What Would You Do?

Julie928 · ‎04-08-2013

Good evening, everyone! Just wanted to share an experience with a neighbor that I guess you could say is less than pleasant. First, these people let their dogs bark for extended periods of time right outside our window. Second, they have let their weeds on their side of my fence grow taller than me (and I'm 5'6"). Third, they do not dispose of their trash the way the rest of the neighborhood does. You see, they hoard it in plastic grocery bags on the side of their house. Once they have accumulated enough bags they load them in their car and dump them somewhere ~ have no idea where. Did I mention I can see and smell their trash from our window? But wait! There's more! Then this evening I noticed them setting up an amplifier of some sort in their driveway. Then the man of the house and one of his buddies starting playing their guitars which yes, are both hooked up to the amplifier. This is all being done within 20 feet of our window and has gone on for well over an hour. How would you handle this? I am not against people having friends over and if you want to play your guitar fine. But does it have to be hooked up to an amplifier??? We have put a lot of blood, sweat & tears into maintaining our property and have no intention of being chased out because of people like this. I love it here and want to handle this as neighborly as possible but have to admit both my husband & I are at our wits end. Thanks in advance, everyone!

Lila Belle · ‎01-24-2013

If you have a city service where you can report these things I would do that. You probably can complain anonymously.

It seems that they are in violation of city or town ordinances.

Bird mama · ‎03-12-2010

Report them.

There are many elements: wind, fire, water
But none quite like the element of surprise

MaggieMack · ‎10-01-2014

I would be traipsing down to City Hall to learn definitively what your options are. I'm sure there are noise ordinances, barking dog restrictions, weed control regulations, etc. This will not be an easy situation to remedy and you need to be prepared. Where I live, we can only have garbage cans out in view from the street for the 24 hours surrounding pickup. And dogs are not allowed to bark incessantly. People don't like to be essentially told they are slobs with bad habits. You want to approach their compassion and not appear officious or it will just get worse.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

@Lila Belle wrote:
If you have a city service where you can report these things I would do that. You probably can complain anonymously.

Probably not. Except for reports like trying to get people to turn in criminals (hard core criminals) reports filed with a city are usually a public record.

MaggieMack · ‎10-01-2014

@Pearlee wrote:
@Lila Belle wrote:
If you have a city service where you can report these things I would do that. You probably can complain anonymously.

Probably not. Except for reports like trying to get people to turn in criminals (hard core criminals) reports filed with a city are usually a public record.

You can PLAN on it not remaining anonymous.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

If I might digress for a moment because this thread reminds me of a story....

One time my dog got loose when I forgot to lock up my gate after the electric meter reader was in my back yard reading the meter. My dog was only out for less then five minutes - he ran up and down my the street a couple of times before I caught him.

About 20 minutes later, the dog warden came to my home and rang my doorbell. The dog came to the door with me and the warden said someone had called him because my dog was running loose, but he could see the dog was now in the house and said he couldn't do anything about the dog since he hadn't witnessed it running loose. I had to show him my dog's license, which of course I had, so as not to get a ticket for having an unlicensed dog.

Anyway, I went and got the public record of which neighbor had called in -- just to know who was so intolerant about a dog who had escaped for five minutes. About two years later, a terrible storm came through our neighborhood and a large old tree fell through their entire roof and third floor of their home. Karma! I felt sorry for the people because it took months to get their house fixed and they had to move out during that time, but I also gave my doggie a pat on the head every time we walked by their severely damaged home.

Sorry to digress but it's an example of most complaints are public records.

Julie928 · ‎04-08-2013

Thank you for your responses! At this point I feel like this ~ clearly we are dealing with people that are, plainly put, ignorant. Who does things like that? If I hated my neighbors with a passion I wouldn't hook up a guitar to an amplifier and play it well after dark. I should also mention that they had trouble with another neighbor a few houses down. I won't go into details but the bottom line is I have no intention of living like this. I'm not perfect and I'm sure we make noise, too. The difference is we know when & where to draw the line. I guess if it continues I will file a complaint and if they find out it was us oh well. Clearly this neighbor & I are not playing on the same field...

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

I'd suggest you make a call to code enforcement at city hall. If the guitar playing extends into the night a call to police would be appropriate.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

@Julie928 wrote:
Thank you for your responses! At this point I feel like this ~ clearly we are dealing with people that are, plainly put, ignorant. Who does things like that? If I hated my neighbors with a passion I wouldn't hook up a guitar to an amplifier and play it well after dark. I should also mention that they had trouble with another neighbor a few houses down. I won't go into details but the bottom line is I have no intention of living like this. I'm not perfect and I'm sure we make noise, too. The difference is we know when & where to draw the line. I guess if it continues I will file a complaint and if they find out it was us oh well. Clearly this neighbor & I are not playing on the same field...

Another story for you....for several years I had neighbors living right next door that I couldn't stand. Not for the same reasons as you - basically they encroached on my property continuously and had no respect that my yard was my yard. They didn't want to mess up their lawn so they put their basketball net on the edge of their property facing them, so that all the missed balls thrown at it went into my yard, not on their lawn (just one example).

Anyway, one day I woke up and saw a For Sale sign there. I was so happy. They had filed for divorce (unbeknownst to me) and were selling their house. Hang in there - you might get lucky too!