Leaves from your tree in others yard?

Let me just preface this thread by saying:



frick HOA's

My neighbor has a huge sycamore tree and dumps a mess in my yard. They are nice elderly people. I just clean them up myself.

The supreme court declared falling leaves an act of God in the landmark leaf litter case Smitherson vs. 12 Oaks, Inc. 1962.

Tell them to pound sand.

I have my own 20 acres. I can do what ever the hell I want with my leaves.

I feel like once a leaf is off the tree it's no longer my property.

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I would have to go rake my neighbor’s yard since the leaves in his yard are from my tree. Is this even legal to enforce???

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It's BS and this is why I moved out of a subdivision years ago. HOA's are full of old people who desire power.

BUT, in Louisiana, property owners are responsible for the cleanup of our property on another's property. If my tree falls on my neighbor's yard and causes no damage, I'm still legally responsible for cleaning it up. If it causes damage, my insurance pays for it ONLY if the tree was unhealthy and I had reason to believe it was before it fell. If it causes damage to my neighbor's property but was healthy before it fell, their insurance pays for repairs are removal from their covered property.

But yes, given the way the law reads, I'd assume TECHNICALLY you would be responsible for your leaves cluttering up your neighbor's yard. It's BS but probably legal.

I just went through a similar case with a tree about 6 inches on the neighbor's side of the property line falling into my neighbor's yard. He claimed it was my tree, I claimed it was his. Lawyers got involved. It turned out to be his tree but my lawyer told if it had been my tree, even though it didn't cause any damage, I would have been responsible for the cleanup and removal.

I do not actually blame the HOA here, it is really the crappy people that live in your neighborhood complaining about this.

I seriously doubt the HOA decided to vote on this because they have nothing to do.

It should fail in vote, however if it passes time for a new neighborhood.

HOAs are not a negative thing. However people get on the boards that make them that way.

If this passes I would start charging my neighbor for the shade that my tree provides to their yard during the summer.

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Could you share how the court decided it was his tree? Was the property line found to be incorrect and a majority of the tree wound up on his side?

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The tree trunk was about 6" on his side. He was incorrect in his view of the property line. He thought the tree was more than half on my side. Had to get a survey then lawyered up (have a relative that's an attorney so free advice) when he claimed the survey was incorrect. He eventually backed down and cut up the tree and cleaned it up himself.