Neighbor is a police officer, his wife is harassing

[RickBrins]

Jurisdiction

Delaware

A little over a year ago I moved into my home, shortly after my neighbor, the wife of a police officer started yelling at my husband for making noise. He was doing yard work during the day, she was trying to sleep. A few months later, again mid day, she called the police because my 3 dachshunds were barking. They rarely stay out more than 20 minutes at a time.

Today she called the police because I was doing yard work and quietly listening to music at 830 in the morning. The officer did not say the music was too loud, but accused me of only doing it to disturb my neighbor. I said I would turn the music off, but would be cutting some roots from the ground that were growing into my foundation. The officer said that would be fine because that would be someone else doing the work. When I said that it would be me doing the work , I was told I would have to wait until 11am otherwise they would consider it to be purposely disturbing her. To my knowledge I am not breaking any law or noise ordinance.

I am afraid she is using his power and friends on the police force to apply unreasonable pressure on me. I am afraid to follow up with any legal actions since they have his police force on their side.

Who can I safely contact and what can I do?

 

[army judge]

A little over a year ago I moved into my home, shortly after my neighbor, the wife of a police officer started yelling at my husband for making noise. He was doing yard work during the day, she was trying to sleep. A few months later, again mid day, she called the police because my 3 dachshunds were barking. They rarely stay out more than 20 minutes at a time.

Today she called the police because I was doing yard work and quietly listening to music at 830 in the morning. The officer did not say the music was too loud, but accused me of only doing it to disturb my neighbor. I said I would turn the music off, but would be cutting some roots from the ground that were growing into my foundation. The officer said that would be fine because that would be someone else doing the work. When I said that it would be me doing the work , I was told I would have to wait until 11am otherwise they would consider it to be purposely disturbing her. To my knowledge I am not breaking any law or noise ordinance.

I am afraid she is using his power and friends on the police force to apply unreasonable pressure on me. I am afraid to follow up with any legal actions since they have his police force on their side.

Who can I safely contact and what can I do?

You march down to your city hall, township office, or county office, whichever applies in your case.

You ask for a copy of your locality's "ordinance on noise".

You pay for it, if required.

You march back to your lovely abode.

You acquaint yourself with the ordinance.

You comport yourself accordingly.

If a complaint is lodged, you break out the ordinance, which you've LAMINATED and placed in a binder for THAT ALLEGED NOISEY DAYand ask how you're violating the ordinance.

Easy peasy.

You also begin to DOCUMENT each illegitimate noise call, date, time, officer responding, alleged complaint for the day you seek a legal remedy.

We'll get to that, if necessary, sometime in July if the nuisance calls continue.

 

[ElleMD]

Or, enjoy a leisurely brunch and wait until after 11 to start your yard work.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I am afraid she is using his power and friends on the police force to apply unreasonable pressure on me. I am afraid to follow up with any legal actions since they have his police force on their side.
Who can I safely contact and what can I do?

I agree with @army judge that you should look them up to ensure you are correct. And you should most definitely log a record of everything that happens, including the time and date of the complaints and also the accusations - such as about trying to sleep mid day but being unhappy with a reasonable amount of noise coming from nearby. This also includes the accusations made by the police officer (and name and badge number.)

I don't think you should worry too much about these types of complaints. What exactly are the police going to do if you haven't violated any law? And how foolish would the police look if it gets to some type of official / legal inquiry and the police officer would be questioned as to why he'd even suggest that you deliberately tried to make noise to wake a sleeping woman mid day? I don't know what your relationship is with your neighbor or the husband. But I doubt he'd want to have these types of complaints associated with him.

Regardless, @ElleMD also makes a great point - right or wrong, rational or irrational, better to have a decent relationship with your neighbors. This is especially the case if you can easily accommodate without having to make much of an effort. You might even let the neighbors know that while you did nothing wrong and can work on your yard reasonably during the late morning hour, in order to accommodate them you'll do them the favor of starting later. It might be a win-win for both of you. Good luck.

 

[d1amund]

I see nothing wrong with doing yard work in the morning. That's when most people (and lawn care companies) do it; you know because it's cooler out then.

Unless you live in an HOA controlled community with CC&R that restrict time of day for yard work (around here it's 7am) there is nothing wrong or illegal with doing it at 830am or anytime before noon just to appease your neighbor.

But, sometimes you need to try and keep the peace between the two of you. If you must listen to music while doing your yard work, use headphones with a portable player/phone. If the yard work you are referring to includes motorized machinery such as a lawn mower, weed wacker, leaf blower, chain saw, etc you could try and use those on dates/times when the nag next door isn't sleeping. Request they write down for you their precise sleeping schedule and/or provided them with a complimentary set of ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones.