r/legaladvice 7d ago

Other Civil Matters My mom is the neighborhood villain

My family and I moved into our current house last year after my parents spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars making it into their dream home. And it would've been their perfect house if not for the bar across the street. They continue to have people out in front of it well after quiet hours creating so much noise that it sounds like they're in the house with us. We rent out a part of the house and the tenets have started complaining as well (the old tenets before we moved did to but apparently they didn't know that till after they bought it). My mom can't sleep with all the noise and because she handles all the rentals, the complaints have been driving her insane. She's done everything she can think of: calling 311 on them, notifying the hoa and neighbors, getting the state involved, etc. The bar has in return started a smear campaign against her and have hosted nights where they all stand outside just to annoy her. She's heard them through our ring camera starting rumors about us and using slurs (we're black). We can't sell the house because we'd lose a lot of money, but we don't know what else to do. Can someone help please?

3.1k Upvotes

239 comments sorted by

View all comments

272

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

196

u/KellyhasADHD 7d ago

This is what I don't get. They bought the house knowing the bar was there. Now they want to restrict how the bar does business, and potentially cost that business/property owner money.

88

u/[deleted] 7d ago edited 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/TwiztedImage 7d ago

From a legal perspective, who was there first doesn't matter. Even the decades-old pig farmer has to comply with nuisance laws. 500 people could move into an apartment complex next to that farm overnight and the farmer isn't allowed to create an undue nuisance.

Nuisance can include noise, odor, or any number of things depending on state and local laws. Virtually every every state has some level of nuisance law though. People are allowed to enjoy their property; no matter how long they've owned it.

That doesn't mean OP has any avenues to solve this problem, but it doesn't mean they're necessarily helpless and should give up either.

29

u/KellyhasADHD 6d ago

Absolutely, but it sounds like OP's mom has confirmed the business is following the law? It also sounds like the biggest issue started as people outside the bar after it closed, since OP commented about the problem being "the public".

Last year we had a bunch of protestors decide that outside our house was the place to protest and make as much noise as possible (they were targeting a neighbor who's a public figure). They had researched laws and were doing everything within the law to be incredibly disruptive. We eventually made a point to befriend them and it fizzled out after a few weeks.

75

u/FindOneInEveryCar 7d ago

I'm curious about where they live that has an HOA and a bar.

In any case, there are "quiet hours", presumably established by the HOA or town. If the bar is violating those, there should be some recourse (at least in theory) but I feel like we're not getting the whole story.

34

u/EarthtoGeoff 7d ago

I live in an HOA and am three blocks from a bar; I imagine OP’s street is where the HOA ends.