Anyone dealt with "those" neighbors?

I hate going to war with people. It consumes you and takes a lot of energy to sustain it. I try to avoid it if at all possible, however in this case it seems like the only way to do that is to move and that is probably not palatable. If you have to go to war Toyman just gave a gang of excellent advice. Follow the letter of the law and out invade them, they will loose their minds. Also making your house so their cameras can't see it would be priority 1 for me. Hard to fight an enemy you can't see (ask the F-117). 

Toyman's right on!  Be nice, be legal.

If it weren't for the cameras; punch holes in The bottom of a coffee can, hang a string handle at the other end.  Fill it with high nitrogen fertilizer and spell bad words on their lawn, to be read from the picture window.

Nothing like a BRIGHT green Berkeley You every morning😁☕️

I'm going to make a t-shirt that says "shiny happy people love me". Every time there's a neighbor dispute - the person starting the trouble assumes that I'm on their side. One universally disliked neighbor never gave me any E36 M3 -  even after my son accidentally clocked his son with a baseball bat. I'm the only blue-collar guy on the street, so maybe it's because he's afraid of me. 

As much as I want to be an eye for an eye and a total prick, I agree that would serve no purpose other than to escalate things. However, they have been trying to bully us and now her for 8 years. I'm getting fed up.

Toyman! said:

I had a neighbor complain to the city about SanFord when I just was getting started painting it. The city sent a letter and had a code officer stop by. I showed him that my paperwork was in order and that I had plates and insurance. I also showed that the bus ran and drove so he went on his way. 

Then, for the edification of my complaining neighbor, I fired SanFord up and moved it from the backyard where no one could really see it, to the front yard where they had the joys of looking at it every day. Front and center, in their face. I left it there for a month. My neighbors pretty much leave me alone now. 

Return their favor.

To do that you need to be in compliance in every way so when the authorities show up they realize it's a nuisance complaint. Read your HOA agreement and county/city ordinances. If it allows 2 hours of street parking, then park on the street for two hours every day. If it allows the trash cans to be out for 24 hours, leave them out for 24 hours. While following the exact letter of the rules, push all of them to the limits on everything you do. You want them to call the HOA and the county/city daily. 

Then turn it up to 11. 

The pregnancy test suggested above is a great place to start. You don't need a pregnant woman for that. Always positive pregnancy test. 

Perfumed letters to the husband would be about right. Maybe a pair of panties. 

I would also set up an ultra-bright infrared light. This would of course be for your cameras that may be aimed in the direction of their house. 

Any innocent little thing that you can think of to twist their tail. If they like cats and hate dogs, make a donation to a dog club in their name. If they are Steelers fans, put them on the mailing list for some other team. If they like a particular college, make a donation to a rival school to get them a thank you note from the school. If you can find their phone number, enter it in every marketing website you can find. Occasional mailers from Porn Hub would be a good one if you can pull it off. 

When they scream, smile and wave. When they call the HOA, send them a thank you note. When they call the county, bake them some cookies or a cake. Hand deliver them and tell them how much you appreciate the visit from the nice man from the county. It turns out you are cousins and you had a great visit.

The more reasonable you are when they lose their E36 M3, the more they realize that they are no longer controlling the situation. They are being controlled. That realization will send them into orbit. They lose the ability to make reasonable choices and show their true colors to everyone including the authorities. Once that happens, they lose the ability to have the HOA and the county/city back them up because no one will listen to them. 

If you run out of ideas, stop back by here. I love sending shiny happy people into orbit. I'm pretty sure this group has a lot of really great ideas that will help. 

 

 

Damn, that is a master class!

Without doing anything to their property, block their view by planting a few rows of corn at the edge of your property. 

Don't drop to their level. 

shiny happy people live forever and they will also get you to their level and beat you with experience.

I saw this is your ex?  So not really a problem any more for you.

Why is the dog ever put in the front yard if he is so feeble?  Is there not a back yard?  

Toyman! said:

The pregnancy test suggested above is a great place to start. You don't need a pregnant woman for that. Always positive pregnancy test. 

Perfumed letters to the husband would be about right. Maybe a pair of panties.

Occasional mailers from Porn Hub would be a good one if you can pull it off.

Don't forget to sign them up for the NAMBLA newsletter!

spitfirebill said:

Why is the dog ever put in the front yard if he is so feeble?  Is there not a back yard?  

The house is built into a hill.  The back of the house is about 14' up, there are two flights of stairs. 

In reply to triumph7 :

Or the Gay Cruise Line.

Toyman! has the right idea. Study the HOA bylaws and play their exact game. Anytime there is even a remote possibility they are breaking a rule, report them to the HOA. It's  what they are doing but I'm sure they are ignoring some rules. It's almost impossible to be 100% compliant with an HOA. 

My parents aren't those neighbors but they did live next to some when they lived in Myrtle Beach. Two aggressive dogs that barked all day and night. Left outside to bark. Were aggressive and tried to attack them through the fence. The people were a disaster in a lot of other ways. My parents ended up moving and I don't blame them. But what it did do is put them through enough hell that now they won't put up with any neighbor E36 M3. And if someone is being obnoxious, they don't wait to make a complaint. The experience really changed them and honestly not in a good way. 

First of all, let me just acknowledge that powerlessness SUCKS. I feel for you guys. I know it's not your house, but clearly it's someone you care about so that's rough. And it sucks that someone is being so petty. As others have said, yes, you're in the wrong as far as rules go, but it's stupid that anyone cares in your situation. I agree though, you have to stop giving the neighbors ammo, you gotta stop letting the dog out without a leash. Then see if you keep getting "opinion" complaints. 
 

But I don't know, I don't think I'd try to play the HOA or animal control against them by out-complaining them, at least not to the point where I too became a nuisance. Then you both look like petty children and you're alone in your fight against them.

I do like the idea mentioned above of figuring out where exactly you stand with HOA enforcement people and Animal Control. Find out a non-busy time of day/week and go talk to them in person, bring donuts or whatever, apologize for anything you've done in this (petty violations) that has made their job more of a hassle. Feel them out on it, if they're at all sympathetic, ask them for their advice. That may bring them more on board with you. And yes, look into what qualifies as harassment *after* you've stopped with the clear cut violations. 
 

Really though, move. Even if you find another HOA neighborhood, not everyone is like that. I've been in a couple where the neighbors showed real grace. 

In reply to P3PPY :

I agree with everything you said.  By the letter of the county code, we are in violation.  It's just the petty nature of it that is ridiculous.  It's one of those megaplex communities with at least 1000 houses.  Plenty of people let their dogs out without a leash.  HOA doesn't get involved with it because it's a county ordinance.  Trying to reason with them is pointless unfortunately.  Other neighbors have had issues with them.  They would call the HOA when my ex and I would go to the gym at 4:30am.  We would leave the garage door open because we came home before 6am.  They took a still shot and sent it to the HOA.  They truly are just "those people".

I fully agree that making petty complaints back will only make things worse.  At the same time, enough is enough.  Unfortunately she can't move right now.  My twins are juniors in high school so don't want to make changes now. 

I'm very proud to say that I consider my ex as much a part of my family as my kids.  We are both type A personalities and sometimes that creates a lot of sparks.  We tried for 23 years but couldn't make it work.  I still think she's a great person and even better Mom. 

We had a similar guy (wife was pretty nice) who would do that to his neighbors. He reported multiple homes for having garage doors open too much, trash cans out too early, one neighbor got reported for dumping clippings in a vacant, wooded lot, I got reported for having a trailer in my driveway when I moved in, etc. The upside was that we are in a small community of 40-something homes, and everyone knows most everyone. He even got the county called on my backyard neighbor (outside of the HOA) for having a few trailers in his yard. When Shiny Happy Neighbor told me "don't worry, I'm getting him to clean up his trash", I snapped back "leave the guy alone, he isn't in our HOA". SHN was surprised I wasn't singing his praises, and his look was hilarious. Immediate neighbor to SHN was on the polar opposite political spectrum and decorated the inside of his garage with flags. HOA hated SHN neighbor because he was such a nuisance. They would act on any valid complaints as they should, but he only had a few fans in the neighborhood. We would do our best to make sure everyone knew how much he'd go out of his way to torment neighbors (he also had security cameras aimed at another house). 

I'm not one for gossip, but I had no qualms making it known what he was doing. As he lost friends, eventually, he got pushed out. You can't act like that and be happy with the environment. New family is much nicer. 

My sister had an issue with HOA violations.  TL;DR was that my BIL didn't always get the grass cut every week.  Funny part was that it was BIL's cousin that worked for the realtor/property management group (office in the model home) that was reporting them.  Petty stuff, but hilarious to hear them complain about it.  

My neighbor mag dumped an AR-10 at 1am a few weeks ago.  My wife asked me if I should go over there...I politely declined.  "should we call the police?"  No, there's nothing illegal going on.  

As long as I am throwing out advice, whenever you go to talk to the HOA or animal control about it, I personally would not make it known that you have beef with this person. I will go in there innocently like "hey, sorry you have been getting so many calls about how I have been doing XYZ, here's some donuts, what can we do going forward." With any luck, they will be the ones to bring up that the person who calls all the time is a jerk.  OTOH, if you make it known that you have an issue with this person, perhaps only a petty person is going to join you. And that's sketchy. 
 

I don't know that my advice is any good, I am a typically non-confrontational person so I suppose that means I tend to be manipulative to get my way, and sometimes it works.

In reply to P3PPY :

My 2 cents, I think this is the best first step, and then you can escalate from there if it doesn't get any better.

This thread is now 3 pages of you explaining why your dog is outside without a leash.  That's at least a small clue as to why your neighbors hate you.  They may be stupid, petty, and have nothing better to do with their life than call animal control over an elderly dog standing on the porch.  Yeah.  They're terrible neighbors.  But on the other hand they've been calling animal control on your unleashed dogs for 8 years and you're still doing it...and still defending it!  What the hell man.  It makes me question what other regulations are being violated, even if equally petty.  

If your ex wants to violate county dog laws, they should buy a house where nobody can see the violation. 

If you want to leave the garage door open at 4 in the morning (why...?) then don't live in an HOA neighborhood.  Actually now I am curious.  Why does it benefit you to leave the garage door open while at the gym, does the closing and reopening of it wake the rest of the house or something?

And now we know there are at least two of those neighbors out there.

To be clear, I've got no dog (ha) in this fight.  We've always lived in places with no HOA so the neighbors can (and do!) do donuts on the front yard with their ATVs and it's not my problem.

In reply to RedGT :

Seems like you're missing the boat here.  I've said from the jump that I agree it's in violation of the county code.  I'm using the dog as the latest example.  I could give tons more but didn't think it necessary, seems most people got my point.

Why would it matter if my garage door is opened at 4:30am?  As long as I'm not violating any codes or laws (which I'm not), I don't think the reason why is relevant.  In this case yes, it's above my daughter's bedroom, but that's not the point.

Let me ask you this. If your neighbor had their very old dog sitting in their front yard just minding its own business, would you call animal control?

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

We live in a neighborhood full of dogs, most have visible fences some invisible.  One has no fence but the dogs will not leave the property but they do bark.  Not an aggressive bark, a come pet me request.  I have no issue with them, the dogs are so cool and mellow.  If the dog is loose but doesn't leave the property what law are they breaking?

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

Absolutely not, because its not my problem. I know you said from the jump that the unleashed dog is a violation which is why it seemed absurd to use it as an example and to defend it.

But if i had a dog in my yard unleashed and someone felt the need to call,  would understand why. I'd be annoyed. But I'd understand why.

I assumed the garage door was a violation because I've known people who lived in HOAs where the garage door couldn't be left open.  Since the dog complaints were technically legitimate it led me to believe the garage complaint was technically legit as well. 

Like i said, i agree your neighbors are miserable shiny happy people...it just seemed like you kept giving them ammo in several ways, the dog being the most obvious.