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    Neighbors from hell

    We have been having problems with our neighbors. At first it was because of bin bags left to rot in their back-garden. It attracted rats obviously. Rats enjoyed our decking as a nice place to snack and indeed live under. We called the council to have rat catchers have a look, we asked them to be more careful with their bags, even gave them a spare main bin we had. It got a bit better then it started again earlier this summer. We called the council again, this time attaching pictures of the situation. Nothing happened as far as I know but one day we both saw a rat helping itself to a bin-bag content and go under our decking. The local feral cats were seen hanging around too. The next day we contracted someone to rip the decking, flag the area and change the fence to an enclosed one. We explained this to them but he blamed another house who is also having a rat infestation under their decking. It’s like they don’t understand their habits caused the rats to come.

    At the start of the year they had a baby. Baby cry, we expected that and we are ok with it. Except when the baby cried, the man would start shouting abusive stuff at the baby, “Shut the fuck up you little dick” and the likes. He also shouts at his partner and we are not quite sure if their dog (a yappy, annoying little creature) is called “Diesel” or “Shut the fuck up you little cunt”.
    Whilst I can manage the situation better as I can wear ear plugs, my wife has had terrible sleep problems as their shouting woke her up. She has a job that needs her to be rested as it is mentally very demanding.

    Then, a few weeks ago, I got approached by the man and explained that they could not watch Sky anymore because a tree in our front-garden was blocking the antenna line of sight to the satellite. We had in mind of changing our front garden a bit and said that the tree problem could be sorted in due time. There is absolutely no legal obligation on our part to do anything, it’s essentially tough luck to them but I was conciliatory. On Friday, the man contacted my wife by txt, demanding when the tree would be dealt with. My wife explained to him it was not our priority and we could not afford at the moment the cost of our project. She was told he did not care about that, that he would chop it himself (he has no experience as a gardener) and he had enough paying for Sky but not being able to watch it. Shortly after that we could hear him in his front garden talking about the tree over the phone to someone and he then let my wife know that the council will be there the day after.

    My wife then went to knock on their door to try to discuss the situation. The discussion quickly escalated into a confrontation when she lost her rag and told him he had some nerves demanding this from us considering the shit we had to go through with the stuff described above. He was right in her face with his hand, threatened to knock her out and insulted her in every possible way. My wife was very upset and shaken by this. The day after, she heard them talking to another neighbor and essentially describing my wife as a nosey parker, that we were not aware of all the facts as to why he shouts abuse as his infant son. His partner stands by him, despite being herself regularly at the end of abusive tirades. The other neighbor can’t be unaware of his shouting and chooses to nod along. She is not aware of the bin-bag issue which is likely the root cause of her garden rat infestation. I’m minded to talk to her about this, dealt with her a few times and she seems pleasant enough.

    My wife has now gone to her mum and dad for a bit as she is very wary of him and just hear him gives her the shakes. I wish I could play the hard man but he is a big bloke and I would not stand much chance against him as he would not doubt assault me if he lost his temper, he was very close to physically attack my wife. Maybe a punch in the nose would be worth it to bring assault charges against him…

    We have arranged for a gardener to come, turns out there is one two houses down. The tree won’t be touched, in fact the chap suggested pruning another tree would allow it to flourish. I half-suspect the oaf next door still expects us to deal with the tree but this won’t happen now. I do hope he has sussed out that his behavior is not likely to induce us in obliging him but he is not the brightest of men.

    I’m quite in the mind to report him to the police for his behavior to my wife and to alert child protection services. My wife testimony would carry a fair bit of weight due to her job. My wife simply wants to ignore him. Reporting him would no doubt cause a lot of repercussions.

    I hope this matter has blown itself out really and we both agree we need to move out asap….We did not expect this, the neighbours were home-owners, worked, seemed like a pretty standard couple. At first we got along well with the man, he proved very handy to sort out car issues at a discount and he seemed nice enough if very loud. Then it went wrong…

    #2
    That sounds shit, MS. Really sorry to hear this. Hope you can work something out. I think I;d be minded to call the police when you hear him shouting at his wife/baby, but you are right that will tend to escalate things.

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      #3
      That is a tough situation. But I'd be worried about the child and, to be honest, the dog.

      I'm surprised the council don't do more about the garbage and the rats. That would seem to be one of their main functions.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Moonlight shadow View Post
        My wife simply wants to ignore him. Reporting him would no doubt cause a lot of repercussions.

        I hope this matter has blown itself out really and we both agree we need to move out asap….
        This is what it boils down to really - it's tempting to escalate things but it opens Pandora's box and you don't know where it will end up.

        I won't go into details but I had a hell of a row with my neighbours about a year after we'd moved in. I let it blow over and it eventually settled. However I'd still suggest writing things down (or continuing to document them here, it'll be a useful aide memoire in future), keeping texts etc as you never know when you'll need the evidence.

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          #5
          The Mrs and I went through similar a number of years ago.

          The next time they are yelling and screaming, I would advise calling the police and reporting a domestic disturbance. The chances of repercussions will be slight and even if there are their card is marked. (If they come to your front door and start yelling, you can call the police on them for abusive behaviour.) They have absolutely no right to demand anything of you on your property. I don't know if the house is council-owned, but if so there will be tenant services you can report things to.

          Walt's suggestion of keeping a diary is a good one - we actually ended up writing a blog on each thing, then we could provide updates to the relevant people. And trust me, the authorities do provide reassurance in most cases which helps your piece of mind.

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            #6
            I'm with WFD. Our neighbours moved in a couple of years ago and we get on well enough to say hello and take in parcels for each other. They are quite a young couple with one child and I don't think had lived away from parents before. He's quite mature and reasonable but she is immature and an imbecile, and whilst he was working away most weeks a friend of theirs would come round and they would get pissed and/or stoned and make a load of noise to the early morning. My wife went round (she won't let me) to complain one night when it had gone on until nearly 2am and got some cheek from the friend and some gormless laughter from her, and this wasn't the first time. We had contacted the council and they had advised us to make a record of all instances and record them if possible, but they also advised trying to resolve it ourselves if at all possible.
            Soon after they went out for new years eve and left the dog on its own and it barked and cried all night. Mrs of the Shed managed to confront him as they got home and told him about the dog for which he apologised profusely and she then told him about previous dealings at times he had been away with her and his friend. He apologised even more and they went inside and for about ten or fifteen minutes we heard him shouting quite a lot and some petulant winging from her.
            Since then, though, it seems to have been okay and there are no late night shenanigans and although they still leave the dog howling and crying on its own a lot (to be honest they should never have had it as the novelty quickly wore off once it grew up and they rarely take it anywhere) but we never hear it at night.
            To be honest I think the best solution came from discussion between the two more responsible parties rather than one with a short fuse and one pig-ignorant thick as pigshit dimwit.
            Not sure whether this helps MS as you don't seem to have an approachable neighbour, or at least not one who is allowed an opinion. Hope you manage to work things out as this can become very stressful if not resolved.

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              #7
              Cheers chaps. We gave them some slack, a few weeks ago I had written a stern later about the shouting then I saw them both and I just felt sorry for them, they looked like death warmed up (they are both not very fit shall we say).

              I have started this as a mean to keep track of those events. I'll keep a diary of when those events happen and should another instance of such hostile behavior occurs again, this time there will no avoiding calling the cops. I do hope they have realised a line has been crossed and he in particular doesn't act the cunt again.

              I am going to install some cctv as well and make sure I have a recording device at hand for any interactions with him.

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                #8
                Tbh this gives me bad memories of nightmare neighbours. One was Mister Angry across the road who rang my doorbell once to threaten me when he thought I'd looked at him funny. The other was when we had four families crammed in the rented house next door and the noise drove me onto anxiety medication.

                In my experience rage-twats respond two ways to consequences. If you call social services then they might just back down and sort their shit out. If it escalates into confrontation, try and make sure there are witnesses. Be obvious about putting the CCTV up. Bullies don't like being caught.

                It's a horrible situation to be in. You have my sympathy. I was very happy when Mister Angry finally fucked off somewhere else. Also when the families next door did a midnight flit leaving the landlord with a trashed house and needing to spend hundreds of pounds fixing things up - serves the fucker right.

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                  #9
                  Bullies are normally cowards when fronted up.

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                    #10
                    This really makes me thankful for the old Scottish pensioners on the one side of me and the old Trini pensioners on the other.

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                      #11
                      I'd keep an eye on the auld Scottish bampots if I were you.

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                        #12
                        The upside of living in a place where I can afford a detached house with a yard is that I don't hear anything from my neighbors, though part of that is because both of my immediate next-door neighbors are hardly ever there.

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                          #13
                          As stated above MS, keep a record of everything - incidents, times, dates, etc. I had to do the same once for a nightmare neighbour and thankfully never needed it in full. It proved useful though, so note as much as you can.

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                            #14
                            A few days ago someone let off fireworks at 3am. Not just one or two, either, they went on for quite a while. On Nextdoor the locals were up in arms, with people with illnesses having their sleep ruined, babies crying, terrified pets and so on. However, three individuals piped up to back the revellers, who'd apparently been partying loudly throughout the day and kept going until 5pm.

                            I can't quite get my head around how they feel that behaviour to be acceptable.

                            Just down the road from Blameless, as it goes.
                            Last edited by Nocturnal Submission; 27-08-2019, 22:35.

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                              #15
                              I knew it! Never trust a Partick fan.

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                                #16
                                Yeh, I definitely haven't ruled him out.

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                                  #17
                                  Sympathies, MS. I'm annoyed on your behalf and would be plotting revenge but I don't think I can advise you to do the sort of things I've done to neighbours in the past (not violent things).

                                  Maybe play divide and rule, as his wife can't really enjoy having a young baby and a nasty husband at the same time.

                                  You'll need a couple of shower curtains and some gaffa tape, but don't buy them around the same time.

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                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                    The upside of living in a place where I can afford a detached house with a yard is that I don't hear anything from my neighbors, though part of that is because both of my immediate next-door neighbors are hardly ever there.
                                    You better get your mitts on that old dear's Volvo before some wayward grandchild gets wise.

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by Nocturnal Submission View Post
                                      Just down the road from Blameless, as it goes.
                                      Probably wasn't him, boss.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by WOM View Post

                                        Probably wasn't him, boss.

                                        Yeh, I've always been a bit suspicious of that handle too!

                                        (We used to have a poster called Not Me, Boss).

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Nocturnal Submission View Post


                                          Yeh, I've always been a bit suspicious of that handle too!

                                          (We used to have a poster called Not Me, Boss).
                                          I know. I think it was Blameless' old one.

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                                            #22
                                            <narrows eyes>

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by WOM View Post

                                              You better get your mitts on that old dear's Volvo before some wayward grandchild gets wise.
                                              The borough code enforcement has been by to ask about that. It’s illegal to keep an unregistered car in the driveway. A guy yesterday was asking about it and looking to buy it. I contacted the neighbor to relay that info and she said that when she gets back from Florida in a few weeks, somebody is going to get the car going again and that she plans to keep it.

                                              She’s not an old dear. She’s about my age.

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                                                #24
                                                It's no laughing matter, MS, but I did enjoy this:

                                                she heard them talking to another neighbor and essentially describing my wife as a nosey parker
                                                My way out of this would be scouring the dark web for three hand grenades, hence no advice from me. I just hope a satisfactory resolution is not far off.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                                  The borough code enforcement has been by to ask about that. It’s illegal to keep an unregistered car in the driveway. A guy yesterday was asking about it and looking to buy it. I contacted the neighbor to relay that info and she said that when she gets back from Florida in a few weeks, somebody is going to get the car going again and that she plans to keep it.
                                                  Bah.

                                                  She’s not an old dear. She’s about my age.
                                                  Yes, well....

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