A common question I get as a real estate agent is “what are the neighbors like?” Most of the time I don’t know. I haven’t met them or seen them.

What the buyer’s of a home are interested in are whether or not their neighbors are jerks or not. Some states have nuisance laws so barking dogs, and nuisance neighbors have to be disclosed.

I mean, really who decides what a nuisance is? Maybe you hate the sight of your neighbor’s monster truck in the driveway and the buyer of your home loves monster trucks and immediately bonds with the neighbor. Nuisance to you, not a nuisance to them.

I read an article today about a neighborly issue gone awry. A woman was allowing her dogs on someone else’s property. Part of the issue seems to be where the property line of the home is. What ensued was what should have been a civil discussion between two adults, gone berserk. The dog owner in question was arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct after continuing to go on the other neighbor’s property.

So if the arrested woman were to sell her home, does she say her neighbor is a nuisance. How would that work with nuisance laws? Do the neighbors down the street that are staying out of the conflict have to disclose that these two neighbors are bickering? Really where do nuisance laws start and stop.

Nuisance disclosure laws seem ripe for lawsuits. Thankfully, Oregon does not require that we disclose nuisance neighbors during real estate transactions. I’m not sure that is a path that we want to head down.

(c) Copyright, 2008. Melina Tomson, All Rights Reserved (ie…be nice and create your own content. Don’t steal mine…)

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