Can You Sue a Neighbor for Mental or Verbal Harassment?

No one ever wants to deal with neighbor disputes. We want our homes to be safe and peaceful places. However, conflicts with neighbors do arise and sometimes can devolve into neighbor harassment. The good news in such a stressful situation is that you have tools to stop the harassment, many of which don’t involve a civil lawsuit or criminal charges. If legal action becomes necessary, however, it’s important to understand your legal rights and options.

What Is Neighbor Harassment?

Harassing behavior can take many forms and occur in different situations, including neighbor relations. In its most general sense, harassment consists of conduct or words targeted at a specific person (or that person’s family members) intended to cause emotional distress or fear of being harmed.

Whatever form harassment takes, there are some general requirements for offending behavior to be considered harassment:

1. The behavior typically must be persistent or repeated over a period of time, not a rare or one-time event;
2. The offending behavior must be such that a reasonable person would feel distress or alarm when experiencing it

Understanding the “Reasonable Person” Standard

We might experience many unpleasant encounters in our daily lives—interactions or conversations that are annoying, hurtful, or anxiety-producing. But just because an interaction is unpleasant doesn’t mean it’s harassment. To be harassment, the behavior must be truly threatening, alarming, or distressing. The reasonable person standard is a way of objectively assessing whether harassment occurred. Would a reasonable person think the behavior posed an actual threat or menace? If so, you might have a successful harassment claim.

Assessing reasonableness is very fact-specific. Additionally, the legal definition of harassment, specific actions that may count as harassment, and the penalties for harassment vary by state harassment laws. Depending on the facts of your case and where you live, harassment may be a civil and/or criminal matter. In criminal harassment, penalties can range from misdemeanors to felonies.

What Neighbor Behaviors Could Be Harassment?

Here are some examples where your neighbor’s actions might meet the legal requirements of harassment:

• They keep coming into your yard, up to your house, or trespassing when you have asked them not to
• They bother or target your pet(s)
• They threaten or attempt to build or landscape over your property line
• They keep playing loud music or host other loud events in violation of local quiet hours. This could especially be a problem if you have asked them to stop; however, if they played loud music once or infrequently, this likely wouldn’t count as harassment
• They engage in stalking behavior or try to keep track of your movements from next door
• They address you with unwanted sexual remarks or engage in other forms of sexual harassment
• They address you with derogatory comments, for example, about your race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or religion
• They threaten you or your loved ones with physical harm or violence or try to make you move away from your home

What Can You Do to Stop Neighbor Harassment?

Regardless of your actions to report and stop the harassment, it’s imperative to compile information about what your neighbor is doing.

1. Gather Evidence of the Alleged Harassment

Proving that harassment is happening and stopping it requires evidence. Depending on what your neighbor is doing, videos from a security camera or phone, testimony from witnesses, notes (such as a log and description of incidents), or police reports can all be essential to getting a solution. However, be careful not to cross the line and engage in illegal means of gathering evidence to prove harassment—that will only worsen your legal situation.

2. Try Talking to the Neighbor

You may be able to solve the problem before pursuing any type of legal action. Depending on the problem and if you feel it’s safe, try talking with the neighbor directly about the issue you’re having. It may be that the neighbor was unaware of the issue or is willing to comply with your request. However, you may have already done this, but the neighbor keeps engaging in the behavior. In this case, you can take one of the following actions depending on your situation.

3. Report to Your Homeowners’ Association

If you live in a neighborhood with a homeowner’s association (HOA), some forms of harassment, such as noise-related complaints, could be addressed through a complaint with the HOA.

4. Filing a Noise Complaint

If noise-related issues persist, you could file a noise complaint with law enforcement or the local government agency that enforces municipal codes regarding noise and quiet hours.

5. Restraining Order

You may need to get a restraining order against your neighbor for some behaviors, such as stalking, violence or threats of violence, and verbal abuse. The extent of restraining orders and how long they last varies by state. Most states, including the District of Columbia, explicitly allow people to get restraining orders to protect their pets and family members.

6. Getting an Injunction

Harassment related to noise issues and property use might violate local ordinances governing zoning and land use. You could seek an injunction from a civil court ordering your neighbor to stop their behavior.

7. Seeking Damages

In some situations, you might want monetary compensation instead of or in addition to an injunction stopping the behavior. For example, you can sue someone for trespassing on your property or causing property damage. However, legal costs, including attorney’s fees, are a big pitfall to be aware of.

It’s important to assess upfront whether it makes financial sense to pursue a lawsuit for compensation. If attorney’s fees and other costs would eat up most of the money you’d get in a lawsuit—or even be more than the compensation award—it may not be in your best interest to go that route. Depending on the amount you’re seeking, the best option may be to file a claim in small claims court, which tends to be a cheaper option than civil court.

8. Suing for Intentional Infliction of Emotion Distress

Depending on your situation, one ground for legal action against your neighbor could be the tort known as intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED). To prove IIED, you need to show that (1) your neighbor acted recklessly or intentionally, (2) in an outrageous or extreme way, (3) which caused you severe emotional distress.

9. Criminal Charges

In some cases, victims of harassment may seek criminal charges against their neighbors.

What if I’m a Renter Instead of a Homeowner?

As a tenant, you have a right to be free of harassing behavior, just like a homeowner. If you rent a property, you could experience any of the above problems—including excessive noise, misuse of property, derogatory comments, and verbal abuse or threats—and the options outlined above would equally apply to defending your legal rights.

An additional resource that renters have against harassing neighbors is their landlord or property manager. Document, report, and follow up on any harassing behaviors with your landlord. If the landlord fails to take action, you may be able to take legal action against them as well.

Find Experienced Legal Help

Many attorneys who handle personal injury and tort cases provide free consultations, letting the attorney learn the facts of your case and provide legal advice with no upfront costs. An attorney is your best resource, even if you end up not taking legal action. They can advise you on the best course of action and the likelihood of success given your situation and point you to additional resources if legal action isn’t the best solution in terms of time, cost, or the nature of the problem.

Visit the Super Lawyers directory to begin your search for experienced legal help in the area of real estate law, civil litigation, or landlord-tenant law.