Customer Reviews

Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise (3rd ed)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Nolo Press covers law for the rest of us. Easy to read, covers topics that are relevant, clearly makes its points. Possibly best for readers in California. Odds are, a book from Nolo Press is worth buying. This is no exception.

Excellent informative book covering topics that every homeowner will eventually have to deal with. A must have!

From handling water issues and overhanging trees to problems with neighboring businesses and vague boundary lines, professional attorney Cora Jordan's Neighbor Law provides an updated edition of a classic title which outlines neighbor rights and responsibilities, from zoning and nuisance scenarios to starting a petition. Excellent, practical advice.

There is now a 6th edition out, but I have the 4th edition and that is the edition this review reflects.

I got this book to answer several questions I had regarding a fence problem with a neighbor. What I read scared me because it said I was the one in the wrong (which seemed completely ridiculous). I was certain I was going to be sued. I called City Hall and talked to a guy in Code & Compliance and told him what I'd read and he said nearly all of it was simply not true. After explaining what the issue was he told me there was no way the city would allow my neighbor to successfully collect any money from me. Things appear to be copacetic now between my neighbors and me, thanks to that guy in City Hall, no thanks to this book.

My recommendation is to not buy this book, and take any questions you have about your rights and responsibilities as a neighbor to your City Hall and ask them what they think. If your particular City Hall doesn't have those answers for you, then call the nearest Legal Aid office and they can point you in the right direction to get some cost-free answers.

Neighborhood law and principle as such can be traced since the decision of the House of Lords in Donoghue v Stevenson (1932).In the present book by Cora jordan though civil remedies of Law of Torts can be precisely located but precise evolutionary meaning of Neighborhood law has been meticulously concealed by the Author.
Lord Atkin defined not only neighbor in the terms of law but he also traced the evolutionary meaning and relevance of this term. It can be located that the meaning, rights and duties of a neighbor are well settled since then i.e,1932.
The present book could have been more elegantly presented had the Author kept in view the new dimensions of rights and duties.
Though it can not be said that the neighborhood law is an archaic concept but a textbook like the present one by Cora Jordan requires enumeration of twentyfirst century rights, duties and consequential remedies. Even today, it can be noted that many of the rights have not required the shape of the so called enforceable rights, whereby a remedy could be sought by a neighbor.In such circumstances the age old maxim "ubi jus ibi remedium" still becomes relevant. Apart from these inconsistencies this book is worth reading. The remedies discussed in the book are all relevant and more so this book can be used as a generalised tort book. The effort of the Author is commendable.

YOU MAKE REFERENCE TO FICK v. NELSON (1950) THERE IS NO SUCH CASE. WHO DID YOUR PROOF READING? THERE IS A FICK v. NILSON (1950). HOW FRUSTRATING DO YOU THINK A PERSON WOULD GET LOOKING FOR A CASE THAT DOESN'T EXIST?