Nuisance! Definition And Info For Park City Property Management
If you have leased a rental property as either a landlord or a tenant you are probably familiar with the term "nuisance". I would like to take some time to explain what a nuisance is legally defined as in Utah and also how the rules of a community or home owner's association can play a part in defining a nuisance.
Nuisance
Utah law defines a nuisance in two ways. The first definition describes a nuisance as "anything which is injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property". The second description of nuisance lists several criminal activities. Let's take a look at those first.
Criminal Activity
This may seem somewhat obvious but types of criminal activity can also be classified as a nuisance. Drug dealing our property being used as a drug house; gambling; criminal activity associated, for the benefit of , or at the direction of criminal street gangs; criminal activity committed to gain membership, increased status, or acceptance in a criminal street gang; and prostitution are some of the offenses specifically mentioned in Utah law to constitute a nuisance. The law also states that nuisance may be subject to action by a landlord against a tenant. 
Non-Criminal Activity
Non-criminal activity deals more with the first definition of of nuisance: things that are injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses or somehow interfere with the free use and comfortable enjoyment of the property. Utah law also specifically lists two other non-criminal activities that can be considered a nuisance: party houses that frequently create the conditions mentioned above and "tobacco smoke that drifts into any residential unit a person rents, leases, or owns, from another residential or commercial unit ..... more than once in each of two or more consecutive seven-day periods" and creates the conditions described above. Partying and smoking are fairly obvious nuisances and in general things like loud music, pounding on floors, yelling, dogs barking non-stop, and general disregard for your neighbors could be considered a nuisance. However I would like to give an example of something that could be considered a nuisance but should be given some reasonable consideration. 
Let's say your upstairs neighbor has decided to tear out and replace the flooring in his property. He has decided to install tile that is in accordance with any community rules that may apply to flooring, he has pulled all necessary permits for the work and he is obeying any local quiet hours or noise ordinances. During the course of the work he uses a tile saw. Tile saws are extremely loud and could easily be described as "offensive to the senses" or can "interfere with the comfortable enjoyment" of your property. Is it reasonable to consider this a nuisance and pursue some action against it? In instances like this reasonable judgment should be used.
Community Nuisance Rules
Many communities or home owners associations also have rules about nuisances. If there is a Park City property manager they would be the first contact to get further information on nuisance rules in the community. General the governing documents of an association will contain a blanket statement that explains that any act or omission whereby any rule or provision of the governing documents is broken constitutes a nuisance. Most communities will also have specific rules regarding quiet hours, parking, pets, use restrictions on a property, etc. It is your job as a responsible landlord or tenant to make yourself aware of these rules and do your best to follow them. I would also recommend that if you think something you are doing could possibly be a nuisance reach out to your neighbors, landlord, or property manager and proactively work towards a resolution. For more information on Utah law you can click here.
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