Neighbor Disputes

Everyone has neighbors, and where there are neighbors, there can be problems. Whether it's a barking dog, an untrimmed tree, a cluster of cars in the front yard, or a loud party, find answers about how to deal with challenging neighbors while maintaining your sanity and quality of life.

Although laws on Wi-Fi "borrowing" are still being developed, the downside of getting caught would likely outweigh the upside of saving money.

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Who is responsible, when your tree, or a branch from your tree, falls on your neighbor’s garage or fence or shed and causes serious damage?

Who gets to pick the fruit—including off the ground, over the property line?

Although several states allow a person to grow marijuana for personal use, their operation should not create a nuisance for neighbors or violate the terms of any such laws.

Tips for approaching a neighbor over annoying use of their home as a short-term rental property; and if that doesn't work, bringing in code enforcement authorities.

Local ordinances and permitting requirements might give you grounds on which to block a neighbor's new construction.

A range of options for dealing with smelly chickens on a nearby residential property.

A trespasser can sometimes gain legal ownership of land just by occupying it. Here's how.

The fact that your neighbors are not actively "using" the portion of your land behind their fence would not stop them from asserting an ownership claim based on adverse possession.

If your neighbor constructs a spite fence, making the neighborhood look terrible and calling attention to the property, can you file suit?

Shared payment for a fence is not required in every situation!

Explaining to a neighbor that he is actually responsible for fence maintenance, either because it's a shared boundary fence or because it's shared property; and remedies if you can't convince him.

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Mediation is one of the most effective ways to deal with disagreements with neighbors. But how does one deal with some of the thorny details of reaching and living by a compromise?

Neighbors can engage in all sorts of activities that can annoy, bother or even scare you. But is calling the police the answer?

If you own California land, you'll want to acquaint yourself with the laws on neighbor disputes involving trees, fences, and liability for farming noise, smells, and so on.

Find out what your options are if the homeowner next to you is renting their house out to noisy individuals.

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