What to Expect if You Challenge a Neighbor Under Georgia’s Nuisance Law

Barking dogs, stinky garbage, junk vehicles, excessive water runoff. Is there anything you can do about your neighbor’s behavior that you don’t like (or vice-versa)? The short answer is “maybe”—especially if the neighbor’s behavior falls under state nuisance law.

What Is Nuisance Law?

For the most part, disputes over things that bother us within close proximity of where we live come under the umbrella of nuisance law. As defined by Georgia law, nuisance is “anything that causes hurt, inconvenience, or damage to another.” It’s a pretty broad concept and subject to interpretation. What might be acceptable or even appealing to you may be bothersome to your neighbor. An act doesn’t have to be illegal to be considered a nuisance. However, not everything annoying is a nuisance, and mere annoyance is not sufficient to constitute an actionable nuisance offense.

The essence of a nuisance claim is embedded in property rights and the notion that you are entitled to the use and enjoyment of your domain without interference. It’s related to the concept of trespass but does not require a direct or physical incursion onto your land. You may experience discomfort, offense, health implications, fear for your safety, or loss in property value as a result. As such, to bring a nuisance claim, you must have a property interest in the land being infringed upon, whether that is as property owner or renter. 

Public vs. Private Nuisance

Nuisance can be public or private.

Public Nuisance

A public nuisance is one that impacts a large number of people, such as pollution, flooding, or contaminated drinking water. Rather than land ownership, a public nuisance is based on interference with a common right, often impinging on community safety.

Individuals do not generally have standing to sue for public nuisance. Instead, they are represented by a public official, such as a city attorney, who can bring suit on behalf of the community. Public nuisance suits often intersect with environmental, zoning, land development, and controlled substances issues.

Private Nuisance

In contrast, a private nuisance only affects one or a few individuals, and gives rise to an action for damages or for an injunction to stop the offending activity. For a nuisance to be actionable, it must be behavior that causes harm, inconvenience, or damage and is something that a reasonable person would object to. Damages in a private nuisance claim can include any loss in property value, cost of repair or cleanup, personal damages, attorney’s fees, and punitive damages in situations where the other party acted in bad faith. However, Georgia’s nuisance law does contain some explicit exceptions regarding certain agricultural activities, cultural facilities, and sport shooting ranges.

Ultimately, a nuisance determination comes down to the specifics of a given situation. Some factors to consider in whether a situation might be considered a nuisance include:

• The population of the area
• The number of people harmed
• The historic use of the land in question
• The degree of the harm relative to the value received
• Whether you “came to the nuisance,” meaning the complained-of use was there first (for example, a loud or smelly business operation)

Civil vs. Criminal Nuisance

Nuisance can also be classified as civil or criminal. While Georgia does not have an explicit criminal nuisance law, similar behavior can effectively be charged under laws for disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, or local ordinances such as animal control rules. Document your efforts to stop a problem, as well as its ongoing nature, through reports to local law enforcement.

Nuisance and HOA Rules

Finally, behaviors that impact your property rights may be addressed by homeowners association (HOA) rules. If you’re experiencing a problem with a neighbor, start with your HOA to see if the dispute can be resolved while keeping things neighborly.

How to Avoid a Nuisance Claim: Advance Real Estate Planning

Jonathan L. Neville is a real estate attorney with Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta who helps businesses and developers draft contracts that address nuisance issues. Neville helps nip them in the bud when he deals with complex mixed-use projects involving retail, office, and residential components. “We have worked on deals where entertainment and destination venues, such as food halls, exist with office and residences in close proximity,” Neville says. “If all parties are not proactive and think through issues in advance, there can be a lot of unnecessary and avoidable challenges in the future.”

Neville says noise, vibration, and odor issues are the most common. The contracts he helps draft make stipulations that help developers curb such issues (via double-paned windows, exhaust systems, stage locations, etc.). “And we all have to work together if there are future problems,” he says.

How Nuisance Claims Are Typically Resolved

If a resident or neighbor makes a complaint to a property manager or landlord, it is typically resolved through a discussion rather than litigation. “In today’s day and age, lawsuits are so uncommon. I’m more of a deal guy, and I probably handle more disputes at my level than our litigators,” Neville says. “The way it typically plays out is we get a call or a letter from a client, say, a restaurant, and they have vibration issues because there is a fitness center above them that continuously drops weights, causing the restaurant tables to shake. We then start a discussion.”

If the parties can’t agree or one is particularly unreasonable, it may result in a suit. “If you have an unresponsive developer or an overly sensitive tenant, those are probably the ones that rise to litigation. These things don’t often blow up, but developers and operating companies usually have a legal budget to handle unexpected disputes that regular negotiation can’t resolve.”

Neville notes an important distinction: The landlord or owner would not be the defendant if the basis of the complaint was a violation of a tenant’s contract agreement. That tenant would have to face the suit.

Find Experienced Legal Help

If you have questions about whether a problem you’re experiencing may qualify as a nuisance, consult with a real estate attorney in your area. For more information on this area, check out our overview of real estate laws.