Bad Things Underfoot

Question

What does a person do if the neighbors care not that their tree has uprooted my concrete walkway, and I am subjected to a daily chore of sweeping up the leaves and berries? Because we are two old senior citizens, the work and trimming has become a major pain in the neck. Any advice?

Answer 1

Sweeping up leaves and berries, while often a pain in select parts of the body, is a normal result of the hazards of being a neighbor. The law will lend little clout to your complaint. There was one recent case in California in which leaves ruined a pool filter and the pool owner was successful in getting damages. But the holding was unusual and the proof and record of damages were unusually clearcut. 

Your best hope would be to appeal to the neighbors' sense of decency -- and ask, perhaps, that they split the labor of sweeping in the interest of good neighborliness. 

The matter of the buckled driveway is a horse of a different color, however -- and could well provide a solid legal basis for making the owner of the tree pay for the damage and cut back the tree roots.