My neighbor's tree fell on my house, fence or car. Who pays?

What is actually happening

Trees fail in predictable ways, and each leaves a signature. Root-plate failure exposes the roots and the soil they were in: decayed, girdled, cut by trenching, or saturated. Trunk failure shows the cross-section: sound wood, a decay column, a cavity, included bark at a fork. Limb failure shows the attachment. A consulting arborist can usually read from the break whether the defect was there before the wind arrived and whether it was visible from the ground.

The owner's defense is almost always "it looked fine." Sometimes that is true. Often the evidence says otherwise: fruiting bodies of a decay fungus at the base, a dead top, a pronounced lean that appears in last year's street-view image, a prior trenching cut for a utility. The report finds and dates that evidence.

What California law says

• Negligence, not strict liability. A property owner must exercise reasonable care to prevent trees on the property from injuring neighbors. If the owner knew or should have known of a hazardous condition and failed to act, the owner is liable for the resulting damage. If a reasonable inspection would not have revealed the defect, the owner is not.
• Act of God. Damage caused by an extraordinary natural event, not by the owner's negligence, is not the owner's liability. Weather is relevant to whether the tree would have failed anyway, which is a factual question the arborist answers.
• Notice. Prior written complaints about the tree, a prior arborist's warning, or a city notice are strong evidence the owner knew. That is why putting an owner on notice about a hazardous tree, before it fails, matters so much. See dead or leaning tree next door.
• Insurance. Your homeowner's policy generally covers your damage regardless of fault, subject to the deductible; the carrier may pursue the tree owner's insurer if negligence can be shown. Your adjuster will want the arborist's findings on pre-failure condition.

What your city adds

If the tree was protected under a city ordinance, the owner may have needed a permit to remove it even if they wanted to, and some owners point to that. It is not a defense to negligence: Bay Area cities issue permits for hazardous trees, often expedited, and several require only an arborist's letter. Whether a permit path existed is a fact the report can state.

What the report does for you

1. Examines the failed section in place: decay, cracks, included bark, root condition, soil, prior wounds.
2. Reconstructs pre-failure condition from what remains, from earlier photographs you or neighbors have, and from dated aerial and street imagery.
3. Identifies the failure mode and contributing factors, including recorded weather on the date.
4. States whether the defect would have been visible to a reasonable owner, and whether an arborist inspection would have identified it.
5. Delivers dated, numbered photographs and measurements in a format adjusters and attorneys use.

Cause & Condition Report, from $950; 48-hour turnaround available. Scope → If the fallen tree was yours and the neighbor is claiming, the same report tells you where you stand.

What to do today

1. Make it safe and photograph everything before anyone touches it: the break, the base, the roots, the whole tree, the damage. Dozens of photos, with scale.
2. Hold the debris. Ask the owner and any contractor not to grind the stump or remove the trunk until it has been examined. Put that in a text so it is dated.
3. Notify your insurer and tell the adjuster an arborist is examining pre-failure condition.
4. Text (415) 881-0124 with photos. We can usually be on site within 2 to 3 days. Intake form →

Sources

1. California negligence principles as applied to trees: duty of reasonable care of a landowner, including for natural conditions, Civil Code § 1714(a). Civil Code § 1714.
2. California Civil Code § 833, ownership.
3. Code of Civil Procedure § 338, three-year limitations period for injury to real property.