Living in a community among many individuals can have its pros and cons. On some occasions, a certain neighbor of yours may create nuisance by playing the music too loud or construct something that damages your property as well etc. In such cases, if your neighbor refuses to reason it out with you, you can file a suit for public nuisance.
Public nuisance constitutes of anything that causes injury to the public health. Examples of this may include toxic spills, loud noises, improper garbage disposal, obstructing use of a private property and so on. These activities go against the law and are liable to civil penalties. So what can you do in case this happens and your neighbor isn’t taking hearing your problems out? When no easy resolution is possible, you should move on to other steps.
We are outlining some of these below to help you make an informed decision:
1Track Behavior
You can track their behavior discreetly and make notes of the nuisance they cause. This could be useful in proving what you had been going through.
2Support from Other Neighbors
You should also ask other people in the neighborhood and tabulate their views.
3Call 911
You can call the police in cases of noisy parties and get a copy of the police report made.
4Send a Certified Note
Once you compile documentation of several such incidents, you should send a certified email to the neighbor causing nuisance and demand him to cease such a conduct.
5Legal Recourse
If the above doesn’t work either, you could take legal recourse. To take legal action, it would be advisable to contact an attorney to assist you with the proceedings. You should focus on seeking monetary damages for the injuries caused to you, once your neighbor refuses to comply with your requests.
6Injunction
You should also consider seeking an injunction against the neighbor so as to stop him from further acts of nuisance. If the neighbor fails to comply with this, he/she could be found in contempt of court and you could seek monetary damages to compensate you for any identifiable losses caused by the nuisance.
7Tenant Rights
In case of you being a tenant, this issue can be slightly more complicated. Instead of having rights as a property owner under common law, you would have to rely on contract rights set in the lease agreement. In case you don’t have a lease agreement or it’s not set clearly, your rights could become quite limited. However, if you do have an agreement, you can file a claim against the landlord for not providing you a peaceful place.
8Same Landlord
In case your neighbor shares the same landlord, you can also pressurize him/her by letting the landlord know about this violation of the lease.
To carry out the above procedures in accordance with the United States law, hiring an attorney could assist you with the evaluation of what the best claims for the situation would be to get the best possible results.
Originally posted 2017-07-17 01:52:56.
