Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Connecticut

over-sensitive neighbor

i'm writing this on behalf of friend, living in apartment complex. he is considerate of neighbors and never had trouble with them until a new lady moved in below his unit. the lady filed numerous complaints through landlord about noise from my friend's. he lives a fairly quiet life. (the previous person lived below had no problems) after receiving the complaint. he became more cautious; tip-toeing as he walks, putting volume to minimum, bringing visitors less frequently. but the lady kept complaining.

recently, the friend got a puppy and didn't realize that it is not allowed because he saw others keeping cats before. after getting a notice, he removed puppy to his sister's. his sister occasionaly visits him with the puppy for smooth transition. however, the neighbor is accusing him of still keeping the dog in his unit. (keep in mind that this puppy never barks.)

accomodating new neighbor to max capacity has disrupted my friend's life and gave him emotional stress. i understand the neighbor also has a right to keep her life undisrupted. Isn't there a fine line where accomodating undisrupted life for an over-sensitive neighbor that it becomes another stress and creates another disrupted life? what should he do?


Asked on 10/21/03, 12:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gregory Cantwell Law Office of Jefferson D. Jelly

Re: over-sensitive neighbor

If there is a a regulation where your friend lives saying no pets and that includes visiting pets then it really doesn't matter whether it's visiting or not. This info. should be in the lease. Does your friend have to tip-toe around etc? Not really. The structure of the building is not his fault. Again, though, he should look in the lease and apt. regs and see if he has some obligation in there. If he doesn't, he is only bound by politeness or kindness for his neighbor. From the legal side, it doesn't sound like he is creating a disturbance or a nuisance. Practically, if the landlord gets enough complaints, whether correct or not, he may not be able to extend his lease. Good luck.

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Answered on 10/21/03, 2:15 pm


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