[ LAW ]
Some Neighborly Legal Advice
IF YOU HAVE A DISPUTE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOR , TRY TALKING BEFORE YOU CALL YOUR ATTORNEY . SURPRISING HOW FEW ACTUALLY DO TALK .
BY ALEX CHAZEN
VITALII VODOLAZSKYI / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM
One April evening , we took our kids to the beach to enjoy the longer days , and as I sat in the sand , watching them play , my mind wandered to work ( as it unfortunately tends to do ). I am currently handling two cases involving what the plaintiffs claim are “ nuisances .” California , as any business owner knows , is extremely litigious as a whole , and those in my chosen profession seem to make it more so by the day .
These cases , unlike most nuisance cases , do not involve actual damage to the plaintiff ’ s home , or even someone directly targeting the plaintiffs themselves . Instead , one involves construction going on across the street , and the other involves children playing too loudly in front of the plaintiff ’ s home . Because these are active cases , and because a deeper dive isn ’ t necessary for my column this month , I won ’ t get more into the details than that .
I find quite often that people have stopped talking to each other about their problems , and instead bottle them up inside , hoping that someone notices . This seems especially true amongst neighbors . I have written before about how the worst possible lawsuits are those between neighbors , and yet we have seen a definite rise in lawsuits between neighbors filed over the last year or two .
When we first bought our house , we did a certain amount of construction before moving in . Prior to the construction starting , I printed out sheets of paper that said we were new to the neighborhood , we ’ d be doing some construction , and giving my cell phone number , just in case there was a problem with the contractors or something else . I placed these little notes in the mailbox of every home that either borders our fence line or is next to a home that borders our fence line . At the time , I thought I was being cautious , and my wife thought I was a little crazy to go to such lengths .
During our construction , a small patch of stucco was affected at one of our neighbor ’ s houses . They called , I apologized , we worked it out , and we now live happily near each other . However , I have since seen lawsuits that arise from similar scenarios . In one , a neighbor sued because some concrete from the construction next door landed in their plants , “ irrevocably destroying the landscape .” In another , excavation for a subterranean garage , “ shook the pool house so much that the stucco cracked .”
When taking the deposition of the plaintiffs in those cases , we asked about whether they had ever called or contacted their neighbor to see if they would fix it . The responses were some combination of “ no ” and “ well they weren ’ t going to fix it to my standards .” Even in these changing times where on average we spend more time at home than through most of our history , studies still show that people talk to their neighbors less and less . This is what makes our society more polarized , and what makes us each feel more alienated . How many of us even know the names of the neighbors that live directly on either side of our homes ?
As the weather continues to warm , and we spend even more time outside enjoying the wonderful communities that we are so fortunate to live in , take the time to introduce yourself to your neighbor . Hopefully it won ’ t be so important that it avoids a lawsuit , but maybe you will find yourself a new friend this spring – one who was right there next to you this whole time .
66 BAY WINDOW