Need advice!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2006
Need advice!
20
Sun, 04-23-2006 - 2:48pm

Morning all!

I've posted before about our obnoxious neighbors - they were the fire under my behind that made me really look at our finances and start saving for a house. They are literally so annoying, I've been begging the DH to just start looking for a new place to rent with me. Unfortunately, rents have skyrocketed around here so he's right that we'll just be hurting ourselves in our saving for a house and we should just deal with it for the next year.

Not only are they loud - we're talking early morning, late at night getting home drunk and obnoxious, fighting outside our window, using power tools and blasting Rick James outside our window in the early morning on the weekend, etc, but they also block me in the driveway with their roommates and friends cars. We have a duplex, with one parking space in the driveway each. If their friends park behind us, I have to go over to their house to ask to get out - its super annoying and has been going on for a year. At least once or twice a week I have to go over there and recently, one of the roommates has been totally rude to me, like I'am putting him out even though they know they are not supposed to be there. I finally broke down and talked to the landlord about the parking issue two weeks ago. Since then, they've been on their best behavior, but then this morning I get up to get a coffee and they are parked behind me again. They are also out on their patio in full view of the friend's car so they totally know they are blocking me in - after I assume the landlord talked to them about it. Do I go to the landlord again, wait to see if it keeps happening, or move? I know there are places out there that we could afford and still save, but I hate to let them win and us throw away money on moving costs. I have a feeling that this is their little game. They were here before us and made a big point of saying how much better they liked it when our unit was empty and they had the whole place to themselves. I also get the feeling that they had problems with previous tenants in our house and maybe misrepresented it to the landlord. When we moved in, he made a big point of saying he didn't want "problem" tenants. We've been totally quiet, never blocked them in, always on time with the rent, and fixed the place up.

Sorry for the long rant!

Thanks for any advice!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2005
In reply to: chloe266
Mon, 04-24-2006 - 7:54pm

Chloe,


I know that parking is only one of your problems but it sounds like the most frustrating one. My friend lives in a duplex and she got one of these because she was so sick of having to get her neighbours to move their cars from her spot. Pricey, but worth it. This is the only model I could find but I know there are other, cheaper models out there.


http://www.parkingzone.com/include.site/ProductDetail.cfm?ProductID=2485


Lynne

Lynne 


 


iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
In reply to: chloe266
Mon, 04-24-2006 - 9:47pm

Telling the landlord is a great way to handle it. We live in a subdivision with very nice neighbors, with the exception of a family who moved in directly across the street a few years back. A Mom and Dad and three teenage boys. First we found the boys filming us with their camcorder through our windows (the parents said, "Boys will be boys" but the police disagreed :-D). They paintballed some of the houses in our neighborhood (the parents said their kids didn't mean to do it...the police disagred again and gave their kids house arrest). Upon returning home from the store late at night, I saw one of her sons running from my front yard, with some teenage friends, carrying a wooden park bench from my yard (yes, stealing it...). I pulled into my drive, parked, and leapt from my car. I then sprinted over to his home and pounded on the front door. When his Mom opened the door, I gave her an earful she'll likely never forget letting her know that if her kids even BREATHE in the direction of my property again, I will file a restraining order against her kids and she'll have no choice but to move. I was yelling so loudly that my husband (who didn't know I had come home) heard the yelling and opened our front door to see what was going on. I had just had it. It became a quality of life issue. All of our neighbors agreed that the neighborhood was perfect before this one family moved in. It all came down to their oldest son parking his truck, which he'd spent hours fixing up, right across from our driveway, and he didnt park it against the curb. He parked it a foot or two away so that cars driving down the street had to swerve to go around it. But he did it to get back at me for putting my foot down on his family's ridiculous behavior. Finally, one day I had to leave the house to get medicine that had been called in for my husband who had had an allergic reaction to another medicine and was covered in itchy painful welts. I had no patience for them that day. I pulled out of my garage and I saw the teen in his truck, talking to his Mom, and they both looked at me and laughed and I saw the Mom motion to him to "just hold on...stay here...see what she does". Seriously. I would have had to drive across my grass to get into the street with the way he had me blocked in. So I just drove halfway down the driveway, faced his truck, put my truck in neutral, and revved the engine to the hilt...it was loud!!! Then I threw the car in drive with a squeal of my tires to let him know I was coming out of my driveway whether he liked it or not, and his Mom screamed, "MOVE!!! GO!!!!" and he took off in a panic. I then calmly left my driveway and gave her a friendly wave as I left. To this day, she and her sons park only in their own driveway or park up on their own curb to give me ample room to leave my own home. When their kids go out to ride bikes or skateboard, they never do it in front of my house...they cross to the other side as they go down the street. I figure that they probably think I'm a crazy maniac now, but that's fine...as long as they respect my property. :-D

Sometimes you just have to speak up...whether it's confronting the neighbors directly ...or complaining to someone (landlord/police/etc).

I wish you the best in resolving this!

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
In reply to: chloe266
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 12:33am
Hi, chloe. I feel for you. We live in a fairly quiet neighborhood. The neighbors across the street, until recently, were the problem. We've lived here a long time. Most of the houses are not rented, but the one across the street, and now, next door--rental properties. College students? Not always the problem. Dysfunctional families with big/small kids, arguing couples, and wild parties are the problem. Problem renters #1: students with crazy habits. No gangs or druggie psychos, but problem drinkers. Final straw? Bonfire and public urinating on the front lawn after a wild drinkfest. THAT got the attention of the cops and fire dept,along with letters to landlord, and they were kicked out. Problem #2? Couple with small home-based business with big trucks. Deliveries. Early/late start the cars, Mario Andretti style. Debris and weeds. Finally, gone. Problem #3? Mr. RV owner with an RV the size of a C-130 cargo plane. Would move the thing to different streets to avoid getting tickets, etc. l)Keep a log of date,time, incidents, violations, responses. 2)Neighborhood watch? 3)Familiarize yourself with city ordinances, codes, etc. Junk-yard cars on the street for months? Rats, skunks, diminished property values,noise abatement, potential hazards.4)Certified letters, with pictures, to the landlord. Point out the positives first. Nice neighborhood, you are responsible renters, etc. Dont stoop to their level. I doubt they would notice if you would play retro-disco or country twang if they are SOO tuned into Rick James. Maybe they've lost their hearing. Hugs. Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2006
In reply to: chloe266
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 2:04pm
I would call the landlord again, and continue to do so until the issue is resolved. It is his resposnibility to make sure the tennants aren't bothersome. As far as the noise issue, this happened to me too. I had a neighbor who would sit in her car with her radio very loud for long periods of time, while she was parked outside my window, late at night. I called the police and placed an anomyous noice complaint. The police showed up, had a talk toher and it never happened again.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2004
In reply to: chloe266
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 5:40pm

Well, the landlord is a fool if he lets nice, dependable tenants be run off by obnoxious tenants. Seriously, if he can't fix this, then I would move. If he wants to keep your business he needs to stop this.

Maybe in his mind, she is the more dangerous force and would be more likely to cause trouble if he tried to terminate or not renew her lease, so he would rather lose you. This might have happened before.

If he doesn't do anything and you can't move, then I think I would calmly say to her, "I need your cell phone number so that I can reach you when your friends park behind me." This will probably make her uncomfortable, and she might even refuse. Then I would say, "Well, ok, then I am just going to honk the horn until you come out. I know you don't think I should have to make a trip to your door just because you chose to inconvenience me. Have a nice day!" Then I would be sure to have to make A LOT of trips any time someone is in the spot. HONK! HONK! HONK! It will be like Chinese water torture.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2004
In reply to: chloe266
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 5:42pm
P.S. Oh yeah, and I would also make a big show of taking pictures of the cars whenever they are there. We know that you'll just be using them to blow up as dart boards, but that will make the friends uncomfortable. Your neighbor won't know if you are showing the landlord or keeping track of the license plates.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-23-2005
In reply to: chloe266
Tue, 04-25-2006 - 6:55pm

I agree with all the other posters...I would definitely document date/times your car has been blocked.

lvhunnie2005

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2006
In reply to: chloe266
Wed, 04-26-2006 - 10:22am

Thanks for everyone's responses!

I emailed the landlord on Monday and haven't gotten a response. This is pretty odd since he usually emails me right back. I made the email sound like I assumed he hadn't had a chance to talk to her since her friends were parking behind me again. It may be that he doesn't know how to respond since I'am pretty sure he has mentioned it to her based on the cold reception I get when I go out to my car. The next time they park behind me, I'am going to call him and if he tries to blow me off I'am going to need to insist that he enforce my rental agreement.

I like the honking idea - I just hate confrontation and this woman is the queen confronter. I get pretty rattled when people yell or get nasty but I have a line rehearsed asking her if she's seriously angry because the landlord has to enforce good manners around the property. I'am very sure that she's had problems with previous tenants - but I think she knows how to talk to the landlord and sound sane. He keeps telling me that she'll be there forever, etc. and he knows we are out once we save up enough to buy a house. I'am pretty sure he'll choose her as a tenant over us, but I plan to remind him that he could get a good $500 in rent more than she's paying for that place and ask him if he's comfortable with rotating tenants in the front place - because NO ONE is going to live here for more than a year next door to them. His big selling point to me in renting our place is that we'd be next door to up and coming professionals who are almost always gone and are out of the stage where they party and get loud like college students. Boy has she snowed him if he really believes that.

I've been keeping my eye on the paper for a new place to rent, but everything nice is about $1900 a month. We could swing that, but its $500 extra a month that we could be putting towards our debt.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
In reply to: chloe266
Wed, 04-26-2006 - 11:30am

Is the spot that the visitors park in a legal parking space? If not, I wouldn't mess with the landlord, I'd just phone the police every time you see someone parked there. If it is a legal spot, is it possible for you to park there instead? I realize that you probably want your car in the drive but this might make your life easier. Also, you might want to offer some suggestions to the landlord. One would be that he (or if appropriate, he work with the municipality) to post a no parking sign. Another might be that he provide some sort of mechanism like one of the previous posters in this thread linked to. Or if you can come up with any other suggestions.

I also agree that pictures and documentation are in order since it sounds like she has him pretty well snowed. Is it the same friends/visitors? Maybe you could try to approach them rather than your neighbor? I hate stuff like this...sorry you are having to deal with it.

Peg

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2004
In reply to: chloe266
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 12:32pm

Call the nearest towing company and talk to them. Ask them what your options are when you are blocked in.

We had a similar situation in a house we owned. After years of thinking we'd have to call the police to do anything, I found out that I could just call the towing company and sign an affidavit of property ownership. Even though you don't own the property, you may have options. A reputable place will know, as they want to avoid lawsuits while still making money.

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