Whos responsible for tree that was blown over in a storm and damaged my nieghbors fence?

I have a vacant piece of property taht has only trees on it. recently , a severe thunderstorm came through and blew over over a tree that was at the back of our property and damaged a nieghbors chainlink fence. My husband went over and removed the tree at the same time noticing that the tree was diseased. The nieghbor told us we had to turn it into our homeowners insurance. We explained that you cant put home owners ins. on vacant land and she needed to file a claim with her insurance. She now is taking us to small claims court.She claims that the tree has been dead for 4 or 5 years . As we are rarely at the property and have had it up for sale for a year. We never were aware of this! She left out the fact that a storm that blew several trees down in our town was responsible. Is this our responsibility? And if she knew the tree was dead why didnt she call with concerns? I live in florida . Can anyone answer this question.Thank you

No. They are responsible for their fence. It was an "Act of God."

If you had cut the tree down and it hit the fence that would be different.

Technically, you didn't even have to clean up the part of the tree that fell in her yard.

Additionally, if she noticed a diseased tree, she had the responsibility to notify you of the condition and tell you she would hold you responsible if the tree fell on her property. She didn't. She has no case.

The tree is the responsibility of the owner of the property it is rooted on. If the tree was dead or diseased it could be a case of negligence. If not, it would just be an act of God. If your neighbor knew of a problem with the tree and didn't notify you, it could lessen your liability. Check with a local legal assistant firm.

Living in Michigan, a neighbors tree broke off in a storm and damaged our neighbors fence. It is the fence owners responsibility to remove and fix her fence not the tree owners. I don't agree with this law but that is how it is here in Michigan. After 2 years the tree is still positioned on the damaged fence because the 2 neighbors are fighting over this. If it were my tree I would feel terrible and do what I had to do to rectify the situation or even offer to pay half of the fence.

Your property is your responsibility. You should pay for her fence to be repaired. Get your own estimate for the repair and pay that amount. They may overcharge for the repair in order to cover their court costs.
If you let it go through with the small claims court & when they win in small-claims court, you will end up paying a lot more.

seems to me that it was'nt much of your fault since mother nature did the actual damage, atleast thats what i would tell the judge. if its true that you cannot put insurance on vacant land in the state of florida than you have a good chance of winning the case.

If the roots of the tree were or are on your property, it's yours. This is what the liability part of homeowner's insurance is for.

Your property = your tree= your problem. It doesn't matter if the tree is dead or not. I would be getting your checkbook ready if I were you.

Nature?? Act of God??

In general unless you where negligent in some manner you are not responsible for the damage the tree caused when it fell on your neighbor

Its called an Act of God defense, when a tree falls during a storm onto another land you are not responsible unless the neighbor can show negligence

In your case the neighbor in court will have to show: you knew or should have known the tree was dead, its her legal burden in court to produce evidence other then her opinion that the tree was dead, when did she notify you of the problem? did she in the 4 to 5 years ever write a letter telling you about the dead tree?

On the tree being diseased? was it apparent by a look it was dead or dying? or was it only when you where cutting it up did your husband notice it was dead

If it was obvious from the outside appearance the tree was dead you maybe liable

The tree and any damage it may have done are your responsibility. You should have had some insurance on the land, even though it was vacant, to protect you in this instance. You should settle on fixing the damaged fence and any other damage. By the way, it is not your neighbor's responsibility to notify you that a tree on your property is diseased. Most insurance companies do not pay out much for wind blown trees. It is considered an "Act of God". and poorly covered at best.

The same thing happened to me. My neighbors tree fell over onto my fence after a terrible wind storm and damaged it. He called when he saw the damage to inform me and apologize. The next thing I knew, he was outside fixing my fence. I never would have dreamed of suing him over that and would not expect him to fix it, and he never would have dreamed of letting it go. That is what good neighbors do for each other.
I think legally it is your responsibility. Just fix it and keep the peace in your neighborhood.
If it were me, I would fix it even if I werent legally responsible.

This may vary state to state so check locally to be sure. I have a vacant piece of property and my homeowners policy extends to vacant undeveloped property without extra charge so check your homeowners insurance. Usually a homeowners policy must cover damage caused by storms on your own property. Your neighbor's policy should have to cover the damage on his property from storm damage due to trees. The question is are you liable because the tree was dead for several years especially if they failed to report it or file a complaint. In my opinion they had the opportunity to report it to you or the county as a nuisance. They failed to do so. Waiting 4 or 5 years may damage their case and now that damage has occurred then they want you to pay.