Dealing with Nuisance Neighbors

A public nuisance is anything that is injurious to health (like toxic spills), indecent to the senses (stinky garbage, noise, etc.), unlawfully impeding free use of the streets (like cars parked in the road), or obstructing free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property (everything else). In other words, being a nuisance is against the law and can lead to civil penalties, as well.

So what can you do when someone has become a nuisance? The first thing you should do is talk to your neighbor. Surprisingly, many people are not aware their neighbors see them as a nuisance until someone brings it to their attention. Unfortunately, by that point, many situations have already reached an overcharged emotional state and an easy resolution is no longer possible. Rather than allowing that to happen, take steps early on to try to take care of the situation now rather than letting it get even more out of hand.

If your first conversation does not fix the problem, start keeping track of the nuisance behavior. Most people will not be happy to know you are keeping tabs on their behavior, so this should be done discreetly. But, it will be an invaluable tool when it comes to proving up what you have been going through. You should keep a log of all of the nuisance behavior, talk to neighbors and collect their stories, call the police (if appropriate), and take pictures or make recordings. If the police are involved (such as in excessive noise and party complaints) try to get a copy of the police report. Once you have enough information to show that this is more than just a handful of isolated incidents, send your neighbor a letter by certified mail advising of the problems and demanding that this conduct immediately cease.

If all else fails, you may need to take legal action. It would be wise to contact an attorney to assist you with this claim. While the focus of your action should be trying to get the neighbor into compliance with your requests, you may also need to drive this point home by seeking monetary damages, as well. You will probably want to seek an injunction requiring that the neighbor cease the nuisance behavior or be found in contempt of court, and seek monetary damages to compensate you for the loss of value of your home or other identifiable monetary losses caused by the nuisance.

If you are a tenant, the problem can be more frustrating. Rather than having common law rights as a property owner, you may have to rely on contract rights set forth in the lease agreement. If you do not have a lease or it is not very clear, your rights can be pretty limited. If you do, however, you may have a claim against the landlord for failing to provide you a place to live in and quietly enjoy. If your neighbor shares the same landlord, you may also be able to apply pressure on them by showing the landlord that the neighbor is in violation of their own lease with the landlord. Again, an attorney can assist you with evaluating which claims are best for this sort of situation and help you in pursuing them to get the best results possible.

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Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication at the time it was written. It is not intended to provide legal advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the law may have changed since publication. Readers considering legal action should consult with an experienced lawyer to understand current laws and.how they may affect a case.

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