When you are living around other people, you expect a reasonable level of peace. It’s a bonus if your neighbors are the kind of people to offer to invite you to a cookout or who would clear snow from your yard in the winter. Unfortunately, if you are living nearby to those who are quite happy to make life difficult, it can really put a downer on the perfect home you’ve bought. There’s nothing worse than the awkward silences, cross words and averted eyes when you are going into and leaving your home.
The problem is that confrontation can make a situation worse and not knowing how to handle it can be a problem. Whether the issue is with overly loud music played at unreasonable hours or a dog locked into the house that won’t stop barking all day long, resentment can build to dangerous levels. In some situations, it’s easy to divert the anger and resentment and resolve the whole issue with a conversation. In others, it’s not so easy and requires the help and advice of Takajian & Sitkoff to help to mediate the discussion and keep things civil. No one has to love their neighbors, but a level of calm civility that will enable you to live side by side without any tension building up. So, how do you deal with neighbors that make you feel uncomfortable?
- Firstly, it can help to understand what your rights are. Some people have irritating behaviour, but is the behavior dangerous and becoming a genuine issue affecting your life or the life of your family? If it is, then there is a problem that may be bordering on illegal. Playing children who are screeching throughout the day may be annoying, but that’s not illegal. However, extremely loud music or noise disturbances that go long into the night may well be bordering on criminal behavior.
- Next, the most sensible thing to do is to have a calm conversation with your neighbor. Are they deaf and can’t hear how loud they’re being? Are they aware of their behavior being annoying? A conversation can get across your point of being disturbed without any animosity. It may be a simple case that they are unaware of the situation. You don’t have to march around there; waiting for a passing opportunity equals no pressure.
- If you don’t feel you can approach your neighbor, write them a letter instead. It doesn’t have to be formal, but it does need to be polite. It also gives you the chance to avoid a face to face confrontation.
- If all these lines of communication don’t work, you can take the conversation in front of a mediator and manage the dispute that way. It’s essential to seek legal advice here, especially if you feel the situation won’t change. You don’t have to live anywhere you feel uncomfortable, but you equally shouldn’t have to move away because of their behavior.
Living in peace is the goal here, so start with the tips above and go from there.
