Neighboring land owner won’t main overgrown vegetation

Sam97

New Member
Jurisdiction
Oregon
I live in a suburban neighborhood. There is a forested area behind my house that is privately owned. The vegetation in there is not maintained at all and is so overgrown that if there was a it would present a huge danger to the neighborhood. I have talked about taking care of it and he has refused to do anything. I have a couple of questions. Does he have any kind legal responsibility to maintain his land so it doesn't pose a danger to my property? If there was a fire that came through his land and damaged my house would I have a case to sue him for the damages?
 
The vegetation in there is not maintained at all and is so overgrown that if there was a it would present a huge danger to the neighborhood.

Seems to be a word missing from this sentence.

Does he have any kind legal responsibility to maintain his land so it doesn't pose a danger to my property?

Yes, but it's not something that can be enforced unless something happens.

If there was a fire that came through his land and damaged my house would I have a case to sue him for the damages?

If you could prove that, but for your neighbor's failure to "maintain his land," the damage to your property because of the fire wouldn't have happened or would have been less (something that would be extremely difficult to do), then yes. Of course, I assume you have homeowner's insurance that will cover any fire damage, so it's an academic discussion since your insurer would take care of any such lawsuit.
 
Two things you can do.

Contact your local fire department and ask of there are any violations or responsibilities.

Contact your local county code enforcement and do the same.

Between the two of them they should be able to identify any safety issues and begin the abatement process if needed.
 
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