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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
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    5

    Smile Can You Charge a Neighbor With Harassment for Making Excessive Noise Complaints

    My question involves real estate located in the State of: Washington, city of Bellingham.

    It's pretty simple - I have a neighbor whom I have completely become fed up with. My house is surrounded on four sides by other homes - only one neighbor seems to be having an issue with noise with me. It's escalated to the point that when the police respond, they apologize for coming out and annoying us and tell us that we aren't doing anything wrong. At this point, I believe my only option is to file a harassment suite against my neighbor? I would also think she/he is violating laws related to "crying wolf" 911 calls. The police refuse to tell me which neighbor is complaining or I would try to deal with the issue directly with them. However, aren't all police responses considered public record? How am I supposed to file a complaint against my neighbor if they refuse to tell me who it is (I have a pretty good idea anyways)?

    I found this based on the noise laws in my city: http://www.codepublishing.com/WA/Bel...ngham1024.html

    It's so incredibly vague, even if they gave me a fine for $250 (they have not done so yet because I have done nothing wrong) how would that possibly hold up in court if I challenged it? The law is completely subjective - there are no decibel requirements, just if an officer is 50 ft off your property and can "hear" a "noise." Every other place I've lived in had a decibel maximum. This law is so subjective, I should be able to call 911 and complain that my neighbor farted next door and I could hear it at my house and want them fined for it. Yesterday was so ridiculous that the police came out because I was talking to one other person on my front porch - everyone in our house was asleep, and we were having a casual conversation outside. They again apologized for annoying us. I have no idea how any neighbor would be able to hear us, let alone not be able to sleep through it without supersonic hearing.

    I'm trying to mainly obtain the best advice about what to do. I'm open to any suggestions.

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: Can You Charge a Neighbor With Harassment for Making Excessive Noise Complaints

    Why do you think the neighbor is singling you out?

    Police response is not synonymous with identifying the complainant.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
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    5

    Default Re: Can You Charge a Neighbor With Harassment for Making Excessive Noise Complaints

    This same neighbor (if it's the one I suspect) came over to my house at 11:30PM once, pounding on my front door, and proceeded to scream at me for about a minute straight about how pissed off she was that someone kept parking in front of the mailboxes (it wasn't even us!). I tried to calm her down and said that if she just asked nicely, that she could have saved herself the screaming for someone else since we weren't the perpertrators. Then she again started yelling again at me, at which point I said "When you learn to talk nicely, come back. Otherwise, go **** yourself and get the hell off my property" and proceeded to slam the door in her face.

    She's nuts. That's my only guess as to why she is singing us out - although she really isn't. We live in a duplex, and the younger 18/19 year old guys threw a small get together that got kinda loud a week or two ago. They always come over and ask us/the other neighbors if it's OK if they have a party, to which I always reply that we never care. The police showed up for them too and issued a noise citation. My guess is they accepted it quickly because they were underage drinking and didn't want minor in possession charges (the police around here are relatively civil and easy to work with, and they rarely resort to MIPs unless you're a real jerk to them). The officers probably figured they could issue the noise citation (they gave them two $250 fines!) and that being they're dumb young college students, that they wouldn't protest it. I promised I'd help them fight it and that they could most likely get it entirely reversed.

    This is all assuming that this is the neighbor constantly complaining since it definitely fits her to a T.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
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    2

    Default Re: Can You Charge a Neighbor With Harassment for Making Excessive Noise Complaints

    Next time the cops come, just don't answer the door....haa...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default Re: Can You Charge a Neighbor With Harassment for Making Excessive Noise Complaints

    I don't think that would do much good...

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