No tresspassing...again...Please!!

[TexasTurmoil]

I live in Texas.
I have a problem that I am sure is not new to anyone who lives near or by family members. My brother and sister in law live on the property directly behind the land we own. There is no fence, however there is a definite divide in the back and on the side is a driveway. My problem is that my neice and nephew have constantly ridden their bikes through our front and back yards and we have had numerous discussions about them staying off our property and not riding what they have now...dirt bikes...in our yards. Not to mention the vulgar language that comes out of their mouths while riding in our yard and damaging our yard and property or the fact that they bring weapons onto our property and threaten us and our children. We have played the whole "call the police" game before and it has gotten us nowhere. They always tell us to just stay on our own property and we always do...they have plenty of property behind their house to ride but they insist on staying in our yard, and recently chasing our 8 year old down with the dirt bike. I feel that legal intervention is needed to end this..but how do I go about doing this correctly. I wanted to write a polite letter asking them to remain off the property so that If any action is needed then I tried an alternate route. Any help is appreciated and thank you for reading!!!

 

[seniorjudge]

I live in Texas.
I have a problem that I am sure is not new to anyone who lives near or by family members. My brother and sister in law live on the property directly behind the land we own. There is no fence, however there is a definite divide in the back and on the side is a driveway. My problem is that my neice and nephew have constantly ridden their bikes through our front and back yards and we have had numerous discussions about them staying off our property and not riding what they have now...dirt bikes...in our yards. Not to mention the vulgar language that comes out of their mouths while riding in our yard and damaging our yard and property or the fact that they bring weapons onto our property and threaten us and our children. We have played the whole "call the police" game before and it has gotten us nowhere. They always tell us to just stay on our own property and we always do...they have plenty of property behind their house to ride but they insist on staying in our yard, and recently chasing our 8 year old down with the dirt bike. I feel that legal intervention is needed to end this..but how do I go about doing this correctly. I wanted to write a polite letter asking them to remain off the property so that If any action is needed then I tried an alternate route. Any help is appreciated and thank you for reading!!!

A fence would do.

A board with spiked nails is cheaper.

 

[dallas702]

What....you can't talk to your brother? Are all of yoou adults too lame to discipline these kids? How about disabling the bikes until an agreement is made. How about suing them (and parents) for destruction of your yard? Hitting the wallet ALWAYS gets their attention.

Yeah, something "polite" like "Keep your rotten kids off my property or I'll hose 'em with birdshot". Or, "You are being sued" on a subpoena (you can make it pink if you want to be "polite").

 

[HomeGuru]

A fence would do.

A board with spiked nails is cheaper.

**A: i say upgrade to a razor wire electric fence.

 

[TexasTurmoil]

What....you can't talk to your brother?

Not my brother...my husbands brother. We have talked it over for the last several years and tried to be reasonable about not only the bikes but the weapons too, His wife runs the family and she doesn't think her children do anything wrong...ever!!! Therefore, there is no discipline in the household or anywhere elses they happen to be. We feel like prisioners in our own home because if we go outside to our property or just grilling out we get cussed out and yelled at and it just goes on and on and...you get it! Those adults cannot be reasoned with and now we are at our wits end.

 

[dallas702]

In that case, there are laws about "enjoyment of property" rights (don't know what it may be called in your state) that have given financial relief to many residents whose life has been made miserable by obnoxious and brattish neighbors. The fact that it is "family" has no bearing on your right to "quiet enjoyment" of your property.

Post in the "Real Estate Law" section and see if someone specializing in that area can give you some guidance.

Make no mistake: you DO have a right to live in peace on your own property. It IS a civily actionable offense to deprive anyone of that peace and enjoyment. Further, there are criminal statutes that should protect you from malicious destruction of your property.

Tell your husband that if he doesn't get off the couch and stand up to his brother (and his brats) you will go find a peaceful place to live by yourself. Maybe that'll wake him up....or challenge his testosterone.