Tennessee Neighbor-Tree Law for Chattanooga Homeowners: Who Pays, What You Can Cut, and When a Tree Is a Nuisance

This page describes a published court decision and a city ordinance; it is not legal advice, and Chattanooga Tree Pros is not a law firm. For a dispute with real money in it, a Tennessee attorney is the right call.

The case that sets the rule: Lane v. W.J. Curry & Sons (Tenn. 2002)

Gloria Lane owned a house in Memphis next to a rental property owned by W.J. Curry & Sons. Three large oaks on the Curry lot sent limbs over her roof and roots under her yard. In 1997 a limb fell through her roof, attic and kitchen ceiling; rain followed and damaged ceilings, floors and her stove. The roots clogged her sewer line, sewage backed up into her tub, and she went about two years without a usable toilet, tub or sink. The trial court and the Court of Appeals threw her case out under the old rule — that a neighbor's only remedy for encroaching trees is to cut them back yourself ("self-help").

The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed on December 19, 2002. Chief Justice Drowota's opinion did three things that still govern every neighbor-tree dispute in the state:

• 1. Encroaching trees can be a nuisance — when they do real harm The Court held that "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." Encroachment alone — branches over the line, roots under it — is not enough.
• 2. Self-help survives The neighbor may still, "at his own expense, cut away the encroaching vegetation to the property line," whether or not the tree is a nuisance. The Court kept that right and added to it.
• 3. Self-help is not the only remedy Tennessee joined the states following the "Hawaii approach": when a tree causes actual harm or imminent danger, the owner can be sued for nuisance and made to pay damages or fix the problem. The Court found Ms. Lane's record enough to establish liability and sent the case back to decide damages.

What the rule means in practice

A healthy tree that falls in a storm

This is the most common Chattanooga situation — a sound oak or pine goes over in a spring wind event or an ice storm and lands on the neighbor's fence, car or roof. Under Lane the question is whether the tree caused actual harm or posed "an imminent danger of actual harm" — in practice, whether it was visibly failing before it fell. A healthy tree in a storm generally is not that, and in practice each property's own insurer usually handles its own damage. Nothing in the opinion makes a neighbor an insurer of every tree on their lot.

A tree the owner knew was a hazard

Different case. A tree that was visibly dead, hollow, split, leaning further every year, or already dropping big limbs is the Lane fact pattern: a condition the owner could see and did nothing about. That is where nuisance liability lives — and where the paper trail decides it. A dated letter with photos, sent before the tree fell, is what turns "they should have known" into "they knew".

Branches over the line, roots under it

You may cut both back to the property line yourself, at your expense, without asking. The limits are the ones any arborist would give you: do not enter the neighbor's land, do not cut the trunk, and do not cut so much that the tree dies or becomes unstable — at that point you have damaged their property, and Tennessee has a statute on damages for negligent or intentional tree cutting (Tenn. Code Ann. § 43-28-312, which the Chattanooga ordinance references; we have not reviewed it here). Hiring a crew that prunes to standard protects you here; the national range for a clearance prune is $400–$900 per tree, and the trimming page explains which cut to ask for.

Roots in the sewer line

The exact harm in Lane, and a common one on older Chattanooga lots with clay sewer laterals. Self-help (root cutting, a root barrier) remains available; if the damage is real and continuing, so does the nuisance claim.

Where the Chattanooga ordinance comes in

The 2025 Tree Ordinance is mostly about public trees and development, but three sections bear on neighbor disputes inside the city limits:

• Sec. 32-311(d): "Property owners shall remove all dead, diseased or dangerous trees, or broken or decayed limbs which constitute a menace to the safety of the public." A hazard tree over a sidewalk or street is a code obligation, not just a neighborly one.
• Sec. 32-315: The City "shall have the right to order or cause the removal of any trees that are dead or diseased on private property within the city, when such trees constitute a hazard to life and property, or harbor insects or disease" threatening other trees. The owner gets written notice and 14 days; if they don't act, the City removes the tree and bills them. Call 311 to report one.
• Sec. 32-313: The ordinance says nothing in it removes "the State statutory liability and award of damages for negligent or intentional tree cutting as set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 43-28-312" — a statute this site has not reviewed.

Outside the city — Signal Mountain, Red Bank, East Ridge, Collegedale, Soddy-Daisy and unincorporated Hamilton County — the Lane rule is the same, because it is state law; the ordinance sections are not.

What to do, in order, when a neighbor's tree worries you

1. Talk first. Most people do not know their tree is dying. A conversation and a shared quote settles most of these.
2. Put it in writing. A short letter or email: what you see, a photo, a date, a request that they have it assessed. Keep a copy. This is the document that matters if the tree later fails.
3. Get an assessment on paper. An arborist's written opinion that the tree is a hazard is evidence under Lane and is often what gets a reluctant neighbor to act. The dead-tree guide covers what the assessment looks for.
4. Use self-help for the part on your side. Branches and roots to the line, pruned properly.
5. Inside city limits, report a dead or diseased tree to 311 under Sec. 32-315.
6. Talk to a lawyer if the tree has already caused damage or the neighbor will not act on a documented hazard.

If it has already fallen

Photograph the tree where it lies — especially the base and any rot, cavities or old failure points — before anyone cuts. Call your own insurer; they will deal with the neighbor's insurer if there is a knowledge question. Get the tree off the structure (the emergency page explains what that costs and who to call first), and keep the invoice itemized. The liability question is sorted out afterward; the roof is sorted out now.