Hate thy neighbor? You're not alone

We had an assocaition President of our Condo, who would make us fix anything little thing within 24 hours. He had a little power and that made him a dictator. I had to put locks on my fence doors to keep him out of my yard. One day he cut the locks while I was sitting in my yard. Thank God for the police.

Hard to reach a happy medium in condos and townhouses when the Board of Directors think they are so important that they can totally control in a dictative way. Keeping the neighborhood looking nice is important, but allowing some people to get away with violations and being nasty to others is not the way to do it.

how about a female neighbor who breaks in your home and fixes herself lunch or dinner while she waits on you to return plus she goes through your closets and drawers then gets upset with you because you are not a good host when you get home and her there
of course I delt with it I moved

We lived on eleven wooded acres in the country and the neighbors had a small cut out section of this property directly in front of our woods. We camp, have cookouts, hunt berries and mushrooms and go for afternoon walks in this woods and they were fully aware of that fact. We also have a nice swimming pool and garage with antique cars in direct line of this area. The neighbor was using a thin wooden pallet as a backboard set up against the fence and shooting directly into this area of our woods. Our trees were filled with bullet holes. My husband went over and explained to him that a wood pallet would not stop a bullet from a 22 long rifle and explained that if the neighbor wanted to shoot our direction, he had to put up a proper backstop to prevent the bullets from traveling onto our property. The neighbor argued that he watched to be sure we were not in the woods when he shot. My husband explained that was still not safe enough and the neighbor agreed not to shoot our way again. We pulled in our driveway a few days later to find our neighbors having a birthday party allowing a bunch of young teens to use 22 long rifles and pellet guns to shoot cans off our fence and at this pallet with targets on it. When the teens noticed us staring at them as we pulled into the drive, they begain shooting repeatedly as to show us we would have to put up with it. I called the sheriff and when he asked the neighbor what he was doing, he told the sheriff he was shooting behind his garage and towards a different direction. The sheriff came back to argue with me and I pointed the cans out, the 100's of bullet holes in our trees and I additionally pointed out that if the neighbor had shot behind his garage and the other direction, he would have been shooting into his other neighbors front door. Then the sheriff took us seriously and ended the shooting. The neighbors were so upset they stopped speaking to us. By the way, they had about 1/3 rd of an acre they were shooting from and onto our property, We are thankful no one was killed. Their other wonderful qualities are parking the trashy things they don't want to see in the area that we have to see it. They try odd shades of paint in squiggles on the back of their home and leave it. They burn trash without a screen cover and we have trash go all over our woods and pond. They buy dogs that poop all over our yard and hike on our newly planted trees and flowers. These are the neighbors from hell.

My yard was NOT my yard, if you ask the neighbors. There was a family who lived next door with two children. They were prone to riding their bikes around the yard which I thought was not very nice. One morning I was doing dishes and saw the young boy go RIDING past my kitchen window on his bike. Now I had politely asked him in the past NOT to ride in my yard beacuse I didnt' want him to get hurt and I had told his parents but it fell on deaf ears. Well, I tried to catch him at the front door but he was too fast, so I went to the back sliding door to ask him to please leave my property. As I opened the curtains and door, he flew past with a wicked grin. Before I could say a word, I spotted his younger sister in my back yard swinging on OUR swing set (our yard was not fenced in but their yard was) and the MOTHER was on the swing next to her with a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She looks up, smiles and says "HI!" and continues to read the paper. I was so mad, I headed to the front door....and all I wanted to do was scream. As I opened the front door, the son whizzed by again on the bike and I spot the FATHER walking around in MY driveway with a cup of COFFEE checking out my grass. He saw me, waved and I slammed the door!! According to the son, our yard belonged to his family. Thank God they moved!!

Iam an Association Manager of numerous associations. I find the comments made an every day common item in my trade. Owner to owner conflicts are exactly those owner to owner, not the Associations. It is imperative that each owner READ their governing documents as to what the Association can and cannot do...owner to owner issues should be resolved by the owners. If there is a dispute about Association responsible items then the Association needs to step in and resolve the issue. I find COMMUNICATING is the best medicine in resolving disputes. Owners in Associations believe the Board of Directors are the Landlord. They are not landlords. They are a duly elected volunteer serving on a board of directors for a CORPORATION. They have a fiducary responsibilty to the Association (Corporation). I find alot of complaints about the Association being directed to the Board members. But, when the Association needs the owners participation (Annual Meeting time; the need of committee members, etc.) for owners to fill vacant seats on the board your cant fine one. Empathy is a huge problem within Associations. An Association is only what the MEMBERS make of it. Overall, I love my job and my Associations. Yes, board members get fustrated and want to take inappropriate actions right away. This is a knee jerk reaction. Managers need to be on top of those fustrations and knee jerk reactions and guide the Board through the resolution process as with the members. Great topic, glad to see today. Everyone enjoy your community and love thy neighbor....

Not being one of these wimps that are having these problems, these are some of my cures, if talking to my tormenters fails, turn into one of them, try some of this, Fire, Plant killer, wake up call before 2 or 4 AM. have you ever owned on of those compressed air horn that boaters use? its really loud, every one will get up. Pepper spray for the peeper, dog catcher, or exlax for a treat, after a while they will want to get rid of the shitter. use your brain, not a mean person ? you can be, as it would be temporary, if the cops will not help you, what makes you think they will help them, you can do alot and cause no harm. The Children I don't know any thing that can be done about them, they will grow up with no respect and will be released on society, all of this could be alot of fun, it can't get any worse. This is why I live in the South and in the country. Respect, this is the key word. Chief

A neighbor of ours, who also happens to be the township attorney has made it clear that he doesn't like us. Over the years he has threatened to sue us because our 3 teens have too many friends, we own too many cars (5 drivers), etc. Pure harrasment! He even had No Parking signs put up just in front of our house so that when we have company they have to park a block away. We recently got building and zoning permits to erect a garage. A bldg. planner drew up the blue prints which were taken to the zoning dept. and approved. When the garage was 90% done, the atty.(neighbor) took us to court and had our construction stopped, stating we we in violation of zoning. It has gone on for 3 years and the garage has sat with no siding, windows and doors. The atty. made us post a $36,000 bond (more than the value of the garage), tried to get the judge to order that we can not use the garage until the case was settled, and tried to get us thrown in jail because we had a tarp on the roof because they stopped us in the middle of roofing and the bare wood was exposed. Howland township took our case all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court, only to lose. Talk about the best of both worlds, the township atty. got to harrass us, sue us, cause us mental anguish, divide the neighborhood, drag us through the courts, and cost us over $20,000 in legal fees. But the best part for him is he got to do all that AND GET PAID!!!! Corruption is alive and well in Howland Township (or as my co-workers call it Howland Clownship) and Trumbull County. But in the end, as my dad always said, "The cream comes to the top", we beat them fair and square.

I live in a 4-plex on top, my neighbors allows their grown daughter's to play loud music all night. I have called the police 80 times. They keyed my car and the owner tried to evict but they are on section 8 and had problems. Their friends vist with loud music, block the parking and harass my daughter. The women on section eight lives with a man. I get up at 4:00am everyday and I'm about to lose my mind.

our neighbors from hell clean their gutters and throw everything into our backyard..I admit most of the leaves are from our trees but what nerve.. Meanwhile on the other side of "hell neighbors" house is a huge tree that hangs into their neighbors yard but at least those [good] neighbors have class- they clean up the leaves without throwing them back over the fence..
Our "hell neighbors" have the nerve to dock their 37 ft boat on 40 feet of property- [boats swing in the wind plus they need extra line b/c of the tide].. So basically they have a 18" of bow and stern room until they're on soneone else's property..The stern is on my dock and the bow on my good neighbors dock..Did we ever say a word? Of course not, it's a boating community..People are suppose to help other people...
PS "hell neighbors" house is for sale and everybody is very happy happy happy..They're also very moody, one day they say hi and the next they walk right by...What's the deal with people like this?

Priscilla-
Report your Section 8 neighbor to the local Housing Authority which prohibits additional occupants than are permitted on their contract. Our tax dollars are going wasted supporting these long-term "guests".
-adele

I too have a similar case like #7 parent letting their daughters play loud music at night the only difference is this teanage boy uses an amplifier to play his back ground music as he plays his drums and yells his head out. This goes on seven days aweek. I have called the police many times but they can't do anything about it only if it happens after 10 PM. Can anyone HELP me!!

#10 - Opera - early Saturday and Sunday mornings!

I found most of these issues very entertaining and some far too familiar, and at times felt like it was my family,home and the street we lived on being discussed. We moved into a quiet residential neighborhood, at least it was quiet till we moved in. We had three teenage girls at the time.I had been warned that the man who lived behind us on the next street had a habit of watching people with binoculars. I had a birthday party for my daughter when she turned 13. It was a pool party with about 15 girls. I baked an extra cake and took a piece to all my new neighbors along with a sheet of paper with my phone number so they could call me instead of the police if it got too loud. I even went to the neighbors that lived on the street behind us. The old man directly behind us answered the door the the binochulars around his neck and camera in hand. I told him that I certainly hoped he was watching the birds in the empty lot next to him, not my daughter and her friends, and certainly not taking pictures of them. Over the years there were more parties, more cakes, and more visits to neighbors.Our older neighbors appreciated the fact that I wanted to know if my girls were causing a disturbance. The biggest compliment paid to me and my girls was an instance when I came home and saw the man across the street talking to a police officer. The girls had moved out by then and were establishing careets. I rolled the window down and aksed the neighbor if everything was allrigt. It was then I noticed that the officer was from a department in another city. My youngest daughter had applied for a job there and he was doing a background check. He said that my nieghbor had just payed me the highest compliment a neighbor could pay. He told him that if he did not see her leave the house on occasion and if he had not gained 20lbs over the years from the cake I brought he never would have known that teenagers lived in the house. One neighbor let his dogs run loose to do their business, and when I caught them pooping in my driveway and on my lawn, I took a ziplock bag, pick it up and returned it to him, not on front step, but I rang the door bell, and gave it to his wife. Any time I saw people walking their dog, letting in poop in my yard, I always returned it to them in that manner.I only had to do it once and they got the point. I was always polite, and did it in a joking manner.As the neighborhood evolved, and the older people moved to condos, and we became the old folks on the block the kids would drive too fast down the street, music too loud, motorcyles up and down the street. We adapted. My husband began to ride a motorcycle to work, I got hearing aids so I could hear the music, and worst of all found myslef taking pictures of cute things the kids did while they were playing in the street,but I always shared these with their parents. In short people are people and we all have our own lifestyles, and if problems are handled with humor and done face to face, your neighborhood becomes a fun place to live.With the exception of the couple that had the city attorney for a neighbor, all of these problems could have been handled, if not with humor, at least using legal steps, or giving the offending neighbor a dose of their own medicine. As for the city attorney, this is a sign of the good ole boy system at work, and a definite conflict of interest on his part, and I feel for these people.

It's easy with any of these frustrations...just buy an inexpensive camera and record any on-going activity. Especially when there is damage to your property. The parents are responsible for their children's behavior! I've seen it a thousand times on Judge Judy. Then, call the show and have your case seen, so that the whole country knows!!

We have lived in our house for over a year now. It is a rental property, try having your landlord live on the hill directly across from you and he has binoculars out watching every move you make. Hes around the house from morning to night just walking around doing nothing. He constantly calls and tells the me that the kids cant play where they are playing.we live in the country, the middle of the woods, with only 3 neighbors not including him...he owns all the properties. He told me that the kids are not aloud to ride their bikes anywhere on the propery. He promised before we moved in that he would hook he electric up in the garage and hasnt...his exscuse is that the kids wouldnt pick up a piece of paper on the ground so hes not going to do it!!! My basement flooded at midnight and what did he tell me to do....get a bucket and a shovel and scoop it out...a foot of water!!!! A previous tenenant caught him in her house going through her belongings...we found this out after we moved in. He says his job is being a landlord and that he will do whatever he wants when he wants. Our solution....We are moving next month!!!! Beware of this landlord in PA...as the house in now posted for rent...you will be living in HELL!!!!

Well-at the risk of sounding "Neanderthal-like"-I assure you all of one thing and that is if one of these many self-involved "good" neighbors lived next to me or tried to push any of thier "agendas" on me (ie pool usage, walks into my home without an invitation, etc...) I would extract the balance of thier teeth in person (pool commandos), escort the woman out with a cattle prod (the one who showed up in the kitchen eating those folks food), and I would take particular pleasure in slapping the spit out of the mouth of the condo prez that cut my locks to come into my yard-while I was sitting there???? I say fight fire with a bad attitude-and a mean female houndog of a lawyer. If you allow idiots to rule-then we become a society of rules made by idiots. Violence is not usually the answer-but in these cases a judge and panel of 12 of our peers just might understand. Stand up for yourselves!!!!!!!!

Hi! I'm not going to get in deep with this1 But anyone who or whom tells me that I cannot use the pool or anything else!? Can Jump into Lake pollock! And I'm half polish! So anyone out there that took offense!???? Lighten up? I have nice people near me! Hammond, IN

Reply to #8, Associations mostly are dictators, i was a condo owner and there were 2 brothers in 2 different units out of 12, they sided with other olderly owners and bunched up on me ,i was 45 at the time and it was really like hell ,they let another unit rent out when you were not suppose to ,and i had my 2 older cats with me and i kept to myself and never mentioned cats and one thing lead to another and there were all kinds of threats and just nasty people,i just don't respect older people like i use to,some can be very bad til the end.Anyway the 2 brothers would get other condo owners to side with them when other people were breaking rules worse than me, bottom lone if they target you look out!, and to this day i do not believe it was because of the cats, i am a very good and quiet person but i got pushed to the limit for no reasonable answer.I will not buy another condo again.They really are dictators and find people to take their sides and make you look bad. Sorry lady your wrong.

People will be people and they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and no two are alike. Some people you can handle with humor and others not. I lived in a neighborhood, so no association to deal with. These neighbors believed that their children could do NO wrong and it was the fault of all the other children, even when told politely when their children did something wrong. I know my children are not perfect, I am not perfect, but I never set out on a mission to make anyone's life hell, because that is not who I am. Both the neighbors had attitudes that went like this: Rule #1 they were right, Rule #2 See Rule #1. They had parties when we were not home and they allowed the guests and the children to make themselves at home using our front and back yards, the swing set, played basketball and ripped the net, and when coming home, I found some of our children's toys in their back yard....not to mention they came into our yard and TOOK our backyard table for a party before even introducing themselves. To save the peace, I let the table incident slide but was very observant after that of what toys I saw her children playing with, because they were known to take things without asking. She claimed not to know the guests were on our property...but it was really funny when you think about them taking the table from our yard. There were a few incidents and that ended the friendship. There were a few times the kids played together smoothly but then something would happen and it was always my kids....my kids are bleeding and bruises and crying...but her kids didn't do it. Somehow she never noticed my kids were getting hurt and how her kids were innocent. So we got to the point of ignoring each other. I'd walk out of my house and see her siting on her porch facing my front steps, staring at my boys and I. Unfortunately, when new neighbors would moved in on the street, she would rush right over to meet them and gave her opinion of the street and neighbors and I would see her out there her pointing at me or in the direction of our house, and some families we never met because they basically ignored us after that. I'd wave, smile and get nothing in return...and she was always around. Apparently she believed she was allowed discipline anyone's children and set rules no matter whose yard the kids were playing in...but her children didn't have to listen to anyone but her and I was the bad neighbor who wouldn't let her boss my kids around. Her daughter came into my house, up the stairs and walked in on me one afternoon when I was in the shower STARK naked, and pulled open the shower curtain to tell me that my boys weren't listening to her....she was 5 and they were 7 and 9!! The kids were playing in MY yard, and the daughter wanted to be the boss so she did exactly what she learned to do from her mother, walk in other people's home and boss them around. When I told the mother, she laughed. Ironically, my house was the bus stop for the street due to my son's disability. My children tried to break the ice by telling her children the bus was coming to the house, their efforts were wasted, she was still a jerk. She called the school district because she didn't believe we were the official bus stop. During the school year, every day I had a varied number of kids and adults congregating in the driveway or front yard waiting for the bus, running all around, playing basketball and sitting/scratching my car,using my chilren's things and ruining our grass. The worst of this was because of my dear neighbors and her big rumors, none of the kids ha dno problems playing in our yard/driveway every day, yet never bothered to talk to my children or I, we were ignored. If I had a better job and not on my own with two young children to raise, I'd have moved long ago.

I did enjoy some of the suggested methods of getting even,and geting the law involved in my case probably would have created more grief because they were always watching us whenever we were outside. Getting even might feel good for a short time, that doesn't really solve anything except lowering your standards to those who are being nasty to you and waiting to see what they do to get back at you. Being single and disabled kind of limits that stuff. They had a fenced in yard....and screened in porch, I wouldn't have the nerve to just walk in unless invited, can't climb locked fences to swing on their swingset or to play with their toys. Besides, it's like Murphy's Law, what can go wrong, WILL go wrong...and the other guy never gets caught but if I thought of doing any of those nasty deeds in return, I would get caught for sure. SO we tolerated the pests. I have another headache but I'll save that for another day.