Anyone Else Have A Problem Neighbor?

[thenuge876]

Oh man, does that bring back a memory. About 15 years ago, I was renting a condo from one of my clients. She warned me that some of the retiree neighbors were real buttheads. She handed me (get this) a 28 page book of rules and regulations. It was unreal, almost anything you could think of was in there right down to whether you could have potted plants on your porch. Anyway, one day I needed to replace my plug wires on an old Elcamino that I was driving. I had burned a plugwire on a header, but this wasn't any f-body.... I could swap plug wires in about 15 minutes. I am out on this nice Saturday morning, I had just pulled the old plug wires off. This old man wheeled up in his electric wheelchair and said "good morning". I replied with a nice and friendly good morning as well. He asked what I was doing, I replied that I was swapping the spark plug wires. In a rather gruff tone he said that I couldn't do that. He then sarcastically asked "Did I read the rules and regulations?" I replied "yes I did". Now he was getting rather rude, he said "According to the rules, you can't work on the car." Well, you guys should know me........ I always read up and have my info straight before I go into battle. I said, "No sir, you're partially wrong. On page 18, paragraph D, rule 46, it clearly states " No major vehicle repairs are to be performed on the premisis." He says "I'm on the board of directors and I say that you can't do that here." My reply was simply this: "Mister, I don't care if you're the president of the United States. Changing spark plug wires is not considered a major repair, I could have already been done with the job if you weren't here annoying me. And furthermore, on page 23, paragraph 4, rule 89, it clearly states: No resident can tell another resident what to do." The guy was so bent out of shape, he wheeled off in a huff while I nicely said: "Have a nice day". I finished the plug wires in about another 10 minutes and went out to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

owned..........

[Steel2686]

Here's an update from this weekend's events.

It's heating up, but it looks like I may have two more allies in the war. Things definitely went to another level this weekend just as I expected. He's using his son to do his dirty work which is the most disturbing part of it all.

I was out Saturday pretty much all day. I came back to find, of course, ATV tracks on my lawn. Not ripped up, but the grass was pressed down. It's just enough to p*ss me off. As soon as i saw that, I called over there, but they didn't pick up (they were home). I left a message basically saying I don't appreciate Michael (the son) riding his quad on my lawn. Not two minutes later I get a call with the wife telling me "How dare I accuse their son of riding on the lawn". She tried telling me he didn't even ride his quad yet. I pointed out to her that he was riding it in their driveway when I was leaving. She subsiquently hung up on me.

I own 2 3/4 acres, but around 1 1/2 are woods which are adjacent to his property. He likes to ride in the woods with the quad (never asked me if it was okay), and uses my property to access it instead of his own as it's easier. Well, today I went into the woods, dug up several sapling maples and pines, and planted them where he enters the woods from my property. I went ahead and staked them up, making them look like I bought them. Then I took pictures for reference. We'll see what happens with that.

Lastly, in the woods is a brook that separates my property from two people who live on an adjacent street. The kid rides his quad across the river into their part of the woods. I wandered over to my neighbors across the brook this morning and asked if they had a problem with this. They weren't even aware. Needless to say, they weren't happy when they saw the tracks in the woods. They both were going to call the neighbor's house to voice their displeasure today.

Looks like pressure will be coming from several sides.

[Trash man]

well if that dont work out, i still got like 4 or 5 rednecks/hicks who would love to get the trucks dirty

[thenuge876]

thats what you need though man, a few people telling them thast their son is a problem hopefully will do something...but i also agree with what was said before try adn find out who does own the private drive that you guys are located on.

[Dave M]

hhmm... how come you couldn't "spike" the yard? if the kid gets hurt it's tresspassing? I don't know a lot about that legallity stuff though. The first thing that came to my mind about sabatojing (is that how it's spelled) the 4 wheeler is that you don't want to start a war you don't want to get in to. What i mean is, say you mess with his son's 4 wheeler. Obviously he doesn't have much respect for machines so if he gets in to a P'd off mood and mess's with your CAR !!!!! I don't think it's worth a murder if he did anything to your car. Maybe you could pay some kids at his sons school to kick his boys butt? Not real sure. I'm always paranoid someone will try to get to me by attacking my car cause they know it's a point of weakness. keep us updated.

Although in most cases you are not liable to injuries sustained by uninvited guests on your property, there have been cases where burglars have sued homeowners after hurting themselves while trying to steal from the property, I kid you not! In most cases, though, you only have a duty to invited guests. For example, let's say you didn't shovel your front steps after a snow storm. A salesman comes up to your door and slips. Most of the time, you will not be held liable (or your insurance will cover it if you are). But if you invite your friend Bob over to watch the game and he slips on the steps, then Bob has a right to sue because you didn't take due care to provide a safe environment for him. Laws and case law varies from state to state.

BTW, if they could prove that you intentionally spiked the yard to injure the kid, knowing he would be trespassing on your yard, not only could you be sued, you could be arrested.

[Steel2686]

thats what you need though man, a few people telling them thast their son is a problem hopefully will do something...but i also agree with what was said before try adn find out who does own the private drive that you guys are located on.

The private driveway is owned by all three houses. He has as much a right to it as anyone unfortunately. Thing is, I don't so much mind when he rides on the driveway. I'm set back from the other two houses. I don't really hear the quad that much. My other neighbor has the problem with it, however. Either way, this is going to come to an end sooner than later.