Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York
If a child's ball strays off his property onto a neighbors, is it trespassing?
I own a private home connected by front lawns to the others on my block.(we live in Queens,NYC, where the houses are separated by a matter of feet) My eleven year old son and his friends play ball in the evenings.They do not use a hard ball,but one of the large light balls. My neighbor, who rents the house next door, becomes very upset when the ball strays onto his property. He verbally abuses the kids, and last night turned the water sprinkler on my son when he tried to retrieve the ball. What rights do the children have in this situation? What rights belong to the neighbor?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: If a child's ball strays off his property onto a neighbors, is it trespassin
Bob's right. His property, entitled to exclusive use, even if the lawns are connected. Your neighbor can permit or deny your kids and/or their friends to go onto his property, and is within his rights to deny access, for whatever the purpose, even retrieving an errant ball. While he might properly temper his actions, in light of the ages of the kids, you cannot force him to grant access.
Re: If a child's ball strays off his property onto a neighbors, is it trespassin
Your kids...his property.
He can be rude and offensive, but it is still not their property. I know, I grew up in the a similar neighborhood down the road in Queens.
Good Luck
RRG
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