Rental's tree branch damamged the neighbor's car - not my fault.

[Drew Barrett]

Hi y'all,

I bought a small SFH in Washington state last month, well, the weather here at time of writing has been very windy, and one of the trees in said rental's back yard had a branch break off and fly probably about 50 feet, and damage the neighbor's car - put a big 'ol dent in the the hood. I learned of this when that neighbor approached me last week, and brought it to my attention.

Now, my tree isn't anywhere close to his car (although it is a ridiculously tall tree) but the damage clearly isn't my fault, because the tree's not even near his car (I'm pretty sure it's an act of God).  However, I feel bad for the guy, and am thinking about going in and paying for half the repair, or something like that....however, I'm a newer landlord so I wanted to run this idea through the public consensus, just to see if you guys think it's a bad idea?  Like, if I give him something for an issue that's not my fault, then could I somehow be inadvertently claiming responsibility and thus subjecting myself to future liability?  I don't think this could happen...but you don't know what you don't know, so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks so much for any help! 

-Drew

[Marcia Maynard]

Remain friendly and even show some empathy.... "Sorry to hear about that. What bad luck! The winds were really something weren't they?"

If he asks for compensation, which it doesn't sound like he has, simply state. "Our trees are healthy. Could have happened to anyone, anywhere and at any time. We had some damage from the winds too! Check with your auto insurance company and see what they can do for you. Good luck!"