Posted by Gary-Oregon on December 30, 2006 at 24:59:08:
I think it will protect you on this one. Better yet, have your neighbor check w/ his. If his insurer will take care of his garage, you can split the damages on the stump removal. At any rate, I would not agree that you are responsible for the damages to his garage. The difficulty might be if it goes to court you both lose. How hard will it be to prove when the damage to the garage occurred? Any pictures or eyewitness testimony (other than you, him and family members on either side)?
This may actually come down to local precident (assuming there is any).
I have bought my house 2 years ago and did not realize at the time that there was a tree on a property line which is between two garages - mine and my neighbor?s. The root of the tree had already damaged neighbor?s garage that it is now in a critical condition and is a treat to my garage. With neighbor’s permission I had cut down the tree to its stump one year ago. Recently the neighbor received a warning letter from the department of buildings, stating that he has to fix his damaged garage before the end of January 2007. Since the tree is located on the property line and therefore could be jointly owned by both me and him (is this true?), the neighbor is now asking me to pay a half of the spending to remove the dead stomp and rebuild his garage. Am I liable to pay this amount given the fact that I bought my house after the damage was already made?
The roots are on the “shared” space between two properties. It is a big tree and hence it is impossible to determine which side of the property line the root originated. I have offered to compensate the excavation of the dead root, however do not think I am responsible for paying to rebuild his garage. Does anyone know what the law says in such cases?
Re: Tree damaged neighbor garage - New York - Posted by Natalie-VA
Posted by Natalie-VA on December 30, 2006 at 08:07:56:
Ben,
Take this for what it’s worth…I’m no lawyer, just speculating.
I would compare this to a tree falling on someone’s property. It doesn’t matter who owned your property and when. It doesn’t even matter if the tree was originally on your property or his. What matters is where the tree lands. If my tree falls on your garage, your insurance company should take care of it. Doesn’t seem quite fair, but that’s the way it usually works.
With that said, I don’t think his insurance company is going to pay for something that happened gradually over time. This wasn’t a sudden occurrence. I don’t know if you can compare a tree falling to your situation, and my opinion is an uneducated one, so definitely verify with an attorney.
tell the guy to call the previous owner and leave you out of it. he seems to be taking the position that the root damage was an encumbrance on YOUR property that you inherited when you bought the house (like an existing lease or an existing lien you take subject to). that’s crazy.