Ask Me Help Desk - Trees and neighbor law

:mad: my neighbor has a 60 ft sruce tree less than 10 ft from my house.year around it deposits needles and pine cones in all my gutters and all over my patio, the gutters are being destroyed by the needles since they clump up all winter and freezes and thaws make the gutter hold water instead of it flowing into the downspout. I talked to my local magistrate and he says I can probably get the neighbor for gutter damage but he can't make the neighbor cut the tree down. I thought there was a light law that you can use when trees block light to your house.will my homeowners insurance cover fixing the gutters? Also I have a survey of my property that shows my house on the property line but in the front an extra 3 ft is marked off isn't this my property? The water dept. shut off pipe is on my property right next to this neighbors wall yet this guy tries to say that his prpoerty goes all the way over to my steps! The 3ft wouldn't be marked off if it wasn't my property would it? I contacted the survey co. and they said they did not take into account cement on the side of the house? Huh?

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemini2

:mad: my neighbor has a 60 ft sruce tree less than 10 ft from my house.year around it deposits needles and pine cones in all my gutters and all over my patio, the gutters are being destroyed by the needles since they clump up all winter and freezes and thaws make the gutter hold water instead of it flowing into the downspout. i talked to my local magistrate and he says i can probably get the neighbor for gutter damage but he can't make the neighbor cut the tree down. i thought there was a light law that you can use when trees block light to your house.will my homeowners insurance cover fixing the gutters? also i have a survey of my property that shows my house on the property line but in the front an extra 3 ft is marked off isnt this my property? the water dept. shut off pipe is on my property right next to this neighbors wall yet this guy tries to say that his prpoerty goes all the way over to my steps! the 3ft wouldn't be marked off if it wasn't my property would it? i contacted the survey co. and they said they did not take into account cement on the side of the house? huh?

If the Magistrate says there is nothing you can I would believe him/her.

So get an estimate for the damage to your gutters and then present it your neighbor. For that matter, install Gutterguards and send him that bill. If it is not paid go to Small Claims Court and see if you can convince the Court that your neighbor's trees present a risk to your property.

I am not aware of any "light law." I know in some localities if you pay a premium for a view you can attempt to prevent people from blocking that view by erecting a building. Plants/trees grow; that's what they do and I don't think you can regulate that.

I have no idea what you mean by "I have a survey of my property that shows my house on the property line but in the front an extra 3 ft is marked off isn't that my property/" What do you mean by "marked off"? What does your neighbor's survey say - next time you're out there discussing the water shutoff and steps, ask him.

The surveyor might mean he measured from the wall of the house and NOT from the cement pat.

Either have a new survey done or the old survey redated. That will end that problem.

I think the light law you are referring to is in effect in California. If you lived in California then you could use this to your advantage. I recently read about a neighbor who insisted his neighbor remove some beautiful trees as they were blocking the sunlight from reaching the other man's solar panels. He won in court and the neighbor had to remove 4 of his 6 huge trees. I don't think gutters are the same as solar panels. Install gutter guards and forget the whole mess. They are not expensive.

I grow wine grapes and my neighbor has a 700+ tree stand of Eucalyputs trees. I just lost 250 vines this year because of shade. Can I cut down the limbs that encroach on my property?

Dannyemma, This thread is nearly 3 years old and pertains to someone else's similar problem. Please start your own thread.

Yes, you can cut off those portions of the tree branches that hang over the property line. But I don't see how that will solve your shade problem.