Help dealing with neighbor's nuisance tree

M

mlm

Contrarian
Fast growing tree that's into the utility drops again and swallowing the phone and CATV lines. Last spring I called PG&E after a branch took out our CATV and I saw the tree was also in the low voltage main lines. They cut back a lot of the top that was in the lower voltage lines, but said the phone lines were not their problem. I ended up cutting back everything to the fence line, but it's already getting to the power and cable drops again.

Neighbor had told me prior to all this about how much he likes the thick tree for shade. He had it trimmed after the last incident but only to make it look pretty on his side. Mentioned to him last week and followed up with an email pointing out the tree is pretty heavy in the other service lines.

He's not going to do shit, so I'm wondering what the options are. Good case would be Comcast or PG&E cutting the thing back so it won't be a problem next year. Best case would be giving my neighbor the bill for it all so he takes responsibility.
 
GAJ

GAJ

Well-known member
mlm said:
Fast growing tree that's into the utility drops again and swallowing the phone and CATV lines. Last spring I called PG&E after a branch took out our CATV and I saw the tree was also in the low voltage main lines. They cut back a lot of the top that was in the lower voltage lines, but said the phone lines were not their problem. I ended up cutting back everything to the fence line, but it's already getting to the power and cable drops again.

Neighbor had told me prior to all this about how much he likes the thick tree for shade. He had it trimmed after the last incident but only to make it look pretty on his side. Mentioned to him last week and followed up with an email pointing out the tree is pretty heavy in the other service lines.

He's not going to do shit, so I'm wondering what the options are. Good case would be Comcast or PG&E cutting the thing back so it won't be a problem next year. Best case would be giving my neighbor the bill for it all so he takes responsibility.
Click to expand...

Do you have a friend who's a lawyer to write him a letter explaining the liability to him?

If not PM JDHU a Barfer who has offered to help members deal with issues such as this that take little time but can have a profound effect.

I wrote a letter to a similar owner behind one of my rentals, dead tall tree that was a threat to crash into nearby homes.

That was enough but it sounds like this yahoo needs a bit more motivating.

Good luck.
 
afm199

afm199

Well-known member
AFAIK, in CA, any part of a tree that is on your property you can hack as you wish, AND it remains the duty of the owner of the property that the tree comes from to trim it.

Yes, your neighbor is required to trim it, and I believe you can do so and bill him.
 
kiwi_outdoors

kiwi_outdoors

Well-known member
nope

you cannot hack as you wish; you cannot cut back more than one third of the canopy, and if a trees death is attributable to after-effects or your trimming, you can be held liable.

Trees are bad news for homeowners.
 
M

mlm

Contrarian
I actually hacked it to the property line last year and it's already back, but thicker. I was hoping to get Comcast or PG&E involved since it's getting into the utility lines. It's basically a bad spot to be having a large tree
 
budman

budman

General Menace
Staff member
Been there... I ended up paying a tree trimmer to do the whole tree including my neighbors side. She is elderly and not great at helping with anything. I did the fence too. She was happy just leaving everything as is.

Good luck.
 
gixxerjeff

gixxerjeff

Dogs best friend
The old 'copper nail trick' comes quickly to mind. :shhh (walks away whistling with hands in pockets while avoiding eye contact)
 
M

mlm

Contrarian
Haha...was also wondering where to store that bag of salt!

Really was just hoping there is some angle to get Comcast or AT&T involved since I've seen them trim other trees in the past few months. Hinted to my neighbor that we'd been having some internet issues and I was troubleshooting with Comcast. Last time this (bad internet) is what got me to notice my cable was getting pulled out. Probably easier for me to just clip the small branches every now and then. Lawyer is farther than I want to go.
 
mercurial

mercurial

Well-known member
There's nothing you can do about it, except trim branches that come over your property. I would just wait until there is internet issues, report it to comcast/ATT, and let them deal with it.
 
M

motomania2007

TC/MSF/CMSP/ Instructor
A couple of options, although I am sure there are more:

Continue harassing the cable and phone companies and the neighbors. Do it weekly until they fix it.

Call the city code enforcement officer and ask them. Possibly they can cite the neighbors or the utilities for causing an unsafe condition.

Talk to your homeowners insurer and let them know what is going on and find out what you are covered for and not covered for and seek their advice regarding how to fix it. If they put the neighbors on notice, and the neighbors do nothing, the neighbor's insurer might force them to fix it.

Trim it yourself, as needed, as you describe above.

Do some research to find out just how much or how far back you trim the tree, building code, city code, etc. Trim it yourself as far back as legally allowed.

Call a professional tree trimmer, get a quote, present quote to neighbor, if neighbor refuses to pay or trim the tree, sue in small claims for trespass or similar interference with your property plus the cost of the professional tree trimming.

There are probably a few other options. Frankly, the utilities have a duty to keep trees clear for safety (fires) and reliability reasons.

City code enforcement has responsibility for enforcement actions like this in many cities.

Hiring a lawyer is too expensive unless the tree causes damage.
 
splat

splat

Well-known member
You need a quiet drill and drill a very discreet hole near the base. Then plug it with a half stick of dynamite and run.
 
rodr

rodr

Well-known member
Applicable laws I'm guessing are at the city level. Call the city to find out who's responsible and what you can do unilaterally.
 
dravnx

dravnx

Well-known member
kiwi_outdoors said:
you cannot hack as you wish; you cannot cut back more than one third of the canopy, and if a trees death is attributable to after-effects or your trimming, you can be held liable.

Trees are bad news for homeowners.
Click to expand...

I've been watching People's Court for years and never heard that one.
 
nakedape

nakedape

Well-known member
dravnx said:
I've been watching People's Court for years and never heard that one.
Click to expand...

That’s because it’s kind of made up. There’s a code dealing with “tree trespass” and like everything else, a subreddit: r/treelaw

Although you can trim back a tree to your property line, if 90% of the canopy is on your side and a reasonable person would know trimming that much would kill it, you could held liable.

Depending on the species you might be able to encourage its demise with some harsh thoughts...
 
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