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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7188
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4595
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING A PROPERT Y OWNER'S LIABILITY FOR THE
EXPENSES OF REMOVING A FALLEN TREE OR LIMB.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) If a tree located on 1
private real property, or a limb from such tree, falls on an adjoining 2
private property owner's land, the owner of the private real property 3
from which such tree or limb fell shall be presumed liable for the 4
expenses of removing such tree or limb from such adjoining private 5
property owner's land, if, prior to such tree or limb falling: (1) An 6
arborist inspected the tree and documented that the tree or limb was 7
diseased, decayed or damaged and likely to fall within five years of the 8
date of such inspection; (2) the adjoining private property owner 9
provided written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to 10
the owner of the real property from which such tree or limb fell that 11
the tree or limb was diseased, decayed or damaged and likely to fall 12
within five years of the date of such inspection and requested that the 13
condition be cured by removal, pruning, spraying or any other 14
appropriate method; and (3) the owner of the private real property 15
from which such tree or limb fell failed to cure the condition by 16 Raised Bill No. 7188
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removal, pruning, spraying or any other appropriate method within 17
ninety days of the date of receiving such written notice. No property 18
owner shall be required to provide access to his or her property for 19
inspection by an arborist. An arborist's inability to access property for 20
such inspection shall not waive the requirement of this subsection that 21
an arborist make a determination that a tree or limb is diseased, 22
decayed or damaged and likely to fall within five years of the date of 23
such inspection. Written notice provided by a private property owner 24
pursuant to this subsection shall be deemed personal to the particular 25
owner providing such notice and shall not run with the land. 26
(b) The presumption in subsection (a) of this section may be 27
rebutted upon a showing that: (1) After notice was given as described 28
in subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section, an arborist inspected 29
the tree or limb and documented that the tree or limb was not 30
diseased, decayed or damaged and likely to fall; or (2) such tree or 31
limb fell due to a reason other than the condition described in such 32
notice, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle collision, fire, 33
lightning strike or other act of God. 34
(c) The provisions of this section shall not affect any rights of a 35
policyholder under a liability insurance policy, except that the 36
insurance company that issued such insurance policy may deduct from 37
any amount owed to such insured for a covered loss arising from such 38
tree or limb falling, the amount recovered by the policyholder 39
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, to the extent that such 40
amount would have been a covered loss under such insurance policy. 41
(d) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit any 42
person's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed 43
by law. 44
(e) As used in this section (1) "private real property" does not 45
include: (A) Real property owned by a political subdivision of the 46
state, a water company, as defined in section 25-32a of the general 47
statutes, or a nonprofit organization qualified as a tax-exempt 48 Raised Bill No. 7188
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organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 49
1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the 50
United States, as amended from time to time; (B) real property that is 51
subject to a conservation easement held by such nonprofit 52
organization; (C) timber land, as described in section 12-97 of the 53
general statutes; or (D) farm land, forest land or open space land, as 54
such terms are defined in section 12-107b of the general statutes; and 55
(2) "arborist" has the same meaning as provided in section 23-61a of the 56
general statutes. 57
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
JUD Joint Favorable