As an example, a person that lets their dog wander the neighborhood will get cited for violating the leash laws but in addition, they’ll be required to get vaccinations and a dog license and if they have other dogs the costs can compound quickly. I’ve found that enforcing existing laws can start a cascading effect. If there’s a light or noise problem, check the city or county ordinances restricting light or noise.
If the NFH are conducting business from their home and the neighborhood isn’t zoned for it, you can ask Code Enforcement to step in. If the NFH have a dog that likes to use your front lawn, there’s probably a leash law that will put that to an end. In California, there are all kinds of laws you can use, it’s just that most people may not be familiar with them. Go to city hall or the jurisdiction that oversees the neighborhood and determine what zoning and ordinances apply. There are authorities, other than the cops, and you’ll need to do a little homework to employ various techniques. If you want to be indirect or if talking doesn’t work, there are a few directions you can go before you engage the cops or civil court. You’ll need to decide if you want to try to talk or be indirect. But what if the NFH are too scary to talk to? Now you’ve let them know who’s complaining, right? That makes the next few steps a little touchier. Sometimes NFH don’t even realize they are doing something that bothers you and all you need to do is point it out – in a polite, reasonable, non-accusing, non-threatening, and diplomatic way. Do not let the problem continue to fester before you address it. Let’s say the problem hasn’t risen to the level of calling the cops. You’ll have to come up with your own rules. My personal rule of thumb is that I call the cops when someone is in danger or if the activity should stop immediately. To catch up, I suggested you consider if it was you being too “observant” or if other people agreed and then we discussed using the law – criminal and civil – to address the problems.Īssuming the NFH really are the problem, I suggested calling the police if there was criminal activity but being careful about this step as it sometimes adds fuel to the fire. Last week we covered some initial thoughts about what you can do to handle neighbors from hell (NFH).