Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
I recently purchased a property that has a damaged basement. The damage comes from a combination of severe erosion from a hill that is pushing into my house and tree roots that are visible inside the basement. The house itself was built in the 1880's and the trees in question, planted along the property line less than 10 feet from the house, are only about 20 years old.
In order to save my house from falling down I have to dig out the hill (totally on my property) about 6 feet from the house. Then I have to rebuild the foundation in one 15 foot section, rebuild an outside wall, and then build a retaining wall to prevent future erosion.
The hill itself also isn't that old. I found that the bottom 3 feet of the 6 feet I need to dig out is actually a sidewalk that originally went outside of my house to control water flow that was essentially swallowed up by the extreme erosion.
The problem I am running into is that because of the direction the water is flowing down the hill and into my house, I would have to sever a significant amount of tree roots. If I don't, I can't build a retaining wall, and I can't dig down into my foundation to rebuild it.
So my question is... if in doing this, I kill the Neighbor's Trees, am I liable? Or am I protected by the fact that if I don't cut these tree roots it would be impossible to keep my house from collapsing?
It is not my intention to press the neighbors to pay for the damages, and I was aware of the problem before I purchased the property. I just want to make sure that I am not liable for what I intend to do.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You're talking "private emergency", meaning you need to trespass on someone else's property (and actually cause "damage") in order to protect your property. In a private emergency situation you as the trespasser are liable for damages you cause. On the other hand you are entitled to protect your property from invasion of roots that are not on your property. You're also allowed to build things (with a permit pursuant to proper plans that may even talk about the need to remove roots....all per code...) on your property. The best course of action would be to notify your neighbor of the necessity of cutting back the roots and giving your neighbor a chance to pay for that portion of the work since it is his tree. If he does not you should hire a certified arborist to handle the severing, so that it is done properly OR if not the arborist and not you are to be blamed. This may not prevent your neighbor from making a legal claim against you but at least you've done everything you can to protect yourself and your property. The roots are still an encroachment on your property.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
