MD: Fallen Trees

Started by StephenC4 • 9 replies • 5656 views

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StephenC4 (Maryland)
Posts: 25

Posted:

We had a winter storm earlier this year that brought down an enormous number of trees and limbs with really heavy, wet snow. In the last month or so, we've had a couple of strong wind/thunder storms. Apparently, a tree (I believe on HOA land) fell and damaged the siding on a townhome and broke a plastic privacy fence between each units yard. Who would be liable for the damage?

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Homeowner should make the claim. His/her insurance agent will tell him/her how to proceed.

Let the insurance companies duke it out.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

What we have been told (for VA)is -

If it was storm damage:

Association takes care of removing the tree from common area (root ball to property line).
Homeowner takes care of removing the tree from their property
Damage is reported to homeowners insurance company
Insurance company decides if they will contact HOA or just pay for it themselves.

NOTE: If it was more then a fence make a report to your insurance company

If it was storm damage but Association was notified of tree being dead, etc. prior to storm - then the whole issue can change.

Here is a link to 2008 newsletter about storm damage and trees from our Association lawyer. It covers both VA and MD

Tim

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

This happened my last week as President. We had a pine beetle infection in some tall pine trees but we couldn't afford to remove them. 1 tree froze and then thawed out quickly. This caused it to break in half and land on 2 homes/fence. The one house did NOT have insurance on it but it fell through the house with insurance. The tree was in the yard of the owner with no insurance.(Of course). The tree technically was on HOA common property.

We ended up paying for the clean up of the tree. The homeowner's insurance of the one that had insurance took care of the rest. That insurance company then went after the non-insured owner to be paid back. It worked much like a car accident claim in the end except our responsibility ended at the cleanup/removal. We let our insrance company know about the issue but the cost of clean up was less than the deductible in the end.

Former HOA President

JuneS1 (Virginia)
Posts: 12

Posted:

Hi Tim,

During the February storms, many tree limbs were downed but our Board told homeowners they are responsible for the entire clean up cost, even removing the limb when still partially attached to the tree on the common ground.

For most homeowners, the clean up cost was within the deductible so only a handful of people filed a claim. I don't know if their insurance companies contacted the HOA insurance company for reimbursement.

I read your January 2008 Newsletter, but it doesn't reference "rootball to property line" HOA clean up responsibility, except in the case of disease or weakened. I believe the VA State Insurance Commission references Act of God joint responsibility, but when I googled for a link, it brought me to this forum. Do you have a link so I may include it with our request to the Board for future reference?

Fellow homeowners are concerned about a repeat incident and would like to be more proactive to protect our property in the future. We are an older community with many older trees, the liability increases each year. We recognize the HOA can only do so much and want to request the Board contract with, and pre-approve, two or three reputable tree pruning services homeowners can hire (at their own expense) to prune overhanging branches. Using the pre-approved contractors, homeowners could get quotes and job descriptions to be approved by the Board and allow the homeowner to remove overhanging branches in a few weeks rather than several months as is currently the norm.

I look forward to your reply

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Hi June,

I see that the web site was changed to make it a bit more difficult to get to the article. For anyone that wants to read it, use this link to the archives then scroll down to the Feb 2008 issue.

The problem is, as the article says, it's a rule of thumb. That is, a practice that is based on various case law vs. any actual specific law. Therefore, other than our lawyers advise contained in the newsletter, I can't provide you any specific law.

My Association, as yours has done, told the owners that had issues that the Association would take care of the tree removal to the property line and they were responsible for the rest. So far it's not been an issue as there has been no major damage associated with any of the trees/limbs that fell (knock on wood).

I will add that our Board is looking into having a tree service come in and evaluate and submit a bid to try and minimize this amount of limbs/trees falling from happening again in the near future. We believed that it is a prudent move and could aid the Association in defending any possible issue next winter.

Tim

JuneS1 (Virginia)
Posts: 12

Posted:

Thanks Tim,

When I spoke with my insurance agent (we are reserching for future policy/resolution) he also said there is no rule of thumb - the Association makes the call - and may need to consult an attorney if the Association opts to place the total responsibility on the homeowner. The "root ball to the property line" is a VA State Insurance guideline that most insurance companies also use as a guide - especially with storm damage when the trees are deemed healthy at the time of the Act of God Incident. I was so hoping there would be specifics in your Newsletter, but it was too vague. We hoped we would not have to individually consult an attorney - though its quite possible homeowner insurance companies are working with the Association "behind the scenes" to divy up the cost based on responsiblity - and we homeowners have no way of knowing.

FYI: There is no February Newsletter in 2008 - January 2008 however is titled
"If a Tree Falls and My Neighbor Hears It…Who Pays?"

We currently have a tree service and budget upwards to $100,000 a year for tree maintenance. Our Tree Committee prefers to use the services of a team of arborists rather than a split the cost between the arborists for complex tree isses and a general tree pruning service for routine pruning. Because the cost for arborists is much higher, the number of trees we are able to maintain is limited. We feel the use of a general tree contractor IN CONJUNCTION WITH the arborists will spread our money further, maintain more trees for the same amount of money, and mitigate future damages that may result from weakened trees.

Thanks for your propmpt reply. Good luck with your trees evaluation.

AnnetteM (Maryland)
Posts: 9

Posted:

Hi Tim,

Curious to know if you still have the link to the 2008 newsletter? I tried to access it, but the link didn't work.

We have a somewhat similar, but further complicated situation. (I'm in MD). Our HOA (myself and 4 other board members) isn't even sure if the tree is on our property or not It's near a buffer zone between our community and another. It's hard to determine if the tree is within the buffer zone or on the property of a neighbor in the other community. That neighbor says it's not his tree. But, we (3 board members and our management agent) can see that the tree also fell across wire fencing that "appears" to separate the two neighborhoods.

The developer for our community is still under bond with the county and there are no property line markings at all. They are geographically separated (In VA) and have no future plans to develop anything in the state of MD. I don't even know if they're going to be held accountable to finish our development or not at this point!

Anyways...if you wouldn't mind sharing your info again...I'd sure appreciate it.

Thank you
Annette

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Hi Annette,

It does appear that the firm changed the links (again).

Here is a link to the Current Newsletters:

https://www.reesbroome.com/community-associations

Here is a link to the archived newsletters:

https://www.reesbroome.com/community-associations---archives

Here is a link to the specific newsletter I identified in the thread:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwVOGngGpH1dZHJqTm9nTmNrc0E/view

My suggestion is to obtain a PLAT of your development to better determine boundaries.

AnnetteM (Maryland)
Posts: 9

Posted:

Thanks so much Tim!

We do have a plat, but we're not sure the area in question is really our (HOA) responsibility. It's a buffer zone between our community and another community.
Our HOA insurance is for specific areas as identified by the previous HOA (developer). Bufferyard B and Open Parcel F. Neither of which are the bufferyard in question. On the plat, it's identified as bufferyard C.

We also saw that a flimsy metal mesh fence was also damaged by the tree. Meaning (to us) that the tree was on the other side of the fence. Not even in the befferyard.

I will review the links you sent.
Thanks again!
Annette

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