If you've tried reasoning with your neighbor but his dog just keeps barking or his parties just keep raging, the most effective way to restore peace and tranquillity may be mediation. Best of all, it's free — or inexpensive.
A mediator is a trained and certified neutral third party who will listen to you and your neighbor and try to help you move toward a resolution. To find one, ask for a referral from the small-claims-court clerk's office or a state or local bar association. Or look in the Yellow Pages under "mediation" or "conflict resolution."
Bradley Ginn, executive director of the Center for Conflict Resolution, in Chicago, estimates that of the 80 neighbor-related disputes his organization sees each year, about 80 percent are resolved. "Mediation works," says Cora Jordan, an attorney and mediator in Oxford, Mississippi, and the author of Neighbor Law (Nolo, $18, www.amazon.com), adding that it is becoming increasingly common for judges to hold small-claims-court neighbor cases and order them to mediation first. "Judges know mediation is more likely to resolve the conflict for good."