We Were Without Power, Not Powerless
By Guest Blogger, Robert Porter, Attorney
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Hurricane Irene left my family without electricity like millions of others along the East Coast. On Sunday morning, at exactly 7:00 am, a neighbor’s tree crashed down on the power line that serves our house and a few others. Unlike many, our outage lasted for over a week (roughly 7 days, 13 hours and 35 minutes – not like we were counting or anything). We were better off than some during that week however – our kind and generous neighbors ran an extension cord through our back yards, which allowed us to keep our refrigerator, cell phones, computers and re-chargeable batteries going.
We made the best with what we had – we made pancakes and bacon in a skillet on the grill, we “explored caves” with our sons and their flashlights and finally got to use the weather radio that we bought years ago. By Day 7, though, we had had enough, and we started thinking that someone (more specifically, the neighbor whose tree fell) should be responsible for the damage done.
The law in Maryland regarding damage done by trees is both clear and unsettled. Marylanders have a clear right of self-help in cases where a neighboring owner’s tree endangers their property. A land owner has the right to “cut encroaching branches, vines and roots back to their property line” to prevent the neighboring owner’s tree from causing damage; Melnick v. C.S.C. Corp., 312 Md. 511, 514 (1988). Self-help does not allow an owner to enter onto the neighbor’s property or cut down the neighbor’s tree, but it does allow an owner to cut limbs and braches up to the common boundary.
The unsettled question that the Court of Appeals did not address in the Melnick case is whether a tree’s owner should or would be held responsible for damage to another’s property if the owner knew or had reason to know that the tree was dead or dangerous. It’s certainly possible that a court would hold the neighbor responsible in that situation. What is definite, however, is that any attempt to find out by filing suit would be expensive…in both money and goodwill.
Before the crew from Florida restored electrical service to our house, the question of who was to blame seemed important. As soon as the lights came on, though, we decided not to focus on the inconveniences of being (mostly) without power for a week. Instead, we decided to clean up the branches that fell on our side of the fence, to thank our wonderful neighbors for their generosity and to enjoy the memories of pancakes and bacon on the grill. Being without electricity can certainly make you feel powerless, but it also can empower positive choices and decisions, and the choice is ours.
Did you find yourself in a similar situation? Tell us what happened!
Bob is a real estate and business lawyer concentrating his practice on commercial, investment, and institutional property. He handles business planning and implementation strategies, including business entity (ownership structures) and real estate transactions. Bob also concentrates on projects involving development and conservation of real property, including development agreements, easements, restrictive covenants, and contracts.
