Crime and Punishment, Neighborhood Feuds

 By Nate Feldman

*Pre-Reading Discussion: What problems have you had with neighbors before?  How did you deal with them?  If you haven't had problems with them, what are things that you believe cause problems between neighbors?

Neighborhood Feuds 

Neighborhood feuds between different people happen from time to time.  You hear stories of neighbors fighting with one another over a variety of different things.  It could be someone's pet making loud noises or getting on their properties.  It also could be they feel the other person doesn't respect their property.  Also, some neighbors complain that people in another house make loud noises or have loud parties.  These disputes fall into three categories: excessive noise; damage caused by children and pets; and trees.  

In most situations, nothing really comes out of this.  The people may not like one another, but they just avoid the person so as not to make it a bigger issue.  But, sometimes, these fights can get out of control, and in some cases violence may occur.  For example, in a Connecticut, when someone didn't trim their weeping-willow tree, someone drilled holes in the tree's trunk and poisoned it.  In California, a man was so enraged by persistent barking from his neighbor's dog that he taped the pet's mouth shut.  The dog died, and the man now faces criminal charges for animal cruelty. 

So, how do people deal with this?  Quite often, people do not do anything because they do not wish the issue to get out of hand.  However, avoiding a problem neighbor makes people feel helpless.  Also, some people try to file a lawsuit against a neighbor in court.  But, this can make the problem drag for a long time.

Therefore, if avoiding a problem neighbor isn't an effective solution, how do you handle a dispute with a neighbor?

To begin with, know your rights.  When a neighbor does something extremely unreasonable, he or she probably broken a "nuisance law."  These laws vary from community to community, but they are often very detailed.  For instance, in Farmington, New Mexico, music played on private property is not allowed to exceed fifty decibels at night.  

There are also different strategies to dealing with different problems.

Noise: When you approach a neighbor about a noise problem, don't criticize the neighbor's behavior; that might only make the neighbor angry.  Instead, tell them how the sound is affecting you.  

Kids and pets: These can be hypersensitive issues.  People are often very defensive about the behavior of both of the.  So, take time to think about how you want to deal with this and carefully approach your neighbor about it.  

Unfortunately, some neighbors are not willing to be reasonable.  Instead, they become threatening, or even violent.  In such cases, the ideal solution may be to bring in a neutral third party to mediate.  This is a tactic that works 80% of the time.

Questions:

1. If you have a problem with a neighbor, you should not:

A.  

B.  

2. If a neighbor does something extremely unreasonable, the first thing you should do is: 

3. Three stategies  that usually work for solving neighbor problems are:

A. 

B. 

C. 

4. If the three strategies do not work, and your neighbor becomes threatening or violent, then the ideal solution may be to: 

Answer Key:

1. A.        Avoid the problem

B.        File a lawsuit

 

1.      2. Know your rights

 

2.  3.     Don’t criticize the neighbor’s behavior; tell how it is affecting you

 

Approach people carefully about the problems, especially with kids

 

Get a mediator, or a neutral party

4. Get a mediator, or a neutral party