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In this Discussion
- 37 Terraplane#2 July 2009
- 39CCl8 July 2009
- 51hornetA July 2009
- 66patrick66 July 2009
- Aaron D. IL July 2009
- bobdriveshudson July 2009
- Dave53-7C July 2009
- faustmb July 2009
- frankmn July 2009
- MikeWA July 2009
- rambos_ride July 2009
Irritating neighbor (long rant)
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:mad:This is not related to Hudsons in any way - just venting
So today I get a Certified Letter from someone who owns a rental house at the bottom of the hill I live on. In this letter, the guy starts out by saying that crushed stone washed out from my driveway during a recent rain storm and went down hill to his house and ended up in the street in front of his house and in his driveway. He goes on to to say that he has been unable to rent his house because of the crushed stone in his driveway and flooding in his garage. (I don't get the link between my gravel and his flooding issuses). He also included pictures that show his driveway and mine.
He continues on by saying the county is aware that there is a drainage problem on the street and they are working to correct it.
He then continues saying, I want to keep this friendly and neighborly, but if I dont' respond with my plans to remove "debris" from his driveay and correct my issue in 10 days, he will pursue legal action. Finished with a " As a homeower, you can understand that I am not responsible for what washes out of your driveway."
What about a freaking phone call or knock on the door neighbor!
Anyway, some crushed stone did wash out of my driveway and I have had a contractor lined up to take care of this and improve my drainage but he's been busy and I haven't pushed him. I will be responsible and clean it up. Is isn't more that a wheelbarrow load...
What really irked me is that this "neighbors" house is a sore subject with many neighbors. The last occupants moved out over a year ago, and left a non-running Isuzu tropper in back yard, along with a large pile of kitchen trash bags(as big as the Trooper), and a complete engine pulled from some car sitting in middle of the driveway. The front yard was mowed about 3 times total last year, and the back yard almost hid the Isuzu by last fall.
So I drafted a response, went something like this;
Dear ...hole(not really)
I understand that I do have a drainage problem and will be sure to correct this ASAP. I apologize if you feel that this has effected your property in some way.
I am pleased to hear that the county acknowledged that you have a drainage problem and are working to correct this. Hopefully they can prevent heavy rainfall from entering your driveway in the future.
I also understand that you must be frustrated by not being able to rent your house. I suspect that the lack of regular maintenance for the last year, the unregistered vehicle on the lot, and the engine block in the middle of the driveway may also be deterrents to would-be renters. (photos attached). Also note that the second set of photos of your property (attached) are from March of this year and are on file in the county tax office, as they were used as evidence that property values in our subdivision are declining, which was approved. These photos show that the same items on the property listed above were there in March of this year. (Courtesy of another neighbor) As a homeowner, you can appreciate that the neighbors of this property are pleased to see that the cleanup on the property has begun and the house may once again be marketable. We will all be pleased to see this property occupied by dependable responsible neighbors.
This legal BS is rediculous, you can't just say " Hey neighbor, would you mind cleaning up this gravel?"
To insinuate that some crushed rock in the driveway is deterring renters from his rundown POS house pisses me off. Clean your house, mow the yard, take the garbage out of the driveway and yard, and THEN try to rent it... Maybe wash the mold off the siding while your at it. I can't imagine what the inside is like.
Let me finish by saying that I do repect others rights to do whatever they want to with their house. But when this a**hole says that some rocks in the driveway deter renters but an engine block in front of the garage door and 30 bags of trash doesn't ? WTF -
Did you send the letter?
IF not I'd hold off, document everything, every contact, the condition of the property etc.
Let this bozo escalate if he wants to - it will cost him legal fees - which he obviously cannot afford.
Then you can if needed present your documentation at the appropriate time.
Sometimes these situations can spiral out of control.
It is not your responsibility to cleanup any gravel - heck I just had a tree fall on my shop - when I looked into my homeowners policy - if the tree was on my property and hit their house...it's up to their homeowners insurance to clean it up. Not me nor my insurance is required to pay this.
Heavy Rain and gravel run-off (an event from God, if you will) is not your responsibility.
If you where doing construction, retaining walls etc. and hadn't properly setup barriers then that might be a different story.
I wish you luck, -
I'm glad I live in the sticks. Everybody minds their own business. Out here when free gravel washes into my driveway from the road it's a free gift. My neighbors on both sides are car and bike hobbyists so everyone's on the same page.
Street drainage is not your problem; the county or city needs to fix it. I would've ignored the first letter. Legal action? By the description of the property it probably won't go past the "free legal consultation". And as far as escalation... anything that brings more inspectors is bad for everyone... -
Some "neighbors" need to get a life and mind their own damn business! Sounds like your trashy neighbor has a lot more issues going on, than just a wheelbarrow of gravel in his drive. He has gravel for brains."The time has come", the Walrus said, "to speak of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot,
And whether pigs have wings..." -
Matt,
Welcome to the "I Hate Neighbors Club." Since I've had my fill of wacked-out neighbors over the years, let me share what I know.
It sounds to me like the owner of the neighboring property is trying to keep this on a business level. By walking over and simply talking to you, he has no record/proof of having noticed you of a perceived problem.
Assuming you haven't done anything to change the grade of your property, it sounds like your neighbor is on lower ground than you. If so, his property is servient to you and he has the duty to receive your drainage. However, he has the right to mitigate the condition if it is causing damage to his property. Your duty may only be limited to preventing soil, or in this case gravel, from washing off your property and onto a public roadway. Although laws governing the principals of site drainage have been on the books for well over 100 years, they can be impacted by changes in law, ordinance and by subdivision covenants and restrictions.
Since the notice from the neighbor could be viewed as his posturing himself for a lawsuit, I'd suggest you engage an attorney who is well versed in drainage laws. If you wish to respond without the benefit of council, keep it short, factual, and free of emotion. Above all, don't show "your hand."
Good luck. -
I appreciate the advice and comments.
I haven't actually sent the letter yet, since I received his last night. I intended to do more research before sending the actual response, but I also wanted to state facts to make him aware that the condition of his property is poor, and that has little to do with drainage or gravel. I took pictures yesterday that still showed the car and crap in his lawn/ driveway.
I don't know how serious this guy is. The attourney he listed is actually a local tax attourney, so I assume it's a buddy or something he's using. He also listed the counter water guy he spoke with, so I will call him and get his story.
My plan is to immediately have a landscaper who specializes in drives and ditches make sure that no more gravel can exit my property.
I will send response in some form via certified mail, and make sure not to admit any fault and omit some of my evidence of his property condition.
It takes a lot to get under my skin, but this guy did it. Sears is still top of my S_list. -
Guy seems like a waste of space. I would walk down with a shovel and a wheel barrow and have your wife take pictures of you cleaning the gravel away. You get on with your life and not waste a breath on him let him get back to being a ahole.www.hudsonmotorcar.org
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It is a damn shame neighbors can't just talk to eachother anymore like reasonable, mature grown up human beings. The Gov't. the courts, whathaveyou don't have to get involved with every little grievance people have but it does happen because people simply do not communicate in a civilized way. They make lots of assumptions about the billigerance of or stubborness of their neighbors before they have actually EVER talked to them. If people would learn to communicate a lot of things could be settled without so much as a crossing guard ever having to hear about them.
All these ways to communicate and we don't. Also a lot of ordinences about YOUR property that are really stupid. Darn shame. I hope your "neighbor" doesn't escalate things on your faustmb and that he decides life is too short and he has better things to do with it. -
need to back up. did some stuff wash off your property to his? if so thats simply go clean your stuff from his yard. if his yard is trashy and its rental property most cities have rules against this. what are you people arguing about. be responsible for yourselves.
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I have a neighbor that just can't mind his own business , I was up on my garage roof happily laying new shingles and he comes climbing up MY LADDER . I said " what do you think your doing ? " REPLY---" where's the nails " About 9 hours later he went home but left his hammer on MY ROOF !! Now why do you reckon he did that ? BUD
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You can be a better neighbor if you can communicate with them. If you cant call, dont know their names, you will have a more difficult time being a good neighbor.
We found if you take time to meet each neighbor, getting their names, addresses, phone #, kids names, note if they have pets you will become a better neighbor to them. We made a complete list of each side of our street, husband and wife's names and phone #. Havent done kids and pets yet. If a neighbor's kid or pet is injured near us, we have their phone #. Our older neighbor's got a cable box for their TV and couldnt get it hooked up. They called, we connected it in 10 min and enjoyed the visit. He raises a good garden and offers vegetables all summer.
After making the neighbor list, we printed a copy for each neighbor and took it to them. We placed our copy inside the upper cabinet door. Our neighborhood doesnt change very often, so it hasnt been much work. Good luck, Bob -
frankmn wrote:need to back up. did some stuff wash off your property to his? if so thats simply go clean your stuff from his yard. if his yard is trashy and its rental property most cities have rules against this. what are you people arguing about. be responsible for yourselves.
I agree, it should be that simple. What set me off is that his Certified letter threating legal action indicates that his inability to rent his property is related to this gravel which partially came from my drive (total of a wheelbarrow load). This is from July 12th storm and is an isolated incident.
I don't care what he does with his property otherwise. I'd like it to look decent, but I would be the last one to ever complain formally about it. Had he not suggested that the gravel was deterring his latest would-be renters, the house condition would not be a factor or mentioned at all.
That being said, there are at least 1/2 dozen neighbors between this house and his that I speak with regularly. I don't want to give the impression that I hate all neighbors and we can't get along. Neighbors generally are a good thing, landlords who care nothing about the neighbors of their renters are not. -
37 Terraplane#2 wrote:I have a neighbor that just can't mind his own business , I was up on my garage roof happily laying new shingles and he comes climbing up MY LADDER . I said " what do you think your doing ? " REPLY---" where's the nails " About 9 hours later he went home but left his hammer on MY ROOF !! Now why do you reckon he did that ? BUD
So, he came over and helped you nail on roofing for 9 HOURS and you're complaining that he left his hammer on your roof? Wow- send him over- that's the kind of neighbor I want! -
Mike (WA) wrote:So, he came over and helped you nail on roofing for 9 HOURS and you're complaining that he left his hammer on your roof? Wow- send him over- that's the kind of neighbor I want!
I think he's a PEEPING TOM too , I no more than got on the roof today and here he come again , had to be watchin out the window ! Well guys, I ain't got no good looks , no smarts , no money , no rich uncle , hey who needs that stuff if you live in this neighborhood ? BUD -
Another thing to look for does he seem to own an inordinate amount of telescopes, binoculars and telephoto lenses. And does he own a large black unmarked panel van that has blacked out windows and has a custom license plate "ISPY" if this is the case everything is ok......www.hudsonmotorcar.org
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51hornetA wrote:Another thing to look for does he seem to own an inordinate amount of telescopes, binoculars and telephoto lenses. And does he own a large black unmarked panel van that has blacked out windows and has a custom license plate "ISPY" if this is the case everything is ok......
The last few posts reminded me of the most annoying neighbor I've ever had. He was really a good guy and tried to be helpful, but I couldn't so much as step ouside with any sort of tool without lots and lots of unsolicted advice. I used to try to hide when I was working on stuff so he wouldn't "help". He worked at Autozone before he got a job as a prison guard, so he was pretty much an expert on all things mechanical and automotive.
His late 70's Ford Fiesta was hard to get nuts and bolts for, because it was "regular metric not German metric". (There was actually a fair amount of fine thread which is less common at local supply).
One time he asked me to help work on VW bug he was "restoring" for a friend. I asked for a 10mm wrench to pull the alternator wire off, he handed me a 3/8. I asked again for a 10mm, explaining that I didn't want to round the nut. His response "I've been all through this thing, new fenders, new running boards, new starter, and a complete brake job and I haven't found a single metric bolt. This bug has already been converted to inch."
Can't argue with that, but I still get chuckles about it.
He also had the "binos" (his word) out at every occasion that seemed fitting. -
OK, you guys just don't seem to get the drift . This thread started about a guy that did nothing but cause his neighbors greif . That's no way to live . I was just illustrateing [by contrast and tossing in some humor] by the way my neighbors , ALL OF THEM , treat each other , and I do the same for them . We don't have a pain in the butt to put up with , and NO, AIN'T NONE OF THEM A WEIRDO OF SOME SORT , we actually have neighborhood cook outs where we all get together at one time just to visit and relax . We got my roof finished today and he took his hammer home . This is the way life should be , help oneanother, you don't have to be asked to know when someone could use a hand . BUD
