Doug Kanter wrote:
***IMMEDIATELY*** call your town hall when they open on Monday morning
and
find out what your judge needs (paperwork, photographs, etc) in order
to
charge the spray service with civil trespass. You can include the
neighbor,
too, if they become beligerent about the situation. I went through
this
successfully about 4 years ago here in Rochester NY.

If anyone wants to start a debate about whether this qualifies as
trespass,
please save your energy. This is not a guess or a theory on my part.
Our
local judge was prepared to issue an injunction to keep my neighbor
from
allowing Chem Lawn to spray along our property border. He told me to
inform
my neighbor and the spray company that the police would be ordered to
arrest
them on the spot if the stupidity continued. This did the trick
nicely.

Oh, I can't pass this up.

Trespass is defined by state statute. What's true in New York may not be
true elsewhere.

A few years ago there was some debate about some guy in New York being
arrested at a shopping center for something or another. In the middle of
that debate I decided to go to the horse's mouth, and read the New York
statutes. They were quite different than other states. As I recall there
were even degrees of trespass, some being civil, and others being
criminal.

As for going down to the "town hall" to get a judge, that's a bit of a
unique thing by area as well. When I lived in Wisconsin, nearly every
incorporated municipality had a court. Out here in Oregon, few do. In
both places, you don't just go down and get to see a judge. You have to
file a motion, and be placed on a docket or calendar. And when you file
your motion, you need to specify which particular law is being broken,
and how. If you are seeking a remedy, you're going to need to specify
that as well. Unless you're really savvy, and have some time on your
hands, you're going to need a lawyer to get through this process.

You may also find that in many places cases like this (involving little
monetary damage, and not likely to be an immediate danger to health or
safety) your case will be diverted from the court system to mediation.

If running down to town hall, and showing a judge some pictures that
morning works were you are, then that's a viable option. I'd have to say
you're in the minority.

Also, since the OP has added the information that the house is owned by
the county, and rented, it probably wouldn't even be as simple as your
situation even if that unique option was available. In most places a
municipal judge doesn't have jurisdiction to order the county to do
anything.

The court system is seldom the answer to neighbor disputes. And it
certainly should never be the first thing anyone tries.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
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