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July 15, 2006
tree problem
The property adjacent to the home I own has a tree whose base appears to be growing into the side my home. Although I enjoy its beauty and shade, the tree raises two issues. First, I have been told that its roots are likely growing into the foundation of my home, contributing to the flooding in my basement (despite my recent purchase of an expensive basement perimiter drainage system). Secondly, with the apparent increase of windy and rainy weather, including a tornado in Westchester, I worry if this tree might fall on my home during a severe storm. I have attempted to contact the owner and received no response. Does anyone have any advice about how to protect my property from the water damage and potential tree fall? I have already called the DOB about the adjacent property's lack of sufficent drainage, but the dob took no action, and now if I try to sell my home, this info is permanently posted on DOB's website, potentially discouraging future buyers.
Comments
So if you make a complaint to the DOB, not only do they not do anything, but you potentially devalue your property by creeating negative advertisement? That seems like a great way for the DOB to discourage anybody from regestering a complaint. But isn't your complaint recorded on your neighbor's property instead of your own? I have a similar problem so I would be interested in finding out how you resolve this.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2006 9:21 AM
I did a lot of research on tree issues, since I had a very large, very old tree and pretty sick tree which had 3/4 of its trunk in my yard and the tree leaned into my neighbor's yard -- one leader onto their roof, one in their yard. It was a disaster waiting to happen. They were not happy about it, nor were they happy about taking responsibility for part ownership. Long story, but in this case I was doing construction and decided that I would "own" the problem and take care of it, which ultimately resulted in taking it down. However, if I went to court (I didn't want to) I was told that it would be determined that it was a jointly owned tree which they would also be responsible for. I couldn't deal with going to court, or complaining neighbors dialing 311 waiting for a renovation slip-up, so I just decided to own the problem. These are some things I learned.
First, you need to get the facts about the tree. I would suggest Bill Logan, liscensed Tree Arborist at Urban Arborists on State Street, Brooklyn. He is very professional and relatively reasonably priced. He can assess the health of the tree, determine where and what the root system is doing, determine what is happening to your house and any potential danger the tree presents to you. He can suggest a course of action. You need the facts first. Also, you might broach the topic (generally) with your insurance agent. If ever anything happened with this tree, God forbid, I believe that you would have needed to have taken some steps to deal with the issue of the tree, ie. found out the facts about the tree and made efforts to have it taken care of in order to get reimbursed for any tree damage, even though it is not your tree. Please check that out, though. I think that if there is a serious problem with the tree and/or it is sick, then you need to go to the next level, which is to contact the neighbor again, and inform them of the facts. neighbor of the facts and try again to work it out. If you have danger to your house, and you still have problems getting the neighbor to act, you need to contact a lawyer. Good luck.
Posted by: donatella at July 17, 2006 11:10 AM
You will need to contact the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation (Brooklyn Division) and request that the tree be removed for the reasons indicated. Let them know that the owner has not responded to your requests and that the tree is causing structural problems in your foundation.
Just keep all your communication in writing with everyone just so it is documented.
Posted by: Chaz at July 17, 2006 3:13 PM
the NYC Dept of Parks and Rec will only assist if it is a city owned tree (i.e. on city property such a the tree pits in the sidewalk. If it is within your property line, they will not assist you with pruning or removal, to the extent required.
Posted by: 1847 at July 17, 2006 3:40 PM
Forget Bill Logan. They do good work, reasonably prices when they come, but run the business like a Chinese fire drill. They have cancelled and no-showed on me a couple of times for a tree trimming.
Posted by: donatella at July 27, 2006 11:59 AM
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