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.