Anonymous "Dear Neighbor" letter

[unbroken chain]

I read once that sometimes lawn care companies will put these "anonymous neighbor" letters in people's mailbox to drum up business. I would watch carefully over the next few weeks and see if by chance that letter is followed up by ads for lawn care service!!

I agree with this. "Be proud of your new home" doesn't really sound like something a neighbor would say. It sounds like advertising. You moved in October and it's been 6 months, so you're not all that new either, to a neighbor - but if it takes your county 4 months to file the new deeds....that could be about right. Have you noticed in the past 6 or 8 weeks that you've been getting other "new homeowner" ads for decorating, home improvement or what-have-you? Your name may have recently made it onto a "new homeowner" list somewhere.

 

[Abbigator]

No we don't have a homeowner's association or any covenants. The letter had no return address and our address was handwritten.

 

[Kae]

In the neighborhood next to me someone sent a letter out that made comments about a bunch of yards. My freinds was on the "Bad" list She bought the house 3 years ago & has done so much and was working her way around the house, one side was not done-over grown bushes & such. She put Flamingos in her yard (she borrowed mine)& one of her other neighbors put their Christmas deers back out, another put christmas lights back on the bushes.

Kae

 

[taekwondo mom]

I have to share a funny story :

My aunt purchased a house here in Va to have remodeled as she continue to live in Pa , the person we had remodeling had a family emergency at the same time my aunt had surgery so things sort of got behind.

So the neighbors complained that the toilets , cabinets and a few odds and ends were piled up in the yard (they were sitting next to the back of the house ) So they called town office to complain , So we received a letter of course they didn't tell who they were ..

So we planted flowers in the potty's and wrapped fall ribbon around the tank and stuck a scare crow in the tank with more flowers..:
Placed one on the back patio and one on the Front steps so everyone could see..:

Then I called the inspector to come back and look at our new decorations.. He afterwards stated I guess I've seen everything now.
So far a year later no more complaints from the neighbors about thing in the yard.

 

[Kycha]

I think everyone has at least one in their neighborhood...
I have one friend who planted really pretty flowers last year in her yard. Like a LOT of pretty flowers. Her neighbor told her she liked the color of last year's flowers better.
I have another friend who just build a house and her neighbor told her she wasn't sure she liked the color of the brick they chose!
Our next door neighbors went on vacation last year for a week and the grass grew long. A neighbor mowed it for them while they were away. Seems like a nice gesture enough, but they would have been back a few days later and it would have been done. Uninvited, it was over the borderline of insulting (or so they took it that way.)

The first spring in our new house we put down mulch. We used the red colonial kind because it matched the trim of our house and complemented it so well. Well, one day, DH is outside pulling weeds when the neighbor's 5 year old son came over to "help out". He then proceeded to tell DH how much his Mommy hates the mulch we picked out. Don't you just love it? Kids say the darndest things.

 

[6Smiles]

I have to share a funny story :

My aunt purchased a house here in Va to have remodeled as she continue to live in Pa , the person we had remodeling had a family emergency at the same time my aunt had surgery so things sort of got behind.

So the neighbors complained that the toilets , cabinets and a few odds and ends were piled up in the yard (they were sitting next to the back of the house ) So they called town office to complain , So we received a letter of course they didn't tell who they were ..

So we planted flowers in the potty's and wrapped fall ribbon around the tank and stuck a scare crow in the tank with more flowers..:
Placed one on the back patio and one on the Front steps so everyone could see..:

Then I called the inspector to come back and look at our new decorations.. He afterwards stated I guess I've seen everything now.
So far a year later no more complaints from the neighbors about thing in the yard.

That is absolutely priceless!

 

[jinia]

you can get old toilet and put it in the yard with a sign that says
suggestion box.
who cares what some little weasel thinks, especially when they haven't got the guts to tell you who they are. if they think it looks so bad they can ante up for it to get done or do it themselves.

 

[DiznEeyore]

OP, I know how you feel!

When we first moved into our neighborhood (about 15 years ago), we were very young with a new baby. We really did do our best to keep things looking nice, but apparently we didn't do enough for one of our neighbors.

We rec'd a letter in the mail that said (and I will never forget this as long as I live because it devastated me at the time): "This has been a nice neighborhood and we all keep up our property. We don't need it looking like a ghetto. If you prefer the ghetto look, perhaps you should consider moving to an existing one rather than turning our neighborhood into one."

I swear ... there was nothing "ghetto" about our house, yard, or the two cars we owned. Maybe we needed to rake our leaves again, but truly, truly there was nothing that could've inspired that. My dh and I were baffled. We had our parents come over and look things over (LOL) and they were baffled.

We never found out who did it, though we did suspect the widow across the street who we later found out was mentally ill.

My brother and sil once came home to find all the leaves from their yard raked into a giant pile in the middle of their driveway -- apparently a neighbor didn't appreciate the fact that they hadn't raked yet!

Also, my mom and dad moved into a new neighborhood and got a nastygram from a neighbor accusing them of "disturbing the peace" with their two dogs. The thing is, those dogs never barked, never roamed, and were the best-behaved dogs you've ever seen.

I know it's upsetting to get something like that, but apparently it happens a lot. Really, try not to let it bother you. It's really sad that other people have nothing better to do with their time than attempt to supervise others' lives.

 

[Juliet25]

That was completely out of line on the part of your neighbor. I admire those with perfectly manicured lawns. Unfortunately, I lack the time and money to devote much of either to making my yard pretty, lol. You don't owe us or them an explanation as to why your yard doesn't meet anonymous's expectation.

Some people just like to be bullies.

 

[jinia]

I read once that sometimes lawn care companies will put these "anonymous neighbor" letters in people's mailbox to drum up business. I would watch carefully over the next few weeks and see if by chance that letter is followed up by ads for lawn care service!!

I was wondering about just that...

 

[holly7347]

We have some of those types in our neighborhood. Last summer we were in the middle of a drought and there was a neighbor a couple doors up watering his grass daily even though they were asking us not to. And the worst part was he water the sidewalks more than his actual grass I'm the first to admit our yard is a disaster but we really don't have the time or know how to make it great. DH does get grief from the some of the other men with perfect lawns in a joking sort of way. And no offense to people who edge but really what is the point. We have never had an edger and it seems like a waste of gas/electricity and time to me. We cut our grass and every other time or so we take the weed eater and trim the parts you can't get with a mower and we have trimmed our bushes. That is as good as it is going to get. We have lots of bare spots from trucks driving through the yard last summer when we had a concrete patio poored. We have tried and tried to get grass to grow but the drought didn't help much. So this spring we are left with lots of bare patches and tons of dandelions. I'm also not one to want to use lots of chemicals on my yard both for enviromental reasons and because my kids play in the yard alot so my neighbors are just going to have to deal.

I think it just plain rude that someone would send you a letter like that. I bet the person who sent you the letter about your yard also sent the letter about parking in the turn around. They would hate us - our yard is a mess and we have three junky cars that we frequently have to park on the street because DH is a mechanic and uses the garage for side jobs alot.

 

[TupperMom7]

Probably some old lady or old lady neighbor who has nothing better to do with their time than watch the grass grow!!! I'd mow it when I was good and ready to mow it. Maybe make a little sign that says "we'll mow when we get a chance - if you don't like it, come on over and mow it for us"

 

[bumbershoot]

I received an anonymous letter today from a neighbor.


We recently received a flier from a neighbor who has a landscaping business and charge 150/month with a year contract and these are small yards.

Seems pretty obvious that the flyer you got didn't drum up business, so he's resorted to this nonsense. I'd go straight to that neighbor if you want to tell the source how you feel about the letter.




...and our friends and family wonder why we have NO interest at all in buying a home and living in a neighborhood???????? the things y'all have to put up with would drive me nuts!

 

[Russian-in-Kansas]

Wow, that sucks! Some people are just plain cowards and mean. Our city though actually fines for weeds and tall grass, so if you want to be spiteful, I'd first check on the ordinances so you're not stuck with a bill on top of it all.

 

[ajh88]

You must live near our old neighbors!

I haven't read through all the posts - I know how upsetting and frustrating this can be, so just try to breathe and know this neighbor is not worth wasting your precious time and energy on (I know that isn't grammatically correct!).

We kept our yard mowed, but DH didn't weedeat every time (our old weedeater was a POC) - anyway, one time this neighbor came over and actually TRIMMED OUR YARD while we weren't home! I couldn't believe it. Oh well - it was his time, not ours. This same guy also laughed at the block party about how he charged another neighbor $50 to mow a yard that took all of 10 minutes (seriously, it was that small). What a jerk.

Sorry - I got off track - sorry you've got someone like that in your neighborhood and try not to let it bother you (too much!).

 

[tonilea]

Seems pretty obvious that the flyer you got didn't drum up business, so he's resorted to this nonsense. I'd go straight to that neighbor if you want to tell the source how you feel about the letter.




...and our friends and family wonder why we have NO interest at all in buying a home and living in a neighborhood???????? the things y'all have to put up with would drive me nuts!

That was my thoughts exactly!!!

 

[cats mom]

Some folks are just plain nuts!

About 3 weeks after moving into one neighborhood (several moves ago) we got a note on our car informing us that it was against the CCR's to park on the street.

We fully intended to park in our garage, it's just that we were still using it for unpacking/unboxing.


I checked the CCR's... nope, no such restriction.
The end result: we probably would have parked on the street for maybe 2 or 3 more weeks if busy body neighbor had stayed out of it. (didn't take long to figure out who the note writer was, btw) As it was, we didn't move our car into the garage until the first snowfall... about 3 months later.


OK, so maybe I can be just a tad vindictive when provoked, ya think?


Don't let the note writer stress you out OP. It's just not worth your time or energy to dwell on that kind of nonsense.



.

 

[IDoDis]

Oh, I'm so sorry about your snobs! I have a torn up couch (the puppies had a field day with it) that you are welcome to. You can put it right on your front porch and sit outside to watch your neighbors sweat while they do their yard work. I'm sure the couch will be a big hit! While you're at it, you could hang a clothes line from the nearest tree to your house. Tell them you are saving electricity and will be using that savings to buy a new lawn edger. It will teach them that things could be worse!

 

[grlpwrd]

If you live in a community with a homeowners association, you *could* be fined for non-compliance. (But, if you told them what you told us, they'd be heartless to actually fine you.)

We have tons of weeds because we unfortunately live near a field, and up until recently had a dead tree in our front yard (shock & horror!). Our neighbors park one of their cars on the street (a no-no acording to our HOA), and although it does annoy me, I'm not going to get on their case about it.

In our area you can be fined by the city, too.

We had a major weed problem a few years ago - of course, we live off of a lake and it was a jungle out there - and we got notices that stated our weeds were too tall and if we didn't take care of it they would fine us and/or bill us if the city crew had to come over to take care of it.

If it is out of control and violates city code, then I would take it seriously, but otherwise I would let it go. Of course, the only way of knowing is to call your city offices to know what the ordinances/codes are.

Seems pretty obvious that the flyer you got didn't drum up business, so he's resorted to this nonsense. I'd go straight to that neighbor if you want to tell the source how you feel about the letter...

...and what if it isn't wasn't that person? I would not recommend accusations.

Don't let the note writer stress you out OP. It's just not worth your time or energy to dwell on that kind of nonsense.

I agree.

I wouldn't place too much credence in an anonymous letter. I would, though, if it came from the city or HOA.

GL!

 

[bettyann29]

I guess Im mean but if it were me Id write up an anonymous flier that says something to the effect of "Why all the secrecy???? If you have something to say, just say it..".. Id send one to every neighbor..