Author Topic: When good neighbors go bad...  (Read 4943 times)

Offline JediMAC

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When good neighbors go bad...
« on: October 11, 2003, 02:41 PM »
Or when new neighbors just SUCK...!!!

Patty and I just moved into a new place a little over a month ago, and one of the reasons we chose this community, and this neighborhood, was because it was supposedly EXTREMELY quiet and mellow.  It's got an HOA (Home Owner's Association), so there's strict rules about what you can and can't doing, especially when it comes to stuff that might be bothering your fellow neighbors to any extent.  We moved into a cul-de-sac, that the former owner and a few neighbors told us was quiet as a library, not a peep out of anyone at any time...

Well, that's not exactly true, now that we've been here for a while, and have been able to see and listen for ourselves.  Yes, it's usually quiet, but there's some very noticeable and oft exceptions.

Starting to our next door neighbors on the right of us:  An older couple (60's), both of whom have a SERIOUS drinking problem, and are usually drunk every night, which often leads to some rather big fights between the two of them.  Big shouting matches, with swearing and everything.  Annoying.  Couple times a week probably.

Then, to our immediate left, some new people moved in just a month before us, replacing the former little old (85) lady that was there by herself before.  Well, the new neighbors are a young couple with a 1 year old and a live in mother-in-law too.  But they're the type of family who's always having parties (like loud music with LOTS of bass, drinking on the front porch, cars coming and going late into the night, etc.)  That doesn't even include the screaming baby.  Plus, they apparently don't have a dryer, and therefore hang all their clothes on the back patio to dry, in plain view of our patio.  Plus the guy smokes out on the front porch all the time too.  Obnoxious.  We HATE them.  Patty already asked them to tone it down a bit several weeks ago, which has helped a little, but we're close to starting up with the daily phone calls to our HOA.

Then, next house past them, there's an 18 year old daughter who likes to have all her buddies over constantly, and enjoys throwing big parties when her parents are out of town (a couple so far).  All of her friends have the suped up cars, with big stereos and ultra loud mufflers.  More loud music here too.  Annoying.

But the worst is a couple houses beyond that, at the end of the cul-de-sac, where a single lady lives with her two YAPPY as a MF dogs.  >:(   >:(   >:(  She's got two little Scottish terriers that NEVER shut up.  They're barking (little high pitched squeeling barks) in unison practically 24/7.  All day, all night.  They basically just sit out in the front window and stare into the cul-de-sac, and if they see so much as a single leaf move, they start their obnoxious yapping.  What makes it worse, is that the lady doesn't even care, and just let's them do it for as long as they want.  She could at the very least just close her front blinds so the dogs can't see out, but she won't, despite numerous complaints from the other neighbors.  The damned things usually wake us up several nights a week too.  I HATE those dogs more than anything in the world right now.

That about wraps up my disgust at this time.  A huge, peaceful neighborhood and community, and we wind up getting the only 4 bad neighbors in the entire area.  Sucks.  We love the inside of our new place though, when we can't hear the crap from the outside...  :-\

So, what about everyone else?  Who's got crappy neighbors?  How bad are they?  Please do tell, as misery loves company!   :-*

Offline dustrho

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2003, 03:07 PM »
Neighbors... you gotta hate them!  We have some crappy neighbors too, but a few of them have somewhat improved over the last year or so.  We have 4 neighbors who have dogs, and two of those neighbors have dogs that bark just as annoying as your neighbor's dogs Matt.  I used to be a dog lover, but that is no more.  They're annoying animals (at least the dogs that bark all the time).  Then there's a young couple right next to us who used to play loud music every day, but after asking him to tone it down a few times he's drastically improved.

Since you have an HOA Matt, you would definitely want to write a formal letter to them about your headaches with the neighbors.  Have it all documented.  There should be some rules about animals that bark that much.  You might even be able to call the police, because that kind of racket is disturbing the peace (at least it is here).

Hopefully things will get better for you soon.
dustrho

Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2003, 03:34 PM »
My neighbors :

1) Set the house on fire 3 times
2) Set the yard on fire 2 times
3) Stole the hose we used to put their fire out
4) Shot a bottle rocket into our awning
5) Stole our cat and hid it in their basement with a stereo blasting
6) Stole a small 'No smoking - unless youre on fire' plaque
7) Stole our mail
8) Rang our doorbell before running away (numerous times)
9) Let their ugly manchild wanded up and down the neighborhood in the middle of the street.
10) Throws trash over into our yard

End result - we've built a very large fence... 11ft tall I think.

Offline dustrho

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2003, 03:39 PM »
Brad, if we had neighbors like your's we would have moved a long time ago.
dustrho

Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2003, 03:57 PM »
We were here first, we made this house really nice inside and out, my dad will never move from here...

I'm thinking they'll kill/murder each other eventually, then we can live in peace again.

Offline dustrho

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2003, 03:58 PM »
Have your parents ever called the police about them?
dustrho

Offline Vator

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2003, 04:01 PM »
I would nuke the SOBs!Ohh wait.I'd call the cops.
- June 22, 2004 12:13 AM -

Offline DSJ™

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2003, 04:02 PM »
Ahh yes, neighbors!  

I live in a townhouse complex. Some are 4-plexes & the one I'm in is a 6-plexe on the corner. I have had many problems with noisy neighbors since I moved in 4 1/2 yrs ago.

Now the new neighbors behind us have 2 children that are very noisy & even they are outside, they drive me nuts screaming & yelling. Even the parents are no better.  >:( They are the 3rd tenants to live in that townhouse. Glad there moving soon!

The neighbors before them trashed the place. One night I could hear yelling through he kitchen wall then Bang!-Thud!, the stuff in our kitchen cupboards ratted! That was the sound of a body being slammed against the wall.  :o  The fight was on so I called the police! 2 guys left after I called & I got there plate number & description. Drug related! A couple of months later, they were gone. They left everything behind, just got up one day & abannded the place. What a mess inside, lamps broken, holes in the walls, doors off there hinges etc...  Cost management lots of bucks to fixed the place up!

Then there are the kids next to us in the other corner. I can hear the kids running around inside back & forth. The floor vibrates. They have been yelling in the yard after midnight the odd time. During the summer, they would have the patio door open & the stereo blasting away. Only when the parents are not home. I had a good chat with the parents & so far they have been good. 1 1/2 months of silence from them!  8)  

Some people must be deaf! It's pretty bad when you can here a stereo coming from the complex across the street.  >:(

We do have tenant rules here but most of them just don't care about the other neighbors. When there is a problem, we complain to the police & they come out & warn them once, after that they get fined.   ;D

Hopefully in a year or 2, I will have a new place to live! Toy room!  ;)

Yep, complain to your HOA Matt.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2003, 04:07 PM »
My neighbors :

1) Set the house on fire 3 times
2) Set the yard on fire 2 times
3) Stole the hose we used to put their fire out
4) Shot a bottle rocket into our awning
5) Stole our cat and hid it in their basement with a stereo blasting
6) Stole a small 'No smoking - unless youre on fire' plaque
7) Stole our mail
8) Rang our doorbell before running away (numerous times)
9) Let their ugly manchild wanded up and down the neighborhood in the middle of the street.
10) Throws trash over into our yard

End result - we've built a very large fence... 11ft tall I think.

#9 took the cake for me!   LOL!

My neighbors are okay, to an extent.  In the apartment next to mine are two Polish guys (yes, from Poland) who share a one bedroom apartment.  They're nice enough, but sometimes they play this awful eurotrash dance music that's sung in polish.  That's a bit much.  That, and their car that has bullet hole stickers on the side of it.

In some other apartments near me are some middle eastern families.  They've never been rude to me, but their kids run all over the place and make a fair ammount of noise.  It's especially irksome since I'm currently on a shift where I have to be at work at 3 AM and I sleep at odd hours.  There are several of these families in my apartment complex, and at least one in my building.  They all seem to know each other, or are related somehow.  They're always going between buildings and leaving the security doors open.  Uggghhh.

Then, I have a french neighbor who thinks that somehow he has his own assigned parking space.  This came up during the blizzard this past winter.  I had dug my own truck out of a space and gone to work that day.  I came home, and my space was taken, but one was available directly in front of my building.  So, I parked.  My french neighbor comes knocking on my door, saying that it isn't very nice that I took his space that he says he dug out.  At my apartment complex, parking has always been first come, first served and I told him so.  I was sorry I took his space, but also told him someone took my space.  A no-win situation for everyone involved.  This is why I want to live on several acres of forested land without any neighbors in the immediate vicinity.
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Offline Force Guy

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2003, 04:37 PM »
Or when new neighbors just SUCK...!!!

Patty and I just moved into a new place a little over a month ago, and one of the reasons we chose this community, and this neighborhood, was because it was supposedly EXTREMELY quiet and mellow.  It's got an HOA (Home Owner's Association), so there's strict rules about what you can and can't doing, especially when it comes to stuff that might be bothering your fellow neighbors to any extent.  We moved into a cul-de-sac, that the former owner and a few neighbors told us was quiet as a library, not a peep out of anyone at any time...

Well, that's not exactly true, now that we've been here for a while, and have been able to see and listen for ourselves.  Yes, it's usually quiet, but there's some very noticeable and oft exceptions.

Starting to our next door neighbors on the right of us:  An older couple (60's), both of whom have a SERIOUS drinking problem, and are usually drunk every night, which often leads to some rather big fights between the two of them.  Big shouting matches, with swearing and everything.  Annoying.  Couple times a week probably.

Then, to our immediate left, some new people moved in just a month before us, replacing the former little old (85) lady that was there by herself before.  Well, the new neighbors are a young couple with a 1 year old and a live in mother-in-law too.  But they're the type of family who's always having parties (like loud music with LOTS of bass, drinking on the front porch, cars coming and going late into the night, etc.)  That doesn't even include the screaming baby.  Plus, they apparently don't have a dryer, and therefore hang all their clothes on the back patio to dry, in plain view of our patio.  Plus the guy smokes out on the front porch all the time too.  Obnoxious.  We HATE them.  Patty already asked them to tone it down a bit several weeks ago, which has helped a little, but we're close to starting up with the daily phone calls to our HOA.

Then, next house past them, there's an 18 year old daughter who likes to have all her buddies over constantly, and enjoys throwing big parties when her parents are out of town (a couple so far).  All of her friends have the suped up cars, with big stereos and ultra loud mufflers.  More loud music here too.  Annoying.

But the worst is a couple houses beyond that, at the end of the cul-de-sac, where a single lady lives with her two YAPPY as a MF dogs.  >:(   >:(   >:(  She's got two little Scottish terriers that NEVER shut up.  They're barking (little high pitched squeeling barks) in unison practically 24/7.  All day, all night.  They basically just sit out in the front window and stare into the cul-de-sac, and if they see so much as a single leaf move, they start their obnoxious yapping.  What makes it worse, is that the lady doesn't even care, and just let's them do it for as long as they want.  She could at the very least just close her front blinds so the dogs can't see out, but she won't, despite numerous complaints from the other neighbors.  The damned things usually wake us up several nights a week too.  I HATE those dogs more than anything in the world right now.

That about wraps up my disgust at this time.  A huge, peaceful neighborhood and community, and we wind up getting the only 4 bad neighbors in the entire area.  Sucks.  We love the inside of our new place though, when we can't hear the crap from the outside...  :-\

So, what about everyone else?  Who's got crappy neighbors?  How bad are they?  Please do tell, as misery loves company!   :-*

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Offline Jesse James

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2003, 05:06 PM »
I don't have a lot of bad neighbors, but driving up my road is like taking a spin through a circus tent...

There's some real freaks for the first half-mile before my place.

My neighbors on our left were a bit of a pain when I was young but they're ok now and we get along.  There's an older couple beside them who are nice (The old man complains aobut everything, but that's good because his squeaky wheel gets the greasin' it seems).  

On my right there's nobody...  Well, not for a little ways.  I can barely see his house actually.  He's a nice guy too, if his house is maybe a little unkempt.  Our other neighbor on our left lives on the hill behind our house...  A small forrest separates us and they're well up onto the old field that was up there so I cannot even see them...  When they drive past they're nice though and I went to school with their daughter so I sort of know them.

The only things about my road that I dislike are the fast drivers...  It's a 25 mph speedlimit road and kids are known to do anywhere from 40 to 65 if they can get their car that high before the S curve...  I've confronted some of the drivers about it, and usually they stop because I can be intimidating when I'm PO'd (Not to toot my own horn...  I'm not some big guy/monster but when I'm mad people back off after some threats).  

You sound like you have options though Matt...  The person who runs that community is a start, and I'd make the police my second stop.  Those "cars" (Or POS's as I like to call them) at that girl's house are likely illegal...  

They're just kids so I say call the fuzz who I'm sure will delight in telling the kids their cars are illegal and dolling out multiple fines to them. :)  I hear that's a big thing for the fuzz in California, haha.

Those are the same cars I've threatened the drivers of here because our police aren't always reliable.  Kids react very well to being told "Stop it or else....", though I don't recommend that mode of expression to anyone.

Especially to you guys who own a home and everything, and have things to lose if the kids or their parents came back on you.  That just has worked for me because I'm a big jerk.  ;D
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Offline Membraneman

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2003, 06:11 PM »
Well that's the one of the reasons we left the city (Edmonton). The noise, crime, partying, etc.

We now live in a brand new sub-division with only 2
houses on our st. The one next to us is still unsold and on the other side is an open field. There will be lots more houses in the coming months but at least for now we can enjoy the peace and quiet . In fact it's so quiet we can can't sleep.... ::)
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Offline Ben

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2003, 08:20 PM »
I live in an apartment complex, and my neighbors suck as well. They must be the horniest beings on the planet, because they **** all the time. Loudly. Bed-creakingly. It gets so bad I can't hear my TV. Oh well. Eventually the girl will end up pregnant and drawing welfare cash for the little bastard, but whatever. Just another statistic.
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Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2003, 08:31 PM »
Calling the police is pointless - the lazy bastards take their time getting to the scene, and once they are there, they talk to the neighbors for 5 minutes then leave.  ::)

Offline dustrho

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Re: When good neighbors go bad...
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2003, 08:36 PM »
Calling the police is pointless - the lazy bastards take their time getting to the scene, and once they are there, they talk to the neighbors for 5 minutes then leave.  ::)

Then take action into your own hands, but don't take it to the "People's Court."  They won't help you out for squat.   :P
dustrho