Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney at Schroeder Law LLC in Putnam County. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at Lee@LeeSchroeder.com or at 419-659-2058. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
Every fall we can look forward to raking leaves, and often you might find that once you’ve finished cleaning up your own leaves, a neighbor’s leaves have blown into your yard. While some communities may have rules on leaf collection, most leaf and tree law is governed by Ohio law.
Generally, leaves, acorns, small twigs and other items that naturally fall from trees do not need to be raked or removed. If the items blow over to a neighbor’s house, the neighbor may not force the tree owner to remove the leaves.
What may cause issues, though, is if a tree falls on a neighbor’s property. Ohio has a handful of laws that sort out liability when a tree causes damage to a neighbor’s property.
Each autumn, leaves fall from our region’s abundant hardwood trees. Occasionally, we finish raking our leaves and find that a neighbor’s leaves blew over to replace the leaves we so painstakingly already collected.
Individual communities may have rules on leaf collection and other tree-related topics. However, most leaf and tree law is governed by Ohio law.
Read more about leaves, trees and branches and how they fit into Ohio law in Lee’s article in the Lima News here: Legal-Ease: Leaves, trees and branches
Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Leaves, trees and branches,” by Lee R. Schroeder, November 4, 2017