All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Amaral

@Kenny Dahill Thanks Kenny! I'm not sure if this would qualify for a free replacement as the branch made a softball sized hold and partially broke off into the car itself. Fortunately, it appears it was somehow only the windshield damaged, although it's possible there was minor damage I'm not seeing in the pictures just outside of the windshield.

 Thank you for the reply. The initial tropical storm resulted in many small to small/medium branches coming down, nothing large. The tree has a large diameter (approximately 3-4 feet) and to me looks like a tree that still has many years of life in it. I will get the trimmer's opinion tomorrow. There is one small driveway that one set of tenants park both of their vehicles in. During the winter we have several street parking bans that require you to park off street or you are towed. There was one last night. My thought after the initial storm and after examining the tree was that I did not see anything that looked compromised, and the storm likely brought down anything that was. That logic may be flawed, but it could very well be the logic held by the tenants as well. The tenants did not request any maintenance after the initial storm, just that I cover their initial deductible.

I recently posted about a significant wind storm in October causing damage to one my tenants car (windshield and body) when branches from the tree in my driveway fell onto their SUV. This was a significant wind storm, winds upward of 90 MPH in some areas. The tenant reached out to see if I would cover their $500 car insurance deductible. The claim did cover everything else. I received a resounding response from BP that I was not responsible for the damage. I did not cover their deductible.

After the storm I examined the tree and per my own assessment, I did not see any branches that appeared to be dead or of concern, nor did I notice any prior to the storm in October. 

During a winter snowstorm / mix storm over the past day or so, which included snow, wind, and rain, another branch fell through the same vehicles windshield. This time it appears to have just caused damage to the windshield. The tenant sent pictures and curtly said this is the 2nd time this has happened and the tree clearly needs maintenance.

I have scheduled to have a tree trimmer come out tomorrow and assess and trim the tree.

Due to this happening a 2nd time in the span of a few months, I do clearly feel compelled to have someone come out and assess and work on the tree, especially now that the tenant overtly requested it. Considering this happened again in close proximity to the last incident but again during a storm (although not as significant as the first), I feel that this situation is not as clear as the first. In your opinion, should I be accepting any financial responsibility for this accident? If so, how would you go about it? If they submit another claim to their insurance company, their premiums will be impacted next year. It also may not be worth submitting a claim to their car insurance as it's only their windshield that was damaged.

I appreciate any input you can provide.

 Thank you for drilling in the point!

 Thanks Bo! What's your take on the above? I'm unclear what a reasonable expectation is in maintaining a tree. It seems reasonable to use an eye test to judge the need for a tree to be trimmed, however, I'm sure there could be different opinions on that.

 Thank you for that! In regard to the maintenance of the tree, I had not done anything with the tree in the 14 or so months that I owned the property up to that point. It's a big, healthy looking tree. I'm not a tree expert but when you would look at it you would never think it was a hazard or any of the branches would come down. Considering the volume of branches that did come down, it presumably could have used some kind of trim, although the result might have been similar either way. We have plenty of normal wind, none of which had ever brought any branches down until the major wind storm that happened. An article sites that the wind speeds reached 90 MPH during this particular storm. Does the fact that I had never had any kind of maintenance done to the tree, although the lay person's eye test never called for it, put some of the responsibility on me?

One of the tenants in my duplex uses the driveway to park their 2 personal vehicles. During a significant wind storm, many small/medium branches came down into the driveway and out into the road from a large tree that sits on the edge of the driveway within my property. Some of the branches caused damage to one of car's windshield and hood. The tenant submitted a claim to their car insurance company which they will be covering. The tenant is requesting that I cover their $500 car insurance deductible. I want to handle this right. I've received conflicting opinions on whether or not to reimburse some or all of their deductible. This wouldn't be something that would be covered under my landlord policy, and my deductible is more than $500 anyways. Prior to the storm there was no known issue with the tree being dead or having any dead branches.

Of note, the tenant has a balance owed of $300 for rent. They have been paying late for several months now, and I put them on a bi-monthly rent schedule to attempt to make paying rent on time easier.

I'm considering waving the $300 back rent owed, in essence meeting them just over half way to cover the deductible. Technically, it does not appear I have an obligation to cover the deductible as there was no negligence on my part. The tenant had never raised concern about any issues with the tree having dead branches. I want to do the right, reasonable thing. I'm wondering what others here would do.

I appreciate your input!

I'm wondering what people's experience and opinion of using Bigger Pockets' lease agreements is. I'm curious about any state, but my own state is New Hampshire. I have a close friend who is an attorney who urged me to consult an attorney in my state to obtain a lease that is in compliance with New Hampshire laws. However, using one of the leases on BP would be more cost effective. What's your take on using BP vs. consulting an attorney? Has anyone ever had an issue with using a BP lease?

Thanks!