advice on a bullying neighbor

[oatty]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
After reading this forum, I hope this does not seam too petty.
I will list some of my grievances
Parked car in front of my house for 6 weeks. I could have called the county and had it towed, but I was still trying to be a good neighbor. The car was moved for washing and then returned even though they had room in front of their house. I asked them to move it. This is a public street.
Parked their car in front of my garbage cans, so they could not be picked up.
Moved my garbage cans so close together they couldn't be picked up.
Overturned my garbage can.
Trespassed and raked my fallen leaves from my driveway to my lawn.
Raked fallen leaves from their property to mine. They were my leaves before Mother Nature moved them.
He won't even speak to me now, so trying to reason with him is out of the question. I lived here 20 years peacefully until he moved in. That was 5 years ago.
Any advice would be appreciated. It would be difficult for me to move because of age and finances.

 

[single317dad]

What would you like to accomplish?

Do you have a fence?

 

[FlyingRon]

You do NOT own the street in front of your house. You have no authority to have anybody towed or tell them where they can park.
Further you have no special rights to leave your cans in the street.

 

[LdiJ]

You do NOT own the street in front of your house. You have no authority to have anybody towed or tell them where they can park.
Further you have no special rights to leave your cans in the street.

I don't think he is talking about leaving his cans in the street. I occasionally have the same problem. I have a neighbor who often parks in front of my house, and sometimes does it on trash days...right in front of my cans. Our trash company will not pick up either if there is a car blocking the cans. Its really annoying.

 

[FlyingRon]

I don't think he is talking about leaving his cans in the street. I occasionally have the same problem. I have a neighbor who often parks in front of my house, and sometimes does it on trash days...right in front of my cans. Our trash company will not pick up either if there is a car blocking the cans. Its really annoying.

So, put your cans in your driveway.
It's a public road and you can not control who is allowed to park there.

 

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
After reading this forum, I hope this does not seam too petty.
I will list some of my grievances
Parked car in front of my house for 6 weeks. I could have called the county and had it towed, but I was still trying to be a good neighbor.

Why would the county have towed it? Was it violating some ordinance? Is the registration expired more than 6 months? Was it parked blocking your driveway? Blocking a fire hydrant? Simply being parked in front of your house neither justified a parking cite or a tow.

The car was moved for washing and then returned even though they had room in front of their house. I asked them to move it. This is a public street.

That means that anyone can park there.

Parked their car in front of my garbage cans, so they could not be picked up.
Moved my garbage cans so close together they couldn't be picked up.
Overturned my garbage can.

If that put their car more than 18" from the curb, THAT would have been a citable offense, but tow towable.

Trespassed and raked my fallen leaves from my driveway to my lawn.
Raked fallen leaves from their property to mine. They were my leaves before Mother Nature moved them.

I'm not sure what that might have been ... trespassing, maybe.

Any advice would be appreciated. It would be difficult for me to move because of age and finances.

You can call the police when he does any of these things and let them try and mediate things. Parking in front of your house, though, is NOT a legal issue as he can park there all he wants - as you can park in front of HIS house on the street.

 

[oatty]

I do have rights

I don't think he is talking about leaving his cans in the street. I occasionally have the same problem. I have a neighbor who often parks in front of my house, and sometimes does it on trash days...right in front of my cans. Our trash company will not pick up either if there is a car blocking the cans. Its really annoying.

I do have rights. Where I live you cannot leave a car over 72 hours. It is considered abandoned and can be towed. This person has trespassed and littered. I consider these legal issues which is why I am on this forum. Just looking for a way to resolve this.

 

[OK-LL]

Since your situation with the neighbor is already bad, I wouldn't hesitate to call police and have them mark the car for 72-hour towing. We have a similar law in my city about parking on public streets--cars must be street legal and cannot remain unmoved for 72 hours. On the leaf issue, I can't speak -- I too have neighbors with large trees which dump enormous amounts of leaves distributed to my lawn by Mother Nature. I rake them into a line at the end of my driveway when the wind is predicted to be high and let MN redistribute them back where they came from. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts, or that I'm mental. I have also raked them right up to the property line (but not over), just to see where they'll land. Other people's leaves can be very annoying -- I suggest you keep yours raked and removed from your property so they don't travel to the neighbors. As regards the neighbors coming onto your property -- see if you can videotape the trespass and have the police cite them for it on a citizen's complain; the nuisance of showing up for court may deter them. Finally, there must be more curb available for your garbage cans than just the area blocked by the neighbor's car, including your driveway or further down the curb from the car; simply move the cans for pick-up -- it isn't as if you don't know the car is there!

 

[quincy]

I do have rights. Where I live you cannot leave a car over 72 hours. It is considered abandoned and can be towed. This person has trespassed and littered. I consider these legal issues which is why I am on this forum. Just looking for a way to resolve this.

If you are sure of the 72-hour ordinance, either you or an attorney could draft a letter to your neighbor advising him of the ordinance and the fact that his vehicle can be towed if left on the street for longer than 72 hours. Provide a copy of the ordinance for greater effect.

The leaves can be blown into the street so that no one has to worry about them in their driveways or on their lawns, or install a fence if all else fails. Your garbage cans can be placed in your driveway (as already suggested).

Or you could send the neighbor some cookies and a nice note and try to build a friendship. Friendly conversation can often work to ease tensions. And it can make the neighbor feel bad for acting unneighborly.

 

[LdiJ]

So, put your cans in your driveway.
It's a public road and you can not control who is allowed to park there.

That would be great if it were not for the fact that they can show up anytime between 6AM and 5PM to pick up the trash. Therefore we have to put them out the night before. Its kind of difficult to leave for work in the morning if the trash cans are blocking the drive...or, if when you put them out there is no one parked in front of the house, but the trash guys show up at 6AM and someone is parked there at that time.

 

[CdwJava]

I do have rights. Where I live you cannot leave a car over 72 hours. It is considered abandoned and can be towed. This person has trespassed and littered. I consider these legal issues which is why I am on this forum. Just looking for a way to resolve this.

If he leaves a vehicle parked for 72 hours in violation of a local ordinance, then you call local law enforcement so they can cite the vehicle ... though they would probably have to chalk the tires. I'm not sure they'll TOW it, but, maybe ...

 

[Silverplum]

That would be great if it were not for the fact that they can show up anytime between 6AM and 5PM to pick up the trash. Therefore we have to put them out the night before. Its kind of difficult to leave for work in the morning if the trash cans are blocking the drive...or, if when you put them out there is no one parked in front of the house, but the trash guys show up at 6AM and someone is parked there at that time.

These are first-world "problems," for sure.

 

[STEPHAN]

I would put some effort into trying to find out what upset the neighbor so much. And then you can decide if you can/want to handle that.

 

[oatty]

I would put some effort into trying to find out what upset the neighbor so much. And then you can decide if you can/want to handle that.

He was first upset when I asked him to move his car. So flustered that he asked his wife to talk to me. She said she would move the car.

Then when I put a note on his windshield saying please don't block my garbage cans, he crunched up the note and jammed it into my windshield wiper. While trying to remove it, I took the blade off. Had to find someone to replace it.

 

[STEPHAN]

You obviously failed to find out what really upset him. Of cause you can take this into the legal field but you will be living in a warzone for a while.