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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7138
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5796
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING A PROPERTY OWNER'S LIABILITY FOR THE
EXPENSES OF REMOVING A FALLEN TREE OR TREE LIMB.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) (1) 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
whose tree or tree limb fell shall be presumed liable for the expenses of 4
removing such tree or tree limb from such adjoining private property 5
owner's land, if, prior to such tree or tree limb falling: (A) An arborist 6
inspected the tree and documented that the tree or tree limb was 7
diseased, decayed or damaged and likely to fall within five years of the 8
date of such inspection; (B) the adjoining private property owner 9
provided written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to 10
the owner of the private real property whose tree or tree limb fell that 11
the tree or tree 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 (C) the owner of the private real property 15
whose tree or tree limb fell failed to cure the condition by removal, 16
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pruning, spraying or any other appropriate method within ninety days 17
of the date of receiving such written notice. No property owner shall be 18
required to provide access to his or her property for inspection by an 19
arborist. An arborist's inability to access property for such inspection 20
shall not waive the requirement of this subdivision that an arborist make 21
a determination that a tree or tree limb is diseased, decayed or damaged 22
and likely to fall within five years of the date of such inspection. Written 23
notice provided by a private property owner pursuant to this 24
subdivision shall be deemed personal to the particular owner providing 25
such notice and shall not run with the land. 26
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this 27
subsection, no liability shall be imposed on an owner of private real 28
property for expenses incurred to remove a fallen tree or tree limb, if (A) 29
such owner was sixty-four years of age or older on October 1, 2025, and 30
(B) such owner's median income on the date the tree or tree limb fell on 31
an adjoining property is below the median income determined by the 32
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, for the 33
area in which the municipality containing the private real property is 34
located. 35
(b) The presumption of liability set forth in subdivision (1) of 36
subsection (a) of this section may be rebutted upon a showing that: (1) 37
After notice was given as described in subsection (a) of this section, an 38
arborist inspected the tree or tree limb and documented that the tree or 39
tree limb was not diseased, decayed or damaged and likely to fall; or (2) 40
such tree or tree limb fell due to a reason other than the condition 41
described in such notice, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle 42
collision, fire, lightning strike or other act of God. 43
(c) The provisions of this section shall not affect any rights of a 44
policyholder under a liability insurance policy, except that the insurance 45
company that issued such insurance policy may deduct from any 46
amount owed to such insured for a covered loss arising from such tree 47
or tree limb falling, the amount recovered by the policyholder pursuant 48
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to subsection (a) of this section, to the extent that such amount would 49
have been a covered loss under such insurance policy. 50
(d) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit any 51
person's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed 52
by law. 53
(e) As used in this section (1) "private real property" does not include: 54
(A) Real property owned by the state, a political subdivision of the state, 55
a water company, as defined in section 25-32a of the general statutes, or 56
a nonprofit organization qualified as a tax-exempt organization under 57
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any 58
subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, 59
as amended from time to time; (B) real property that is subject to a 60
conservation easement held by such nonprofit organization; (C) timber 61
land, as described in section 12-97 of the general statutes; or (D) farm 62
land, forest land or open space land, as such terms are defined in section 63
12-107b of the general statutes; and (2) "arborist" has the same meaning 64
as provided in section 23-61a of the general statutes. 65
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To impose liability on certain owners of real property for the expenses
of removing a tree or tree limb that falls on an adjoining owner's private
real property.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]