How to deal with a troubled neighbor
Many people have problematic neighbors, and disputes with them can often drag on for years. Properly chosen technique will allow you to give your neighbor a chess-check very quickly, and you will be able to devote your time to more pleasant things than neighborhood disputes.
People often harm other people because they rely on a dysfunctional system and believe they will never be punished. Unfortunately, they are often right in this regard. However, if you prepare properly for a neighborhood dispute, you can end it quickly and efficiently .
There are 2 approaches to solving this problem.
A) Preventive - or try to take such measures that deter the offender from his intention in advance (visibly installed cameras, etc.)
B) Catching in the act - the absolutely key thing is the neighbor's damage to properly document and gather evidence . The moment you have accumulated enough evidence, you have 3 options
1. Present the evidence to a neighbor and show him that your behavior is well documented and that if he does not stop making trouble, you will take further action.
2. Submit the evidence to the Police and have it acted.
3. Sue a neighbor in court.
If you decide to document your neighbor's behavior, it is certainly not appropriate to tell him about it, because then he will start to pay more attention, and it will be more difficult for you to record him in the act.
Where does your neighbor hurt
On a family house or land
It's damaging the car
Read a comprehensive article on how to effectively secure your car against vandalism .
Annoying neighbor in an apartment building
First of all, it is good to find out the form of ownership of the apartment. You can then select the next procedure accordingly. In all cases, however, as in any other dispute, all misconduct is to be documented and evidence gathered. It is always best to start gathering evidence as soon as possible. While there is a possibility that you will eventually be able to reach a normal human agreement with your neighbor, you will not even have to use the evidence gathered. However, once human agreement doesn't work, you won't get the evidence back .
The neighbor lives in the rent
If the neighbor who is harassing you with his behavior is not the owner of the apartment and therefore cannot be required to comply with the neighborhood rights in the sense of the Civil Code, you can seek redress directly from the landlord . In the event of repeated and substantial harassment of other tenants, the landlord is entitled to terminate such tenant if he does not stop his disruptive behavior even after his written warning. Each of the tenants is also obliged to comply with the rules in the house or the rules set out in the lease, which usually prohibit harassment of tenants with excessive odor or noise, disturbing the night, garbage storage, etc. and whose systematic violation may lead to termination of the lease by the landlord.
Cooperative apartment
Even cooperatives or associations of unit owners tend to have their own house rules, which the inhabitants of the house are obliged to follow. If some do not, draw your attention to this fact at one of the regular meetings - you will find out whether you are bothered by the neighbor's behavior, and whether it is just your subjective feeling or whether the neighbor disturbs others. In the case of cooperative flats, the cooperative is entitled to decide on the expulsion of such a member in the event of a serious breach of membership obligations, if this was preceded by a written warning.
The owner of the apartment in the community of owners
In the case of unit owners' associations, an action may be brought before a court at the request of the unit manager or the unit owner concerned to order the sale of the unit by the owner who violates the obligation imposed on him by an enforceable court decision in a manner substantially restricting or preventing the rights of other unit owners.
Noisy neighbor
Neighbors can bother us with basically anything - watching, messing, storing smelly things, but the most common problem in neighborhood relations is
Disturbing the night and causing excessive noise is a very common cause of neighborhood disputes. The noise may not only be caused by a neighbor holding parties with loud music, quarrels with his wife, but he may also like knocking cuttings or drilling pictures at the same time. Disproportionate noise can also be caused by a neighbor's constantly barking dog. However, if the noise is affected during the so-called night rest, it is a violation of public order , namely the disturbance of the night rest. According to the court's decision-making practice, night rest means a period between 10 pm and 6 am . The offender can be fined up to CZK 5,000 for this offense. In addition, each municipality is entitled to regulate the rules of night rest through its own, binding decrees.
A neighbor of one of our clients has been torturing a dog in the apartment for a long time, who is constantly barking. A demonstrable recording was made using wiretapping over the wall . Based on the submission and submission of a sufficient number of recordings, it was decided that the neighbor was abusing the animal, which led to his removal, and the problem was solved.
The neighbor was snooping
The new Civil Code states
" It is prohibited to bring immissions directly into the land of another owner, regardless of the degree of such influences and the degree of harassment of the neighbor, unless this is based on a special legal reason "
A snooping on the part of a neighbor can also be considered a nuisance. However, the limits of determining when harassment is punishable and when it is not are not well defined.
In order to be successful in court, it is again necessary to document the neighbor's misconduct very carefully, as you will have to prove the neighbor's guilt in court, not his innocence.
It is settled case law that if a neighbor bothers you by looking, you must first take measures to prevent privacy (making an opaque fence, window curtains, etc.).
The moment a neighbor starts to actively overcome obstacles - for example, when he builds a ladder to the fence, this is exactly the moment when the court will most likely agree with you that such behavior is already beyond the limits of admissibility.