JimboDaddy
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California
My family moved into a managed rental community last April. This community is a joint military/civilian community. The issue is that one of our neighbors across the street has a dog that runs wild continuously. The dog is a great friendly dog, but it has come onto our property numerous times and it has dug through our trash, made a mess, etc... When we first moved in, we had no idea who the dog belonged to. At first, when the dog got out, we attmepted to be a good neighbor, we put the dog in our backyard to keep it safe instead of it running onto a busy highway right behind our home. At hat point, a neighbor approached us and told us whose dog it was and that the dog was always out and was never taken care of, she suggested to us that ask the owners if we could adopt the dog. When the owners arrived over twelve hours later, we did approach them about adopting the dog. They were very beligerent with us. Over the next few weeks, the dog continued to get out of the yard. In fact, it was once hit by a car. On another occasion, the dog dug a hole from under its fence and was stuck crying for help. This went on for three hours while the owners were at home. We videotaped this incident. Again, we approached the neighbors telling them that something needed to be done with the dog. They told us to do whatever because they weren't going to address the situation. We looked in our lease to see what to do about how to proceed in this situation. There was nothing included. We then contacted three different legal agencies and each one of them recommended that the next time the dog was running free, that we take the dog to the SPCA, which we did. That evening the community police department showed up because the owners of the dog accused us of entering their property, letting the dog go, stealing the dog, and taking it to the SPCA.
At that point, we discovered that the woman who owned the dog was employed by the propertymanager and her husband worked for the local fire department. The following day we received a call from the manager of the property/ Her first words were why did you break into their backyard and let the dog go? The manager refused to hear our side of the story whatsoever. She went so far as to say that we would have to reimiburse the neighbor for the SPCA fees. This was last summer in August. The community police officer we spoke with said that we should have called them, but that the other party was more at fault because of the dog running free.
Since then, the dog has continued to run free frequently, a violation of both the lease and the local law. We have called the police frequently on the matter. However, the new issue is that the landlord and the neighbor continue to slander and harass us. The first issue came when my wife went to pay rent at the management ofice a couple of months ago. She went in to pay rent and the manager came out and berated her for her "body language." She said that my wife's body language made her employee uncomftable. The next and more severe issue happened on Friday of this past week. My wife again went in to pay for rent and this time the neighbor began speaking very loudly to all of the employees stating that my wife, "broke into their property and stole my dog. I should have had her arrested, etc.." This went on until my wife left the property office. The woman who was helping her said "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." This morning we received a call from the property manager claiming that my wife was out of order when she told the neighbor, "That's really professional behavior" as that person slandered us. The property manager has never heard our side of the story and she continues to blame us for the situation. The neighbors have consistently violated the lease with their dog running free, a visitor that has stayed there for over a month, parking in their front yards, etc. However, nothing has been done to address this at all. My wife and I wondering what appropriate actions we should take. We have considered a slander and harassment lawsuit. We have also documented all of the times we have called the police and taken photographs of the dog on our property. Both my wife and I work in very public jobs and these allegations could be very hurtful to our employment. What course of action are available to us?
Thank you in advance for any help.
My family moved into a managed rental community last April. This community is a joint military/civilian community. The issue is that one of our neighbors across the street has a dog that runs wild continuously. The dog is a great friendly dog, but it has come onto our property numerous times and it has dug through our trash, made a mess, etc... When we first moved in, we had no idea who the dog belonged to. At first, when the dog got out, we attmepted to be a good neighbor, we put the dog in our backyard to keep it safe instead of it running onto a busy highway right behind our home. At hat point, a neighbor approached us and told us whose dog it was and that the dog was always out and was never taken care of, she suggested to us that ask the owners if we could adopt the dog. When the owners arrived over twelve hours later, we did approach them about adopting the dog. They were very beligerent with us. Over the next few weeks, the dog continued to get out of the yard. In fact, it was once hit by a car. On another occasion, the dog dug a hole from under its fence and was stuck crying for help. This went on for three hours while the owners were at home. We videotaped this incident. Again, we approached the neighbors telling them that something needed to be done with the dog. They told us to do whatever because they weren't going to address the situation. We looked in our lease to see what to do about how to proceed in this situation. There was nothing included. We then contacted three different legal agencies and each one of them recommended that the next time the dog was running free, that we take the dog to the SPCA, which we did. That evening the community police department showed up because the owners of the dog accused us of entering their property, letting the dog go, stealing the dog, and taking it to the SPCA.
At that point, we discovered that the woman who owned the dog was employed by the propertymanager and her husband worked for the local fire department. The following day we received a call from the manager of the property/ Her first words were why did you break into their backyard and let the dog go? The manager refused to hear our side of the story whatsoever. She went so far as to say that we would have to reimiburse the neighbor for the SPCA fees. This was last summer in August. The community police officer we spoke with said that we should have called them, but that the other party was more at fault because of the dog running free.
Since then, the dog has continued to run free frequently, a violation of both the lease and the local law. We have called the police frequently on the matter. However, the new issue is that the landlord and the neighbor continue to slander and harass us. The first issue came when my wife went to pay rent at the management ofice a couple of months ago. She went in to pay rent and the manager came out and berated her for her "body language." She said that my wife's body language made her employee uncomftable. The next and more severe issue happened on Friday of this past week. My wife again went in to pay for rent and this time the neighbor began speaking very loudly to all of the employees stating that my wife, "broke into their property and stole my dog. I should have had her arrested, etc.." This went on until my wife left the property office. The woman who was helping her said "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." This morning we received a call from the property manager claiming that my wife was out of order when she told the neighbor, "That's really professional behavior" as that person slandered us. The property manager has never heard our side of the story and she continues to blame us for the situation. The neighbors have consistently violated the lease with their dog running free, a visitor that has stayed there for over a month, parking in their front yards, etc. However, nothing has been done to address this at all. My wife and I wondering what appropriate actions we should take. We have considered a slander and harassment lawsuit. We have also documented all of the times we have called the police and taken photographs of the dog on our property. Both my wife and I work in very public jobs and these allegations could be very hurtful to our employment. What course of action are available to us?
Thank you in advance for any help.