We are often contacted regarding a dispute with a neighbor about trees in San Diego.  Generally speaking, trees help to make the San Diego landscape more attractive while providing necessary shade and protection from the sun.  What happens when a neighbor’s tree is becoming annoying or the source of genuine dispute?

What to do with a neighbor’s annoying tree? Your neighbors may love their large shade tree, while you dread raking the leaves it deposits in your yard.  The overhanging branches of a neighbor’s tree may block sunlight to the otherwise perfect spot for your little garden.

Or maybe it is worse. Maybe the roots growing under the fence are beginning to lift a corner of your patio or disrupt a sewer line. In this situation, remember that trees have rights too, and sometimes more than people.

Getting to the “Root of the Problem” May Not be as Clear of a Picture as You Might Think

Ordinarily, people have no right to come onto your property without your permission—that’s called a trespass. This rule used to apply to trees too, but California knows better now.

Many states adhere to the old and simple rule that you may cut the roots and branches of your neighbors’ tree to your property line. (Mustoe v. Xiaoye Ma (2016) 193 Wn.App. 161 (Washington); Alvarez v. Katz, 2015 VT 86 (Vermont).)

But California’s laws and ordinances complicate the matter in San Diego disputes involving neighbors and trees by requiring you to consider whether cutting branches or roots on your property may damage the tree. (Booska v. Patel (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 1786.)

So what do you do regarding a dispute with a neighbor about trees in San Diego? The first step is simply to try to work out a solution with your neighbors. If that fails, perhaps you should consider hiring an arborist to tell you whether your planned cuts or actions will damage the tree.

And if that doesn’t solve the problem, then California law may provide some legal remedies against your neighbor, especially when a dispute with a neighbor about trees in San Diego has resulted in damage to your property, such as the fence or patio, or the falling leaves are incessant.  The owner of the tree is in all likelihood liable for that.

Pro-Tip: “The law is fickle. Some situations, the law says no, you can’t block that view. In some situations it says yes you can. And after doing this a long time (almost 40 years), in some areas there are no view corridors. In some areas there are some. It comes down to the community, down to CC NR down to title reports, down to local municipality ordinance. Yes. So when you have one of those situations, I can’t tell you right now, no, you don’t have a right to block someone’s view or Yes, you do.

It is all different in every location. It’s unique. So yeah, those are one of the situations where call your lawyer at Watkins Firm and see if they can give you a straight answer and determine if you have rights or don’t. And if you don’t, then that’s the way it goes. And before you buy, call our lawyer or check with your title officer and see if there’s any restrictions or any situation where somebody, this is a big one. People buy a house, they’ve had it for a while, then the neighbor decides to put a second story in and their 10 year view just goes away and they’re like, ‘I didn’t know.’ So before you buy, check it out to see if anyone’s going to build it in front of you.

Whatever you do, don’t take the law into your own hands.  You may find yourself financially liable for replacing a tree the you’ve cut down in anger.  A single tree can easily be $30,000; a mature palm – $50,000.  Per tree.  The law may also call for treble damages. They had to pass a law to stop it because people just get their chainsaw out and say, ‘I can fix this. No problem.’ And boom. Yeah, it’s frustrating because if a branch is hanging over your property, yes, technically you should be able to cut that. However, if you killed the tree, mature trees to replace?… very expensive.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

The blogs and web pages of this site provide an educational insight into the challenges and problems of our clients.  Laws are always changing and new decisions may affect events after the post of an article.  They do not provide legal advice and you should not take action without contacting the Watkins Firm to speak with one of our experienced real estate dispute attorneys or calling us at 858-535-1511 for a free consultation to discuss the unique circumstances of your case.  We also invite you to review the recommendations of former clients as well as our podcast, Episode 44 – Neighbor Disputes.