[WSBARP] Trimming Tree Branches Growing into Easement Area- Re: WSBARP Digest, Vol 116, Issue 1

[Andrekita Silva]

Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
_____________________________________________________________________________________

May 1, 2024

Jeff, 

I'm not sure about easements. I did read Eric's very thorough response but it was alot to digest.... 
But, in regards to one's own private property, I know you can trim trees, bushes, etc. hanging in your own yard any way you want.
However, I'm pretty positive that if you trim the tree (even if only on your own property), and it damages your neighbors tree, that you can be held liable for the damage to their tree.

I don't know if your client has actually spoken to the volatile, gun owning neighbor, and the neighbor has refused to let them trim the trees back to the fence, OR if they assume that the neighbor will react negatively due to past experiences.

Although your client should follow up on the caselaw that Eric cited, I would encourage your client to actually approach the neighbor as amicably as possible to see if neighbor does or does not object. 

 If it is only the COST that is the barrier, the 3 property owners wanting the trees trimmed could agree to pay all or a portion of volatile neighbor's share. If friendly conversations and requests with proposals for how to address volatile neighbors concerns don't result in an agreement, your client should consider asking neighbor to participate in a mediation on this issue.  If neighbor is concerned about the cost of mediation, the Dispute Resolution Center (I think all counties have one) can be extremely modestly priced.  These tree encroachment issues are commonly the subject of small claims cases which, in King County, are mediated by the DRC of King County.  Unless volatile neighbor has a mental health issue-( i.e. they suffer from paranoia and want the protection of alot of foliage for privacy) they dispute is often resolved. Usually, the neighbor is just super cheap.

Andrekita Silva
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 940
Seattle, Washington 98101-2509
206-224-8288
ak at seattle-silvalaw.com
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