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One, the price. If this is a “tricky removal” $1000 is crazy low, it would be in the $2,500 to $3,000 range minimum for a small tree.
Two, can get it done in 48 hours. No legit tree company moves that fast unless: a seriously dangerous tree (certainly doesn’t sound like it, and not priced for it). Sounds like a fly by night company trying to make a few bucks, with some pressure sales tactics.
Recommendations: Contact another tree company (ISA certified is usually a good thing to look for but doesn’t guarantee quality), for your own report. Look up reviews and look at websites. Find the most legit person possible. Make it clear you are getting a report, not a quote. Expect to pay for it, if not then it’s a quote (biases).
Two: Ask for the neighbour’s tree company’s proof of insurance. Likely they won’t provide it (they probably won’t have any), but this may scare them off or slow them down. Also ask for credentials, particularly when working around power lines.
Remember, if you are in control of the property (with permission from your dad) you can make the decision to say “No” and seek more info. Good luck.
If you were the owner, I'd say that you should let the arborist look at the tree so everyone will have an informed opinion about the risk of the tree causing some damage. If the tree does fall onto the neighbor's garage after he warned you of this concern, and you failed to even allow the arborist to look at the property, that would make you negligent for failing to mitigate the hazard. Conversely, if the tree causes the damage after the arborist says the tree is healthy, then you probably will not be liable for damage from the tree.
This not being your house complicates things a bit. Are you proposing to delay the arborist visit by a reasonable periord or an unreasonable period of time? If that latter, you might have the same problem. But if it's just a week's delay, most people would find that reasonable.
As to who pays the arborist, normally that would be the person who wants the opinon. If the tree needs to be removed, that's likely to be the owner if they decide to remove it. Until you have an arborist opinion, one cannot opine on whether your neighbor is reasonably or unreasonably pushing for action to take place.
So the arborist who looked at the tree was hired by my neighbor and they looked at it while I was not home and my neighbor relayed the information about the tree laying on the power lines to me. Sorry I didn’t make that clear.
Have you read the arborist report? The tree laying on the wire could either mean that it’s fallen down and the wires are what is holding it up, or just that it’s touching the wires. Ask for the report. If they dom't give it to you, then they probably forefeit their right to subsequently complain that you did not listen to their warning. And if there is no report, then perhaps it is just the opinion of someone bidding on a job--you need to better understand precisely the basis of the concern.
Also, is this arborist entirely independent of a tree cutting service?
No is a complete sentence. Tell him no and that you have too much going on right now to deal with this. Once your dad is healthy again, then the neighbor can contact him about it.
Tell him no and that you are not discussing this anymore. If he tries to send someone into the backyard to remove the tree, call the police.
This subreddit is for tree law enthusiasts who enjoy browsing a list of tree law stories from other locations (subreddits, news articles, etc), and is not the best place to receive answers to questions about what the law is. There are better places for that.
If you're attempting to understand more about tree law in regards to a particular situation, please redirect your question to /r/legaladvice for the US, or the appropriate legal advice subreddit for your location, and then feel free to crosspost that thread here for posterity.
If you're attempting to understand more about trees in regards to a particular situation, please redirect your question to /r/forestry for additional information on tree health and related topics to trees.
This comment is simply a reminder placed on every post to /r/treelaw, it does not mean your post was censored or removed.
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As an arborist, two major things jump out to me.
One, the price. If this is a “tricky removal” $1000 is crazy low, it would be in the $2,500 to $3,000 range minimum for a small tree.
Two, can get it done in 48 hours. No legit tree company moves that fast unless: a seriously dangerous tree (certainly doesn’t sound like it, and not priced for it). Sounds like a fly by night company trying to make a few bucks, with some pressure sales tactics.
Recommendations: Contact another tree company (ISA certified is usually a good thing to look for but doesn’t guarantee quality), for your own report. Look up reviews and look at websites. Find the most legit person possible. Make it clear you are getting a report, not a quote. Expect to pay for it, if not then it’s a quote (biases).
Two: Ask for the neighbour’s tree company’s proof of insurance. Likely they won’t provide it (they probably won’t have any), but this may scare them off or slow them down. Also ask for credentials, particularly when working around power lines.
Remember, if you are in control of the property (with permission from your dad) you can make the decision to say “No” and seek more info. Good luck.
If you were the owner, I'd say that you should let the arborist look at the tree so everyone will have an informed opinion about the risk of the tree causing some damage. If the tree does fall onto the neighbor's garage after he warned you of this concern, and you failed to even allow the arborist to look at the property, that would make you negligent for failing to mitigate the hazard. Conversely, if the tree causes the damage after the arborist says the tree is healthy, then you probably will not be liable for damage from the tree.
This not being your house complicates things a bit. Are you proposing to delay the arborist visit by a reasonable periord or an unreasonable period of time? If that latter, you might have the same problem. But if it's just a week's delay, most people would find that reasonable.
As to who pays the arborist, normally that would be the person who wants the opinon. If the tree needs to be removed, that's likely to be the owner if they decide to remove it. Until you have an arborist opinion, one cannot opine on whether your neighbor is reasonably or unreasonably pushing for action to take place.
So the arborist who looked at the tree was hired by my neighbor and they looked at it while I was not home and my neighbor relayed the information about the tree laying on the power lines to me. Sorry I didn’t make that clear.
So the neighbor could make anything up.
Get your own certified arborist, not a guy that gets paid to kill trees. That person will basically let you know the trees health and dad’s liability.
Have you read the arborist report? The tree laying on the wire could either mean that it’s fallen down and the wires are what is holding it up, or just that it’s touching the wires. Ask for the report. If they dom't give it to you, then they probably forefeit their right to subsequently complain that you did not listen to their warning. And if there is no report, then perhaps it is just the opinion of someone bidding on a job--you need to better understand precisely the basis of the concern.
Also, is this arborist entirely independent of a tree cutting service?
If the tree is on your power line then it is your issue. It is not your neighbor's issue.
Honestly I would text the neighbor that you father does not consent to any work done while he is away.
If you take that conference call, they might bully/lie to your dad into consent.
No is a complete sentence. Tell him no and that you have too much going on right now to deal with this. Once your dad is healthy again, then the neighbor can contact him about it.
Tell him no and that you are not discussing this anymore. If he tries to send someone into the backyard to remove the tree, call the police.