So, my neighbors next door are some of the most inconsiderate, rude people i've ever met. Here's a few stories:
1. We have a garden of stuff, and bunch of veggies in the summer. So, we had so much, we couldn't use all of it. So, we took some veggies over to them including some zuchinnis (sp?). The next time we took some more, and they didn't say thank you but said, (verbatim): "don't you have any more zuchinni?
2. Their parents leave their kids at their house, leaving them responsible for getting on the bus and going to school. Every morning, the bus driver drives by, stops, and honks the horn for like 2 minutes. The kids don't come out and run late most of the time, and the bus drives away. Sometimes the bus just coasts by because they know that they're not coming out.
3. The times that the bus does coast by, the kids come over to our house and POUND on our door to use our phone. Because, get this, they don't have a land line phone, BUT their mom can afford to have a cell phone. Today, the girl POUNDED on our door for 10-15 minutes, continuisly. This was at 8AM. Then she came back at 10AM and did the SAME THING.
4. When they use our phone, they don't say thank you or anything. They act like it's our obligation to let them use it.
5. They have a dog that they just let run wild. There have been numerous times where i've seen the dog almost get hit by a car. They just let it run wild, and don't really care. One time, the dog ran off, and the kids decided to come over and POUND on our door at 7AM just to tell us that he ran off.
6. They set off fireworks and SCREAM at all hours of the day. I've never met kids that just scream for the sake of screaming.
7. We have a basketball court that they would just come over and use. It's adjustable. One day they removed the pin, threw it on the ground, and adjusted it, and just left it. I bought a lock, and moved it back to 10ft, and locked it with a lock. They asked us, "do you have the key, so we can adjust it."
8. There are about 5 kids that this woman had, and then she got married to a guy that has like 3 or 4 kids of his own. Sometimes they are all over there, and i'm pretty sure that his kids are the ones that broke into my car a few years ago
9. We had a winter pool cover drying out on our basketball court this past summer. They took the pool cover off the basketball court onto their property by their pool. We made them move it back. I'm sure if we didn't say anything, that they would have used it on their pool
10. Their house is gross. Their pool, they don't put any chloreine in it, or any chemicals. They just fill it with water, and swim in it. ick.
So, are these the most inconsiderate rude neighbors ever? Next time she pounds on the door, i'm going to open the door, and tell her that our phone was turned off, and my dad took the only cell phone to work with him.
Discuss this, or also tell your other horrible neighbor stories.
the parents are just as bad as the kids are. i think that's where they get it from.
No doubt about that, but make it clear to the parents that their priviledges have been revoked for abuse and you won't allow them to use you anymore. Also, if they come and take something from your yard again, tell them you will call the police.
The neighbor to one side is absolutely great. The one on the other however -
He tore down his small old house 4 years ago and stacked the pieces along the property line. If it wasn't for the woods to that side of the house and the line of shrubs I planted a few years ago, we'd be able to see his old sinks, wiring, sewer pipe and all the rest from our home. I'll be calling the state environmental division to complain about an unpermitted demolition landfill within the next couple of weeks.
He's an avid NASCAR fan who believes that the whole neighborhood wants to hear the race. He sets his radio outside while working around his yard and unpermitted landfill and cranks it up. If I am in the front yard, I can actually hear it directly from his radio and also the echo off of the neighbor's house on the other side. If someone complains, he shrugs and says he wants to hear it.
Their clothes dryer consists of the deck rail and shrubbery around the house.
Their plywood boat house has never been painted and is crumbling, the canvas top of their pontoon boat has been flapping loose in the wind for 2 years now.
The guy owns a junk yard on the other side of Charlotte and seems to be transferring his junk up here to his lake home bit-by-bit. The total effect of that, combined with his unpermitted demolition landfill nearly defies description.
He, for years dumped his trash in an eroded gully in the woods bordering his lot. When I had it surveyed and clearly marked, he commented that if he had known it was mine, he wouldn't have thrown it there. When I approached him to clean it out, he denied having anything to do with it. Small claims court settled that. I've since had the gully filled in.
He (I can't prove this, but who else would do it) pulled up the metal property stakes between our two lots.
When he sees me in the yard, he constantly complains because he thinks some of my bushes are sending branches over the property line and gets offended when I tell him the bushes wouldn't even be there if he maintained his place. Or ask him how he can tell where the property line really is at this point (We are getting it re-surveyed next month. The new markers will be embedded in concrete).
He fails to control his dog....He apparently never bothered to train it. It runs through our yard, tears up my wife's flower beds. I complain and he ties the dog up. Then the dog barks all day and night. I call him after midnight to let him know I'm reporting his dog to animal control. He brings it inside for the night....for three or four nights. That went on for three cycles and I finally called animal control. The officer heard the ruckus, fined the neighbor and told him that if it continued, the dog could be confiscated. That finally seems to be working.
I guess I have to know: What do your folks think about it? It's their house, if it doesn't bother them, or if they choose to not let it bother them, maybe you could either choose to ignore it or move somewhere else.
I've had some shitty neighbors in the past, but nothing close to what you're describing. When we moved here we had the opportunity to buy a place on a couple acres a few miles out of town. We have some people a few lots over who we wish would move away, but they don't directly affect us.
The house to my west used to have a little yapper dog that barked incessantly whenever I was outside, even on my deck grilling or just having a beer. I got his phone number and started calling him at 3 am to let him know his dog was bothering me, eventually the dog stopped barking.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
Since the subject was "stupid" neighbors and not "obnoxious" neighbors, I should mention one years ago that bordered my back yard. He had a big dog, I think it was a chow, that used to bark constantly. My cats used to sit by the fence just to listen to this stupid dog go insane a few yards away, knowing somehow that he couldn't get to them.
One year Mr. Brainiac had a bunch of friends over to set off fireworks on the 4th of July. Since the dog didn't like fireworks, genius tied him to the stair railing inside the house. That's where they found him hanging a few hours later after his buddies left. The dog had tried to run downstairs and hide. Smart guy.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
One year Mr. Brainiac had a bunch of friends over to set off fireworks on the 4th of July. Since the dog didn't like fireworks, genius tied him to the stair railing inside the house. That's where they found him hanging a few hours later after his buddies left. The dog had tried to run downstairs and hide. Smart guy.
Sounds like a case of animal cruelty. Did he get charged?
I didn't care, the dog wasn't barking anymore. I sold that house a couple months after that.
A few months after we moved into our new house, the next door neighbors left for a long weekend. They were kind enough to leave their dog outside while they were gone, though. I eventually threw a package of frozen venison onto their back porch just to try and shut him up. It made a big brown stain on their concrete, and the dog was never left out over a weekend after that.
I've turned dozens of dogs loose, too. Here's a word to the wise: if you have a fenced yard and you leave your dog in it, and if his barking bothers me, I will open your gate and let your dog out. I don't care if he runs away and you never see him again. If you cared you wouldn't have let him bark at night in the first place. I'm not going to call you and warn you first either. You're just going to get up in the morning and not have a barking dog anymore. I don't care if you don't like that. I don't care if you think it's not nice. I don't think leaving a barking dog outside at night is nice, and I won't put up with it. If he's not fenced in maybe he won't bark anymore. Or you could put him inside.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
I guess I have to know: What do your folks think about it? It's their house, if it doesn't bother them, or if they choose to not let it bother them, maybe you could either choose to ignore it or move somewhere else.
I've had some shitty neighbors in the past, but nothing close to what you're describing. When we moved here we had the opportunity to buy a place on a couple acres a few miles out of town. We have some people a few lots over who we wish would move away, but they don't directly affect us.
The house to my west used to have a little yapper dog that barked incessantly whenever I was outside, even on my deck grilling or just having a beer. I got his phone number and started calling him at 3 am to let him know his dog was bothering me, eventually the dog stopped barking.
they don't like it either, and are equally as annoyed as my sister and i.
but, we're kind of at a loss. I know that neighbors can make things really uncomfortable for you. These seem like the kind of people that would make things worse out of spite if you got the police or child services, or whatever involved.
You all make me glad that I live in a planned neighborhood with a Homeowners Association.
Oh, by the way, I am the President.
Barking dogs? No more that 2 fifteen minute episodes in 24 hours and absolutely no barking from 10 pm to 7 am.
Junk stored in yards. None. One letter of warning and then a $25 a day fine.
We have rules and we enforce them. It's not perfect, but it's better than putting up with assholes.
I wish we had an HOA here, it would make resolving my situation a whole lot easier.
I also am President of an HOA - For a townhouse we have as a rental property in a near-by town. You'd think that people who purchased a home in a neighborhood governed by an HOA would pay more attention to their obligations as owners. We haven't found it easy to get some to toe the line and actually had to start foreclosure procedures to get the attention of a couple of them.
This place had covenants when we bought it, but the HOA disbanded a few months after that. The covenants weren't very restrictive and actually made sense, so I didn't have a problem with them. Anal HOAs run by power-crazed assholes has always been a major strike when we're looking at houses.
A friend at work is fighting his HOA, he pulled his camper up in front of his house to load it up on a Friday evening, they wrote him up a half-hour later for having a camper parked on the street. The covenants say it's ok if you're loading or unloading, but someone in the HOA decided to be a dickhead. Lawyers love this shit.
I kind of wish the HOA was still running here, maybe the guy down the road would be forced to realize that we don't have trees, therefore you can't hide your junk out back. Hello! Everyone can see your old washing machine out there!
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
they don't like it either, and are equally as annoyed as my sister and i.
but, we're kind of at a loss. I know that neighbors can make things really uncomfortable for you. These seem like the kind of people that would make things worse out of spite if you got the police or child services, or whatever involved.
Not true at all. You can make things awfully bad for THEM.
I certainly hope you've been recording all of these issues. The police find it really helpful.
And as someone who had to go to the police to deal with neighbors often, I know. I'd share the issues I had for nearly 3-years before we moved, but I really don't want to relive it all. I became an angry and mean person with one goal - to get my neighbors to stop doin' the shit they were doin' so we (Ko and I), could have a regular homelife. And you literally have to be one mean-ass hellion to deal with shitty neighbors.
I became mean. I became a bitch on heels. And in the end, we did triumph. Oh sweet revenge (and we did it totally legally).
Anyways, it will take research to find out what your recources are. And with many local and city governments, they do exist.
Egham, your description fits a lot of people around this area, yet CMPD is instead obligated to enforce a no-living-room-furniture-on-the-front-porch ordinance
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Egham, your description fits a lot of people around this area, yet CMPD is instead obligated to enforce a no-living-room-furniture-on-the-front-porch ordinance
Charlotte residents better not park their cars on the front lawn, either. Gone are the good old days of sitting on the sofa on the front porch sucking down a cold beer while admiring your vehicle which is parked in the middle of the front yard.
You're right about my description fitting a lot of people around here. All you have to do is drive around this area a bit and you'll see that many others have to deal with similar problems.
A friend at work is fighting his HOA, he pulled his camper up in front of his house to load it up on a Friday evening, they wrote him up a half-hour later for having a camper parked on the street. The covenants say it's ok if you're loading or unloading, but someone in the HOA decided to be a dickhead. Lawyers love this shit.
That certainly sounds over the top. I continue to be amazed at the often spiteful and nasty things some people do.....often just because they can.
If the person who wrote him up is indicative of the mindset of the HOA board, that poor guy is going to have a dickens of a time fighting it.
The HOA needs to define exactly what they mean by "loading or unloading" and clearly communicate that to the homeowners to prevent misunderstanding. Otherwise, episodes like this might be viewed as arbitrary and capricious......Something a lawyer would have fun with.
Our BOD gets complaints about things all the time and we always go to the exact wording of the HOA documents. If something is covered in only vague terms that are open to a range of interpretations, we'll consider the situation, clarify the rules as we consider necessary and then issue a new Homeowner's Handbook with the revised guidance. There will be no penalty at that time in such cases, just a communication back to both sides of the complaint on the BOD's decision. Most of the time clear guidance is all that is needed.
He walked around the neighborhood at the start of the next holiday weekend and filmed several houses that had campers parked out front for as many as three days, including the house of the HOA president. Then he took the pics to the next HOA meeting and publicly challenged them on it. Not only did they rescind the ticket, they apologized in writing in the next newsletter.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
You hear some bizarre stories with HOA's but they do serve a purpose.
We take a moderate approach. No one person can lodge a complaint against another and expect a notice of violation or fine. It has to be verified by a board member or substantiated by another homeowner. This keeps spite complaints down.
Any violation is given a "Friendly Reminder" for first time offenders and new homeowners. If repeated a Notice of Violation gives 15 days to correct (unless it is safety related). If not corrected a fine is assessed. Fines continue at $25 per day until the violation is corrected or a good faith effort is made to begin correction. If fines are not paid within 90 days a lien is placed against the property. If still ignored, we execute on the lien and the sherriff shows up to inventory household goods for auction. We have only had to do that once in the 9 years I have been on the board. In fact, we rarely have to resort to fines, since word has gotten around that we enforce the covenants and restrictions.
Someone mentioned campers. We allow a 3 day grace period for cleaning and packing/unpacking. But, even with these moderate measures, you would be surprised how many members think the rules should not apply to them. We don't back down.
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Yeah...neighbors...love them. We have a "family" right across the street from us. One mom and about ten kids (not joking...youngest are in diapers, oldest are in condoms). There are three teen age girls living there. And of course, that attracts all the young male trash in the neighborhood. I heard nosie one night in mid summer. thinking that maybe my car was being broken into, I got up and looked out the window. Directly across the street, on the front porch, was the three girls lined up leaning over the railing. and directly behind them was their three "boyfriends" giving them each one jolly good ride. There was enough light shinning through their windows and loud enough talking to know exactly what was going on.
I've seen a young child in diapers walking up the sidewalk, with no parent or adult anywheres in sight.
Cops stop by at least once a week, cause there is always something going on with the kids.
And where is dad? A better question is how many dads are there, and where are all of them?
Momma got quite fed up one day last year. I came home around 5PM, and junk was all over the yard and flying out the window. Momma was having a house cleaning. she threw out the older daughters and their live in dead beat boyfriends. Guess she finally had enough.
Now, life has been fairly quiet for almost a year now. Couple of younger kids there still, but they seem to be towing the line.
Yup....some neighbors can be wonderful one....and others can be, well.....
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Egham, your description fits a lot of people around this area, yet CMPD is instead obligated to enforce a no-living-room-furniture-on-the-front-porch ordinance
Do they have an ordinance preventing placing a second refrigerator on the front porch or a race car on blocks in the front yard?
Wow, you do have the neighbors from hell!!! Cut off access to your phone, and maybe they'll go bother some other ones instead.
We don't have the greatest neighbors, either, but nothing like that. The neighbors on one side, though, are maintaining a small junk yard of old cars. Fortunately, we have a large expanse of woods between our properties, but during the Winter we can see this eyesore very clearly. I guess this is the price we pay for living in a semi-rural community. Nevertheless, we do have a neighborhood association, and it's too bad we don't have some rules about stuff like that.
Our neighbors across the street are generally nice, but they like to scream at each other. Plus they are both obese and wear way too little clothing during the Summer while working in the yard. Why is it that the 280 pound women are the ones mowing the lawn in a bikini???
Our neighbors on another side pretend we don't exist because the Mom and my wife got into a tiff a few years ago. I mean literally won't look at us if we pass them on the street.
Do they have an ordinance preventing placing a second refrigerator on the front porch or a race car on blocks in the front yard?
Illegal Parking ordinance (oddly, this falls under "Health and Sanitation") - see paragraph 25. Nothing said about the TYPE of vehicle, though I have to imagine if someone owned a race car, it'd be kept in a temperature-controlled, stand-alone garage both twice the size and cost of the residence to which it belonged
As for fridges and other nuggets, here's another gem of CharMeck GovCo, Inc - see paragraphs 6 and 7. Granted, this is for "model" neighborhoods, and I'm sure it's outlined with good intentions, but still... I just feel better knowing that I file my taxes in a different county.
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Directly across the street, on the front porch, was the three girls lined up leaning over the railing. and directly behind them was their three "boyfriends" giving them each one jolly good ride. There was enough light shinning through their windows and loud enough talking to know exactly what was going on.
Stupid neighbors
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