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The neighbor across the street has enormous pine trees, and one of them has started to lean towards my house. I'm spending a few nights at a family member's house at the moment. I'd obviously like to avoid the danger of getting squished, avoid the headaches of having contractors repair my house/dealing with insurance, and also move back in. I showed the neighbor and asked him to have it removed asap, and his response was more or less "oh you'll be fine, that's what insurance is for." He just doesn't seemed motivated since it's leaning away from his own house.

Do I have any legal options that might motivate the owner, or could I have it legally removed on my own? This is in Georgia, USA.

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  • As an aside, tree law, despite involving prosaic common sense kinds of facts, turns out to be a very complex and multilayered area of the law. This is, in part, because municipal ordinances and sometimes state statutes, add a layer of complexity to default common law rules, and in part, because the default common law rules are themselves often quite tricky to apply to particular facts. The complexity in the common law is in part because both property law and tort law principles are implicated. Given the modest $$s involved, common sense non-legal solutions are often preferred.
    – ohwilleke
    Feb 18, 2022 at 22:53
  • I've offered several "common sense non-legal" solutions to my neighbor, but he just isn't interested in pursuing them. I don't know law, but I'm surprised there's no law that can intervene a tree from falling on someone's house, possibly killing their entire family. There's so many laws designed to protect lives...but on this it's just "too bad"?
    – Sittin Hawk
    Feb 21, 2022 at 15:15
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    There are remedies (probably some sort of action for injunctive relief), I'm simply pointing out that the law in this particular area just happens to be surprisingly difficult.
    – ohwilleke
    Feb 21, 2022 at 21:51

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You might suggest that the neighbor consult with their insurance agent, in case the insurance policy does not cover liability from damage caused by standing trees, especially when the policy holder knows that the tree poses a threat to property. The only thing you can do without the neighbor's cooperation is complain to the city, since it's possible that this situation violates a local ordinance, and the city might order him to remove the tree.

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    I had experience in NJ when a tree in my yard fall across a neighbors property during Hurricane Ida. In NJ and I gather many other states the law is that losses lie where they fall, This means that my neighbor's insurance paid for her damages to garage and house, not my insurance. This rule may be modified if the tree owner is negligent.
    – David Siegel
    Feb 18, 2022 at 4:26
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    Negligence might be attributed to not removing a tree that, after the storm, became a danger for life and property. During the storm, yes, damages lie where they fall.
    – Trish
    Feb 18, 2022 at 10:13

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