News Articles

The Nuisance Neighbor

Well, summer is here again, and it is at this time of the year, more than any other, that I see and hear my neighbors.  Now, as neighborhoods go, mine is pretty good.  The neighbors are friendly, they keep their properties well maintained, and are, for the most part, fairly quiet.  I have noticed during the last few weeks, however, that as the weather got warmer, the late night noise at one particular house has been getting out of hand.  It appears that the owners may be doing a lot of summer vacationing, as their teenage children have been causing some major disturbances that most parents would not put up with if they were around, let alone be able to sleep through.  The most recent events involve the late night use of firecrackers.  Now, I am not going to waste a lot of time describing all the other events that have occurred, as we have probably all had a neighbor or two like this.  One recent incident is of particular note, however, when they woke up the neighborhood at about 1 in the morning.  Looking over their yard, I observed one of the neighbors' sons pouring gasoline onto a smoldering fire because they couldn't get the wood to burn properly.  As most reasonably intelligent people would guess, the result was a back-flash that caused the gas can to ignite, and, rather than drop the can, the kid ran away from the fire, can in hand, splashing the now burning gasoline over the lawn, all while his laughing friends ran to get away from the human torch.  He wasn't seriously hurt, but I wondered what his parents would say about the black lawn when they returned. 

Unfortunately, I have been hearing a number of complaints from people with similar problems, and who all have the same question:  what can be done to stop neighbors who get out of hand?  My usual advice to people when having difficulty with noisy or problem neighbors is to call the police.  All cities have by-laws to deal with these kinds of problems, and for more serious issues the Canadian Criminal Code may come into play.  Of course, we only have so many police officers, so they may not be able to deal with the problem as quickly as we would like, as there can be much more serious issues for them to deal with.  While on many occasions the police visit will usually cure the problem, sometimes the occurrences are so continuous, so frequent, and so bothersome that people are no longer willing to just call the police, but want to take matters into their own hands.   

If the problem is severe enough, an alternative way to deal with a problem neighbor may be to take legal action against him or her for nuisance.  The court may, if on the particular circumstances it finds there is nuisance, order that the offending behavior stop, usually by way of injunction, and/or award damages to the affected party.  Unfortunately, this method is fairly slow and is not going to stop the problem overnight, but the possibility of being hit in the wallet can cause people to change their behavior fairly quickly.  An action in nuisance can be brought by the affected party in small claims court.  However, to successfully sue a problem neighbor in nuisance is complicated and will require the complaining party to demonstrate to the court that there was an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of property.  Such interference must be substantial, of a kind that a reasonable person of normal sensitivity would regard as offensive and intolerable, and must be frequent or of prolonged duration.  One or two incidents will not usually suffice.  On the other hand, where there is intentional, on-going actions done to create a nuisance or harass a neighbor, there may be a greater likelihood of succeeding.  This, however, can be a double-edged sword.  A neighbor who calls the police at every little noise or who tries to sue another neighbor could find himself to be the one doing the harassing.  False complaints and frivolous lawsuits intended to harass someone or interfere with another person's lawful enjoyment of his property are also actionable.   

The law of nuisance in this area is very complex and this article is in no way intended to discuss all of the requirements for a claim in nuisance, but only to show that there may be an alternative method of dealing with problem neighbors.  Although the action can be brought in small claims court, it is highly recommended that anyone considering this route seek professional legal advice.  As previously discussed, wrongly brought actions could result in damages being awarded against the party starting the lawsuit, but legitimate claims have been successful at stopping the offending behavior.  In most cases where the neighbors are a serious nuisance, however, it is usually best to start by contacting the police.

By Tom Langford
August 6, 2003