法律英语：28 Good Neighbor Relations

by Michael W. Flynn

Hello, and welcome to a special joint¹ episode of Mr. Manners’ Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life and Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful² Life.

But first, a disclaimer: Although I am an attorney, the legal information in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed³ to practice in your jurisdiction⁴. Further, I do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener.

Today’s topic is neighbor relations.

MM:

Let’s go though a few basic points on good neighbor relations.

When we think of the people we live with, we may consider family members, roommates, friends, and even pets. But in reality, we often share walls or immediate⁵ space with our neighbors—in a sense, we live with them too. Therefore, it is especially important to treat your neighbors with consideration and respect. If you have ever had especially good (or especially bad) neighbors, you will know what a strong effect that can have on your daily life. I count myself lucky to have incredibly nice neighbors (I get calls to come to the backyard to pick up special treats, invitations to birthdays and parties, peace of mind knowing that when I travel there are watchful⁶ eyes on my place. And I occasionally get beaten at Scrabble).

My neighbors are better than I am at hosting neighborhood parties, keeping abreast⁸ of the goings on in the neighborhood, and making it feel like we live in a small town, in the midst of a city. So try and make the extra effort to get to know your neighbors—it will make the place where you live a richer environment.

Try to be considerate of your neighbors:
Don’t play loud music or make excessive noise late at night (or at times when you know they are home and might be disturbed).
If you or your guests smoke, make sure that the smoke doesn’t waft⁹ into your neighbor’s home.
Offer to pick up their papers and keep an eye on their place when they travel.
Contact them if you see anything awry¹⁰ or suspicious near their house.
If you have outdoor space, make sure that plants or animals don’t cause a nuisance for them.
Consult them on decisions that might affect their quality of life.
Be prepared to make compromises for the sake of good neighbor relations.
Now, let’s consider a typical situation that arises between neighbors and how you might best handle it.

LL:

Consider the following:

Your neighbor has a large crab⁷ apple tree growing on her property whose branches extend over the fence between the yards. Leaves, small twigs¹¹ and crab apples often fall onto your yard and require cleaning up. What can you do about it?

MM:

The first thing to do is to approach your neighbor in a polite and direct way. You might say something like, “Joan, I wanted to talk to you about the crab apple tree. It drops a lot of apples and leaves in my yard, and I was wondering if we could get it trimmed back a bit. I would be happy to cover the expense, and we can pick the arborist together to make certain you approve.” If the tree was planted by your neighbor’s grandfather and she refuses to trim it, you might just decide to live with it rather than risk bad relations with your neighbor. The nuisance of a few crab apples might be preferable to living with acrimony between you and your neighbor.

If negotiation¹² fails and you feel you must do something about the situation, you might need to resort to legal action to solve the problem. Legal Lad will tell you about your rights with regard to the tree.

LL:

In most states, if the base of the tree grows entirely¹³ on your neighbor’s property, then she owns the tree and is responsible for any damages the tree causes. If the tree fell onto your house, then your neighbor would normally have to repair any damages. Also, if the roots from your neighbor’s tree damaged your deck, your neighbor might have to repair the deck. However, most courts do not consider normal tree debris¹⁴ to be sufficiently¹⁵ damaging to your property to give you legal recourse against the neighbor. Rather, courts will impose a duty of “self help” on to you to clean up small debris yourself. In the case of a tree that is dropping only fruit and small twigs, you are on your own to maintain your property. If the tree is dropping heavy branches or a sufficient amount of debris to the point that you can no longer enjoy your own property, then you might have a nuisance claim against your neighbor.

Your other option is to remove any branches or roots that grow onto your property. Your property rights extend both above and below the ground. You may trim back anything that grows across your property line. This can create some problems, however, because your removal of the branches might kill the tree. If it does, then you will be liable for the value of the tree you killed. Also, you do not have the right to enter your neighbor’s property in order to trim the branches or roots without your neighbor’s permission.

MM:

Remember, that the best approach is generally to do what you can to maintain good relations with your neighbor. Always be open to settling the issue—trials cost money, and the only parties who always win are the lawyers.

LL:

Thank you for listening to Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful Life. Be sure to check out all the excellent Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts at QuickAndDirtyTips.com.

You can send questions and comments to.................or call them in to the voice-mail line at 206-202-4LAW. Please note that doing so will not create an attorney-client relationship and will be used for the purposes of this podcast only.

Legal Lad's theme music is "No Good Layabout" by Kevin MacLeod.

Dear loyal listeners,
Thank you for sending your comments regarding our joint episode on neighbor relations. We received one letter that we feel exemplifies how good neighbor relations can avoid unnecessary legal costs. Katie wrote:

I just listened to your most recent joint podcast and I had to laugh at the hypothetical situation you chose for a conflict between neighbors—the crab apple tree. As it happens, when I was a small child, my parents bought a house where the neighbor's crab apple tree grew over the fence and into our yard, dropping rock hard crab apples into one side of our backyard. It only became an issue when it was time to mow¹⁶ the lawn because crab apples can damage a lawn mower¹⁷ blade. My father came up with a solution to this problem that left the tree, and neighbor relations, intact: he paid his 3 children a dime¹⁸ for each crab apple collected. We were happy to do it each Saturday for many years. We usually each made enough money to buy an ice cream cone¹⁹ that afternoon and my dad got a clean yard and an unbroken lawn mower, no legal fees necessary.
Thanks Katie forsharing your story and showing how a little kindness and creativity is the best way to solve a problem.

Best,
Modern Manners Guy and Legal Lad
 

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

3 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

4 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

7 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

8 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

9 waft   

v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡

参考例句：

• The bubble maker is like a sword that you waft in the air.吹出泡泡的东西就像你在空中挥舞的一把剑。
• When she just about fall over,a waft of fragrance makes her stop.在她差点跌倒时，一股幽香让她停下脚步。

10 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

11 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

12 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

15 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

16 mow   

v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆

参考例句：

• He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。
• We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。

17 mower   

n.割草机

参考例句：

• We need a lawn mower to cut the grass.我们需要一台草坪修剪机来割草。
• Your big lawn mower is just the job for the high grass.割高草时正需要你的大割草机。

18 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

19 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。