What constitutes a legal nuisance?

A nuisance in real estate terms means that someone is using their property in an unreasonable manner which substantially interferes with the use of abutting or neighboring property. What a nuisance is, is always a question of fact. The law of nuisance does not concern itself with trifles or seek to remedy all of the petty annoyances of everyday life in a civilized community. Life in organized society and especially in urban communities involves an unavoidable clash of individual interests, and practically all human activities to some extent interfere with others. Liability for nuisance damages is imposed only in those cases in which the harm or risk is greater than a person ought to be required to bear in the circumstances, or at least without compensation. A court will only find a nuisance if in fact the actions by a neighbor are clearly unreasonable and clearly intended to harass. Generally, the only time you will run into those circumstances is where there is in fact a grudge match between owners. The kinds of activities that a court would have to find in order to impose liability would be things such as loud noises, unreasonable odors, and other kinds of activities not usually encountered in a residential or commercial settings and inconsistent with the normal uses of properties in that given location. If a court is faced with such a suit the hearing will be a fact intensive inquiry to determine whether or not the activity complained of is in fact unreasonable.

If you have questions about this or any other real estate matter, please contact Tom Bennett at (617) 531-6574 or tvb@barronstad.com.