Oklahoma City Blog: Legal Issues

Very helpful. Thanks for this blog!

What about tree limbs protruding into your yard from over the top of your fence? Our neighbor has two trees which hang over our fence and into our yard. They end up dropping their fall leaves and spring berries into our pool which causes us extra work having to scoop them out and extra money having to buy more chemical to prevent algae growth.

Also, what about damage done to your fence by a neighbor's dog? A different neighbor of ours has a pit bull that likes to run into our fence for some unknown reason and has also scrapped away enough wood to stick his head through. One on occasion he was able to get his head far enough through to bite my boxer dog.

Thanks for the questions, Laurie. In regard to the first question (the protruding tree limbs) because the leaves are protruding into your property, they would be considered a trespass. Under Oklahoma law, you would have the right to trim back the branches so they no longer protrude into your yard, but in doing so, you should seek the permission of your neighbor if you need to access their property. Because the damage you have incurred is a damage that could be eliminated upon trimming the limbs, it does not appear to fall within the same type of damages that have been discussed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, such as damage to sewage lines, etc.

The situation with your fence depends on a variety of circumstances, so I can’t comment for certain. However, generally, fences on a boundary line belong to both owners and are the responsibility of both owners to repair. If, as you say, the fence belongs to you and you are responsible for its repair, liability actually depends on whether the fence is in good repair. If there are insufficiency in the fence, you will not likely be able to recover. You should discuss with your neighbor whether he/she is willing to pay for these damages.