There are plenty of smells coming from a neighbor’s property that could justify a complaint. Piles of garbage? Absolutely. Something burning? Worth investigating. A mysterious sewage situation? Please make the call.

But dryer sheets?

One renter who lives in a single-family home says they’ve spent roughly three years dealing with a neighbor who regularly contacts their landlord about alleged “noxious odor nuisances” coming from the property.

And apparently, no scent is too mundane to make the list.

In one recent complaint, the neighbor described opening their windows and patio door on a warm evening before detecting a strong fragrance drifting into the house. They reportedly went outside, walked along the renters’ fence to investigate and determined that the offending odor was coming from their laundry.

The renter is particularly baffled because their dryer vent doesn’t even face the neighbor’s house.

This also isn’t some isolated grievance. They say the complaints have been arriving throughout the year for approximately three years, with a curious increase around the holidays.

Now they’re wondering whether there’s actually something inconsiderate about doing laundry—or whether their neighbor has simply found a very creative new thing to complain about.

Neighbor complaining about laundry

We rent a SFH not an apartment.

Neighbor constantly texts and emails our LL about our “noxious odor nuisances.”

Example (actual quote) of complaint from neighbor…

Oh boy…

“It was a warm night so we had our windows and patio door open. At around 11:00pm, I noticed the dryer sheet strong fragrant smell drifting into our house.

“I went outside and was consumed by the smell as it drifted onto our side yard and into our closed patio.

“I walked alongside your renters side fence and can smell it coming in. It lasted at least 30 minutes.”

Wow.

Mind you our dryer vent is facing the opposite side of the house from their’s.

Am I crazy or is my NFH bats** crazy to complain about this..?

It is constant complaints like this to our LL throughout the year, especially persistent around the holidays. For the last ~3 years.

Commenters largely agreed that complaining to someone’s landlord because they can occasionally smell dryer sheets outside is…a lot.

Some people genuinely are extremely sensitive to fragrances, and scented laundry products can cause headaches or other unpleasant reactions for certain individuals. If the neighbor had politely approached the renters and explained a serious sensitivity, perhaps there could have been a reasonable conversation about whether switching products was feasible.

But repeatedly documenting ordinary household smells and reporting them to the landlord as “noxious odor nuisances” is a very different approach.

There’s also only so much control anyone has over what can be smelled outdoors. These renters aren’t describing intentionally pumping fragrance toward the neighboring property; they’re using a dryer inside their own single-family home. And considering the vent apparently faces the opposite direction, the neighbor’s detailed investigation along the fence makes the whole complaint sound even more intense.

After three years of similar reports, commenters suggested keeping records of every complaint and avoiding getting pulled into endless arguments about each new grievance.

Because unless the landlord has identified an actual lease violation, doing laundry shouldn’t require neighborhood approval.

This person says the neighbor is crazy.

This person offers a thought.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about people who have to go to court to get their land back after their neighbor sells it.

But then back to crazy…

And another thought…

Imagine putting in a load of laundry and accidentally starting another load of neighborhood drama.