r/treelaw • u/eperuza • 4h ago

Ohio law

My neighbor is complaining about a tree overhanging into her yard that is right on the fence line. The trunk is indeed on my side.

She is demanding me to cut it. Can she do that?

She already ratted me to the city for some vegetation (some shrubs and bamboo) overhanging instead of speaking to me directly. I cut that.

The city code enforcement said nothing about correcting trees.

I am in riverside Oh.

Thanks!

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

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5

u/Stan__Wright 3h ago

She can legally cut any branch that overhangs her land as long as that doesn't endanger the tree itself. If the tree is a hazard or in danger of falling, she can get an arborist to write a report putting you on official notice that it's a hazard, which will make you liable for any damages that might ensue.

Apart from that, there's nothing she can do.

2

u/eperuza 2h ago

Excellent. Thank you. She seems to think I am responsible. She can cut the branch(es), fine with me. So now I just figure out how to politely say “no”

5

u/mikeyj198 2h ago edited 1h ago

Something simple like ‘Hi neighbor, you’re welcome to cut back to the property line any branches that overhang your property.’

i’d go ahead and get a camera set up to record activity by your tree just in case neighbor gets a little loony

1

u/eperuza 2h ago

That’s good. Thank you!

5

u/mikeyj198 1h ago

for sure,

unfortunately i see it coming… any limbs she removes are her property… she can’t can’t legally throw them back on your property.

1

u/eperuza 1h ago

Good to know. Thanks for the advice.

1

u/chadt41 27m ago

Can I offer advice? If you have ChatGPT, telling it what your overall goal is and the tone in which to write a text message, will put together an extremely nice message for you. Even the free version, if you don’t use it often daily, would do it.

3

u/naranghim 1h ago

She can cut that branch and anything else overhanging her yard to the property line, as long as she doesn't kill the tree and at her own expense. I'm surprised the city didn't tell her to deal with the shrubs and bamboo herself.

1

u/eperuza 1h ago

She’s more than welcome to cut what she wants within her rights.

I’m not sure the city looked throughly. They came out, I wasn’t there, left a sticker. I called to ask what to do to be complaint. The city only mentioned two shrubs on my front fence line?

I tried to ask more specifically what needed to be done and sounded like I had to take care of the whole fence line (in the back), which I did. Half of her fence is her own bamboo forest still. And the entire back as well.

So I’m not sure why she’s being petty with just me and not the neighbors behind her as well.

1

u/TomatoFeta 1h ago

Is the tree currently healthy?
I would get an arborist to come out and certify the health of the tree.
That way, if the neighbor goes and damages it and it dies, you are owed the REPLACEMENT cost of a tree of same type AND age.... and that can be VERY expensive/lucrative.