Neighbor Disputes Fact Sheet
Neighbor Disputes Fact Sheet
Neighbor disputes are common in crowded cities. If you are having an issue with a neighbor, it can be very annoying. A barking dog, banging on the ceiling, or cooking smells can all be annoying, but they may not cross the line and become legally actionable. The test is whether the behavior is “substantial and continuous.” This test determines whether the behavior amounts to a nuisance under the law.
Important:
We know it can be helpful to print our resources, but we regularly update our resources. For that reason, please use the online version for the most up-to-date information.
This document was printed on: Thu Jun 19 2025
Access the online version using this link: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/publications/neighbor-disputes-fact-sheet
Disclaimer: This publication is legal information only and is not legal advice about your individual situation. It is current as of the date posted. We try to update our materials regularly. However, laws are regularly changing. If you want to make sure the law has not changed, contact DRC or another legal office.
What Causes A Neighbor Dispute?
Neighbor disputes are common in crowded cities. If you are having an issue with a neighbor, it can be very annoying. A barking dog, banging on the ceiling, or cooking smells can all be annoying, but they may not cross the line and become legally actionable. The test is whether the behavior is “substantial and continuous.” This test determines whether the behavior amounts to a nuisance under the law.
Is Your Neighbor’s Behavior A Nuisance Or Just Annoying?
To take legal action, the behavior of your neighbor must be a “nuisance.” A nuisance is defined by the law as something that is “unreasonable, unwarranted, or unlawful such that it substantially interferes with your ability to live peacefully in or to enjoy your home.” (Wolford v. Thomas, 190 Cal. App. 3d 347, 358 (1987).
Common examples of behavior that amounts to a nuisance are excessive noise coming from a continuously barking dog, a loud stereo or TV set after quiet hours, or continuous banging on the floors or ceiling. Another example of a nuisance is a crime being conducted on the property such as prostitution or drugs sales. A third example of a nuisance is the neighbor is involved in offensive behavior or an activity, like keeping excessive garbage and junk that causes an infestation of cockroaches, rats, or ants.
What Are My Options For Stopping The Behavior?
If the behavior is annoying but does not amount to a nuisance, there are still several things you can do.:
1. Talk To The Neighbor
You can talk to your neighbor and request that they reduce noise levels or eliminate offensive odors. Positive communication with neighbors can prevent disputes from reaching the level where mediation or litigation is necessary.
2. Try Mediation
If your attempt to try to resolve the behavior directly with your neighbor does not work, you can try mediation. Mediation provides an opportunity for both people to express concerns and explore potential solutions.
3. Talk To The Landlord
If you and the neighbor have the same landlord, you can ask the landlord to step in and stop the annoying behavior.
The goal is to try and resolve the issue without the need to go to court. Another benefit is keeping a good relationship with your neighbors and landlord.
IF THE NEIGHBOR’S BEHAVIOR AMOUNTS TO A NUISANCE AND YOU HAVE TO GO TO COURT, WHAT ARE YOUR REMIEDIES?
1. Sue Your Neighbor
A court case can be brought against the neighbor for nuisance. You can sue your neighbor for both money damages and an injunction (an order from the court to stop behavior) to stop offensive conduct. CAL. CIV. CODE § 3501.
For example, If the neighbor bangs on your ceiling continuously for hours every night on purpose which causes you to lose sleep, you may have a case against them.
Even if the court does not order the disturbance to stop, the court can order the neighbor causing the nuisance to pay a money judgment. This may be effective in resolving the disturbance.
2. Sue Your Landlord
Although the nuisance may be caused by another tenant in the building and not by the landlord, the landlord may be held accountable if let them know about the issue and they take no action against the offending tenant. Even though it may not be in writing, all California leases include a covenant of “quiet enjoyment”. CAL. CIV. CODE § 1927. Landlords have a duty to ensure that tenants can peacefully possess (live in and use) their rental unit free of disturbances, and in extreme cases may take steps to evict bothersome tenants to stop a nuisance. Davis v. Gomez, 207 Cal. App. 3d 1401, 1404 (1989).
3. Constructive Eviction
Another potential option is pursuing a “constructive eviction” lawsuit against the landlord. When a nuisance is so substantial to the point that the tenant must move out of the apartment, the tenant may bring a lawsuit against the landlord for constructive eviction after they move.
How To Prepare For Your Case
- Keep a record of each nuisance incident. Make sure to put in the details like the date, time of the incident and what the behavior was.
- Try discussing the incidents with the neighbor and/or the landlord to try and work out a solution. Document your efforts.
- If none of these options work, you can bring a Small Claims case against the neighbor for Nuisance and/ or the landlord for Breach of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment or Constructive Eviction. Documentation is key to bringing a Small Claims action. Write a letter to the neighbor or landlord describing the incidents in detail base on your documentation. Demand they stop or the landlord prevents. the neighbor’s behavior. Give them a set number of days to respond to your letter. If they do not do so, you can file a Small Claims action.
Video Transcript
The Housing Stability Project within Disability Rights of California is a small team of advocates, social workers and attorneys providing legal services to Californians with disabilities with various housing law issues.
Our focus is on helping clients understand their rights and empower individuals to advocate for themselves.
We are primarily a self-help clinic.
Next slide please.
Our services are free no matter what your income is, but we can only help people that have a disability.
Here are some examples of disabilities.
Visual disabilities, Deaf or hard of hearing, Mobility disabilities, Aids, HIV, Diabetes, Cancer, Arthritis, Stroke, Chemicals sensitivities, Alcoholism or past substance abuse, Temporary disability caused by an accident or injury, Mental health disabilities, or Intellectual or Developmental disabilities.
Is your neighbor’s behavior a nuisance or just annoying?
On this slide, it shows a woman banging her broomstick on the ceiling.
What are my options for stopping the behavior?
The first step is to figure out whether your neighbor's behavior is considered just an annoyance or a private nuisance. The neighbors or the landlord's action, or the landlord's failure to act must be both harmful to you and something that an ordinary person would find annoying or disturbing.
The difference between an annoyance and a nuisance is that a nuisance is legally actionable.
Keep in mind that the judge decides what is a legally actionable nuisance and what is just an annoyance.
Don't despair.
There are still options available to stop annoyances outside of court.
Examples of behaviors that amount to a nuisance are excessive noise coming from a continuously barking dog, a constantly loud stereo or TV, a continuous banging on the floors or ceiling.
Another example of a nuisance is a crime being committed on the property, such as prostitution or drug sales.
A third example of a nuisance is a neighbor is involved in offensive behavior. Or an activity, such as a collection of excessive garbage and junk. Or causing an infestation of cockroaches, rats and ants.
Next slide please.
What are my options for stopping the behavior?
First, talk to your neighbor.
And on this slide, there's a picture of Mister Rogers getting ready to start his day. And he's saying, “It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. A beautiful day for a neighbor.”.
There are several different options.
You can try to stop the annoyance for either an annoyance or a nuisance. You can try to have a conversation with the neighbor about the annoying behavior. Some ideas for making it a productive discussion are as follows.
Be respectful and polite. Keep your message clear and stick to the facts.
Listen carefully to what your neighbor has to say, and don't interrupt them. Be willing to compromise and try to see things from your neighbor's point of view.
Be reasonable. Reassure your neighbor that you want to resolve the issue in a friendly way.
Take notes to help you remember what was said.
Choose your method.
You can talk face to face, write text, or call your neighbor, whichever you think would be most effective.
Assume goodwill. Give your neighbor the benefit of the doubt and they may respond more positively.
Take your time. Don't rush and allow your neighbor time to respond.
Next slide please.
Another option is to talk to the landlord or property manager.
This slide has a baby landlord. Putting your hand out after. “I want my money.”, asking for her money.
If you and the neighbor have the same landlord, you can request that the landlord intervene to stop the annoying behavior.
If your neighbor isn't cooperative, you can try talking to your landlord. Share the notes you are keeping which detail how often there is a problem, and what steps you've already taken to try and remedy the situation.
Your landlord may be more willing to work on a resolution if you show them that you have already tried to address it yourself, or if they have reason to believe that this is a nuisance and not just an annoying occasional sound.
Next slide please.
Another option you can try is mediation.
Mediation is when a third party listens to both people and helps both sides come to an agreement or a solution. Mediators do not take sides or decide who is right, like the court would do. Mediation is one of the most effective ways to deal with disagreements with neighbors. It can be much more effective than calling the police or suing the neighbor for a couple of reasons.
First, it can be a lasting peace. If the neighbor voluntarily agrees.
Second, you might be living in close proximity to the neighbor, and this is a much less confrontational way of working out the problem.
Next slide please.
What if talking and mediation do not work?
Then we have to look to see if the behavior is a nuisance or just an annoyance.
And this slide has a picture of Judge Judy, with her clap in her hand saying, “See you in court!”.
If the behavior is not a nuisance and talking and mediation don't work, you still have options.
You can ignore the behavior, although sometimes this is impossible. You can also try and fix what you can. Some options for noise problems include wear earplugs, have white noise in the background, or get noise dampening wall coverings or rugs.
If there is a dispute with your neighbor, options could have could include avoiding the neighbor, limit, talking to them, and keep communication and writing.
The ultimate option is to move.
If you believe the behavior is so substantial that it amounts to a nuisance and none of the other options are successful in stopping the neighbor's behavior. You might have to resort to filing a legal action against either the neighbor, the landlord, or both.
Next slide please.
This slide to sue your neighbor.
And it has two gentlemen dressed, in suits.
Walking simultaneously and putting their briefcases down in front of their council table, ready for their case.
A court case can be brought against a neighbor for nuisance. You can sue your neighbor for both money damages and an injunction to stop the offense of contact. This is under California Civil Code Section 3501.
For example, if the neighbor, based on your ceiling continuously for hours every night on purpose, which causes you to lose sleep. You may have a case against them, even if the court does not order the disturbance to stop. The court can order the neighbor, causing the nuisance to pay a money judgment. This may be an effective way in resolving the disturbance.
You can also file a restraining order to stop the behavior if it is abusive.
We do not help with this, but most courts have clinics to talk through your options.
Next slide please.
Your next option is to sue your landlord.
And this. This slide has a picture of a of a landlord with a dishonest face saying, ”Oh, I promise.".
Although the nuisance may be caused by another tenant in the building and not by the landlord, the landlord may be held accountable. If after being notified of the disturbance, they take no action against the offending tenant. The important part is, is they have to have been notified of the disturbance.
Landlords have a duty to ensure the tenants can peacefully possess their rental units free of disturbances and in extreme cases may take steps to evict bothersome tenants to stop the nuisance. This is referred to as the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment and is found under Civil Code Section 1927.
If a neighbor has a constantly barking dog plays loud music, this would be considered a violation of quiet enjoyment. In such cases, landlords have the duty to address the situation, including giving the neighbor a warning or, if extreme, evicting the tenant.
An example of this kind of case is a single mother with two young sons who live below a neighbor who made violent death threats, spewed profanity, and made noise to keep the family awake on a nearly nightly basis for more than a year. The mother sued the landlord for breach of the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment.
Another legal action is a constructive eviction against the landlord. When a nuisance is so substantial, to the point that the tenant must move out of the rental, the tenant may bring a lawsuit against the landlord for constructive eviction.
Here's an example of a case involving constructive eviction. A couple and their infant were forced to vacate their rent controlled home in San Francisco due to chronic noise. Banging on the walls, smoking, drug use, noise, partying and derogatory name calling from a downstairs neighbor.
Next slide please.
How to prepare your case. The most important thing you can do to prepare for any of these options is to keep a log of all the disturbances. Write down any attempts to talk to your landlord or neighbor about the issue and their response. It is always better to try and work out a solution with the neighbor or the landlord. And if that fails, try mediation in which case a third party can help work out a solution.
If these fail and the disturbance amounts to a nuisance, you can then sue the landlord and or the neighbor in small claims court.
This is the end of the presentation.
Please let us know in the chat if you have any questions or you can call DRC. Our phone number is 1-800-776-5746.
Are there any questions?
Oh, the Civil Codes. I can repeat the Civil Codes. Sure. The important ones are Civil Code Section 1927 and Civil Code 3501.
Any other questions?
If you have specific questions about a particular incident involving your neighbors, you can always contact our intake line and have a conversation with one of our attorneys or advocates.
I'll give you just a minute more to see if there’s any other questions.
I think Sierra had her hand up.
Hello? Can you hear me?
Hi.
Hi, Debbie. How are you? Thank you. Thank you for taking, taking your time to do this presentation. I have just a small little question.
You know, I'm over here in Southern California, and, we have this one thing. I don't know if you're familiar with it. It's abbreviated APS, and it stands for Adult Protective Services. If you're familiar with, with that, with that, particular work.
I'm familiar with Adult Protective Services. Yes.
Okay. My question is, how can, a person experiencing these type of things, report somebody, using APS or can this be another option aside from the ones that you mentioned regarding the lawsuit and, the small claims would this, would this be, another option that someone can pursue if they're feeling like it?
Pretty much like it's immediate. You know, the person's in danger. They have a disability, and they're they're in fear. Like, you know what? Don't want to approach these people in any way. I can't wait for a process of a week or two. I need this, done immediately, because of the fear.
Would this be an option for Californians who are experiencing this type of behavior from somebody who the next door or or adjacent to them in some way?
Great question. So this webinar is limited to actions, legal actions and what what would be considered a legal action. So I can't address that as fully as I'd like to.
However, it would be along the same lines as getting a civil harassment restraining order. And the best way to do it is to contact the, APS agency and discuss, if you are one of the people that are protected by them. They do, do reports.
I have had incidences where, neighbors were acting, In such an extreme manner that, APS did get involved. So it could happen. But I don't want to- I can't really address how to do it or what the what the parameters are. I'm sorry.
It's okay you don't have to be sorry. I just, wanted to see, pick your brain. If that was, something that could be an option.
And just one last thing. You, you gave out the codes. Can somebody, one of your panelists Could they put it on the chat just in case somebody might not be able to write it down? Maybe they could screenshot it rather than, writing it? And then just type it in.
Civil Code Section 1927 is the most important.
1927.
And Civil Code Section. Give me a second. 3501. 3501.
3501?
Uh-huh, yes.
I just put in myself in chat, I didn't see nobody write it down. Okay, Debbie. Thank you so much again. Appreciate you.
Any other questions?
Hi, Debbie, this is Yashia.
We have someone who arrived late and was wondering if we would. If they would have access to the PowerPoint via email.
That would be a question for Maria.
Yes. We will be sending out, the PowerPoint via email.
Anything else? It went so fast. Okay, well, I'm gonna, I'll close it up. And thank you so much, everybody, for participating. And thank you. The ASL interpreters. I appreciate it. And, have a great holiday season, everybody.