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Odd Neighbor

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psycho'sprey

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania. Our neighbors are very protective of their property. We live on a busy road and the speed limit is 45. Over the last few years we have had a handful of people over-shoot our driveway when looking for the house for the first time and pull into her driveway by mistake. We usually warn friends and contractors who come to the house to stay far away from the property line, but today a friend came to deliver something to us and, before we could warn him, he pulled out to leave and drove out of her driveway which lies maybe a foot or two from the property line. They were watching from their window (They always watch our comings and goings) and my husband went to apologize because this has happened before. He was met with hostility from the husband while his wife shouted obscenities from inside the house. After their rantings and my husband's apologizing and explaining that the person had never been here before and he had not had time to warn him to stay away, they threated legal action against us. My question is: Are we legally responsible for the actions of persons after we have said our goodbyes and they are leaving our home? We have no way of anticipating anyone exiting via her driveway and we don't ask anyone to do it. I personally would never even consider using someone else's driveway to leave an adjacent house. Like I said, we do our best to tell people to stay away, but we occasionally miss the opportunity to tell someone. Our neighbors do not have "No Trespassing" signs up...Can I put signs up on my property "Psycho next door do not pass this line!!!"? (My guess that they would sue for slander)!:rolleyes: I just want to do the right thing and live in peace.What is the name of your state?
 


divgradcurl

Senior Member
I just want to do the right thing and live in peace.
Then what you need to do is be really, really sure that none of your guests or invitees ever drift over onto the neighbors property. That's really about all you can do.
 

panzertanker

Senior Member
psycho'sprey said:
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania. Our neighbors are very protective of their property. We live on a busy road and the speed limit is 45. Over the last few years we have had a handful of people over-shoot our driveway when looking for the house for the first time and pull into her driveway by mistake. We usually warn friends and contractors who come to the house to stay far away from the property line, but today a friend came to deliver something to us and, before we could warn him, he pulled out to leave and drove out of her driveway which lies maybe a foot or two from the property line. They were watching from their window (They always watch our comings and goings) and my husband went to apologize because this has happened before. He was met with hostility from the husband while his wife shouted obscenities from inside the house. After their rantings and my husband's apologizing and explaining that the person had never been here before and he had not had time to warn him to stay away, they threated legal action against us. My question is: Are we legally responsible for the actions of persons after we have said our goodbyes and they are leaving our home? We have no way of anticipating anyone exiting via her driveway and we don't ask anyone to do it. I personally would never even consider using someone else's driveway to leave an adjacent house. Like I said, we do our best to tell people to stay away, but we occasionally miss the opportunity to tell someone. Our neighbors do not have "No Trespassing" signs up...Can I put signs up on my property "Psycho next door do not pass this line!!!"? (My guess that they would sue for slander)!:rolleyes: I just want to do the right thing and live in peace.What is the name of your state?
Do they have "no trespassing" signs
Do they have a fence
Do they have their "driveway" clearly marked as "theirs", or is this an ingress/egress right of way?
 

nextwife

Senior Member
Good grief. I live on a cul du sac, and people who are sightseeing along Lake Michigan often turn down our street, then realize they can't exit, and pull into the bottom of my driveway to turn around. So what? When kiddo is skating or scootering on the driveway, we put a barrier on the bottom so nobody pulls in.

If your neighbors are so uptight about this, they can put up a post on either side of their driveway bottom and hook a chain or rope across, Maybe you can even buy it for them?
 

psycho'sprey

Junior Member
To all who replied...

:) Thanks to all for your kind comments.

divgradcurl,
I have been very careful with my guests but, after I say my goodbyes and return to my house, I cannot see what they do. I try to warn as many people as I can, but sometimes I plain old forget to warn them because it is not a usual thing for someone to exit via someone else's driveway. We are only talking about the last 5 feet of driveway and about 12-18 inches of her grass to get there.

panzertanker,
They do not have any "no trespassing" signs up and refuse to put any up. I can't imagine why except that they must like fighting with people.:confused: They do not have a fence and their driveway is confusing because they actually have two. Their driveway runs like a horseshoe around their house with one driveway at either end of their property. It is a private driveway connecting to a state road (no right of way). We are considering running trees down our side of the property line so that no one else will do this, but it is $900 for the survey and God knows how much more for the landscaping. I will not be able to use small plantings for visibility reasons and the property line goes on for quite a distance. I will need at least 15 trees placed 3 feet apart.

nextwife,
Funny that you say to put up posts at the end of the driveway...they have them but no chain. They will not even speak with us (or any of their bordering neighbors for that matter), much less allow us to purchase a chain. They NEVER want anyone on their property for any reason. They will not even put up "no tresspassing" signs! They have been here for 4 years and already have had border related disputes with each of their 3 bordering neighbors....we are certainly not alone in this. The neighbor on the other side of her has erected an 8 foot fence around their backyard so that this family is completely blocked out and they don't even have to see their faces. They also have hedges running down the length of the property line in the front yard to the street. This family will not allow them on the other side to trim them...the husband does it. In the back, this family has erected a ranch style fence with chickenwire to keep the back neighbors out (The wife asked my permission to tie in to our fence in the back, which I allowed before she decided to pick on us.) She then smeared it with truck grease so that no children in the neighborhood would climb over it. She is quite a piece of work as is her entire family. (Think "Deliverance) :D Thanks for the idea though. :)
 

panzertanker

Senior Member
psycho'sprey said:
My question is: Are we legally responsible for the actions of persons after we have said our goodbyes and they are leaving our home?
No. Not to the extent of them driving out the "wrong" driveway...
Don't talk to them (the neighbors), and to heck with trying to be nice by going to apologize for someone else driving on their property.
I would put up no trespassing signs, and call the cops if the ignoramis comes onto your property to yell at you.
 

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