QUESTION: Our association has a tree limb extending into the back yard of a neighboring property. If it breaks and causes damage are we liable?

ANSWER: As a rule, owners are responsible for injury caused to others by their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property. If the tree belongs to the association, the board is responsible for properly caring for the tree so as to prevent any foreseeable damage to the neighboring property.

Negligence. If the tree has dead or dying branches and the board was warned they needed pruning, and the board fails or refuses to do so, and a dead limb crashes into the neighbor's house, you will likely be liable. If there is nothing wrong with the tree, you are not required to remove a healthy limb just because your neighbor dislikes it. Even so, your neighbor may treat the overhanging limb as nuisance.

Nuisance. Even though the neighboring property has sustained no injury by the overhanging limb, branches and roots that intrude onto the property of another are considered a nuisance and your neighbor may abate the nuisance by cutting the offending branches and roots at the boundary line--so long as he acts reasonably not to seriously damage your tree. Civil Code §3346.

Falling Leaves. Your neighbor might also be unhappy about falling leaves from your tree. If so, he cannot demand that you control or clean up the leaves, so long as you reasonably maintain your tree.