Hurricane season is right around the corner and we've got a lot of trees in Jacksonville that like to overhang properties and fence lines and things like that. So a couple of things that you need to know about trees on your property, trees on your neighbor's property and how to handle them.
Here at roundtable, we do drive by inspections every six to eight weeks on all of our single family homes. When we do those inspections, we are looking for large tree limbs that are hanging over the roof. If we send you an inspection, we will let you know, hey, we need to look at this tree branch. It might be healthy. It might not be healthy. If it is not healthy, you definitely want to look at having it removed before hurricane season. If it is healthy, we can discuss and maybe get a quote and see if the quote is worth going ahead and having that limb removed.
If you have a tree on your land that has branches overhanging your neighbor's property:
- If the tree is healthy and the branches overhanging the property and the neighbor wants to have it trimmed, if they're unhappy with the amount of leaves or whatever it may be, if they want to have a trim that causes on them, you do not have to trim your tree that's trunk is on your property just because of taking over their property if the tree is healthy.
- Well, what if the tree isn't healthy? If the neighbor has made you aware that they've seen a problem with the tree, you can visibly see the tree isn't healthy and it is hanging over your over their property. If that was to fall during a hurricane or a storm and injure someone or hurt or damage their home, you could be liable for that because we could tell that the tree wasn't healthy.
If your neighbor has a tree on their land that has branches overhanging your property:
- If it's a healthy tree and you want it trimmed, say you have a pool in your backyard and it's dumping leaves every fall, that would be on you. We would get a quote to have just that area trimmed and discuss it, to have it removed.
- If there is a tree on their property that is sick and we can visibly see that there's an issue with it. We need to write a letter and certify millet to the owner and the management company of the house next door, letting them know that we can see the the tree is visibly damaged and that we're concerned that it may damage our property in upcoming storm and we're asking them to have it removed.
This way, if something does happen, we've covered our bases and made sure that they are aware of the problem. If you have any questions about trees and on property lines and who's responsible for what? Feel free to give me a call.
