Neighbors, the good, the bad and the ugly?

[wdland45]

For the last two years, I would drive by a home in my town and be amazed by all the stuff the owners would have thrown all over their front yard and the sidewalk. I'm talking strollers, carseats, plastic toy cars, bicycles, wheel barrel, lawn mower, tarps, cans, etc. Sometimes the stuff would be in the same spot for weeks as the grass grew around it. Sometimes this stuff sat out in the rain and snow (I saw the stroller sitting out in the rain more times than I can count.) The assortment would change, but there would always be something. It became a joke with DH. When we saw the house go up for sale, I was happy that I wouldn't have to drive by the mess any longer.

Well, low and behold, I must have really bad Kharma because they moved to my street where I have an incredible view of their front yard. As I type this , there is a multitude of items all over the front yard including some garbage (literally) that has been there for 3+ weeks. If they didn't have a back yard, I would understand, but in actuallity, their yard is HUGE! This is a nice neighborhood. Everyone on my street works really hard to keep their homes neat and trim. I know you can do whatever you want with your own home, but after spending so much on your home (and they spent a mint), wouldn't you want to keep you home looking as nice as possible? I know people's perception of what is neat and what isn't is different. I guess I just wanted to share. Truly, they seem to be really nice people, and for that, I am thankful. Hopefully, most of you will be amused by my story and not insulted (I really hope I am not offending anyone as it was not my intention). Anybody out there with a similar situation, or have a funny solution they'd like to share?

All the best.
Dan

[McQ]

Argh. Are you part of a homeowners association that can request that they clean things up?

We had a neighbor once that installed lights out on his back deck. But they weren't deck lights. They were the latern type that usually go by your front door above your head. These were waist level and he put 4 of them on this tiny deck. When they were on (which fortunately wasn't often) you could have landed a helicopter back there.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[bluej]

Oh that stinks!

When we lived in Germany we had American acquaintances (they started out being friends but after being used repeatedly, we downgraded them) that we were looking forward to being done with when we all moved back to the States. Well, we are done with them, but now our best friends have to deal with them! Of all the states, cities, neighborhoods, homes, etc they could have moved to, they ended up two houses down from our best friends!

[Jeanne]

I feel your pain! I have "Sanford & Son" living across the street from me but thankfully, they are definitely moving because their house was sold via Sheriff's Sale last month. I live in a nice neighborhood too but these people have been there for ages. The house has been passed down through the family so the latest to get it is just a loser! All the older neighbors tell me that the Grandmother is rolling over in her grave.
They leave everything out - expensive tools, baby gear, furniture, etc.. They also have a ton of antique cars that are worth a fortune rusting away in the front driveway. We have never said anything but several of my neighbors have and they were able to get them to clean up the yard a bit but it never lasted long.
I had thought of typing up an anonymous note telling them that the neighborhood collectively feels that they should clean up but I never got around to it. Their situation was so fluid that I knew it was only a matter of time before they got the boot. Good riddance!

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

I'm pecking one handed so bare with me...if you don't have a home owners association you couls start one, I bet the neighbors would thank you!!!!!

My panties get in a wad over the neighbor down the street parking his car in the street so I can only imagine how mad you are...
Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[MartiesMom2B]

If it gets really bad you and your neighbors have a right to sue this person because they could be dragging down the property values in the neighborhood. I would also check your local laws to see if they are violated any ordinances.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[khakismom]

Yikes! This is why I will ONLY live in neighborhoods with home-owners associations. I'm like Neve, I get irritated at the cars parked on the street.

Apparently the previous owner of the house behind me (who lived there before we did) kept all sorts of junk and trash under his deck and my next-door neighbors had a lovely view of it from their back yard. Finally, sick and tired of it, they planted 3 really tall trees to block their view of the junk. And a month later, the guy with the trash moved.

I hope your view improves!

[Maegs33]

Hi Dan,

I know that my city government is pretty good about handling that kind of neighborhood mess. If you contact them about some messy/noisy neighbors the city will send someone out or send a letter outlining the ordinances that they are violating. No Homeowner's association necessary.

Best of luck.

-M

[AngelaS]

We have a neighborhood covenant that says things about the kind of fencing you can have (no chain link) and that you cannot park anything other than cars in the driveway for more than 3 days. But...in order to enforce this, you, the annoyed neighbor have to hire a lawyer. Doh!

We used to have some LOVELY neighbors! To begin with, we live in a new neighborhood of midrange houses. They were a married couple with a 2 and 4 year old. The fights they had taught me new words and you could hear things being broken. Then he moved out(she got a restraining order claiming he beat her) and they divorced. She seemed to work odd hours...come to find out, she was working a few towns away as a stripper, which explained why her kids roamed the neighborhood while she slept all day.

Then there was a BUNCH of teenagers coming and going from the house with an assortment of police cars coming and going too. Finally she was gone and HE was living there with the kids. She was in drug and alcohol rehab! Kids were still roaming the streets but are now a bit older and learning to look both ways before crossing the street. He saw me outside one day while he was waiting for the insurance adjuster to come by. He showed me the inside of their 4 year old house---70+ cigarette burns in the living room carpet, horrible wall dings, holes in the way and just plain FILTH! It was gross!

FINALLY, after about 3 years of this, they moved out. Whew!

[Marisa6826]

Dan-

Just thought I'd offer a different side of the coin.

We recently moved into a house that is, shall we say, cosmetically "challenged". As creepily decorated as it may be inside, it's in a reasonably exclusive area. We paid quite a pretty penny for it and our taxes are more than some people earn annually.

I have had an endless parade of contractors here since we moved in. Our first task at hand was ridding ourselves of bubblegum pink and grey wall to wall carpet. Over 1500sf of it. Fortunately, the floor guys took most of it.

Next was a nasty set of washer and dryers and a refrigerator that was older than my husband. The fridge was toted away within 48 hours because of the refrigerant. However the w/d was another story all together.

I called the town. They said they would take it, so I had Sears put the old ones on the curb (or what we assumed was the curb) when they delivered the new ones. Well, they sat there for FIVE weeks. I called the town over and over. First they told me it was due to snow. Then they told me they were frozen to the ground because of the cold temperatures. Finally I ran out and asked the garbage man myself. He told me that it wasn't "close enough" to the curb and "if I thought he was climbing into the snow to get my w/d I had another thing coming".

I was mortified and embarrassed that I had recently moved into this wonderful neighbourhood and the families on all sides had to look at this crap. I was able to get my plumber to push the w/d further into the street and the stuff was taken the next day.

This town unfortunately doesn't feel the need to recycle cardboard. It's considered garbage here. I can only put out a certain amount every week. I have TONS of it from new purchases, moving boxes, appliance boxes, etc. I feel horrible that it's been sitting on the side of the house. What am I supposed to do? I have 40 + boxes sitting on my back porch waiting to be tossed and a basement full of ones not yet unpacked.

I am also "hiding" some horrible vanities and even worse tile in my garage. Even **I** don't want to look at it.

Today they started demolition of my kitchen. I specifically instructed my contractor to put the old ones in the garage until the dumpster could get here. He went and put it them on the side of the house. My neighbour now has to look at these God awful things for the next 48 hours. I am doing my best to get rid of this stuff as fast as possible.

So while I can understand your predicament, please try and understand mine as well. Not all of us are dirty packrats. Oh, and I have a big yard too.

-m

[wdland45]

Oh Marisa, believe me, we were absolutely giving them the benefit of the doubt in this new house. If we hadn't known their track record from their previous home, we would think nothing of the stuff that is out there now. Just would have chalked it up to getting used to a new space. But since, for two years, we saw how they kept their other home, we can only imagine it is continuing here in the new place.

I feel your pain with the home improvement thing. So many of us have gone through the remodel stage. Our house is over 100 years old, and, much like your situation, it basically needed to be gutted when we moved in. So we did the stove on the curb along with the rolled up orange wall to wall carpet and the rusted refridge. Then the town takes their sweet time picking it all up - they don't care.

But remodeling stuff is not what is sitting on the lawn. We're talking their personal possesions- toys, carseats, strollers, plastic cups, etc. The stuff from the remodel has been going in a dumpster in the driveway and is being carted away weekly by the contractor. This stuff is not remodel trash. It seems like where ever the item was last used is where it stays - and it stays for days, then weeks. There is a big difference between the type of mess I am talking about and the type mess you are experiencing during your remodel. One indicates a somewhat sloppy personality, the other exemplifies a person trying to make what they have better and pride in ownership. So please don't think that I don't understand your predicament - because I do. It's just mine is a different predicament. YKWIM?

Oh, and I love hearing about your house/kitchen remodel - I am living vicariously through you! Maybe you can post some pics when it's done.

All the best.
Dan

[Marisa6826]

Will definitely post pics. They are a site to behold.

And as far as your neighbour goes, we looked at a house previous to this one, that had a similar neighbour.

I was worried about moving in and then "ratting them out". The realtor told us that what we needed to do was call the health department and tell them we were afraid since we thought we saw mice. And to casually mention that you thought there was standing water.

With the whole West Nile thing, that ought to be enough to send an inspector out.

Good luck in your quest

-m

[ShayleighCarsensMom]

That would be really annoying and I wouldn't be able to deal with it! But, have you tried asking them to pick up? Maybe they just don't see the big deal in it, but I bet if they knew it was bugging the neighbors, they would do it...
worth a try!

[Melanie]

I'd call the city, they probably have ordinances and can cite them. I have a friend who got cited for her trash barrels being in front of her gate instead of behind it and not having her garage door properly painted. No, this was not an HOA neighborhood, so I would imagine your city must have something they are breaking.

[brigmaman]

Oh Dan...boy do I know your pain!!! We live in a very ecclecic neighborhood, to say the least! There is a house on the corner of my road that is a share. It houses MANY people. There are laws against more than a certain # of unrelated people sharing a house here, but our town does not inforce them. (Believe me, I've tried!) I'd like to think that ordinance enforcers would help, but if your town is anything like ours, they won't!
Anyway, this house has a ton of garbage lying around. Long pieces of pipe, laddice (sp?), indoor chairs, garbage bags nailed to trees, etc. It's gets frustrating when you know you keep a nice home and then you drive past that to get to it!
A not so funny story- We used to have a summer share right next to us (like the one on the Hamptons documentary). We tried and tried to have them cited for all sorts of things, but somehow the police seemed afraid of them. So one day, I called the town police because they had put their garbage out with no lid on the can and animals had gotten into it and it was all over our property. You know what they told me??!! If the garbage was on MY lawn, I would be cited for LITTERING!!!!! That's when I knew I was never going to win the battle!

[wdland45]

I also would hope the ordinance enforcers would help, but in my town it seems like either they don't enforce hard enough, or if they do, it doesn't make the situation better. For example, there are a few homes in town that have the same look as the house on your corner, and they have looked that way for years. They are rental properties, and I know the town has a hard time getting the owner to cooperate because he doesn't even live in the area. The people who rent there are probably paying huge rental fees and I'm sure they aren't happy with how the owner maintains his properties either. These homes are in a much worse state than the one I have to look at, so I am just going to be thankful that what I have ain't so bad!

I think I just have to accept whatever I see out my window and laugh at it. If I see something major or dangerous on the front walkway, I'll alert the authorities, but I don't think it's worth making waves over. Who knows, they may become my best friends someday. For now, I'll make it like a game - Let's Guess What's on the Lawn Today!

Thanks for all the words of encouragement. I'm sorry so many are in the same type of situation. Hopefully it will get better for all of us.
Dani