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lao1975

Guest
Last year, I bought a home in a suburban, residential area. Right after settling and moving, I started to learn that my new next door neighbor was the neighbor from H**L. It was not evident right away, at first I thought he was just a lonely old man who liked to talk a lot. (even though his wife still lives with him) About two weeks after I moved in, the daughters of the people I bought the house from stopped by to visit (they only moved 3 blocks away) That was when I started to hear the horror stories.....

-one time, their cat ran across his yard, he called the police and animal control on them.
-He will stand outside and talk to you all day... but you can't end the conversation (they warned me) or he'll turn on you.(which I am now finding out)
-One time, another neighbor was getting a ride to school. The driver of the ride honked the horn to tell him to come out, my neighbor called the police on him.
-He used to have a "private driveway-no turns" sign in his driveway, he repeatedly collected liscence plate #'s of anyone who turned around in it and reported them to the police.

I tried to just make light of these "horror stories" but soon, I was making some observations of my own.
This guy keeps mountains of junk in and around his house. He has a 30 foot storage shed (which he has no permit for, and tries to justify by saying it is a "temporary building") in the backyard which is crammed with junk. He has junk lying around the backyard. He has a mountain of junk crammed in his carport, and a new mountain of junk growing in front of his house (which includes a pick-up truck cap that he trash-picked from another neighbor, this guy does not even OWN a truck). When his shades are up, you can even see pils of junk crammed into his house, in every room.
He regularly trash-picks everybody's trash, I saw him take rusty old golf clubs out of my trash the other day.
He did not mow his lawn at ALL last summer- well once in early spring, he had someone come mow it, but then he just let it grow up high and it all turned to weeds.
He did not rake his lawn at all last fall. every other day, his other neighbor and I would rake, he would not, it would all blow into our yards.
He speaks loudly, I mean VERY loudly. If I am indoors, windows closed, television on, I can hear his conversations with other neighbors clearly.

These are all just nuisance things, here is something VERY disturbing....

Part of our backyard is fenced with a high wooden fence, but there is only a chainlink fence closer to the house. There were high, thick growing yew trees, there though, so that kept the yard private. Well, the yew trees are on HIS property.... A few weeks after I moved in, he had someone come cut the lower branches off the yew trees, this way he could now spy into my yard and windows.
I had a friend living in the bedroom who's window was near these trees. She started leaving the shades down at all times, after he made the comment "hey, I was looking at you through the window, but you didn't wave back at me" He made a comment to me a week or so after that she has been keeping the shades down, and I told him "that's her business"
I have since caught him spying in my yard and windows occasionally. The people living on the other side of him told me thay have the same problem. (I bought VERY heavy drapes for my bedroom)

Whenever anybody has work done on their home, he goes over and starts telling them what they should do with their yard. ( he stopped speaking to me or even saying hello for a couple weeks when I told him that I would NOT cut down a flowering tree that is in front of my house, as he suggested I do) This, from somebody who does not even maintain HIS yard. He also calls the township everytime he sees someone getting work done, to make sure they have the proper permits. Other neighbors who have been living there for years have narrowed him down as the one who is doing all of the snitching. (Basically because everyone else has had work done, and consequently been checked up on, except for him. Last week, the woman across the street from me was having her driveway re-paved. He called to make sure she had permits for this, even though it's not required.
Recently, I found business cards from Animal Control and Zoning stuck on my door, I'm assuming because they had visited me. I am not sure if it was because I have a dog who barks at the mailman (half of all residents on my street do) or because my cat snuck out the other day and was hiding in my neighbor's bushes. Then again, it could also be because I have a couple pet rabbits that live in my garage (their homes are kept very clean and there is no smell) The only thing I am sure of is that my neigbor was the one who called them to come over.

I realize that MOST of what he's doing is legal, although he's abiding to the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. I don't think that him spying in my and my other neighbor's windows is legal, though. I also think that his non-maintenance of his yard goes against the town's regulations.

Is there anything that can be done about this guy? I know several neighbors are planning on calling up the town to tell them that they have seen rats entering and exiting his shed. I do not want to have to spend thousands of dollars defending myself legally because of this guy.
 


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Tracey

Guest
You're on the right track - report him for zoning and health violations & ignore the rest. Go to the library and get a copy of the zoning code and see if there are any provisions regarding sheds, junk storage, lawn maintenance, etc. Also check the code regarding your pets.

He's allowed to look in your windows if he stays on his property. Extend the wood fence to cover where the bushes were removed.

Call animal control and ask them why they were at your house. If they say there was a complaint about barking, ask for a copy of the local ordinance regarding dog barking (noise level, duration, hours). Don't admit any behavior by your animals unless you witnessed it. Animal control has to prove that it was YOUR cat on his lawn and your dog barking. File a written response setting forth the neighbor's reputation & history for unreasonable nosiness and low tolerance for the rest of humanity. This puts his animosity on record and will make his complaints less persuasive.

Do not confront him directly. He sounds mentally ill and will likely twist any contact with you into threats or harrassment. If you must communicate with him, do so in writing and keep copies of everything. If he escalates, ask the court for a restraining order preventing him from talking to you or harrassing you.

Good luck,
Tracey

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.
 

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