Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

Neighbor's Tree limb hanging over my roof

My neighbor has an old tree in his yard (least 4 floors tall) and two to three major branches of the this tree has grown into my yard and now hanging right on top of part of my roof. The tree branches are growing downward where the leafs and some branches are almost touching the roof. In addition, the tree grows some kind of nut and the nuts fall right on top of my roof during the fall and winter times where I sometime gets waked up by the sound in the middle of the night. We had approached the neighbor and asked them to trim the tree, however, they had told us that once the tree crosses the property line, it becomes our responsibility. Can you shed some

light on whether there is any real estate law in New York that governs these matters and who should be responsible for paying for the trimming cost for the tree? Will the situation be different if the tree branches are actually touching my roof? What if the tree branches actually fall and breaks my roof, what happens then?

Thanks,


Asked on 6/15/07, 5:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Arnold Nager Arnold H. Nager, Esquire

Re: Neighbor's Tree limb hanging over my roof

Your neighbor is correct.

If it is your property, you have the right to cut away any branches intruding into or over it. If you don't be sure to carry adequate Homeowner's insurance in the event the branch falls on your house.

Good luck.

This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon in any way. All readers are advised to consult an attorney to address their specific legal concerns. Additional facts could affect the answer given.

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Answered on 6/16/07, 3:04 pm


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