Common complaints about others abound: the dog barking next door, the neighbor who always parks in front of someone else’s house for days on end, or the lady whose car was hit by a neighbor’s grandchildren when his beach ball went astray. Perhaps a neighbor does not want their children to be exposed to the nude parties that are held next door. Or there may be a condo owner who complains about the discriminatory behavior of another owner. Where there are people, there are conflicts, but all these conflicts can be eliminated with a simple mediation.
Any type of dispute between individuals is appropriate for mediation: a divorce agreement, a conflict between the landlord and the tenant, or a misunderstanding between the worker and the employer. But by far the most common disputes that end in mediation are conflicts between neighbors or between families. The law recognizes that the owners, or those in legitimate possession of the land (tenants or invited guests), have the right to the intact condition of property and reasonable comfort and convenience in occupancy. This is known as “quiet enjoyment” of the land.
The problem arises when one person’s “quiet enjoyment” infringes on his neighbor’s “quiet enjoyment.” Mediation can solve these problems in a more economical and satisfactory way than litigation. While only one party wins a trial or arbitration, in mediation ALL parties end up receiving something that they can be satisfied with.
For example, Joe and Bill live next to each other. Joe’s pine, planted by his great-grandfather, stands by the fence that lines Bill’s property and he regularly dumps his needles. Bill complains that tree needles fall into his pool and clog the drain, requiring many hours a week from both pool maintenance costs and Bill’s personal work to keep the machinery and pool running. clean. Bill wants to cut down the tree, so he doesn’t have additional expenses or hours cleaning the pool when he could be doing something else, which is a lack of quiet enjoyment. Joe refuses to cut down the tree because it has a deep sentimental value that is its quiet enjoyment.
If Bill sues Joe in small claims court, one person will win and the other will lose and will have to pay the filing and service costs of the process. Both parties will live under stress until the case is decided, and after the decision, the neighbors will likely never get along again. If the value of the tree and services is more than $ 10,000, the lawsuit goes to Superior Court and both parties will have filing fees of at least $ 395 and attorney’s fees each must pay. Each party’s attorney’s fees for a court trial decided by a judge can be $ 50,000 or more.
On the other hand, if both Bill and Joe agree to mediation, they will talk about the problem, identify exactly what each party needs in the situation, and come up with a solution that both parties agree on. One such solution, suggested during the mediation process by the parties themselves, could be for Joe to keep his tree and its quiet enjoyment, but Joe will pay Bill a monthly sum for the additional cost of pool care required by the falling needles, giving Bill his quiet enjoyment. A mediation agreement will be signed and both parties will be satisfied with their own solution. They may even become good friends.
The good thing about mediation is that the agreement is a private agreement. You do not have to follow the law, as long as all parties involved are satisfied with the agreement. The agreement may contain built-in means to enforce the terms, such as the requirement to attend anger management classes for the party who tends to yell or display violent disgust.
One case I saw was a juvenile vandalism case that cost the property owner thousands of dollars. The minor sought detention time, community service and aggravation of family and friends. The owner, however, was willing not to press criminal charges as long as the young man got out of debt by gardening and washing the family’s cars every week for a year. Each time the young man tidied the property owner’s yard or kept his car clean, he learned the valuable lesson that doing good brings its own rewards. Both parties were satisfied with the deal and the law was circumvented by a mediation agreement.
For cases of very small monetary value, free mediations are available through local county dispute resolution programs. Private mediators charge by the hour and the rate, starting at $ 250 per hour, is generally divided by the parties to the mediation. A mediation can be accomplished in one to ten hours or more, depending on the will of the parties. Sometimes it comes to a standstill and the parties have to come back another day. I’ve heard of mediations in a divorce settlement costing $ 500 and civil litigation costing $ 9,000. Taken in perspective, those fees are cheap compared to $ 50,000 per side for the court to decide on a winner. with everyone paying out of pocket for the filing and attorney’s fees and no one really satisfied.
If you or someone you know has a serious conflict with a friend, family member, or business partner and wants to sue to resolve it, encourage the parties to seek a mediator for a less costly and less stressful true win-win outcome. .