What are the dos and don'ts of dealing with a problem neighbor?
The first thing that you want to consider when you're going to have to talk to a neighbor about an issue is what you would do with, really, any problem, is sit back, don't rush off to deal with it, think about what the issue is, what's involved, how it's affecting you, how it's affecting your neighbor. Think about how they're likely to react to what it is that you want to talk to them about. Consider what communications you've had with them in the past and what this communication should be like. Preparation is really very important in everything in life. And that's true even when you're gonna go talk to a neighbor about some potential problem or actual problem between the two of you. You also want to consider what are the rights that you have and what are the rights that your neighbor has. Often, you're gonna have to research those rights. You may be able to do it yourself, there may be some phone calls that you can make, contacting the city, maybe some other people you know, or you may need to contact a lawyer and get some legal advice. So once you've done those things, you understand what your rights are, you've thought about how the problem affects you, affects the neighbor, and then you've decided what it is you want to ask for, the last thing is to consider exactly how you want to approach the neighbor, what you want to say. It may be a phone call, it may be you want to go next door and talk to them, and it may be something as simple as asking, "Did you know about this issue?" phrasing it as a question, trying not to be confrontational, necessarily, if it's not necessary to be confrontational. Because the manner in which we do things often dictates the end result.
