Aerial video shows tornado damage amid Hurricane Milton aftermath
Multiple tornadoes ripped through Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton, causing significant damage to buildings, trees and power lines.
- Florida lawmakers are considering a bill that would make property owners liable for damage caused by trees on their property, even if the tree falls on a neighbor’s property.
- The proposed Fallen Tree Act would shift responsibility for tree maintenance and damage from the property owner where the tree falls to the property owner where the tree is rooted.
- The bill would also allow property owners to remove trees on shared property lines without permission from their neighbors, after providing written notice.
Something many Floridians may have discovered during last year’s back-to-back hurricanes: under the state’s “no-fault” tree law, if a neighbor’s tree falls onto your property, even if it causes damage, it’s your problem.
A bill in this year’s legislative session would change that.
Under HB 599 and SB 724, Property Owner Liability (also called the Fallen Tree Act), the liability for a tree or shrub that causes damage to a neighboring property would move to the person who owns it.
The bill also would allow a property owner to remove a tree or shrub if it’s growing on the boundary or property line between two or more parcels of land without getting permission from the other owner(s).
The companion bills were filed in the Florida House by Rep. Nan Cobb, R-Eustis and in the Senate by Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers.
What is the Fallen Tree Act?
Florida currently follows the “Massachusetts Rule,” which says you can cut branches and roots of your neighbor’s tree if it’s over your property line. But you can’t do anything about vegetation on your neighbor’s property that threatens yours, and if a tree or shrub falls onto your property you have to clean it up, repair or replace whatever was crushed and deal with the increased property insurance premiums or even cancellations.
The owner of the neighboring tree or shrub is only liable if there is a showing of negligence on their part, such as if the tree or its branches were dead.
Under the three-page Fallen Tree Act, “A property owner on whose property a tree or shrub is located is liable for any damages to neighboring properties caused by the tree or shrub, or the branches thereof.”
Ownership is determined by where the tree or shrub is rooted into the ground. Neighbors may still trim or eliminate branches and roots that encroach onto their property.
The law would not apply to property owners with areas greater than five acres.
Fallen Tree Act also says who can remove shared healthy trees
If trees or shrubs are growing on more than one parcel, under the bill, any of the property owners could remove them without getting permission from the other property owners.
The person doing the removal must first provide 30 days’ written notice and post a notice prominently on the property.
When would the Fallen Tree Act take effect?
If approved by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the act would take effect July 1, 2025, a month after the beginning of hurricane season.