Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Maryland

trimmed tree branches allowed to go astray!

yesterday afternoon, without notification, by home association orders, a large tree was trimmed of many of its large branches in the common area directly behind my property. the branches were allowed to fall directly onto my backyard's patio and garden. we suspect a branch hit our newly replaced roof. they damaged a small tree, plants, and a solar light in the back yard. when i went outside to take pictures of the mess, the gentlemen ignored me and climed over our fence and began removing all the branches very quickly and trampling and crushing my plants in the garden.

i am astonished this was allowed to occur in the first place. i thought tree trimmers had equipment to ensure debris and large branches did not fall freely to cause damage to personal property. they were lucky that was all that was damaged. the stone bird bath that was covered with fallen branches somehow survived.

what a noisy intrusion as i was feeding our 4 month old infant son.

what action can i take against the HOA and the tree trimming company to ensure something like this never happens again and how should i go about having my items replaced?

thanks for any advice!

emm


Asked on 1/11/06, 11:58 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
A.P. Pishevar The Pishevar Law Firm, P.C.

Re: trimmed tree branches allowed to go astray!

Questions arise as to one's responsibility to cut and trim one's tree when that tree is crossing the property line of a neighbor and possibly doing damage. Does the neighbor have the legal right to cut the branches and roots of a tree that cross the property line?

On May 8th, 1950, before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the case Sterling v. Weinstein was heard regarding the responsibilities of a landowner to care for his trees. The plaintiff, the neighbor who was suing for damages, argued that his neighbor's tree was a nuisance. He stated that it damaged his house by dropping leaves into his gutters, thereby clogging them. Due to that, the plaintiff had to spend money cleaning his gutters and waterproofing his house. The lower trial court agreed with the plaintiff and said that the defendant owed him $128.45 and must cut the branches that are crossed the property line. However, an appeal to the higher court reversed that decision. The neighbor suffering damages should have fulfilled his duty to cut the branches that hung over his property line. His neglect resulted in the damage to his house.

"His remedy is in his own hands. The common sense of the common law has recognized that it is wiser to leave the individual to protect himself, if harm results to him from this exercise of another's right to use his property in a reasonable way, than to subject that other to the annoyance, and the public to the burden, of actions at law, which would be likely to be innumerable and, in many instances, purely vexatious."

FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AS WELL AS Practical points: See my website (WWW.PISHEVARLEGAL.COM) under "Resources."

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Answered on 1/11/06, 12:36 pm


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