Neighbor issues

[devil21]

Not necessarily.

I would put the nails on my own property. What he decides to do, or park, on my property... makes it my business.

Yeah but I imagine you'd like to drive in or out of your own driveway at some point.

 

[puppetmaster]

Yeah ask first...then put a spike strip down....or tow the asswipes

 

[qh4dotcom]

Alright. I'm fired up tonight and in moderate disagreement with my wife over the issue of our inconsiderate, rude neighbors.

Here's the scenario:

Our house and the offending neighbor's house are "mirror images" of one another, effectively "attached" at the garages in the middle. We "share" a common driveway with them, with the right half being "ours" and the left half being "theirs." On many, MANY occasions over the past five years, I've either come home to someone parked on our side, or someone parked smack in the middle (rendering our side unuseable), or - as is the case tonight - been parked in the driveway and have some dipshit park behind me, blocking me in.

My immediate desire upon seeing I was blocked tonight was to call the cops. Hers was to ignore it. Or "go over and talk to them."

I'm curious what RPF thinks I should be doing here. I kinda wanna make a poll but don't know how to.

Someone else suggested it

Park halfway up your driveway or close to the end of it so no one can park behind you without leaving their car out in the street.

Here's another solution

 

[davesxj]

Sounds like you may have an HOA and deed restrictions. No parking on the street at certain times or some such tyranny. Perhaps you could feign interest in surveying your neighbors' (those who share your driveway and others in the neighborhood) opinion on changing the parking rules for the community. It sounds like an otherwise good place to be is plagued by unnecessary parking rules. Maybe you'll even go so far as to actually discover a widespread desire to address parking in the community. Either way it could provide cover for bringing up the issue of parking with your neighbors. Also, in diplomacy both sides must appreciate the terms of the agreement. Your neighbors will be giving up their expanded parking space that they've enjoyed for going on 5 years now. At this point you'll probably be required to appease them in some way if you choose to go along with them as neighbors. You could also join the HOA and work discretely to remove them from the neighborhood. Most people are unaware of the HOA's board members. However, the devil you know...

Living in close quarters demands more involvement with your counterparts. Putting chalk down after every rain storm or what have you is no solution and is IMO doubtful to he respected judging by the fact that they already know that is your driveway and not theirs.

Good luck with it all. Dealing with people can be frustrating and requires patience and tact.

 

[chudrockz]

-your -rep comment to me from this thread

IT'S NOT HIS DRIVEWAY THAT THEY ARE DEALING DRUGS OUT OF. We don't even know if the drug dealers are the ones abusing the driveway privileges, but either way it is a separate issue... unless they are using his driveway for drug related activity....in which case he does have some cause for concern but may decide to weigh his options due to being able to easily plead ignorance.... except that he has now admitted by posting it on the internet, I would never have mentioned it because it is fairly irrelevant and not something that is good to post on the internet.

Do you get mad at your neighbor if they have somebody come over to by something off them from craigslist?

I absolutely don't care if someone comes to buy something off craigslist. However, with the "business" as it is, there are 1,000 "someones" coming to buy "something" 24/7, and more than half the time it's THEM parking blocking my driveway. The rest of the time it's the "entrepreneurs."

I also objected when, a few summers ago, we hired my wife's coworker's daughter to mow out lawn for the summer. (They live right down the street.) One time when she was coming down the sidewalk with the mower the hoodlum neighbor kid propositioned her about buying drugs. She declined. And told her mom about it. She was about 11 at the time.

And yes, I object VERY MUCH to that shit.

 

[chudrockz]

The thing's this, it's JUST the hoodlum sons (usually one, but sometimes both) that do this crap. Their mom doesn't know what to do about it. And their stepdad can't stand them from what I can tell of it. The other week one of them left a car in our side of the driveway for 24 hours give or take, and when we got home from errands the stepdad talked to my wife about it. He told her that he's told THEM countless times to knock that shit off, and they just don't care. She told HIM that I was beside myself and had wanted to call and have them towed. He said that I should have done that.

 

[chudrockz]

Sounds like you may have an HOA and deed restrictions. No parking on the street at certain times or some such tyranny. Perhaps you could feign interest in surveying your neighbors' (those who share your driveway and others in the neighborhood) opinion on changing the parking rules for the community. It sounds like an otherwise good place to be is plagued by unnecessary parking rules. Maybe you'll even go so far as to actually discover a widespread desire to address parking in the community. Either way it could provide cover for bringing up the issue of parking with your neighbors. Also, in diplomacy both sides must appreciate the terms of the agreement. Your neighbors will be giving up their expanded parking space that they've enjoyed for going on 5 years now. At this point you'll probably be required to appease them in some way if you choose to go along with them as neighbors. You could also join the HOA and work discretely to remove them from the neighborhood. Most people are unaware of the HOA's board members. However, the devil you know...

Living in close quarters demands more involvement with your counterparts. Putting chalk down after every rain storm or what have you is no solution and is IMO doubtful to he respected judging by the fact that they already know that is your driveway and not theirs.

Good luck with it all. Dealing with people can be frustrating and requires patience and tact.

Actually there's no HOA or anything remotely like that. It's just a middle/ working class neighborhood on the edge of a "small" town of 30,000 or so.

Theres plenty of room to park on the street. I don't even care so much if they park on the street in front of our house (although I don't understand why in front of THEIR house doesn't occur to them!) just so long as they don't block ME or my driveway.

 

[chudrockz]

In any case it's good to have a forum like this to get advice and/ or vent my frustrations.

I don't recall if I mentioned, but the neighbor on the OTHER side of us, a good guy around 35 or so with a girlfriend who grew up in the house, told us last summer that his entire life no one has stayed in our house, that we've been there the longest of anyone he's ever seen, and it's always been because of the hoodlum neighbors on the other side that no one will stay there.

Sigh.

 

[Acala]

You could install a couple of removable bollards at the foot of you drive. It would cost you some money and be a bit of a hassle locking and unlocking each time you use your driveway. But it would keep them out.

 

[tod evans]

Are you comfortable putting those children in their place?

From what you've said Maw and step Dad would be okay with it...

 

[Brian4Liberty]

In any case it's good to have a forum like this to get advice and/ or vent my frustrations.

I don't recall if I mentioned, but the neighbor on the OTHER side of us, a good guy around 35 or so with a girlfriend who grew up in the house, told us last summer that his entire life no one has stayed in our house, that we've been there the longest of anyone he's ever seen, and it's always been because of the hoodlum neighbors on the other side that no one will stay there.

Sigh.

Seems like there is a house like that in a lot of neighborhoods. Most of the times it is a rental. Are your neighbors renters?

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Actually there's no HOA or anything remotely like that. It's just a middle/ working class neighborhood on the edge of a "small" town of 30,000 or so.

Theres plenty of room to park on the street. I don't even care so much if they park on the street in front of our house (although I don't understand why in front of THEIR house doesn't occur to them!) just so long as they don't block ME or my driveway.

There must be some kind of written agreement or contract if you share a wall and a driveway.

 

[davesxj]

That's not quite the scenario I envisioned. If you're on good terms with the parents that is an advantage. Its unfortunate that you must deal with their lack of control over their child/children.

A home surveillance system that is visible could be a possible deterrent to those activities taking place in front of your house as well as any revenge that might take place the next time it happens and you call the tow truck company.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

That's not quite the scenario I envisioned. If you're on good terms with the parents that is an advantage. Its unfortunate that you must deal with their lack of control over their child/children.

A home surveillance system that is visible could be a possible deterrent to those activities taking place in front of your house as well as any revenge that might take place the next time it happens and you call the tow truck company.

Now there's a good idea. Multiple cameras, one visible, one hidden to record when they vandalize the visible one. Get ones with good resolution. They also sell fake ones for the obvious one.

 

[Czolgosz]

The following is satire.


Here's how you communicate, assuming you haven't done anything thusfar.

Knock on the neighbors door and simply explain to them, "Hey I don't care if your customers are coming by to pickup product, can you please make sure they don't block my driveway? Thanks."

This will disarm him about his "illegal" activities, he'll have an understanding w/ you that you're not concerned about his business, just that you can't get in or out of your driveway, and he'll likely (to keep some semblance of peace) ask his repeat customers to park elsewhere.

That's the flies to honey approach, which is what I always try. It's generally very successful.

You are in an unfortunate position where if you rat fink, do passive/aggressive aggressive/aggressive stuff it will likely just escalate. In which case you should simply cut to the chase; track one of his repeat customers, steal that guys car, drive the car to your neighbors home and park partway on the lawn, knock on door and take care of everybody inside the home, use a suppressed weapon as it'll buy you significantly more time before people react.

Plus, as you're in very close proximity neighbor, the answer to the question, "did you hear anything?" is of course, "nope."
"You know much about your neighbor?" - "Not really, seems to have a lot of people stopping by his house at all hours."

Rehearse this for a few months and gather data about his frequent fliers.

Practice makes perfect and patience is a virtue.

 

[chudrockz]

Seems like there is a house like that in a lot of neighborhoods. Most of the times it is a rental. Are your neighbors renters?

Nope, I don't think so. If they are, they've rented that house for twenty years or more now.

 

[chudrockz]

The following is satire.


Here's how you communicate, assuming you haven't done anything thusfar.

Knock on the neighbors door and simply explain to them, "Hey I don't care if your customers are coming by to pickup product, can you please make sure they don't block my driveway? Thanks."

This will disarm him about his "illegal" activities, he'll have an understanding w/ you that you're not concerned about his business, just that you can't get in or out of your driveway, and he'll likely (to keep some semblance of peace) ask his repeat customers to park elsewhere.

That's the flies to honey approach, which is what I always try. It's generally very successful.

You are in an unfortunate position where if you rat fink, do passive/aggressive aggressive/aggressive stuff it will likely just escalate. In which case you should simply cut to the chase; track one of his repeat customers, steal that guys car, drive the car to your neighbors home and park partway on the lawn, knock on door and take care of everybody inside the home, use a suppressed weapon as it'll buy you significantly more time before people react.

Plus, as you're in very close proximity neighbor, the answer to the question, "did you hear anything?" is of course, "nope."
"You know much about your neighbor?" - "Not really, seems to have a lot of people stopping by his house at all hours."

Rehearse this for a few months and gather data about his frequent fliers.

Practice makes perfect and patience is a virtue.

Haha that is pretty good stuff!

Actually it reminded me of an incident a few years back. We had a cat (indoor only) escape our house and were pretty much worried sick looking for it in almost all of our free time. We used to wake up about every hour on the hour for a couple of months to look out windows and the back sliding door. One time my wife wakes me up at 3am and goes "there's a car I don't recognize with no one in it parked in the middle of our BACK yard!!"

So we investigate, don't know what's up, and call the cops, who come over and call the owner, who comes and gets it. I don't know if that was a "customer" incident or what. But definitely creepy finding a car parked in the middle of your back yard in the middle of the night!

I swear, for eight years we lived in a crappy trailer park in a different town and NOTHING interesting EVER happened. I loved it. Now we move into a nice neighborhood in a "good" town, we're within a mile of like four schools and seven churches, and there's criminal/ indecent conduct everywhere. I hate it!

 

[chudrockz]

Are you comfortable putting those children in their place?

From what you've said Maw and step Dad would be okay with it...

I'm sure ma and pa would be fine with it, but these "kids" are twenty... not six. And they have guns. I'm a little too comfortable and sedentary to have any overt desire to turn into modern day Hatfields and McCoys.

 

[tod evans]

I'm sure ma and pa would be fine with it, but these "kids" are twenty... not six. And they have guns. I'm a little too comfortable and sedentary to have any overt desire to turn into modern day Hatfields and McCoys.

Do ya' have any friends from the wrong side of the tracks?

(Don't answer)

 

[Acala]

Another option would be to get yourself a wheel boot. They don't cost much. Next car that parks on your side, you boot it and leave a note that says something like "You are parking in my driveway. We need to talk." When they come to your door you ask them nicely to stop parking in your driveway and courteously unboot the car. Repeat until they learn. Stay polite. Point out how it is really important for neighbors to be able to cooperate without getting the authorities involved. Smile.