Homeowner fed up with nuts from neighbor’s tree falling onto property

CHARLOTTE — Many people contact Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke who are angry about trees in neighbors’ yards.

They say they’re worried the tree is about to fall onto their houses or cars.

A northeast Charlotte homeowner says her neighbor’s tree dumps hundreds of hickory nuts onto her property.

It may not seem like a big deal, but she says the nuts fall all onto her driveway, dent her car and creates a slipping hazard.

“It’s just gotten worse and worse,” Pearl Williams said. “It is really ridiculous. It honestly is.”

Williams said that she has to constantly sweep the fallen nuts off her driveway.

“I just feel like something should be done about it,” she said.

Williams says she asked the owner to do something about the tree, but nothing has changed.

“And I don’t feel like that should be because this is my property,” Williams said. “If the shoe was on the other foot, I don’t think she would accept it like that. She would want me to do something about it.”

Williams says she would handle the situation differently if it was her tree imposing on a neighbor’s property.

“If it was messing up her property, you bet your life I would,” she said.

Williams says her neighbor’s house is a rental property.

Stoogenke contacted the owner and the renter to hear their sides of the story, but they didn’t respond in time for this report.

Stoogenke’s rules of thumb:

• If landowners know, or should have known, a tree will cause a problem, and it does, they can be liable if anyone gets hurt or anything gets damaged in most cases.
• Otherwise, it’s on the victim.

However, not everyone wants to sue their neighbor.

Check with your insurance to see if your property is damaged because it could be covered.

There are two lessons for each neighbor:

• If you’re the resident with the tree, maintain it to prevent problems.
• If you’re the resident worried about being a victim, ask your neighbor to address the issue. You may want to document it in writing and attach a professional opinion to it. But that service could come with a fee.

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