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Problem with neighbors and their guests

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Lawn problems

Junior Member
I live in CT. We share a driveway with our neighbors-well, technically they are separate as there is a 2 foot gap between their side and our side. Since they moved in, the neighbors teenager kids' friends have been parking in the corner of our lawn next to the driveway. They destroyed the grass and left huge trenches in what is now mud. We were very "nice" at first, and asked them to please tell their guests to park on the pavement, not in our grass. When the weather got warmer, we replanted grass seed and planted a row of bushes to keep people from parking there. About a day after the bushes were planted, two people came up on ATVs (guests of the neighbors). When they left, they drove through our bushes (one is now bending over) and left the property via our lawn, leaving skid marks in the grass. When we approached our neighbor about it, they got angry and said that it was not their responsibility, as the people were friends of their kids. After that they would not speak to us (they still won't speak to us). When we confronted one of them yesterday (the dad), he said that we had no right to complain to them about what someone else did to our property. They were his kids friends, and if we have a problem, we should talk to them, not him or his wife.
My question is: is the owner of the home legally responsible for the actions of his guests?
Thank you.
Kerrie
 


ms.magoo

Member
Problem with neighbours and their guests

I'm not sure if your neighbour would be responsible for someone elses actions. I'll let someone else answer that one. I think that you need to take pictures of the damages they've done to your property. I'd also install a video camera facing the area that they like to destroy, that just might deter them from doing anymore damages. If they continue to do damages, then at least you have good evidence showing who it was. That way you can charge the EXACT damage doers with trespassing an damages to your property. Plus lastly, an maybe your best and cheapest route, is to put up a fence so there's no way they can access and do any damages to your shrubs an lawn area. Make sure to put up "No trespassing" signs on that fence. And also put a sign up saying "Trespassers will be prosecuted". Just my idea's.
 

Shel77

Member
This is more of a question that someone may be able to anwser but could she put tire 'tack strips where the bushes are on her property, a few flat tires might keep them off your grass. Just get some long sturdy nails and nail them through a 2X4 and place them under the bushes.
 

kathrynne

Member
Tack strips not a great idea

Though it's pretty tempting when you have idiots driving over and through your lawn, we were advised that we could be sued (successfully) for damage to the idiots' vehicles as well as nailed pretty harshly should anyone actually get hurt by such a hidden trap.

We had a corner lot in a subdivision full of bored teens back in Michigan, where everyone was getting hit with pretty frequent lawn jobs. One 14-year-old actually stole her Mom's car and missed our lawnmower by inches on a Saturday afternoon--lawnmower was on the house side of a hedge she plowed through at about 45mph, and would've had my Dad and kid sister behind it to kill or maim had they not JUST run out of gas.

Instead of any form of hidden hazard, we all started lining our lawns with boulders. Easily seen by the idiot drivers, they're a decent deterrent, and they can look pretty nice if done properly.
 

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