Neighbors constantly calling the cops - Help

I live in Lancaster Pennsylvania.

This is the problem that is ongoing with my neighbors since we (me and my family, i am 17 and live with my parents along with my 2 brothers and sister) moved here. Before i continue with the problem, a little background may be needed.

This neighborhood is semi-quiet and filled with what seems retired/elderly folks. Not too much game for a rough family of 8, with 6 italians.

My brothers, were notorious for getting into trouble. Nothing ever major, just petty stuff. My oldest brother, happen to end up going to jail. Made the frontpage a few times, in the same week. Outbeating Sadam too. All my neighbors are well aware of who we are.

My brother, started working on cars after getting out of jail. Keep in mind he has kept 100% clean, no problems at all. So me and my brothers work on cars, keeping ourselves busy while building some nice looking cars. The first of many calls actually happened probably 2 years ago. This was when my brother was replacing the front end of his Plymouth Laser. It had the passenger side front corner bashed in. The complaint was never specified to us, even when asked. We are only told that there are "complaints from some of our neighbors".
They let us know that we cant have so many vehicles at the house (8 live here, drive...) and told us our limit is 6-7 cars. We live in a decent sized neighborhood too keep in mind, with full streets and full yards, including side yards. They also told us to keep it well cleaned and we informed them that the parts are laying because we were just using them. This would go on up until this passed summer. About 5 calls im gonna say were made. Well atleast they showed up 5 times...
This last time they showed up and told us about not having so many cars here, not to run a business from our home (which we dont) and the rest of that.

A few days ago i saw my next door neighbor (the one we suspect to be calling the cops) walking up to each one of our vehicles and checking the plates. My mom had seen her and banged the window to see her run to her house and inside. It was a good laugh.

My question is, how can they limit us to 6-7 cars, when 7 of us are about to drive, and we own some shared vehicles such as a truck.

Also, how can my neighbors continue to spy on us and call the cops on every little detail, illegal or not? Thank you.

I understand that this topic isnt nearly as urgent as say some others, but a response, even a guess, would suffice. I just cant deal with the cops showing up all the time, and even the cops claim to "feel dumb for coming out and having to complain about this".

I mean, to have my neighbors constantly plotting and watching us, it almost seems like harrassment...

This forum is comprised of professionals and laypersons alike, no one is paid to answer your questions. It has been just an hour between your original question and the next.

Put yourselves in your neighbor's place, how many cars are in your yard? Where do you work on them? Does the place look like a residential neighborhood or an industrial yard. DO you know the CC&R's, ordinances and laws?

HeY

Dr Rmet...Can't you be any faster than that?

Poster, its hard to feel harassed, but it is true that you have to look at where the neighbors are coming from... Are you all home at once too.
Do what Rmet says,
Stay courteous... Your Mom may be getting aggravated, but instigating any more bad feelings is not going to make things better.

Bake cookies...

ENASNI said:

Dr Rmet...Can't you be any faster than that?

Poster, its hard to feel harassed, but it is true that you have to look at where the neighbors are coming from... Are you all home at once too.
Do what Rmet says,
Stay courteous... Your Mom may be getting aggravated, but instigating any more bad feelings is not going to make things better.

Bake cookies...

Click to expand...

Actually I was out to lunch.

Perfect?
Really???
Let me guess who your mom is frustrated with, you might be surprised
I raised boys and had enough vehicles taken apart to know who your mom is frustrated with. In addition to learning to bake cookies, also learn to sew and do needlework! You will be surprised how much you will use those in your life. Unless your brother is on house arrest, keep the car repairs to necessity and work where it belongs. Lawn and garden in the yard, cars in operating order parked in the garage, driveway or street. Spare parts stored out of sight. No planters or retaining walls out of old tires or toilets.

Be reasonable and respectful of your neighbors when it comes to noise. Being Italian doesn't mean being rude or rowdy. You would be surprised who I know....

You certainly would not be allowed to do what your doing in my neighborhood.

We work on all vehicles in our 2 bay garage. Nothing is outside. No parts, nothing. How our lawn or garden looks is up to us, including what hobbies we pursue, thank you very much. But seriously, we DO keep things clean and sharp. Nothing is laying around. Maybe i'll take a picture in a few minutes.

There is no noise level, no rowdyness, nothing. The complaints are completely because of us having "too many vehicles". The cops even tell us how dumb they feel to be coming out. Basically im just looking to have the neighbors get off our backs about not owning just two cars, like they do. They have "meetings" sunday afternoon, all the time. Its just about 8 neighbors (8 houses that is).

Please do not assume anything that i write, if you have questions then just ask. We keep quiet, clean and to our own. We dont even say anything to them when we have the cops called, nor do we even look funny in their direction.

A while back my mom had to go to a meeting because she had a daycare center with only a few kids, nothing big.The neighbors were there blah blah blah. Long story short they called us the "renters" and said "we didnt meet the neighborhood standard." The lady who was doing the meeting called it all BS and said she didnt wanna hear anymore, and my mom is free to do what she wants.

Basically im dealing with *******s, who call the cops cause they have no hobbies except sitting on their front porches drinking beer. Not making fun of them either, this is just what they do. All day, everyday.


And about my second reply, i said that because it had 13 views, no responses.

PghREA said:

You certainly would not be allowed to do what your doing in my neighborhood.

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Okay, this is fair. I guess my first post isnt too clear. We arent doing anything outside, except having nice looking cars. No parts, nothing. Just plain old cars. which was 8 of them. All working, all in good condition. So youre telling me i wouldnt be allowed to park 8 cars at my house, with 8 people living here, and atleast 2 guests a day?

Oh, and by the way Rmet, if you were referring to my name by saying "Perfect??" Its PREfect. From the book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy".

8 cars parked in the garage, driveway and on the street is one thing, too many but one thing, cars decorating the yard is another

ok

One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious, as in It's a nice day, or You're very tall, or Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you all right? At first Ford had formed a theory to account for this strange behavior. If human beings don't keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up.

After a few months' consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one. If they don't keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working. After a while he abandoned this one as well as being obstructively cynical and decided he quite liked human beings after all, but he always remained desperately worried about the terrible number of things they didn't know about.
Douglas Adams.
[The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Look Pennsylvania... I do not believe it is illegal to keep calling the cops on you. They don't like the cars, you can't see why they don't like the cars. It is just 2 groups of people not seeing eye to eye. The police have stated their opionion as well. Unless another group of neighbors come in that both groups decide to gang up on and mutually agree to dislike... I don't think you are going to agree on this...

ENASNI said:

One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious, as in It's a nice day, or You're very tall, or Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you all right? At first Ford had formed a theory to account for this strange behavior. If human beings don't keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up.

After a few months' consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one. If they don't keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working. After a while he abandoned this one as well as being obstructively cynical and decided he quite liked human beings after all, but he always remained desperately worried about the terrible number of things they didn't know about.
Douglas Adams.
[The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Look Pennsylvania... I do not believe it is illegal to keep calling the cops on you. They don't like the cars, you can't see why they don't like the cars. It is just 2 groups of people not seeing eye to eye. The police have stated their opionion as well. Unless another group of neighbors come in that both groups decide to gang up on and mutually agree to dislike... I don't think you are going to agree on this...

Click to expand...

Haha wonderful part to quote from the book. Fits this perfectly. I understand what youre saying, but isnt there anything i can do at all? Maybe even call the cops on them? Haha, something!

To further clear up this thread, there is no cars, parts, trash, etc in the yard. The complaint is about having cars. They park ALL their vehicles in their garages (which is 2 vehicles max, which they own), but even if we wanted to park them all in the garage, how would we? Stack them? haha

Talk to neighbor

I suggest you (your mother would be more appropriate) try to talk to your neighbor, or send her a letter. Let her know that all of the cars are in working condition and being driven, or about to be driven, by one of the members of your large household. It sounds like she also believes your family may not be able to afford these nice cars, ignoring the fact you piece them together yourself, and is calling to get the police to run the plates. I don't know what your brother was arrested for, but if it was ANYTHING car related, this might be spurring her. Assure her that the cars are legally yours. Keep a copy of the letter for yourself and make sure there is NO insulting or lecturing in the letter. Keep it "nice" (even if you are totally faking it!). If the calls continue, there isn't a whole lot you can do. Its possible that she's calling 911 anonimously (sp) and that they couldn't do a whole lot even if they wanted to. She probably wants you and your "criminal" brother out of your house, she may be afraid of him reoffending, with her as the victim. But as frustrating as it might be,(I hate my neighbors too!) don't retaliate. This will only double down her efforts. Keep tapping on the window, I guess. And for god's sake, if she does anything wrong or suspicious, anonimously call the police!

Joonuper said:

I suggest you (your mother would be more appropriate) try to talk to your neighbor, or send her a letter. Let her know that all of the cars are in working condition and being driven, or about to be driven, by one of the members of your large household. It sounds like she also believes your family may not be able to afford these nice cars, ignoring the fact you piece them together yourself, and is calling to get the police to run the plates. I don't know what your brother was arrested for, but if it was ANYTHING car related, this might be spurring her. Assure her that the cars are legally yours. Keep a copy of the letter for yourself and make sure there is NO insulting or lecturing in the letter. Keep it "nice" (even if you are totally faking it!). If the calls continue, there isn't a whole lot you can do. Its possible that she's calling 911 anonimously (sp) and that they couldn't do a whole lot even if they wanted to. She probably wants you and your "criminal" brother out of your house, she may be afraid of him reoffending, with her as the victim. But as frustrating as it might be,(I hate my neighbors too!) don't retaliate. This will only double down her efforts. Keep tapping on the window, I guess. And for god's sake, if she does anything wrong or suspicious, anonimously call the police!

Click to expand...

Haha this is probably the best advice i have heard on this whole topic. My brother was arrested and charged with arson. It wasnt anything planned or anything, it was a random act and involved 2 other kids. "Ryot Bridge" i believe its name was.

Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a shot! I'm going to request a list of laws for the zoning/ordinances around my area. Perhaps there is meetings my family can attend too, to vote on such rediculous ones. Such as this one...

"If the music in your car is heard 3 car lengths away, you must turn it down or be fined." This is real, check it out for lancaster. I read this one in the paper.. haha, how rediculous. Using stock sound systems, playing them semi-loud can be heard over 60ft away.... What are these people thinking? again, thanks for the advice!

I'm sure theyre doing something illegal too, like being drunk in public... I see em walk around the developement all the time.

Just because you don't like or agree with the laws doesn't mean that they don't serve the common good, insofar as the loud music, you should see how many people have hearing problems from listening to loud noise and it doesn't take much. You have too many excuses and are playing mind games. Please grow up.

Ford

The letter idea is a good one..
Also you might want to mention.. in a nice way, that the number of times the police are called into an area, increases its negative "Point value" of the neighborhood. and how much you want to keep the neighborhood in a good light..

And Cookies...

and keep the music down.


Yo Ford you think you got problems:

"this is probably the best button to press" (D.A. again)
https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=229441

rmet4nzkx said:

Just because you don't like or agree with the laws doesn't mean that they don't serve the common good, insofar as the loud music, you should see how many people have hearing problems from listening to loud noise and it doesn't take much. You have too many excuses and are playing mind games. Please grow up.

Click to expand...

Well, he is only 17!
Actually, the fact he is on this site and looking for answers to support his family, sounds really mature.