The neighbor directly behind my house has a dead loblloly pine that has been dead for approximately one year now. It was killed by pine beetles. It's located 20 feet from the only pine tree in my yard and it is at risk of infestation being spread from the dead pine. Furthermore, the dead tree is mature height/girth and leaning towards my house and the area where I park my vehicles. My privacy fence is also located adjacent to this tree and will be destroyed by falling debris soon enough.

I've knocked on their door three or four times since then asking them to cut it down. Every time they say they're going to do it, but never do. I've tried contacting Longview code enforcement, but there are no ordinances here regarding trees and they will not do anything until it falls on my property. I've tried contacting my insurance company and even asked them to contact the owner's insurance company and it's the same story, no action until it falls on my house. I've sent them a certified letter that they didn't even bother to collect from the post office. I still have the letter unopened. I've contacted my attorney and he also said there was nothing he could do about it.

Any ideas how to get them to cut it down before it falls on my house and/or vehicles? Could the forest service or ag extension office possibly do anything since it was killed by a contagious parasite? Not really looking forward to fighting with insurance companies and a possible lawsuit after it crunches my house. God forbid it hurts any of my family members or pets.

JJMt said:

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Have you offered to cut it or have it cut for them? I know it's not your responsibility nor should it be your expense or trouble, but it might be worth the effort and/or expense.

You never know - they may be hard up for cash right now in terms of paying someone to do it, and aren't real confident/don't have the tools to do it themselves.

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It's not going to be cheap to cut now that it's been dead so long. It would be a hard pill to swallow to have to pay $1,500 to $2,000 for their irresponsibility. Especially considering I know these white trash mofos would never return the favor. They spent all of ten minutes helping me when a storm blew away the privacy fence separating our yards. They certainly didn't offer to help pay for materials. I might be willing to give them a few hundred dollars, but I don't think that's going to change anything and it grinds my gears that I'd even have to do that.

frorge said:

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Have you tried tearing down your fence?

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They've got a pair of boxers that are pretty aggressive (one of them is deaf and blind and scared of everything). My fence was destroyed last year and I had to get it up quick to keep their dogs away from my kid and my docile boxer.

cevans_40 said:

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Regarding the beetles, once the tree is dead the beetles have long since moved on. They leave before/at first signs of trouble.

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Had to cut nine trees down last summer at a client's house where they spread like wild fire. I agree that they are likely gone now and my tree is safe, but looking for leverage to get an enforcement action of some sort. They have a lot of pine trees on their lot and I suspect others might have beetles.

aggieforester05 said:

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cevans_40 said:

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Regarding the beetles, once the tree is dead the beetles have long since moved on. They leave before/at first signs of trouble.

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Had to cut nine trees down last summer at a client's house where they spread like wild fire. I agree that they are likely gone now and my tree is safe, but looking for leverage to get an enforcement action of some sort. They have a lot of pine trees on their lot and I suspect others might have beetles.

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Just spray your trees and hopefully drift will protect some others. It's really all you can do and why it sucks to live next to people.

cevans_40 said:

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aggieforester05 said:

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cevans_40 said:

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Regarding the beetles, once the tree is dead the beetles have long since moved on. They leave before/at first signs of trouble.

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Had to cut nine trees down last summer at a client's house where they spread like wild fire. I agree that they are likely gone now and my tree is safe, but looking for leverage to get an enforcement action of some sort. They have a lot of pine trees on their lot and I suspect others might have beetles.

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Just spray your trees and hopefully drift will protect some others. It's really all you can do and why it sucks to live next to people.

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I sprayed it already with Bifen.

aggieforester05 said:

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cevans_40 said:

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aggieforester05 said:

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cevans_40 said:

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Regarding the beetles, once the tree is dead the beetles have long since moved on. They leave before/at first signs of trouble.

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Had to cut nine trees down last summer at a client's house where they spread like wild fire. I agree that they are likely gone now and my tree is safe, but looking for leverage to get an enforcement action of some sort. They have a lot of pine trees on their lot and I suspect others might have beetles.

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Just spray your trees and hopefully drift will protect some others. It's really all you can do and why it sucks to live next to people.

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I sprayed it already with Bifen.

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Yeah Bifen and Permethrin are your only options. I have had good luck with Permethrin and the oily texture seems to hang around a little longer. You probably know all this already but I had to protect about 100 transplanted pine trees ($25000 project) so I was in full CYA mode.

Yeah that's not good. I have seen trees like that last for decades but I would agree that it looks like it is gonna fall your way if it does indeed fall.

JJMt said:

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Does it have any lumber value? Would a timber company come take it down in return for being able to keep it?

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A single tree, not a chance. It's hard to get them to cut small tracts. The costs would be higher than any timber value, which is probably not much since it's been dead for awhile.

Potcake said:

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It's a big mofo, needs to be a professional unless they're suicidal. We live in the East Texas piney woods, so they get pretty tall here.

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Obligatory, username doesn't fit.

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I was a forestry major, but never worked in forestry after I graduated. I work in the family custom home building business so I do end up trying to keep a lot of trees from dying on construction sites, transplanting trees, and unfortunately hiring tree cutters to remove dead and perfectly healthy trees.

Sasappis said:

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Obligatory "call your HOA" response.

People are quick to bash the hoa when someone comes here to complain about them, but they seem to completely forget why they are a necessary evil sometimes.

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I don't live in an HOA area. I was quiet frankly surprised by the lack of city ordinances regarding trees here. Urban hazard trees and the typical ordinances on them was a highly discussed topic in forestry school.

schmellba99 said:

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Seems strange your lawyer woulnd't send them a letter explaining that they have been notified several times of the potential hazard of the tree and should it fall and damage your property, a lawsuit will be forthcoming to recover all expenses for damages plus lawyer's fees and also gently reminding them of the consequences of what might happen legally if there is an injury to a person or pet as a result of negligence on their part.

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Yeah, I might need to try a different lawyer. Mine is a friend and client of mine who is a recent grad just starting out his own practice, so he may not have appropriate experience in this area yet.

Seeing your handle id assume you would recognize that tree as a potential widow maker as well, the longer that tree stands the less likely you will find a skilled and insured company to come and remove it. Be thankful that it is surrounded by other trees or so it appears that lend support and shelter from wind for the time being. From an arborist's stand point you can only advise them of the hazards and potential liability associated with that tree.

At minimum, I recommend you try again with the certified letter or something similar. A friend had a neighbor's tree fall on their cars when they were in a rental house, and they were only saved from having to pay for repairs themselves because the homeowner had previously sent the neighbor a certified letter about their tree. So getting some kind of formal documentation that they knew of the situation and its risks would be helpful to you in the future if the tree does fall and damage anything. It would not hurt to try to personally send something to their insurance company if you could figure that out. It might not help either, but it wouldn't hurt. As I understand it, homeowners are only responsible for where their tree falls if they knew the tree was unhealthy/dead. So it would help your case to be able to prove they knew about the tree and the risks.

I would second the recommendation to offer to help pay to cut the tree down. I'm not saying this is reasonable or fair in the general sense. But it does not seem like you have any legal options to force them to do what is right, nor do you know their financial situation and whether they can afford to pay. You might ask if you can meet with them, lay out all your concerns, and tell them if finances are an issue, you are willing to help pay. It's not the ideal situation for your pocketbook, but it might be the best option for the safety of your family.

You can notify them and make a claim on their homeowners insurance IF they have any. You be surprised at how many people do not carry insurance if the home is paid off. Odds increase if they are bums.

Question. Is the tree north or south of your home? The reason I ask is there is a good chance it breaks off in a windstorm. Most of these storm or from the north and in the spring. Odds go way up or down depending on your answer.

aggieforester05, this looks like one of those situations where there are no good solutions -- you might have to choose the least bad option.

If I were in this situation I would take JJMT's advice in the first reply to your original post.

Yes it's a big mofo. Yes, it's not going to be cheap. Yes, it's a hard pill to swallow. Yes, some neighbors are crappy and would never return the favor. Yes, it would have been helpful in this case if there were ordinances resolve the problem. etc, etc.

If your neighbor is not going fix it and you think it is a danger to your family and your property, cut it down (with his permission) and move on.

A buddy of mine did tree work when we were in college, he was from Longview. I helped him out a lot to earn extra money and work off hangovers. Even back in our stupid days, no way he would have climbed that one to take it down the usual way. That one is bucket truck material for sure.

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Seems strange your lawyer wouldn't send them a letter explaining that they have been notified several times of the potential hazard of the tree and should it fall and damage your property, a lawsuit will be forthcoming to recover all expenses for damages plus lawyer's fees and also gently reminding them of the consequences of what might happen legally if there is an injury to a person or pet as a result of negligence on their part.

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The above seems to possibly be the most mature and effective response.

All I can add is tannerite, the answer is tannerite.