Real
Cases in Real Estate
is a weekly update on real estate law, with legal principles illustrated and
explained by lawsuits from around the country. The topics are wide-ranging for
appeal to a broad spectrum of readers including lawyers, homeowners, investors
and the general public. Andrea Lee Negroni, a Washington DC
attorney and legal writer with 25 years of experience in financial services and
mortgage law, contributes the case summaries.
Followers of
Real Cases in Real Estate will learn and be entertained by lawsuits
involving nuisance, trespass, zoning violations, deed restrictions, title
insurance, public utilities, mechanics liens, construction defects, adverse
possession, foreclosure and eviction, divorce and marital property rights,
tenants' rights, and more. Real Cases in Real Estate uncovers the
unpredictable, amusing, and sometimes outrageous disputes between next-door
neighbors, contractors and homeowners, condo boards and residents, real estate
brokers and homebuyers, and zoning administrators and developers.
Each fully
cited case summary highlights the essential law of the case and explains the
principal legal theories and concepts relevant to the outcome. Plain language
treatment makes Real Cases in Real Estate accessible to lawyers and
laymen alike.
Whether you
follow real estate law professionally or as a hobby, you'll find something new
and useful every week in Real Cases in Real Estate.
Updates
for the Week of April 16th, 2012
A Virginia landowner is not liable for the personal injuries suffered
by a person struck by a tree that falls from his property.
Matthew Cline was driving on a state road
when a tree fell on his car, injuring him. Before it fell, the dying, dead or
rotten tree was half on land owned by Dunlora South and half on property owned
by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Virginia courts have adopted the "Hawaii approach to liability" when an encroaching tree or plant causes property
damage. This approach states "encroaching trees and plants may be regarded as a
nuisance when they cause actual harm or pose an imminent danger of actual harm
to adjoining property. If so, the owner of the tree or plant may be held
responsible for harm caused to [adjoining property]." However, Virginia law is less clear on
liability for personal injury caused by falling trees.
Looking to cases in Hawaii and
Tennessee for analysis of liability theories, the Virginia court found guidance
only as to property damage. Based on "a distinct lack of case law" to guide
decisionmaking on the liability of a party for personal injuries caused by a
tree falling on neighboring property, the court declined to award damages to
the plaintiff for his personal injuries.
Cline v. Dunlora South, L.L.C.,
Stonehaus, L.L.C., and Bondstone Ventures, Inc., 81 Va. Cir. 235; 2010 Va.
Cir. LEXIS 309 [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers].
....
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