That Ugly House Next Door

“That junky property next door!” “That eyesore is terrible, the junk vehicle is on jack stands and the place looks like a wrecking yard, there’s uncut 2 foot high grass. it just looks horrible, and that the peeling paint is 20 years old, arghhhhhh that property next door is blight!” I’ve heard these comments and even more about properties in different neighborhoods.

In reality there are not too many things worse than a bad neighbor. Your bad neighbor can affect you 365 days a year, year in and year out. So what do you do? Where do you turn for help?

In some rare cases, that bad neighbor can cross the line from annoyance and becomes a nuisance. A nuisance is something that causes inconvenience or damage to you or your property. Some of the most common nuisances include a barking dog, messy trees, or foul odors. Other potential nuisances are loud noises, smoke, dust, vibration, and excessive light.

But, before you take legal action or get the city involved you might consider the straightforward approach: Go next door and talk to your neighbors. You could take your neighbors a nice plate of cookies or a small bouquet of flowers as a friendly gesture, and let them know that you’re contemplating selling your house and moving. If breaking the ice works, then you could offer to have your landscape crew spruce up their front yard, at your expense, while you’re having some work done on your own yard.

Maybe there’s something going on with an illness or other family issue that is temporary and they need a little time to get back on track. 9 times out of 10 this approach usually works!

But if killing them with kindness doesn’t work, then realize that most Cities have City code sections that deal with nuisance situations on private property. These ordinances are commonly called Property Maintenance Ordinances or Blight Ordinances.

If you feel the actions of your neighbor or the physical condition of your neighbor’s property is interfering with the enjoyment of your property, and talking to them about the condition did no good, then you may have a no choice but to get your local code enforcement department involved.

First contact your city’s planning and zoning or neighborhood services department. You’ll want to speak with a code-enforcement officer about what you consider are potential violations of the property maintenance, building and or zoning code. Poorly maintained landscaping and weeds may not constitute a building or zoning code violation, but most cities now have nuisance ordinances or property maintenance ordinances that regulate how tall grass can be. they enforce broken windows, rotted wood, even peeling paint in some cities can be a code violation. It’s possible your neighbor's property is in violation of one or more city regulations regarding maintenance, health or safety or a housing code.

So detail what you see, carefully explain the condition and check to see if they will come out to take a look. In some cases, obvious code violations can be visible from the street, without the need for them to personally contact your neighbor.

Once a notice of violation is issued, the city will pursue a remedy, typically giving them a certain period of time to comply or it may include issuing a civil citation and imposing fines and penalties on your neighbors if they fail to correct the problem.

A bad neighbor or a ugly house next door can have an impact on the value of your property. I’ve heard form a large number of buyers who think twice before making an offer to buy a house next door to a blighted run down property.
Put yourself in a buyer’s shoes: Would you want to live next door to the worst-looking house on the block?
Good luck, and don’t let the bad neighbor cost you a sale or sink your home value.