Nuisance Flashcards
1
Q
Nuisance
A
Tortious invasion of either public or private property rights
- Note - nuisance is a harm cased by tort, not a tort itself
Private nuisance - a substantial, unreasonable interference with another individual’s use or enjoyment of her property
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Substantial interference - must be offensive, annoying or inconvenient to the average person in the community
- Interference is not substantial if P is hypersensitive or using property for a specialized, abnormal purpose
- Unreasonable interference - severity of P’s injury must outweigh the utility of D’s conduct
Public nuisance - unreasonable interference with health, safety, or property rights of the community at large
- Recovery is only available to a private party if she suffered unique damage not suffered by the public at large
- Gov usually brings public nuisance suits
Potential remedies - money damages, injunctive relief
Defenses
- P cannot recover if he “came to the cuisance” (ie brought property next door) for the sole purpose of bringing suit
- Contributory negligence is available is P asserts a negligence theory and acted negligently in creating the nuisance
