Overview
This Fact Sheet picks up where “California Neighbor Tree Disputes: Your Rights on Encroaching Branches and Roots” left off. That earlier Fact Sheet explained how to handle a neighbor’s encroaching trees and your rights to use “self-help” to cut back or otherwise address overhanging branches and roots.
This one focuses on your options after the damage is done, including how to recover money for property damage, whether you can get your attorney’s fees reimbursed, and how things change if you live in an HOA. California law provides multiple remedies for homeowners whose trees are damaged or whose property is harmed by a neighbor’s trees, but those remedies depend on where you live and how the damage occurred.
For a deeper dive into this topic, see an episode of my podcast, HOA HELL, entitled “Trees, Roots & the Right to Chop: Navigating Nature’s Property Line Wars.”
Key Points
Tree damage cases can involve multiple overlapping legal theories. The following points outline the key legal options and practical realities for California homeowners.
- Property damage caused by trees can lead to nuisance, trespass, or negligence claims. These are the three most common legal theories for recovering damages. A nuisance claim focuses on interference with the enjoyment of your property (e.g., roots cracking your driveway or damaging your pool). Trespass applies when branches or roots physically invade your property (i.e., the second the roots or branches of a neighbor’s tree cross the property line). Negligence applies when a neighbor knows their tree is dangerous or causing damage to your property and fails to act.
- Destruction of someone else’s trees can result in double or triple damages. California law strongly protects trees. Under Civil Code 3346 and Code of Civil Procedure 733, a homeowner who cuts down, injures, or destroys another’s tree without permission can face up to triple damages for intentional harm, or double damages for accidental harm. You trim your neighbor’s tree (which is NOT invading the ground or air space over your property) to “improve your view,” and it dies. The court can award your neighbor triple the tree’s value, plus property restoration costs.
- Never enter a neighbor’s property to cut down or trim their trees. Doing so constitutes trespass, which can expose you to both civil and criminal liability. Always stay within your property line when exercising self-help, and document the condition of the tree before and after you act.
- Attorney’s fees are generally not recoverable in tree disputes. California follows the American Rule, where each party pays their own fees unless a statute or contract says otherwise. Neither Civil Code 3346 or Code of Civil Procedure 733 has an attorney’s fees provision. What those statutes do have, however, is a damages enhancement (of double or triple damages). If, however, you live in an HOA, you will probably be entitled to your attorney’s fees.
- HOA membership can change everything. When the dispute arises inside an HOA, the Davis-Stirling Act applies. Civil Code 5975 allows the prevailing party to recover attorney’s fees and costs when enforcing the CC&Rs. Since destruction of trees necessarily involves a nuisance, and since the vast majority of CC&Rs contain a nuisance provision, if you sued under your CC&Rs’ nuisance provision, you would be entitled to your attorney’s fees upon prevailing. Likewise, HOAs have a duty to enforce their governing documents, which usually include nuisance and maintenance provisions. If your HOA refuses to act, you may sue both the offending neighbor and the HOA itself for failing to enforce its rules.
- HOA boards can be liable for selective or negligent enforcement. Boards that enforce CC&Rs against some residents but ignore others risk claims for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and arbitrary enforcement.
- Destruction of trees carries financial and legal risk. The law treats tree destruction as property damage, not personal landscaping choice. Under Civil Code 3346, courts can award up to triple damages and replacement costs, and under Code of Civil Procedure 733, intentional destruction may even be considered a criminal trespass.
- Document everything from the start. Photograph the damage, keep copies of correspondence with your neighbor or HOA, and obtain repair estimates. In tree disputes, success depends heavily on evidence of the damage, cause, and timing.
California law gives homeowners strong remedies when tree disputes cause damage, but the right response depends on whether you live in an HOA and whether the conduct was intentional or negligent.
FAQs
What damages can I recover if my neighbor’s tree damages my property?
You can recover the cost of repairs, loss in property, or under Civil Code 3346, double or triple damages when trees are wrongfully cut or destroyed (depending on whether the destructional was intentional).
Can I recover attorney’s fees if I win a tree dispute?
Not usually. Prevailing parties in California are not entitled to an award of attorney’s fees unless authorized by statute or contract. If, however, your dispute arises within an HOA, Civil Code 5975 allows the prevailing party to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs when enforcing the CC&Rs. And if your CC&Rs contain a nuisance provision, then you could sue under that provision, and thus obtain your attorney’s fees upon prevailing.
What if both my neighbor and I live in an HOA?
Your HOA has a legal duty to enforce its CC&Rs, including nuisance or maintenance provisions. If it refuses to act, you can sue the offending homeowner and your HOA for failing to enforce its obligations under the Davis-Stirling Act.
Can I sue my HOA for ignoring my neighbor’s tree damage to my property but not ignoring the same issue involving other members?
Yes. HOAs that selectively enforce or ignore violations can be sued for negligence or breach of fiduciary duty. Board members owe duties of care and loyalty to enforce rules fairly and in good faith.
What happens if my neighbor destroys my tree?
It depends. If the destruction occurred as a result of your neighbor simply cutting back branches that crossed over onto his property (up to the property line) while NOT trespassing on your property, then the answer is nothing. But if your neighbor comes onto you property and destroys a tree, or if your neighbor cuts your roots when a less destructive means could’ve reasonably resolved the problem, then they can be liable for up to three times the tree’s value under Civil Code 3346 and Code of Civil Procedure 733.
s it ever legal to enter my neighbor’s yard to trim a tree?
No. Entering another’s property without consent is trespass, even if the tree causes damage. Always perform any trimming from your side of the property line and within the law’s limits.
About MBK Chapman Fact Sheets
Homeowners searching for answers online will often come across articles that appear authoritative, but are actually written as search-engine marketing content rather than by an experienced HOA lawyer. These pieces tend to prioritize keyword density over clarity, accuracy, or legal context, which often leaves homeowners more confused than informed.
At MBK Chapman, our Fact Sheets are part of our HOA Law Library and are written by Michael Kushner, an HOA lawyer with decades of hands-on experience representing California homeowners. In fact, Michael Kushner is the HOA lawyer who pioneered the systems and strategies used by some of California’s most successful homeowner-side HOA law firms.
Each Fact Sheet is deliberately concise, statute-based, and designed as a quick-reference guide to help homeowners understand key HOA laws and enforcement rules at a glance.
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