Neighbor disputes can get ugly very quickly, and it is not uncommon for bad neighbors to go out of their way to try to cause you emotional distress.
In Massachusetts, extreme and outrageous conduct that causes you severe emotional distress can be the grounds for a civil lawsuit. The neighbor dispute attorneys at the Katz Law Group have helped numerous clients in the past pursue financial compensation from their bad neighbors for their egregious conduct.
Massachusetts Law on the Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
State courts in Massachusetts have stated that the elements for the intentional infliction of emotional distress are:
- The conduct was either intentional or the actor knew or should have known that it would likely cause you emotional distress,
- The conduct was extreme and outrageous,
- The conduct was the cause of your emotional distress, and
- Your emotional distress was severe.
According to neighbor dispute lawyer David S. Katz, “The standards are pretty high for what sorts of conduct amount to the intentional infliction of emotional distress, or IIED, in Massachusetts. The conduct has to be beyond all bounds of decency and completely intolerable in a civilized community, and the emotional distress that you suffer cannot be trivial or even moderate.”
Note that, while it is called intentional infliction of emotional distress, actual intent is not always required: If the perpetrator should have known that their conduct would cause you severe emotional distress, it can suffice.
Additionally, the person suffering the emotional distress is often, but not necessarily, the target of the perpetrator's bad conduct. For example, in some cases the spouse of the person who was the direct target of the extreme and outrageous conduct can also recover compensation.
Importantly, the statute of limitations for IIED claims is three years, and those three years begin when you first experience emotional distress from the other person's actions.
Examples of IIED
While the legal standards are high, some neighbor disputes get so bad that those standards can be met. Some examples of conduct that was extreme and outrageous can be:
- Property damage
- Violence
- Stalking or trespassing
- Constant harassment
- Deliberately using lights or sound to annoy neighbors, often in violation of noise ordinances
- Threats of violence or death
- Physically harming pets
Of course, all of these courses of conduct can range from severe to relatively mild. In the end, whether the conduct is sufficiently “extreme and outrageous” and whether the emotional distress that you suffered was severe enough to require financial compensation will come down to the jury.
Massachusetts Neighbor Dispute Lawyers at the Katz Law Group
If you are having a dispute with a neighbor or someone who lives close by and they are deliberately doing all that they can do to make your life miserable, you have legal options. Call the neighbor dispute lawyers at the Katz Law Group in central Massachusetts at (508) 480-8202 or contact them online.
