Does my neighbor have a claim?
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Does my neighbor have a claim?
During a named hurricane, a tree fell in my property that broke my water line.
Neighbor claims the water leak from that sunk his backyard. Leak was fixed as
soon as discovered.
Asked on January 13, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
He only has a claim against you if you were at fault in some way. In a case like this, that generally means the tree was visibly or obviously sick, damaged, dying, or dead, so that if presented a clear risk of falling. In that instance, if there was reason to believe the tree was likely to fall in a storm, a failure to take some appropriate remedial action (like cutting it down) could be considered negligent (unreasonably careless) and could make you liable. But if there was no reason to think this tree posed any particular threat, you would not be at fault and would not be liable.
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