Anonymous "Dear Neighbor" letter

[Todd&Copper]

My first thought was that this "letter" is a flyer couched in a "friendly" format.
Just do whatever you have to do to avoid running afoul of city or local ordinances and ignore the letter/solicitation.

 

[bluejasmine]

I live in a neighborhood with HOA and they are such a pain in the kneck! They send out letters with warnings to everyone, we arent even allowed to have our city provided trash can on the side of the house and its not like it was full or open or anything! They gave us 15 days to have our house pressure washed and its less then 5 yrs old! PPL we borrowed pressure washer from was shocked we even needed it! I tell you what when I sell and move I will make sure I buy where there is no HOA.. Several ppl in the neighborhood with privacy fences that had above ground pools and spent a good amount of money on them were forced to take them down, you couldnt even see them b/c of their fences which means.. some nosy busy body was walking around looking over ppls fences..

 

[crisi]

We got an anonymous letter from someone who didn't like the candidate who's lawn sign we had in our front yard. We turned it over to the police, who agreed it was slightly threatening. It ended up making the news with the police saying the note was a federal felony (they stuck it in the mailbox - a no-no).

 

[solfan68]

Get a small hibachi grill with the words SUGGESTION BOX and stick it out at the end of your drive.

 

[becky7953]

I would ignore the note. Although as other people stated.... if you live in an association check your rules. You could get fined.

 

[sanctus]

I had a neighbor once come over with a rake in her hands, asking if I wanted to borrow it.

At the time, I had a an 8 month old, 3 year old and 4 year old, and my wrist was in a cast following surgery. I explained politely that we had a rake, I was just unable to use it at that time.

They moved about a year later, thankfully.

 

[Mkaz]

I would ignore it. This reminds me of the time my mom got a letter from the township we lived in. Our refridgerator died. She bought a new one, and had it installed. The old one was put outside next to our house because my mom had someone coming to pick it up. It was outside for a total of 15 hours before the pick up. Well, five days later she got a letter that stated she has a refridgerator outside in the lawn. They said that they wanted it removed. The funniest thing about the letter was that they said it was there after it had already been removed.

 

[simonkodousek]

Ignore the notes, and especially the people giving them. We live in a neighborhood with a HOA, and they were OBNOXIOUS the first two years we lived here. There is a gate in our backyard that a construction worker left open for an hour while he got more cement for the foundation of our sunroom. What do you know, but a busy-body HOA person drives by, sticks a rude note to the gate, and leaves. If they are unable to come to the door and talk to you face-to-face, then you know something's up where they are trying to get as many people "breaking the rules" as possible. Seriously, I wouldn't even bother with people like that...

P.S.: The HOA person I mentioned above used to drive a V8 VW Touraeg, and a GMC Yukon Denali, and traded both in on a Toyota Prius. Now the person is ridiculing everybody in the neighborhood without a hybrid car (there are only two other people in the neighborhood with hybrid cars)...

 

[mandysbus]

Maybe my neighbors need a letter like this kindly reminding them to do something about the skinless dead deer that has been rotting away in their garage for the past 3 months! It stinks! And we live in the middle of town. I was hanging on their washline in their yard for the first 3 weeks and then it migrated to the garage, and from the stench...thats all the farther it seems to have gotten.

 

[MiniGirl]

I agree with the others that feel this was just a form of advertising. File the letter in the trash and don't give it another thought.

 

[ceecee]

I was talking to my daughter's teacher earlier this week about an incident with a psycho father & how he had accused me of something I didn't do. She told me, "Don't let him rent space in your brain for free". Same with the anonymous letter writer. Not worth it!

 

[pabsandme]

Do you have a HOA where you live? If so, then I would be glad I got that letter and not a bill from the HOA for performing those services.

ETA: I see you posted there is not one.

You said you have 4 kids. How old are they? Couldn't they help. Even a 5 year old can pull weeks. Ask a neighbor is you could borrow a weed wacker and us that to trim along your driveway. Actually a flat shovel will work too. When we got our driveway resprayed, that is what they did.

 

[Mo-Yo]

Thanks guys. That makes me feel so much better. I think I should copy this post and the responses and post it at all of the mailbox banks in the neighborhood.

I think you struck on a great idea....don't stew on it.

Since its anonymous, you can't respond directly, but you could copy your neighbors on the letter just to let them know what's going on and how you feel about it.

I think...would hope...most people would be appalled at the rudeness , and in no time you'd have a posse of supporters. It's possible/probable that the "anonymous neighbor" has struck before.

 

[SandraVB79]

You can put up a sign saying "welcome in our English garden" (because IMO, "English garden" is a beautiful word meaning tall grass and a bunch of weeds! )

 

[Sgt.Tibbs]

First I would like to say to the OP that I hope things get better for you, your DH and your family. You have more important things to worry about than ignorant and nosey neighbors.

This whole thread is making me think twice about building a house in an area with a HOA. I just cannot deal with people who do things like this. My DH absolutely hates spending time on the lawn, and I'm allergic to grass (I break out in a horrible itchy rash ) so i don't weed ever and avoid that stuff like the plague. We are so going to get a letter I just know it. DH says that "Grass is just an acceptable weed."

 

[mtblujeans]

You have to deal with your own priorities.. Ignore the busybody..

 

[OhhBother]

The crazy old woman who lives across the street from us (who we have literally seen mowing IN THE SNOW), has thus far told my husband:

1) Our dog is fat
2) Our yard is a disgrace
3) It's a shame I'd left him (I'd been sick for a few days and hadn't been coming and going on my normal schedule)

She's a nut, and I just laugh every time we take our fat dog out into our horrible yard.

 

[Kies99]

Thanks guys. That makes me feel so much better. I think I should copy this post and the responses and post it at all of the mailbox banks in the neighborhood.

I totally agree!

I also agree with the toilet suggestion as a comments box!

 

[rockyroad]

The thing is that people should be able to enjoy their yards...or gardens.

So, in the interest of fun...

http://www.felderrushing.net/

 

[nicknamy1996]

I had a neighbor once come over with a rake in her hands, asking if I wanted to borrow it.

Your response should have been...

"Sure, Thanks! Now turn around and bend over!"