Is there a lawyer in the house

This is a complex issue and you really need to seek professional legal advice.











Or find something better to do than worry about these sorts of things.

Either way

 

light his tree on fire. no tree=no leaves

 

Damn, Noah. You beat me to it.

3 step solution.

1. wait till everyone is gone
2. light marlboro and ejoy
3. accidentally flick the cigarette in the leaves


or, like Mike suggested, just let it go. Life is short man, reeeeellaaaxxx.

 

NO NO NO.

Go out there tonight at midnight with a black felt marker. Write an irate message on every single leaf and carefully place them in tight rows on his front porch and in front of the garage so he won't miss them in the morning!!

He He that'll be great! Do it!!!!!

 

Have you, uh, asked the guy to clean up his leaves?

Next question, does your other next door neighbor get leaves in his yard from your trees?

 

God forbid!

 

Oh, well, in that case, I hope you get damages for pain and suffering. <--- obligatory wink

 

Did you ask your neighbor if he will take responsibility for it? And if he says/said 'no,' would you approach him with the idea that you will have somebody clean up the leaves each day/week, whatever, and send him the bill?
Check with your town about their local ordinances. You'd be suprised what they cover. You could also check with your lawyer about charging the cost of the leaf cleaning to him by way of a lien filed against his property. If it is possible to do under local law, it won't give you any satisfaction until he decides to sell the house, and has to clear the lien, but the fact of it, if he is being a 'twit,' would be quite satisfying in the meantime.

One other practical bit of advice. What about those orange snow fences that are erected to stall blowing snow and establish drifts? I'll grant you, they look ugly, but that may be part of the point. Of course, the erection of a fence, even a temporary one, may also be governed by local ordinance, so it's worth checking that before you take that step. If possible, and if you don't mind creating an eyesore, you will be able to cause a huge drift of leaves on his side of the line.
Believe it or not, these seemingly petty things can lead to years of enmity and neighborly hostility. It's quite fun....

Oh, yeah, does he like hip-hop music, particularly the hostile Death Row stuff, at 3 am?

He might, if he is not sweeping up the leaves, also be neglecting necessary tree and shubbery care. YOu might contact local conservationalists and get advice on how to raise his conscieousness in this area. Perhaps they could approach him about it.

Hire a private investigation and find his dirt. Then explain to him that he cannot continue to lead a double life.

Have a friend drive a large Cadillac or Lincoln of the old school variety and leave it around; play loud Italian classics on the car radio. When he asks, explain that one of your favorite cousins, from the old country, is visiting, and that he borrowed the car from your uncle, who is the leading mafioso in the nearest large city. Then, ask your neighbor again, whether he will clean up his leaves.

 

Oh. It's the neighborhood patriarch? You're screwed. Blow them across your driveway to the next guy's house!

Pay it forward!

 

It would seem to me if they blow on to your yard and you wait long enough then they'll blow somewhere else. Maybe put some tacky looking fence(one of those orange construction ones) in between yards to catch the leaves and to make a point with the guy

 

Oh no.. he can't do that.

You should probably sue!

 

You definitely need to sue.

If you are unable to work in your garage without being assaulted by leaves, that is a dangerous sitution and you must call the police immediately. My professional legal opinion is that you should sue to the tune of $1 million. Being able to leave your garage door open without fear of leaves is worth at LEAST that much, possibly much more!

 

But seriously, I doubt it. Tree owner has no control over leaves and which way they blow, no matter how irritating they are. As much as I'd like to agree with you I'm afraid legally you'd be barking up the wrong tree. On the other hand if you blow them back, that is an action you have control over, and so IMO you could be liable for leaf removal expenses incurred by said tree owner.

I am not a lawyer - my comment comes from an incident whereas a neighbors 100ft pine tree fell on my house and destroyed parts of the house a brand new car in the driveway. Naturally my insurance company sued theirs, and it was ruled that bacause the tree fell on its own will, that neighbor was not negligent in any way. So you have to ask yourself what could your neighbor do to prevent leaves from blowing in your direction, I think you will find the answer is -- nothing.

Art - whadaya thinks? besides burning it down of course...

 

That is pretty well on point. Basically what he is describing is negligence. For your neighbor to be held liable, he would have to be found negligent. In otherwords, he would have to have done something to cause it, or failed to do something reasonable to prevent it.

If the leaves are blowing straight off the tree into your yard, then there would be no negligence. If they blow down onto the neighbors yard and 4 hours later, they blow into your yard; again, no neglicence. I really doubt you would win a civil hearing on this. As frefan said, if you chose to blow leaves onto your neighbors property, then you would likely be found liable.

Now I think if your neighbor doesn't make some reasonable attempt to pick them up from time to time, that is just inconsiderate, IMHO.

Frefan, you are correct with your tree situation. The only way your insurance co. or you could have won subrogation / arbitration for the damage caused by that tree is if you could prove negligence. So if the tree was rotten, you could prove it, more importantly you could prove the neighbor new about it, and failed to get it taken down within a reasonable amount of time.

 

Where are the trees located in relation to your lot? Are you going to compensate him for the shade and cooling they provide to your lot and/or house? What about the general beautification and property value added by the appearance of said trees?

 

Obviously a lawyer is out of the question here.. interesting though that it's the first option he brought up. I always thought it was the last.

How much property are we talking about here? How about you accept it and plant some shrubs along the property line to catch it next year?

Kharma is a b*tch, btw.. my neighbor's crab grass overtook my own and just as I was ready to kill it all in revenge he accidently burned his own house down.

 

Location: N CA

Explains a lot.



Borrow a cup of sugar from him, and bake him a cake?
(wait, do you use sugar while baking a cake? I am a Home-Ec dropout.)

 

Put up a 3 ft white picket fence with mesh between the boards to stop leaves from floating into your yard. If the city says anything tell them your wife's dream was to have a house with a white picket fence.

 

You could move..

Antony

 

Wow... that sucks... remind him whose driveway it really is sometime soon

 

Sounds like he is an old guy.

Do you not have a stereo and a Led Zeppelin album?

I'm sure he would enjoy it, esp if you put it on continuous play some weekend you are out of town.