"Man says homebuilder responsible for fallen tree"

Here's something from the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't department.

From KENS-TV:

Sunday night's big windstorm smashed a few trees — and raised a few legal questions.

...

"Just a thud, really, was all it was," Lorenzo Carmona said.

Carmona and his family didn't think the noise was much last night, until they came out and saw their cars crushed.

The homes in this neighborhood were built in the last few years around tall, 80-year-old cedar elms, and Carmona is convinced that building the homes essentially killed the trees and made them vulnerable.

He said he asked the homebuilder, Pulte Homes, to tear this tree down two months ago. Pulte refused and said it was Carmona's problem, but Carmona said other neighbors did get Pulte to tear down their vulnerable trees.

Usually homebuilders are chastised when they raze trees to make room for homes. In this case, the builder is being criticized for leaving trees in place. It's important to note that high winds were reported in the area the night before, high enough to topple trees.