Recently our neighbor undertook a major home renovation. They added two rooms, a pool, a deck and a monstrous white fence. Our view of their lovely pine trees is gone, but we could live with that. We've lived with the 7:30 am beeping of the backhoe on Saturday mornings. Early in the construction period when they were moving dirt around they had left a huge mound of dirt near our property line. When it rained, the dirt washed into our yard and killed a bunch of our grass. We asked the construction manager to move the dirt pile, which he did. We thought the problem was solved. However, the new natural lake that appears in our yard when it rains is a whole new problem. It's obvious to us that they have raised the grade on their property. We tried to solve the problem amicably, but in the end we had to have the city step in and help us out. Unfortunately, nobody in the situation is a winner. We're almost thankful now that the monstrous fence shields us from the disgruntled stares from our neighbors. If only we had read the tips below from Sid Davis, perhaps the situation would have turned out differently.
Try to reason with your neighbors.
Unless your neighbors seem dangerous or unbalanced, Doskow suggests you
go to their home in person in hopes they could be willing to fix the
problem voluntarily.
"Go over to the neighbors' house with a positive attitude," she says. "
When calling on your neighbors, Doskow recommends you summon the courage to go alone or with just one other person.
"Don't gang up on your neighbors by bringing a lot of people to the door," she says.
Volunteer to do the work on your neighbors' property.
In an ideal world, every resident would maintain high standards of
upkeep for their properties. They wouldn't allow litter to accumulate
in their yards or let a broken stair railing go unrepaired. But in the
real world, some people are unwilling or unable to stay on top of their
maintenance work, even when they're asked to do so politely, says
Davis, the real estate broker.
Though it's not your
responsibility to maintain your neighbors' property, it could be in
your interest as home sellers to fix the situation through your own
labor.
"This is not about fairness," Davis says. "This is about
getting the dump next door cleaned up so you can sell your house for a
decent price."
In your attempts to clean up a messy neighbors'
property, you may be joined by other local residents who are concerned
about the problem. Just remember to request the wayward neighbors'
permission before you attack their cleanup work.
Seek outside intervention as a last resort.
No matter how diplomatically you approach your neighbors, you may be
repeatedly rebuffed. If so, you may need to take stronger action to get
the problem solved, Davis says.
Short of a lawsuit, which could
be very expensive and time-consuming, you may wish to consider filing a
formal complaint with your neighborhood association or with your local
government office, he says. Possibly you and your messy neighbors will
be referred to a mediator in an attempt to settle your dispute
harmoniously.
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