Opinion ID: 1678207
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: private nuisance under the restatement: intentional and unreasonable invasions

Text: A private nuisance is a nontrespassory invasion of another's interest in the private use and enjoyment of land. The Restatement, supra, § 821D at 100. The Restatement, supra, § 822, draws a distinction between intentional and unintentional invasions of another's interest in land, which may be characterized as a private nuisance, and imposes liability only if the invasion is intentional and unreasonable or unintentional and otherwise actionable under the rules controlling liability for negligent or reckless conduct, or for abnormally dangerous conditions or activities. What determines the existence of an intentional invasion of another's interest in land? As noted in Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts, Nuisance § 87 at 624-25 (5th ed. 1984): Occasionally, the defendant may act from a malicious desire to so harm for its own sake; but more often the situation involving a private nuisance is one where the invasion is intentional merely in the sense that the defendant has created or continued the condition causing the interference with full knowledge that the harm to the plaintiff's interests [is] occurring or [is] substantially certain to follow. Alternative constituents of an intentional invasion of another's interest in land are recognized in the Restatement, supra, § 825 at 117: An invasion of another's interest in the use and enjoyment of land or an interference with the public right, is intentional if the actor (a) acts for the purpose of causing it, or (b) knows that it is resulting or is substantially certain to result from his conduct. As a meaning for intentional invasion, the Restatement, supra, § 825 at comments c. and d. at 180, provides: c. Meaning of intentional invasion. To be intentional, an invasion of another's interest in the use and enjoyment of land, or of the public right, need not be inspired by malice or ill will on the actor's part toward the other. An invasion so inspired is intentional, but so is an invasion that the actor knowingly causes in the pursuit of a laudable enterprise without any desire to cause harm. It is the knowledge that the actor has at the time he acts or fails to act that determines whether the invasion resulting from his conduct is intentional or unintentional. It is not enough to make an invasion intentional that the actor realizes or should realize that his conduct involves a serious risk or likelihood of causing the invasion. He must either act for the purpose of causing it or know that it is resulting or is substantially certain to result from his conduct.... d. Continuing or recurrent invasions. Most of the litigation over private nuisances involves situations in which there are continuing or recurrent invasions resulting from continuing or recurrent conduct; and the same is true of many public nuisances. In these cases the first invasion resulting from the actor's conduct may be either intentional or unintentional; but when the conduct is continued after the actor knows that the invasion is resulting from it, further invasions are intentional. To determine whether an intentional invasion exists in reference to a private nuisance, several courts have adopted the characterization embodied in the Restatement, supra, § 825; for example, Morgan v. Quailbrook Condominium Co., 704 P.2d 573 (Utah 1985); Padilla v. Lawrence, 101 N.M. 556, 685 P.2d 964 (1984); Keiswetter v. Petoskey, 124 Mich.App. 590, 335 N.W.2d 94 (1983); Hughes v. Emerald Mines Corp., 303 Pa.Super. 426, 450 A.2d 1 (1982); Sandifer Motors, Inc. v. City of Roeland Park, 6 Kan.App.2d 308, 628 P.2d 239 (1981). Thus, for the tort of private nuisance, an intentional invasion of another's interest in land exists when an actor purposefully causes the invasion, knows that the invasion is resulting from the actor's conduct, or knows that the invasion is substantially certain to result from the actor's conduct. Since the Restatement refers to an intentional and unreasonable invasion of another's right to use and enjoy land, the meaning of unreasonable is expressed in the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 826 at 119 (1979): An intentional invasion of another's interest in the use and enjoyment of land is unreasonable if (a) the gravity of the harm outweighs the utility of the actor's conduct, or (b) the harm caused by the conduct is serious and the financial burden of compensating for this and similar harm to others would not make the continuation of the conduct not feasible. In further explanation of unreasonableness, required in the tort of private nuisance based on an intentional invasion of another's interest in land, the Restatement, supra, § 826 at comment c. at 120-21, states: The point of view. The unreasonableness of an intentional invasion is determined from an objective point of view. The question is not whether the plaintiff or the defendant would regard the invasion as unreasonable, but whether reasonable persons generally, looking at the whole situation impartially and objectively, would consider it unreasonable. Consideration must be given not only to the interests of the person harmed but also for the interests of the actor and to the interests of the community as a whole. Determining unreasonableness is essentially a weighing process, involving a comparative evaluation of conflicting interests in various situations according to objective legal standards. Thus, according to the Restatement, supra, § 826, in deciding whether a defendant is liable for a private nuisance based on an intentional invasion of another's interest in land, the trier of fact must determine whether the gravity of harm outweighs the utility of the defendant's conduct or whether the defendant's conduct causes serious harm, but payment of compensatory damages would render the defendant's continued conduct unfeasible. Even if utility of a defendant's conduct outweighs the gravity of the harm caused by the intentional invasion in a private nuisance, a defendant may still be liable if (1) the defendant's conduct causes severe harm and (2) the defendant's compensation for the invasion will not prohibit the defendant's utilitarian conduct. Crest Chevrolet, etc. v. Willemsen, 129 Wis.2d 129, 384 N.W.2d 692 (1986); Padilla v. Lawrence, supra ; Hughes v. Emerald Mines Corp., supra . As expressed in the Restatement, supra, § 827 at 124: Gravity of HarmFactors Involved In determining the gravity of the harm from an intentional invasion of another's interest in the use and enjoyment of land, the following factors are important: (a) The extent of the harm involved; (b) the character of the harm involved; (c) the social value that the law attaches to the type of use or enjoyment invaded; (d) the suitability of the particular use or enjoyment invaded to the character of the locality; and (e) the burden on the person harmed of avoiding the harm. The Restatement, supra, § 828 at 129, contains: Utility of ConductFactors Involved In determining the utility of conduct that causes an intentional invasion of another's interest in the use and enjoyment of land, the following factors are important: (a) the social value that the law attaches to the primary purpose of the conduct; (b) the suitability of the conduct to the character of the locality; and (c) the impracticability of preventing or avoiding the invasion. Regarding an actionable private nuisance, we note that the Restatement's provisions pertain to an action for damages. Different considerations may exist concerning equitable relief. [D]enial of relief by way of injunction is not always a precedent for denial of relief by way of damages. Consequently, liability for damages should be treated independently, and this Chapter is primarily concerned with damages. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 822 at comment d. at 111 (1979).