Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 16.003(a), 41.003, 41.008; Crosstex North Texas Pipeline, L.P. v. Gardiner, 505 S.W.3d 580 (Tex. 2016)
Private nuisance in Texas — an injury, not a tort, after Crosstex
A claim in Texas district and county courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
Nuisance is what you have when a neighbour's activity makes your property unusable without anyone setting foot on it — noise, odour, dust, light, vibration.
In 2016 the Texas Supreme Court reorganised the whole subject. Crosstex North Texas Pipeline, L.P. v. Gardiner holds that nuisance is a type of legal injury, not a cause of action. You prove the injury, and then you prove a basis for liability: intent, negligence, or an abnormally dangerous activity.
What the claim is
Something a neighbour is doing substantially interferes with your use and enjoyment of your own land.
Where the right comes from
Common law, restated in Crosstex, 505 S.W.3d 580 (Tex. 2016).
What a plaintiff has to prove
The injury:
- The plaintiff has an interest in land.
- The defendant's conduct caused a condition that substantially interferes with the use and enjoyment of that land.
- The interference causes unreasonable discomfort or annoyance to a person of ordinary sensibilities — not to this particular plaintiff's unusual sensitivity.
And a basis for liability, one of:
- Intentional conduct — the defendant intended the interference, or knew it was substantially certain to result.
- Negligence — the ordinary duty, breach, causation and damages.
- Abnormally dangerous activity, in the rare case that supports strict liability.
That second step is what Crosstex added back. A plaintiff who proves only that the interference is severe has not proved a claim.
Permanent or temporary — the question that decides everything
Permanent nuisance — the condition is constant and continuous, or will continue indefinitely. Damages are the reduction in the property's market value, recovered once and for all. The limitations period runs from when the injury became permanent, which can be long before the plaintiff sues.
Temporary nuisance — the condition is intermittent, occasional, or can be abated. Damages are the lost use and enjoyment — reduced rental value plus discomfort and annoyance — for the period claimed, and a new claim accrues as it continues.
The characterisation controls both the measure of damages and whether the claim is time-barred, which is why it is contested in nearly every case.
How long you have to file
Two years, under CPRC § 16.003(a).
For a permanent nuisance the period runs from when the nuisance became permanent. For a temporary nuisance the plaintiff may recover for the two years preceding suit.
What has to happen before you file
Nothing. Where the defendant is a governmental unit, the Tort Claims Act notice deadlines apply, and a nuisance claim against a government may also raise a constitutional takings question.
What the claim pays
Diminished market value, for a permanent nuisance.
Lost use and enjoyment — reduced rental value, plus discomfort and annoyance — for a temporary one.
Mental anguish, where the interference supports it.
Exemplary damages on clear and convincing proof of malice under CPRC § 41.003, capped by CPRC § 41.008.
Injunctive relief to abate the nuisance, which for a continuing condition is often the point of the suit.
No attorney's fees.
Who can be sued
The party creating the condition.
The party maintaining it, including a successor owner who continues it after notice.
A landlord, in limited circumstances, for a nuisance created by a tenant with the landlord's consent or knowledge.
Private and public nuisance
Private nuisance is what this page describes: interference with a particular person's use and enjoyment of their own land. The plaintiff must have an interest in the land affected.
Public nuisance is an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public — a blocked road, a contaminated water supply. It is ordinarily abated by a governmental authority. A private person may sue only by showing damage different in kind, not merely in degree, from that suffered by the public generally.
Texas also has a statutory abatement scheme in CPRC chapter 125 for places habitually used for certain criminal activity, which allows suit by the state, a county or municipal attorney, or in some circumstances a neighbouring resident.
Nuisance against a government
Where the defendant is a governmental unit, two paths exist and they lead to different places.
A nuisance claim framed in tort runs into the Texas Tort Claims Act, with its notice deadline, its narrow waiver, and its caps.
A claim that the government's conduct amounts to a taking of property proceeds under the constitutional takings provision instead, which carries no cap and no immunity — and which is why nuisance claims against cities over sewage, landfills and drainage are so often pleaded as inverse condemnation.
Common defenses
- The interference is not substantial, or is not unreasonable to a person of ordinary sensibilities.
- Coming to the nuisance — the plaintiff bought next to an existing operation. Not a complete defense in Texas, but a factor.
- Regulatory compliance. Operating within a permit is evidence, not a defense.
- No basis for liability — the plaintiff proved interference but not intent or negligence.
- Limitations, turning on the permanent-versus-temporary characterisation.
- The right-to-farm statute, for agricultural operations that have been in place long enough.
What people get wrong
Nuisance is not a standalone tort after Crosstex. You still have to prove intent, negligence, or an abnormally dangerous activity.
Your own sensitivity is not the standard. The test is discomfort to a person of ordinary sensibilities in the community.
A permit is not a shield. Complying with environmental or zoning requirements is evidence that the conduct is reasonable; it does not defeat the claim.
Permanent or temporary is not a detail. It decides whether you get market value or lost use, and whether your claim is timely at all.
Where it came from
Texas nuisance law had drifted for a century into a set of overlapping doctrines — nuisance per se, nuisance in fact, absolute and qualified nuisance — that produced inconsistent jury charges and unpredictable results.
Crosstex in 2016 cleared it. The court held that "nuisance" names a condition and the legal injury it causes, not a cause of action, and that liability still has to rest on intentional conduct, negligence, or abnormally dangerous activity. The opinion also reaffirmed the ordinary sensibilities standard and the permanent-versus-temporary framework for damages.
Common questions
How long do I have to sue for nuisance in Texas?
Two years. For a temporary nuisance you can recover for the two years before you file; for a permanent one the clock runs from when the condition became permanent.
Can I recover attorney's fees?
No.
My neighbour has all the right permits. Does that end it?
No. Compliance with regulations is evidence that the conduct is reasonable, but it is not a defense.
What if the business was there before I moved in?
Coming to the nuisance is a factor Texas courts weigh, not a complete bar.
Can I make them stop, rather than just pay?
Yes. An injunction to abate the nuisance is available and is often the relief that matters.
Is this the same as trespass?
No. Trespass is a physical entry onto the land. Nuisance is interference with the use and enjoyment of it — noise, odour, dust — without entry.