence up. I immediately went to work on it that day. I removed the tree and fixed the fence in the same day. My neighbor apologized because he didn't know who he was dealing with, his words. I happened to be off that day

 

[coolformula]

Can you try small claims court?

Might be more trouble than it’s worth though. It seems the good guys have to do lot of work to get others to do the right thing.

Unless it’s like huge amount I would. Or file on your insurance not worth the rate hikes.

 

[trw2094]

the tree now belongs to you, your fence gets paid for by your homeowers insurance.
if you choose to file.

 

[cskiles]

Last year a 30+' pine tree in my neighbors yard fell across our adjoining fence, he had the fence repaired in three days...he didn't touch the 20+' of tree in my backyard though..

 

[medium187mph]

Unfortunately, in Georgia - it's your problem. I've been down this road twice. A lawyer may have a different view since the fence was damaged (and he wants to get paid). Google "Georgias fallen tree law"

It’s only standing IF the tree is in good standing condition and fell due to a storm.

If the tree is clearly in decline, the property owner IS responsible for any damage that tree may cause neighboring property lines.

The slam dunk would be if OP put the homeowner on notice and recorded it prior to the fell…

 

[flyfisherman]

When a tree from your neighbor’s property falls and injures someone or causes damage to your property, if the neighbor should have reasonably known that the tree was dead or diseased either because a) the fallen tree showed visible signs that the tree was dead or had a disease, for example, if the tree had no bark or no leaves in the summertime; or b) if the owner of the tree received written notice from an arborist, building tenant, or another third party that there was a problem with the tree before it fell, then he or she would likely be responsible for paying damages.

As a general rule, if your neighbor should not have reasonably known there was a problem with the tree before it fell, you are responsible for removing the fallen tree from your property.

The best practice is to send the neighbor a letter via registered mail return receipt that a tree is dead on their property and constitutes a hazard were it to fall along with photos - then the hazardous tree is documented in advance.

You could sue your neighbor in magistrate court and the insurance company would have to defend her and might offer you a settlement to avoid incurring legal expenses.You could hire an attorney that would send her a letter threatening to sue and she might offer a settlement amount to avoid the suit. I am not a litigious person by nature and as such I would advise you to just cut it up and haul it off or burn it and fix your fence at your expense without notifying your insurance carrier. It is unlikely your insurance carrier would subrogate against the neighboring property owner's insurance carrier and even though it was not your fault the claim would be on your record.