Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

Hazardous Trees on Neighbor's Property

In January 2005 we hired an attorney who mailed a letter to our neighbor stating that she had four trees on her property which we considered hazardous and that if any of those four trees fell on our property causing damage, she would be held liable. We also followed up by hiring an arborist to look at the situation just to be safe and his report also identifies those 4 trees in the same manner.

Two of the trees came down in the Dec-06 windstorm causing about $12,000 damage to our vehicles and property. Allstate, her insurance carrier, called it an ''act of God'' and will pay nothing.

Now what!


Asked on 2/06/07, 5:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: Hazardous Trees on Neighbor's Property

Go back to the attorney that wrote the letter for you in the first place, and ask his opinion as to whether to file suit against your neighbor or not.

Based on what you have described, the damage was not an "Act of God" whatever that is, but sheer ordinary negligence, if not reckless indifference to your rights and your property, if indeed you notified your neighbor of your concerns.

Don't ever let an adverse party's insurance company practice law for you. They are in business to protect their assets, not to pay your claims.

If they can get you to believe their conclusion, they win. If you question their conclusion, you may well have a perfectly decent property damage case.

But you are not going to get anywhere negotiating with Allstate. Just sue her.

Hope this helps. Powell

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Answered on 2/06/07, 5:15 pm


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