Whether you live in a house with a spacious yard,
are stuffed close in a McMansion, or have neighbors above and below you in a
condo or apartment, we’ve all had issues: loud parties on Tuesday nights, dogs
who like digging up our grass, neon yellow paint colors, pink flamingos in
their front yard, and not paying their fair share for that dreaded instigator
of neighborly conflict –the shared fence.
You could get mad, you could scream at them, you
can even send your dog to their lawn and paint your house in pink and purple polka
dots out of spite, but there may be a better way to handle challenging
neighbors. Good communication and a level head are your best allies, but
knowing some of the laws and regulations also prove invaluable. So here
are a few guidelines on 3 of the most common challenges among neighbors: noisy
neighbors, pet complaints, and flooding and water issues.
Noisy neighbors.
Neighbors who are excessively loud are one of the
most difficult blights to deal with because how-loud-is-too-loud is such a
subjective thing that’s hard to measure. Additionally, a backyard party
on a Saturday night that goes until midnight may not offend most people, but an
older or crabby neighbor might call the police. (And the police have to
come if a complaint is made, regardless of who is right or wrong.)
Condos and apartments are even more difficult with
noise complaints because you usually have 3 or even 4 neighbors above and below
you. Condos usually have association rules and apartments have policies
that look to minimize noise complaints. Any grievances can be directed to
the condo association or apartment management.
For homeowners, most municipal codes have some sort
of clause that lays out what constitutes a noise problem. For instance,
it may define it as, “an unreasonable annoyance, disturbance or offensive
activity that unreasonably inhibits another neighbor from using their
property.”
There are a few things you can do: to take the
subjectivity out of it, you could take an acoustical test that measures exactly
who loud the neighbor is on the decibel meter. Documenting that is a good
start in case a civil action or complaint ensues.
Before it gets to that, try to talk to the
neighbor. Ask them politely if they could give you notice when they’ll
have a gathering or event where the volume will be up, are doing early
construction, etc. Ask for a pre-arranged beginning and end time to the
noise. Hopefully, they will respect you communicating and respond.
It’s a lot better than calling the police every time things get loud.
Other common noise complaints are over noise that
is “habitual or mechanical in nature,” like a loud bar down the street or a
machine shop. Usually the City’s Code Enforcement Department is the place
to contact to monitor the noise from businesses.
Here is the Sacramento Police Department’s website
page that deals with noise complaints:
You may have a crazy cat lady living next door who
lets them infest the neighborhood, or a neighbor who has roosters who come
alive at 3 am, but usually pet issues revolve around dogs. There are
three kinds of issues with dogs: excessive barking, relieving themselves on
your lawn (the dogs – not the neighbors,) and dangerous dogs not properly leashed
or fenced.
If a dog barks excessively – which usually happens
when they leave a dog unattended in the yard – it falls under some of the same
standards as noise complaints.
Leash laws are laid out in most municipalities,
requiring dogs to be properly leashed or behind locking fences for public
protection. If a dog is not, your city or municipality will take it very
seriously because it’s a huge liability if the dog attacks someone.
Condos or apartments or homes with a Homeowners Association will have
additional regulations that may get as specific as weight, size, and type of
pet.
Dogs relieving themselves on their lawn also fall
under the verbiage of municipal leash laws. Generally, pet owners have a
civic responsibility to clean up after their pet.
All animal and dog complaints are handled by the
City's Animal Care and Control Division, so give them a call before you contact
the police. Here is Sacramento County’s web page on animal control and
complaints:
Noise and pets may be incessantly annoying, but
nothing can harm your property as quickly as water damage. Usually this
occurs in apartments or condominiums where the upstairs neighbor has a pipe
burst, bathroom leak, or appliance like washing machine, icemaker on a fridge,
or dishwasher malfunction. When that happens, there is very clear accountability
who is responsible (the neighbor) and who has to fix it (the condo association
or apartment manager.) In California, the law always falls on the side of
tenant rights so it’s a simple process to make complaints and force them to
make it right.
But water problems also occur between side-by-side
neighbors. This is often from faulty irrigation or bad sprinklers that
cause flooding, kill neighbor landscaping, or even reach the house and cause
property damage.
Of course you should document any water damage with
photos/videos/and a log, and report to the proper municipal complaint agency or
association. But with water damage, another very important issue could
rear its ugly head: mold.
Water damage over time causes mold, which causes
serious health concerns that lead to hospitalization or even death in extreme
cases. There’s a whole line of litigation that deals with mold but be
aware that a landlord or condo association is responsible for remediation if
mold exists, which includes replacing damaged sheetrock or other materials and
proper city inspection. If you are having respiratory or health problems
that you think are coming from mold (especially if you have children) then you
can buy homeowner mold testing kits and from there, contact mold inspection and
remediation companies.
Here is the Environmental Protection Agency’s web
page on mold issues:
***
Look for our next post in this serious, when we
tackle neighbor parking issues, trees, and fences!
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