As my wife and I explore our options in buying or building a new house, one of the things we look for are friendly neighbors. Nothing can spoil the fun and excitement of a new home faster than finding out that you have moved next door to the “mean old man” of the neighborhood. Of course, our new neighbors may not be thrilled when they find out that my 6 year old son is worse than Dennis the Menace! (Just kidding, Iain!)

While a few friendly words and an occasional basket of fresh baked muffins will go a long way toward insuring a good relationship with your neighbor, occasional conflicts are bound to come up. In this month’s article, I’m going to discuss a few of the more common problem areas.

We have all heard the expression “good fences make good neighbors,” but what happens when the fences aren’t soundproof? You would be surprised at the number of questions I get about “that darn dog next door that won’t stop barking” when I am at parties or speaking engagements. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this problem. The first step is to simply talk to your neighbor about the problem. If you approach in a friendly way, you may be able to work out a solution. The next step would be to research any ordinances or deed restrictions that may apply. If that avenue doesn’t work, you may want to consider bringing a “nuisance” lawsuit. Under the law, you are not allowed to maintain your property in such a way that would interfere with the enjoyment of a neighbor. (This is the principal that prevents you from opening up a “pay to plop” garbage dump in your back yard.) If a reasonable person would be substantially bothered by the barking dog, you may have legal recourse.

What do you do when the fence is not high enough to catch that tree limb before it falls on your new car? Again, there is no simple answer but certain principals might apply. First, don’t hesitate to file a damage claim with your automobile insurance company if you have coverage. That is why you pay premiums. If you don’t have insurance, I would suggest asking your neighbor for their homeowner’s insurance policy. There may be coverage for your claim. Ultimately, whether or not your neighbor is responsible for your damages depends on whether or not they were negligent. That is to say, if the tree was damaged, injured, overgrown or otherwise posed an obvious risk and your neighbor did nothing to trim or repair the tree, they were likely negligent. On the other hand, if the limb was knocked off a perfectly healthy tree by an unusually strong wind, there may be no negligence on the part of your neighbor.

What do you do when the fence is not high enough to keep out the neighbor’s children? Generally speaking, the law only requires you to take “ordinary” care to protect against trespassing children. For example, if you have an unusual or hidden danger in your yard, you should take steps to protect potential trespassers. Generally speaking, however, if you have taken ordinary and reasonable care to protect against potential dangers, you should be okay. The one important exception to this general rule is in regard to what is known as an “attractive nuisance.” An attractive nuisance is something that is known to attract children such as a swimming pool or trampoline. If you have an attractive nuisance in your yard, the law imposes special duties and obligations to block access to and minimize potential dangers. For example, homeowners (absent codes or deed restrictions to the contrary) are not normally required to build fences around their yards. When you have a pool, however, you would likely be held liable for injury to a child that was hurt in your pool if you did not have a fence.

At the end of the day, the best advice to good relations with neighbors may be to build a good fence and bake lots of muffins. When that is not enough, however, remember that you have important legal rights and responsibilities in regard to the folks next door.