Which statement describes private nuisance?

• A. Nuisance involves unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of real property.
• B. Nuisance concerns only water rights.
• C. Nuisance involves only criminal activity.
• D. Nuisance is always a felony.

Answer: (A)

Private nuisance is a civil tort defined by unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of another person’s real property. The key idea is that the neighbor’s conduct must injure your use of your land in a substantial and unjustified way, not just be annoying in general. It covers a wide range of interferences—odor, noise, smoke, vibrations, light, and more—so it isn’t limited to anything like water rights. It also isn’t about criminal activity, and it isn’t a felony; it’s civil in nature and typically addressed with damages or an injunction. For example, a factory emitting constant, disruptive noise at night that makes living on adjacent land unbearable would constitute private nuisance.