Neighbor Nightmare--Need Advice (1 Viewer)

[Dennis Reno]

Don't complain about or get someone to enforce things like the deck and the basketball hoop that have no impact on you.

I disagree Avi. The basketball hoop has as much of an impact as the tree will (after trimming.) This a-hole neighbor wants everything his way. That's too bad. He doesn't respect Carl's right to live in a clean, decent environment.

The basketball hoop on a county road is dangerous. I live off a 25 mph dirt road. My neighbor has (against local rules) a basketball hoop set up in his drive. His drive is flat in the area where the hoop is, but his approach (the majority of the drive) is steeply sloped towards the road. I have already witnessed several instances where the ball takes off down the drive with his son and/or friends in hot pursuit. They rarely ever stop to make sure no traffic is coming. It is an accident waiting to happen. I can only imagine this off of a 45-55mph county road.

If trimming the tree does not resolve the neighbor's complaint or doesn't make him more responsive to your complaints, turn up the heat Carl!

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I just wanted to share my own neighbor nightmare. My wife and I have the innane ability to move in next door to the neighborhood freaks/a**holes.
Our last house was next door to an elderly lady and her grandson. He was a bit of a motorhead and would work on and rev his car late occasionally. Irritating but tollerable.
They also had 3 large dogs that they would let in their gated driveway and they were constantly filling our yard with the lovely smell of digested Alpo. Also, the dogs were constantly humping each other, so it was like watching doggie porn when I would look over at my neighbor's house. Again, irritating, but tollerable.
Then the woman passed away and we were excited that the grandson might move out. Well, [rant]she left him the house![/rant] And then his herion-junkie looking brother moved in with his own set of motor cars and motor cycles and proceded to take all of the mufflers off. The dogs were neglected and left outside (when they weren't out there revving) to bark at the door to be let in. The noise was constant. It was like living next door to gasoline alley!
We called the police on a few occasions.. but by the time the cops showed up, they would be quiet or as soon as they left it would be worse.
I would literally lie awake at night listening to the noise and fantasize about killing my neighbors. It was a good thing I didn't own a gun.
The kicker was, we had a 1yr old at the time, whos bedroom window faced their driveway. They had absolutely no respect for other people... even infants.
How did we solve our problem? We moved. Oh, I still have their names and numbers... and I occasionally still have sadistic fantasies involving their own power tools. But, I just take a look around my new house and listen to the silence and hope what goes around comes around.
Sorry, I don't mean to turn this into a "Oh yeah? Well thats nothin' Listen to my story" thread, reading the original post made me want to vent.

 

[Mark Philp]

The first thing I'd do is call a lawyer. Believe me, the couple of hundred bucks you might spend will be well worth it. If he gets a letter from a lawyer, he'll know you no pushover. As for the kids in the illegal apartment, call yout town's "Code Enforcement Officer". If it really is illegal, he maybe forced to have things like the kitchen removed so it can't be used as a seperate apartment. If nothing else, it will cause the town to look at his tax accessment and most likely raise his taxes. Gee wouldn't that be too bad?

 

[Alex Prosak]

1. Trim your tree.

2. Look into your subdivision covenants and municipal or state regulations regarding access. It could very well be that his second driveway is not permitted. However, even if you are able to have his curb cut removed, there's nothing to prevent him from throwing a 4"x4" in front of the curb to access the pavement he put on his property at the second access.

3. Call the health department.

4. Plant a hedge or install a fence. You'll probably be able to put in a 6' cedar type fence. However, being that the guy is such a jerk, make absolutely sure that anything you install does not create any sort of sight distance issues for he legal access.

 

[Henry Carmona]

Whats the word???

What happened?
You still around?

 

[Micah Cohen]

Oh thank GOD I moved off Long Island. Thank GOD. Growing up there was enough.

Now, if I could just get my neighbors to stop parking in front of my house, stop feeding the rats in the backyard with "birdseed," and stop being trashy idiots, I'd be golden.

Get off Long Island.

MC

 

[Danny R]

Just be lucky that these folks aren't your neighbors. I think this link has been featured before, but its still a goodie.

 

[Cam S]

Wow, that site about the redneck neighbour is crazy!! How the hell could someone do all that crap to their house, stupid stupid stupid.

 

[Carl Miller]

Yep still here. Thanks to the wise words of the folks here, the situation has improved a lot. It's not perfect, but overall it's much better.

I trimmed the tree. The trimmer told me it would only have to be done every 2-3 years or so which is ok by me. The nuts are just starting to fall and a few are bouncing onto his property, but not off his car.

We planted hedges, which he didn't like. He didn't say anything to me but I saw him standing out on his driveway shaking his head the day after we planted them. Still though, I continue to see bicycle tracks on my lawn where the kid sort of cuts around the corner of the hedges. I'm considering more hedges to completely wipe out this little problem, but for now at least my sprinkler head is safe from damage.

The basketball hoop is gone thanks to the county which forced him to take it out. Removing it caused considerable damage to his driveway, and I can't say I wasn't laughing inside about that. No more bouncing balls.

The only words this guy has actually spoken to me was while they were removing the hoop. He looked over at me as I was washing my car and told me he hoped I was happy. I told him I was.

He also received a notice from the fire marshall and a citation from the county telling him he has to move his shed 4 feet in on his property. So far, he hasn't done it.

This, and his deck (no permit) and his pool (placed right off the deck) are both trump cards I'm going to hang onto for future use if need be. I'm still not happy about having to play these games, but he left me no choice.

The garbage issue has improved. He still lets it build for a week despite having garbage collection 3 times a week...But at least he's not letting it build for a month. No mice in sight.

Far as the house shaking music goes, I called the police on the kids 4 times. The first 3 times the music went down or off before the cops even got there. The 4th time, the police went around to the back of their house and not only heard the music but also caught the kids drinking. Since then, I haven't heard the stereo except for an occassional burst that lasts maybe a minute or two. Still finding a few Mikes hard lemonade and beer bottles every now and again on my property, but I just toss them back onto their lawn or throw them out.

These people are still idiots and I'm afraid I'll have to deal with the occassional problem with them, but I guess that's to be expected.

Micah, I hear ya. I've been trying to get transfered at work so I can live north of Manhattan in Westchester or Putnam counties. But so far, no go. I'm not a big fan of Long Island, but the options are limited in government employment.

Dave, vent away...Lord knows I did! Thanks again guys!

 

[Scott Bourden]

Just to stick it to you (in a jokingly light hearted way of course, and hopefully not completely hijacking ) I have dream neighbors.
On my left side, 3 of the 4 family members are deaf. Yes, honestly, completely deaf. The other is a teenager, he's about 18, cool guy, we get along fine. He plays his guitar very loud, and in turn I play my HT rather loud, and if there is a problem, he lets me know, or I let him know, and we postpone our pastime's until later Works out rather nicely.
On my right, are an elderly couple. Both are very hard of hearing, and their house is on the opposite side from my home theater room anyway. They keep to themselves, and I see them in their driveway maybe once every two weeks, tops. Say hello, go about my business, and that is about it. I occasionally mow their lawn or shovel for them just out of kindness (them being old and all) and it's just a nice relationship.
Across the street are 2-3 mid-20 year olds, who keep to themselves as well. I have turned my HT up louder then I *ever* listen to it, painfully loud in fact, and crossed the street. You can't hear it, so all is well on that front as well.
Behind me, there is about a mile of woods, so unless the woodland creatures are disgruntled, I have nothing to worry about

 

[Tom Rhea]

Reading all this just makes me realize how very lucky we are to live where we do.

We've lived in the top half of a duplex for 8 years now. The landlord and his family live in the bottom half. We play movies and music as loud as we want to, and they do the same. Twice in 8 years we've been asked to turn something down (and one of those times was because his aged parents were visiting from out of town). Never had a lease, and our rent's gone up one time in all those years, and then only $25/month. For a long time, we were even getting free cable. And he keeps everything fixed in a house that's about 80 years old. All this is in a neighborhood where the average tenant lasts about six months, so the landlord really loves us as much as we do him.

 

[Don_Houle]

Here's my own little Neighbor Nightmare story!

I moved into the first floor, one bedroom apartment where I live now (my wife and I are moving to a rental house in 3 weeks!) in late '97. This was the first time I ever lived in an apartment, by the way, so I didn't know what I should expect for noise.

When I first moved in, my upstairs neighbor was a single, middle-aged woman who NEVER made any noise. It was great. The only thing I ever heard from her was her typewriter now and again. After about two years of her living above me, she moved out.

The next neighbor was a single Indian guy. The noise wasn't bad except for his snoring which literally rattled the walls of my apartment. In fact, the only way I knew there was someone living up there at first was that I sensed more than heard a low rumbling. I finally figured out what it was. He lived there for about 3 months. Then one night, I hear what sounded like 5 or 6 people walking up the stairs to his apartment. It became clear in the next couple of days that he had now moved the rest of his family (who had been in India) into his one bedroom place. The family consisted of his wife and two children. Now, this surprised me because this apartment was a little too small even for me nevermind having two children!

Well, the noise quickly became too much to bear. With no carpet on the floor above, we were treated to the sounds of the children running from room to room, dropping things, playing, crying, etc. It was insane! At times, it was like they were living with me! It was embarassing to have friends over because we would have to stop talking when the noise got bad. The worst part was that the children were not of school age, and the mother did not work or drive, so they were home almost ALL the time!

I spoke to them about the problem and they said they would be quieter and buy some carpet in order to dull the noise. They didn't do either and after a month or so, if they saw me outside the apartment, they would literally turn and walk in the other direction because they knew I would complain about the noise. I wrote letters to them and filed two complaints with the management office. Then, I began to bang on the ceiling with a padded stick everytime they made too much noise. This worked to quiet them down for a few minutes at a time, but eventually, they would just stompe their feet to bang back.

The apartment management said that there was not much they could do because there was no law requiring carpeting of upstairs apartments in our town. Also, since one of the children was under 2 years of age, there were techically only 3 people living in the one bedroom apartment which does not meet the overcrowding limit. Management did write them a couple of letters explaining that they "must respect their neighbors", but that was about it.

I was not able to move at the time, because my fiancee and I were saving for our upcoming wedding and we couldn't afford to pay any additional rent. After living like this for more than a year, they finally moved out! It was a relief. Our new neighbors (2 people in the past 18 months) have been better, but I've come to the conclusion that I will NEVER live in an apartment situation again.

 

[Julie K]

That 'redneck neighbor' link is great.
I did think the pigs were cute, though...
(I wonder if they'll end up the same place as the chickens and geese did )

 

[Bill_D]

Concerning the Redneck site:

As I see it, both the redneck handyman and the self proclaimed neighborhood spy dude reporting are both neighbors from hell.

 

[Julie K]

redneck handyman

I wouldn't be nearly so concerned with his home beautification projects as I would be his ability to set his lawn on fire (I've never heard that before). The guy is a fire hazard. But what really sets him apart, IMO, from the spy dude is his loud and drunken nighttime activities. I've got a neighbor who likes to occasionally bang on a drum set in the middle of the night so I know very well how damn annoying folks like that can be. Why can't they drink and just quietly pass out?

 

[Clinton McClure]

Call the cops on the kids and pray for lightning to knock the tree onto his car (or better yet his house). I do not believe you would have to pay for what would be considered "an act of God".

I'm usually not vindictive, but I know what it's like to have an asshole neighbor who does everything in his power to piss you off.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

That's actually a very dangerous proposition. Somebody once took care of a "problem" of dirt bikers and quads in the woods behind their house (not even their woods), and decapitated a kid, with a thin metal wire strung at just the right height. Ouch? :/

 

[Matt Gordon]

*EDIT*

Never mind... nothing to see here, move along...

 

[Tony Whalen]

So how has the last year been Carl? Didja hafta play your trump cards?

 

[Steve_Tk]

Well, I would warn him a few times of the noise. If they do not cooperate then call the police. It's a noise violation, they will stop after that happens.