Neighborhood Solutions, Inc.

Welcome to the Neighborhood Solutions Inc. website. Some day, if all goes well, we will no longer be needed and we will slip silently into oblivion. But for now, we are here for those of you who have exhausted other avenues of redress and still find yourself staring at the same problem into which you have dumped so many hours of your valuable time.

We can’t help solve all the social ills of the world. But we can help empower you and your neighbors to reclaim your community - one block at a time. You are entitled to enjoy your life and property. No person, nor business, may ruin that for you without being liable to you for that loss of enjoyment, which is a “damage” to you. Damages may include living in stress, fear, worry, frustration, anxiety, and anger. Your damages may include being disturbed by noxious odors, sights or sounds “anything that offends the senses.” Your damages may also be material; you may have spent money to deal with the problem.

It is an unfortunate fact that some people feel entitled to behave in ways that cause others to experience great suffering. This mind set is inexplicable to most people, because most people have empathy for others. Usually, when you let someone know they have disturbed you they are a bit surprised and they say things like, “I’d didn’t know that was bothering you, I will take care of it. Please let me know if that happens again.” Problem solved. But once in a while, when someone is made aware that they are making a problem for you, they choose to ignore you, insult you, or retaliate against you. We are left wondering why they just don’t seem to care. Whatever the reason, at some point we have to move on and accept the fact they are absolutely committed to continue this anti-social behavior regardless of the cost to others or even themselves.

We just want our lives back. To sleep through the night, to sit on the porch, to garden, to have a quiet dinner with friends, to walk the dog around the block. We are robbed of these every day simple pleasures that most people take for granted when drug dealers take over the street, when corporations pump toxic and noxious odors into the air, when liquor stores sell alcohol to minors and allow intoxicated people to loiter. We find ourselves sleeping in closets, avoiding the front rooms of our homes and planning escape routes to possible gunfire. We write our wills, tell our friends not to visit, and drive out of the neighborhood to take the dog out. We install alarms, cameras, double-paned windows and consider whether or not to get a gun. We eat nervously or lose our appetites; our doctors put us on anti-depressants, increase our blood pressure medication. We tell our families and friends not to worry, we’ll be all right.

We adapt and develop survival skills. We know the names of the Police who work our beat. We meet with the neighbors to strategize on how to make the problems stop. We build community (the silver lining!) and get very familiar with our neighbors. We engage in mediation, letter writing and keeping logs. We contact city council people and others from various departments in the City. Meetings become a part of our life style. Sometimes the problem even gets solved. But once in a while, years go by and we find nothing has changed.

Neighborhood Solutions, Inc. (NSI) is a tax exempt 501 (c) (3) charitable organization dedicated to assisting organized neighborhoods take back their streets from criminals and perpetrators of public nuisances. We work with the leadership in neighborhoods such as the block captain or neighborhood watch leader and we help them to abate intractable public nuisances.

Public nuisances are disturbances that affect groups of people living in the same area. Very often, these nuisances are caused by drug dealers who ply their trade in the streets causing nuisance problems and unsafe conditions for the neighbors including; blocking the streets and sidewalks, coming and going of many vehicles, very loud car stereos, public drinking, public intoxication, fighting, yelling, public urination and defecation, litter, loitering, prostitution, intimidation and threats.

Public nuisances can also be caused by neglected properties or abandoned properties. Their blighted conditions create unsafe environments that attract transients, become fire hazards and health hazards. Sometimes squatters begin to frequent the property as a place to use and store drugs and/or conduct prostitution. The risk of a fire under these conditions is significant.

Businesses such as poorly operated liquor stores and bars can also become a public nuisance. Some bars and liquor stores allow their customers to loiter, sell drugs and cause trouble for the nearby neighbors, including using their yards as toilets and being loud and intoxicated in public.

Other businesses can also cause public nuisances through their operations. These nuisances can range from loud noise, emissions of noxious odors, dumping of waste, blocking of streets and other problems that interfere with the lives of nearby neighbors.

Landlords who maintain a nuisance can be held liable for the damages caused by these nuisances. If all other steps have failed to bring a solution to your street, Neighborhood Solutions, Inc. can help you take the powerful step of suing the landlord for damages in small claims court. Each person who is affected may sue for $7,500.00 each. This includes minor children in the family. Usually a demand letter can clear up the problems, but sometimes only going to court can set the matter straight.

If there is a group of people adversely affected by the problem and all other reasonable attempts to resolve the problem have failed, (police, mediation, communication, government agencies) then we offer the following support to the group leadership:

Consultation · Education on the rights we all have to the peaceful enjoyment of our lives and property. · How to communicate safely with the landlord of the nuisance property. · How to defend your rights in small claims court. · How to avoid becoming a target for retaliation, how to contact the property owner to inform him of the illegal use of his/her property.

Sometimes we are able to permanently abate the problem with a single strong letter to the landlord, thus fulfilling our exempt purpose in that neighborhood within as little as a month or two. Other times we must go to court.

An NSI consultant, not an attorney, provides information and assistance for clerical and consultation services: Working closely with the community leadership, we provide: · Letter writing assistance · Liaison with government agencies · Use of the Freedom of Information Act · Research and document acquisition · Case preparation · Court filing, use of process server · Filing subpoenas · Preparing declarations · Communications · Media relations

We assist the neighbors to file multiple small claims suits against the landlord for allowing a nuisance to be created on their property. Once the landlord realizes this will affect his/her pocket book they sometimes clear up the problem in a few short months.

Occassionally, we have to take our cases to court. We have a high success rate in winning our cases and when we do they are usually appealed. When a case is appealed we provide legal assistance from attorneys who have agreed to work for our clients on contingency basis.

Appellate Court and Collections · we work with our attorneys to defend the group's judgment. · Prepare and try the case again in Appellate Court as a “trial de novo” · Acquire assignment of judgments for purposes of collection · File abstract of judgments and liens · Take additional collection actions as necessary Once we have done these steps we are usually able to permanently remove the cause of the public nuisance.

This process may be repeated every six months until the problem is completely abated. This activity was initiated in 2002. NSI was granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in 2005 retroactive to 2002.