I have two young boys who frequently play ball (of various kinds) on our own property. The problem is, in our neighborhood we are very close to the other houses on either side of ours, and sometimes the ball (soccer, football, baseball, basketball) goes onto our neighbor's property. This will happen any time one of my boys misses the ball, an errant throw, etc. My neighbor is very nasty and yells at my boys, and is now threatening legal action.
My boys have never purposely thrown the ball onto his property, and no ball has ever actually hit his house. He just claims he is very 'proactive' and doesn't want any broken windows, etc.
I have a rule that they can't play lacrosse (because those balls are harder and go faster) or use a baseball bat to hit the ball. But otherwise, I really have a hard time telling them to not play ball in their own backyard (or frontyard, as is the case with the basketball).
Does my neighbor have any case for legal action?

I would have to say he has recourse if he has warned you and he gets a window broken or some other damage done. Is there not a park your boys can play in?

You asked this under Small Claims. He wouldn't have a case. He has no monetary losses to prove or claim. When something happens, sure.
His way to be proactive would be to call the police, who won't do anything but make a note of the call and what happened, maybe a talking to you and the boys.
Your boys are just going to get bigger and stronger very fast - I agree with tickle that it's time to think about sending them off to a playground, park, schoolyard. A double paned picture window is VERY expensive. Heck, even a small window is these days. And cars are even worse, a dent or broken windshield.

Yes, there are parks and playgrounds around, plenty of them, and we do use them often, but they are not within walking distance and there are times when the boys just want to have a quick catch before dinner, after dinner, etc. Or a small group might congregate at our house for a quick basketball game. I believe all these things are very healthy activities for young boys (9 and 10 years old) and don't want to discourage them from doing them on our own property. Note again, no ball has EVER actually hit the neighbor's house or done any damage at all. If it had, and any damage was incurred, I would expect to pay for it.
Much of his problem comes from the fact that he is often in Florida (he's a snow-bird) and very concerned that something will break a window and then his alarm system will go off and he'll have to take a plane home to take care of things. But so far... that's never happened.
Thanks for your replies.

Your children can not enter his property to get their balls, after he has told you not to allow them on his property, and of coures you are liable for any damage if and when they do hit his house.
Note the cost of fixing a dent in some metal or vinyal siding can get costly.
A window would be the cheaper thing to fix.

So as long as they leave the balls laying in his yard and donot go get them, they are fine.

Sounds like time for a large ( tall) privacy fence)

I just wonder how much of a problem noise is, not balls going into the neighbor's yard ("Or a small group might congregate at our house for a quick basketball game")

Wondered if the OP has attempted to sit down with neighbor and see what he suggests to remedy the situation. Sometimes just talking and getting to know each other goes very, very far.

And, yes, a fence.

Noise is not the problem. My neighbor has never complained about noise. He is just very, very concerned with his personal property. And even if he didn't like the noise associated with a small group congregating at MY HOUSE... sorry, but that's just too darn bad. If you don't like the sound of children playing, live somewhere where there aren't a lot of kids, not in a neighborhood full of them. And yes, we have lived next door to them for 10 years, have had them to our house many times, and up till this summer were friendly with them. It's just that as my boys have gotten more involved in sports (they play organized baseball and football), they have become more interested in actually practicing these skills (throwing, catching) in our own backyard.
The reality of this situation is that we are not well suited to be neighbors just now, and his nastiness to myself, my husband and my kids has pretty much ensured that we will never again be 'friendly.'
But thanks for your input.

Back yards unless they are very very large ( I have about 1/2 acre back yard) is not a place for group sports. And the neighbor has full rights to expect nothing to come past his properly line and pass into his yard. They may also restrict and demand that no one enters onto their property. And as noted can sue for damages.

As a person who has had my window broken, my siding dented, my car window broken a couple of times when I lived in a area with smaller yards. And guess what I had to sue parents all but one time for the damages and often they never had the money to write me a check for their damges, and often they rented and did not have renters insurance that would be liable for this. One went so back I had to call police and have a boy charged with destruction of property and to get out of criminal charges they had to pay for my damages.

So yes I can understand and perhaps you are not being as considerate, and if the kids can not control activities to keep it into your property, they do not need to be doing it at this location but going to a park or other public area. Or of course build a 10 or 12 foot high chain fence to keep things out of their yards.

I really see this, and I know you don't want to hear this, as YOUR problem since legally they have full rights to expect their property rights to be respected and honored.

As to the noise, sorry there are noise limits in most cities and just being YOUR property does not allow you to do any and everything there, first there will be time limites as to times of days loud noices can occur, and often also limits to other noises.

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Originally Posted by nancyknip

Noise is not the problem. My neighbor has never complained about noise. He is just very, very concerned with his personal property. And even if he didn't like the noise associated with a small group congregating at MY HOUSE...sorry, but that's just too darn bad. If you don't like the sound of children playing, live somewhere where there aren't a lot of kids, not in a neighborhood full of them. And yes, we have lived next door to them for 10 years, have had them to our house many times, and up till this summer were friendly with them. It's just that as my boys have gotten more involved in sports (they play organized baseball and football), they have become more interested in actually practicing these skills (throwing, catching) in our own backyard.
The reality of this situation is that we are not well suited to be neighbors just now, and his nastiness to myself, my husband and my kids has pretty much ensured that we will never again be 'friendly.'
But thanks for your input.

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Wow - your attitude surprises me. "Sorry, but that's just too darned bad." "If you don't like the sound of children playing, live somewhere where there aren't a lot of kids, not in a neighborhood full of them." Amazing. So much for trying to work things out. I find you to be remarkably flippant: "Much of his problem comes from the fact that he is often in Florida (he's a snow-bird) and very concerned that something will break a window and then his alarm system will go off and he'll have to take a plane home to take care of things." I think his concern is damage to his property, not having to take a plan home.

I think the nastiness - and I haven't heard this from your neighbor's side - is on both sides.

You post on an open forum, you get answers you may not like. I guess that's the case here.

At any rate the legal advice is he's told you about his concerns. If there's damage, you were forewarned. If he decides to call the Police every time a ball enters his yard, he has the right to do it.

And, again, you're on notice.