in iowa we had a tree fall due to wind sat it fell on neighbors trailer, who pays damages?
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in iowa we had a tree fall due to wind sat it fell on neighbors trailer, who pays damages?
tree on our property fell Saturday due to high
winds, fell on neighbors trailer , who pays for
damages
Asked on October 23, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Iowa
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
You are only liable (or have to pay) if at fault. You would only be at fault--since you do not control the wind--if you ignored known or obvious risks. If there was any reason that you did or should have known this tree was a particular threat, such it was obviously sick, dying, dead, top heavy and liable to fall, etc. and you nonetheless failed to take reasonable steps (e.g. trimming it or cutting it down) to mitigate or reduce that risk, you could be liable; the failure to take reasonable steps in the face of a known threat is careless or negligent and makes you at fault. But if the tree seemed a perfectly normal, healthy tree, there was no reaons for you to take steps in regard to it; in this case, you did nothing wrong, were not at fault, and are not liable. In that event, he hopefully has his own insurance he can place a claim under.
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