04/21/2019
I know it is long but if you have tree issues it is well worth the read.
Question: Who is responsible for tree removal or maintenance?
By Bruce Stanton, Attorney
One of the most frequently asked questions I receive concerns trees located on a homeowners’ space. A homeowner might receive a 7-day Notice from management demanding that a tree located all or partly on the homeowner’s space be trimmed, maintained or removed. Is the homeowner responsible for this cost? Sometimes the homeowner initiates a notice to the park owner or a complaint to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) requesting that management trim, maintain or remove a problem tree. Can the park owner be made to pay for this cost?
Prior to 2001, these questions were difficult to answer. No section of the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) dealt with the issue, and park owners had differing policies about how to treat trees. Most residents felt that responsibility for removing or maintaining trees should be based upon who planted the tree; i.e. if the tree existed before they purchased the space, it should be the park’s responsibility, and if the resident planted the tree if should be their responsibility. The problem is that the park owns the land, and along with it all of the trees “fixed” to the land. Residents cannot sell trees or take them with them when the home is sold. Thus, who planted the tree is really not relevant. The problem can be significant. In some cases trees can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to maintain or remove. Palm trees or large cypress trees fall into this category. For a resident faced with this type of bill, the cost could prove impossible and thus subject them to eviction.
Civil Code section 798.37.5, enacted in 2001, is one of the most useful provisions in the MRL, and prevails over any contrary provisions in rental agreements, leases or rules and regulations. This law allocates responsibility for trees as follows:
If the tree is located on the homeowner’s rented space and “poses a specific hazard or health and safety violation”, the park owner is solely responsible for all costs of maintenance, trimming, pruning or removal.
But it the tree is not determined to be a “specific hazard or health and safety violation”, then the homeowner is responsible for the tree.
Establishing whether there is a hazard or health and safety violation is thus critical to determining tree responsibility. How is this done? Sometimes it’s easy to determine that hazards or health and safety violations exist. Trees that are falling down, diseased, dropping debris on people or property, touching structures or spreading their roots over one or more spaces causing concrete to buckle or break up can be clearly identified as a hazard. But in less obvious cases, disputes often occur between the homeowner and management as to who is responsible. In those cases, HCD has created a procedure for resolving the issue. A resident believing the park owner is responsible for maintaining or removing a tree should request an inspection by HCD. The inspector has discretion to determine if the tree is a hazard or health and safety violation. If either the homeowner or the park owner disagrees with the inspector’s decision, they can hire a tree expert (arborist) to render an opinion. This should also be done where the inspector cannot make a determination; HCD inspectors are not always “tree experts”. With the arborist’s report in hand, either party can then appeal the original inspector’s decision and seek a new ruling from HCD.
Very large trees costing large amounts to remove or maintain, such as tall palm trees, will usually fall into the category of a hazard or health and safety violation merely due to the cost and effort involved, as will almost any tree removal. A park owner cannot reasonably order a tree removal without a valid reason, which almost always would be tied to health and safety.
The bottom line is this: If a resident has any question about whether he or she is responsible for a tree, contact management first in writing. If that is unsuccessful, then an HCD inspection should be ordered, or an arborist consulted. But note that the homeowner needs to be ready to accept the results of the inspection, even when it favors the park owner, for once inspection results are on record there is seldom any way to erase them.
