Oak tree fell on my car, landlord not helping me!

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churchgoer

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Hello. I found this forum while Googling for some help, and it seems like a good place to ask my question.

I live in a rented duplex in a residential area of Tampa, FL. A section of the front yard, off the street though, is designated as the parking area. Well, I went out of town this past weekend, and when I came back last night, I noticed that a GIGANTIC chunk of the oak tree overhead had broken off and landed on my car that was parked there while I was gone. It obviously did damage to my car.

So I called my landlord last night and left a voicemail message. This morning on my way to work, I decided to call her again, since she hadn't called back yet, and she answered. When I explained the story to her, she essentially dismissed me saying, "That tree is in the next door neighbor's yard, so it's not my problem. Why don't you call your auto insurance and file a claim."

??!!!!

I admit I don't know THAT much about insurance policies and homeowner's insurance (that's why I rent!!!) but I'm not a complete idiot. Isn't there something called "Liability" that goes along with homeowner's insurance? Am I *really* going to be expected to use my auto insurance, causing my premiums to go up, for something that had nothing at all to do with me or any negligence on my part?

I don't think I should have to do all the investigative work that would be required to find out who even owns the property next door, much less have to call them and report this. It seems to me that this should be my landlord's responsibility. All I know is that my fuse is burning shorter and shorter with each passing hour, and I don't want to have to call a lawyer.

So right now I feel very hopeless, and I need some advice. Can someone, anyone, tell me what I should do here? Thank you.
 
Let's look at this logically...

A tree that is not even on your landlords property dropped a limb on your car...and you expect your landlord to hunt down who lives next door and take care of this?

Please feel free to call you own lawyer. They will tell you to contact the company that carries your auto insurance.

And yes, unless the tree was diseased/dead and the neighbor (not your landlord) did nothing about this, you are *really* going to be expected to use your own auto insurance to pay for the damages to your car.

Gail
 
Thank you for your response. This tree IS diseased/dying. I have many photos to prove it as well. It's pretty much all hollow, as evidenced by the honeybee traffic coming to and fro, and the honey that has been dripping from the branches all over the street, house, cars, and property. And my understanding is that it is a homeowner's responsibility to make regular assessments of these things... NOT to wait until damage has already occurred and THEN do something about it.

Okay, so according to you, my landlord has no responsibility to do anything about it, and I have to contact the next door owner myself. Fine. I guess my landlord has proven her true colors to me, that has no interest in keeping her tenants happy and safe. That's fine. I can handle that, and simply find another place to move to when this lease is up. But for now, I definitely plan on filing a claim with the next door neighbor's insurance company.

This is no act of God. This is a diseased/dying tree that should have been brought down a long time ago. I have taken several pictures of the tree, that show beyond any shadow of a doubt that the tree is hollowed out and filled to the brim with honey and honeycomb. Would anyone else care to offer me some advice here. Thank you.
 
I also have a follow up question...

Who is responsible for bringing out an arsenal of chainsaws and removing this behemoth from the yard and property? I can't even get to my vehicle yet, to assess the damage.
 
Have you walked over and knocked on the neighbors door? If not, do so. If this is a rental, ask the tenants how to get in contact with their landlord. If the owner does not live there it is quite likely they are not aware that this has taken place.

Have you contacted your own auto insurer?

No offense but it's not really the landlords responsibility to keep the tenants happy nor safe in the sense that they have to prevent neighboring trees from falling on cars.

Gail
 
^ I wonder if you'd be whistling a different tune had this tree landed on a child's skull?

I'm not immediately concerned about my car at this point. It's obvious that I have been screwed and will have to contact my auto insurance company. Right now, I have a large rat-magnet sprawled across my yard. I'm currently trying to find out if there are any stipulations surrounding the matter of cleaning up the mess. It seems to me that it IS in fact my landlord's problem now to have someone come out and cut the tree up and move it. Do you have any advice or suggestions about this?

Or should I try calling Code Enforcement?
 
If had landed on a childs skull, it would be a tragedy.

Why do be believe you've been screwed? This is no different than if two cars had been in an accident. Once insurance companies have been notified, they will typically work with each other to determine responsibility.

Gail
 
Because my insurance rates are going to go up now, and this had nothing at all to do with any negligence on my part whatsoever, and that is why this is nothing at all like being in an auto accident. It's the principle of the whole thing that I am upset about. That people just don't have any sense of moral obligation and ethical responsibility anymore.

In fact, I mentioned that this tree was dying/dead/hollowed/whatever to my landlord about 5 months ago, and all she told me then was that it's not her problem. I guess that's the landlord's motto. I'm going to get her a bumper sticker that says "It's not my problem" and slap it on her car myself.

UPDATE: I called the local county authority on tenant/landlord issues and rights, and they told me it is absolutely my landlord's responsibility to clean up the tree. Unless there are any clauses in my lease that state otherwise. And there aren't. I then asked the individual on the phone about the property damage to my car, and he said, "Unofficially, because I am not authorized to speak of insurance matters, but unofficially, this is something that would be covered under homeowner's insurance, unless it was the result of lightning or bad weather." I've already confirmed that we had absolutely NO bad weather this weekend while I was out of town. So this is definitely the result of negligence on the homeowner's part. I've just researched who the homeowner is, and it is a real estate company. I will be submitting a certified letter to them, along with pictures of the tree that show it is all dried up and hollowed out.

Wish me luck, as I'm going to need it, seeing as how we are living in a world where "It's not my problem." :rolleyes:
 
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Yes; the homeowners insurance would cover this. Not your landlords homeowners insurance. The homeowners insurance of the guy next door.

I've had a tree...in broad daylight, no disease whatsoever, on a gentle July evening...fall in my yard from across the creek. The entire monster tree. Just missed my house. My neighbor saw this take place; said it was the strangest thing she saw in a long time. My homeowners insurance took care of this...but it didn't happen over night. An adjuster had to come out to view the situation, fill out forms, send them in to the main headquarters. Took less than a week though for everything to fall into place and I was given the funds (less the deductable) to find someone to remove the tree.

Stuff happens in life and when things like this pop up, it's easy to get upset. No offense but you appear to believe that somehow your landlord and the neighbor conspired to cause this chunk of tree to fall on your car.

Gail
 
No, but upon rereading this thread I guess I can see how you've interpreted it that way. I'm upset that my landlord is doing nothing about this. It's HER property right? Wouldn't she want to take care of this before rats move in and make nests everywhere? My lease is up in 3 months. I can wait that long if I need to, and just leave the big honking tree right where it is. I could drive my car forward, through the branches, and release it from its prison.

My problem is with the fact that I shouldn't be the one doing all of this research. I kindly asked her to help me out, and she practically told me to stop bothering her. Is THAT the way that landlords are supposed to act? Of course, the answer is no. In fact, it's the one thing that separates "Landlords" from "Slumlords." I am taking care of her property, beautifying everything because I'm an avid gardener, increasing the value of her home with every flower that blooms, all of this benefitting her in terms of equity and so forth.

Well, now I plan on ripping up all the plants I've beautified her property with, removing all the little things I've done to fix this and that up. None of this would have happened if she had played the role of landlord, instead of "person who takes rent money." I could understand her acting this way if I were a bad tenant. But I've done nothing but fix the place up and beautify her lawn ever since moving in. Not to mention, always paying my rent on time.

Anyway, I will be making one more call to her tonight to let her know that I did her homework for her, and found out who the owner of the house next door is, so she can contact them and get this mess all cleaned up. If she doesn't, well then, she's only hurting the value of her home, because I sure won't be removing the tree, or even taking time away from my busy schedule to do any more researching that will only end up benefitting her.

At any rate, thank you for engaging in conversation with me. I truly appreciate you taking time out to address some issues with me. If only my landlord would have done what you've just done for me...
 
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Hi,
First of all, now that the damage has been done already, you need to first claim your insurance. If you don't have an insurance, GET IT RIGHT NOW. Be it a car insurance or for any other property. I own a haunted house property in Lansing. Last year I got it insured from Inproagent . The company has an experience of over 30 years in offering customized coverages and assistance in choosing the best policy for our requirement.
 
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