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VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 3
Fall/2004
When A Tree Falls In Winter Park… Who Pays?
By Frank Pohl
Pohl & Short
After the hurricanes tore through Winter Park, many homeowners found
themselves poking through a mass of limbs, branches, and leaves to
assess the damage to their homes, cars, and other valued
possessions. Like most of us, they hadn’t really thought much about
who would ultimately be responsible for the extensive damage that
those normally benign shad trees can cause when they come crashing
down.
Many of us assume that the owner of the property on which the tree
formerly resided would be the responsible party. In most instances,
that’s not the case.
According to Frank Pohl, partner at Pohl & Short, a Winter Park law
firm specializing in real estate law, “In general, it doesn’t matter
whose property the tree was located on prior to its collapse. Once
that falling tree crosses your property line it becomes your
responsibility.” You and your insurance company are responsible for
removing the carcass and repairing or replacing any structures,
vehicles, or other items on your property that were damaged or
destroyed by the wayward tree.
However, Pohl notes that there are exceptions to the rule. If the
neighbor’s tree was in obvious decline through damage or disease for
a significant period of time prior to falling on your property AND
you had made several attempts to notify the neighbor of your
concerns in writing (preferably with copies to the city’s Forestry
Division), you may have a case for suing the property owner for
negligence.
Proving negligence is very difficult without a strong paper trail of
prior notifications that went unheeded. So, Pohl cautions that the
generally accepted premise that the falling tree becomes your
responsibility upon crossing your property line is the only
realistic approach in most situations.
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