Legal Eagle 10-2-09

Tree Trouble
By Katie Penny


Can’t I make my neighbor do something about his tree that is extending over onto my property?
“My next-door neighbor’s giant pine tree is dropping 80 pounds of pine needles onto my carefully manicured lawn every week. The tree’s roots are growing in my lawn, and broke the blade on my lawn mower this afternoon. My toddler daughter tripped over the roots and had to go to the emergency room. Isn’t there something I can make my neighbor do about this tree?”
Unfortunately, living in a society sometimes means living almost on top of each other. We are lucky to live in a country that, as far as highly populated countries go, is a bit more spread out, but many of us still have to deal with a dreaded enemy: neighbors. Almost everyone who has ever had a neighbor has had, also, a problem with something that neighbor has done.
Fortunately, the law does provide a kind of remedy if your neighbor specifically has trees, bushes, or plants that are extending over the property line and causing you problems. (For anyone interested, these rules are found in the Louisiana Civil Code articles 687 and 688.)
There is a distinction between trees, bushes or plants that are standing on the boundary line itself, and trees, bushes, or plants that are growing entirely on your neighbor’s property, but which have branches or limbs extending over the property line. The rules are very different, because when the plant is sitting on the property line, the plant is presumed to be “common,” which means that you and your neighbor are presumed to both co-own the plant and share the responsibility for it. That becomes a problem when you hate the pine tree, and your neighbor thinks it is beautiful, natural, and festive. When the plant is growing on the boundary, and (this is very important) the plant is interfering with your enjoyment of your own property, you can demand that the plant be removed. However, if the plant is “common” and it is interfering with your enjoyment of your property, and you want it removed, you have the right to have it removed despite your neighbor’s objections, but you must bear the expense of the removal. You must call a (fully-licensed and insured!) tree-cutting service and pay their fee.
However, the more likely scenario is that a tree’s trunk is growing entirely out of your neighbor’s property, but the branches are extending over the property line many feet in the air, and are somehow bothering you. This could probably be anything from dropping leaves into your swimming pool and clogging the filter, to branches that are scraping the side of your house, to branches that are interfering with power lines, etc. At that point, you can demand that the branches which are extending over the property line be trimmed at your neighbor’s expense. This is different than the previous situation in that you do not necessarily have the right to demand removal of the plants; rather, you can demand trimming of the parts of the plant that are extending over your property and interfering with it. You can also demand “trimming” (how this would be accomplished is beyond my legal know-how) of the roots of the plant which are extending into your property and interfering with your enjoyment of your property. For instance, if you wanted to dig and install a pool, and your neighbor’s magnolia tree’s roots are in the way, you could demand that your neighbor pay for time spent by the pool-diggers cutting the roots out of the way. (Though you would have to go court to demand that money, which may cost more than simply doing it yourself, but you could.)
Simply the fact that you do not like the tree, or find it ugly, or just want to make your neighbor’s life a little less enjoyable, is not enough to have a plant removed. The plant must be actively interfering with your enjoyment of your property. If you own property and want to build a pool on it (meeting all parish and city ordinance requirements for building such a pool), then you are entitled to enjoy your property in that way. If the tree roots from your neighbor’s tree are interfering with your ability to do that, then you can require that your neighbor pay for their removal. Theoretically, if your neighbor’s tree is dropping leaves onto your property in a way that you find aesthetically displeasing, those leaves would be interfering with your enjoyment of your property, and you could force your neighbor to trim the tree branches to stop the tree detritus. However, again, in order to make your neighbor do so, you would have to bring him to court and convince the court that the leaves on your lawn are interfering with your enjoyment of your property. If you feel confident that you could do that, and win, then feel free to take your case to the court, and good luck. However, if your neighbor’s trees simply drop a few bags of leaves on your lawn in the fall, but otherwise do not bother you at all…well. I can ask, but I cannot insist, that everyone in the world be reasonable and just get a rake.

The provided information is fact-sensitive and jurisdiction-dependent. Consult an attorney before employing the above legal concepts.