Tree fallen on a vacant neighboring property

[Scott Gresham]

I have a friend that lives in a well-kept neighborhood, no HOA, but he lives next door to a vacant home with a tree that has fallen on the back of the house. There is a hole in the roof, and it has been that way for the better part of the year. He can't get in touch with the owner listed on the deed. Is this just something he has to report to the city or there are any other actions he can take?

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Scott Gresham:

I have a friend that lives in a well-kept neighborhood, no HOA, but he lives next door to a vacant home with a tree that has fallen on the back of the house. There is a hole in the roof, and it has been that way for the better part of the year. He can't get in touch with the owner listed on the deed. Is this just something he has to report to the city or there are any other actions he can take?

 I had this exact same issue come up on a house next door to one of my rentals. The tree fell, demolished part of the front of their house, and a good part of the tree ended up in my yard (didn't damage anything) where the mowers couldn't cut the grass properly. The owners were non-responsive (I had been trying to buy the house for a number of years). I spent the better part of a day cutting the debris off my property and tossing it back onto their property, and then I went to the city and brought them pictures of the damage and the issue. The city issued the property a couple of violations, got in touch with owners, and magically not only did the damage get fixed in short order the owners decided to finally sell it - too rich for my tastes - and another investor bought it and spent a bunch of money making it look really nice. So it all worked out in the end.