Need advice re. problem neighbors - LONG! *** UPDATE pg. 2 ***

[Lyn-CA]

Please help. DH and I are trying to figure out our options in dealing with the losers next door to us. We are hoping to hear from others in this type of situation and how they dealt with it.

Our longtime neighbor, JE, lost his first wife to cancer. They had no kids. JE was really nosy and made a great neighborhood watchman. Anyway, he remarried and moved into his second wife's home. He rented his house next door to us to his second wife's daughter and his boyfriend, who are in their early 20's. They have their friends come over all the time.

This causes 2 problems:

1) their friends who all drive older, NOISY cars take up all the parking. It is so aggravating to come home and not be able to park in front of or on the side of your own house. They know we use those spaces yet they continually take our usual spots and don't even leave room for at least one other car.

We talked to them about this and they said it is a public street. We countered that we as homeowners pay very high property taxes and the least we can get back is to be able to park on our property. The people taking up all the parking don't even live there!

2) Their friends come over to drink beer and smoke marijuana (another neighbor has caught them in the backyard shed). Normally, we say live and let live but they party at least 3x during the weekdays and get very loud usually around 3 AM and wake us up and keep us awake.

We have talked to them about this too but to no avail.

We talked to our old neighbor, their landlord, and all he could say was call the cops on them. So we did. We called the non-emergency number and by the time the cops arrived, if they arrived at all, they either left or got quiet. Either way, damage is done, their noise has woken up the entire neighborhood.

We are so hesitant to call the cops on them because we are unsure of what they are capable of as far as retaliation.

We are going to try and rally the other neighbors to talk to the landlord again and see what he can do.

What else can we do? We need to get our sleep so bad. By the way, DH and I both work early shifts. The losers are all unemployed. They try to steal landscaping jobs from those who've been servicing the neighborhood for a long time by undercutting their prices. What would you do?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You have to call the cops and accept retaliation or move. Sounds like you have done alot to try and work on this.

 

[KarenC]

While it's inconsiderate of their friends to take up all the parking spaces, it is true that it is a public street. I'm afraid there's not much you can do there. I would try not to get into that with them anymore but continue to call police whenever there is a disturbance. We share an alley with some unsavory characters, and as far as I can tell, the police don't tell them what neighbor does the complaining. In our case, there's quite a few options. But the guy who lives next door to them is sweet as pie to them, so although he does most of the complaining, they don't suspect him when the cops come by.

 

[tonyswife]

I don't know what to tell you. We actually moved from our last home because of the very same kind of noise issue. DAILY, they would play that rap/swearing/ridiculous bass music at any and all hours. Asking politely didn't work, asking not so politely didn't work, calling the cops didn't work. Finally, we sold our house and moved to an older neighborhood mostly populated with retired folks. Very peaceful. It really is an awful thing to live with and I'm very sorry you have to deal with it.

 

[Microcell]

We decided to move after the neighbors spray painted our lawn! The real straw was that they played basketball outside our bedroom window at 6 AM. Calling the police did nothing! My husbands co-worker wanted to buy the house because though DH had been complaining about them, he also complained that I am a sensitive sleeper. I tried to warn them, but they are young. They really regret moving there now (they also thought we way undervalued the house becasue they didn't know the area well so they bought it and took out some loans against it and then put it on the market 6 months later thinking they could make $20,000. Well, they couldn't! Now they are stuck there and the fights have actually come to blows. The losers I lived next to are AWFUL!!!!! Move!!!! Can you start a homeowners association with an established neighborhood?

 

[Hillbeans]

In an old apartment building we had before we got our house, the upstairs single girl used to have loud floor rattling lovemaking at all hours of the night. I not only felt embarassed, I was mad and felt that 1 am wake-up calls to moaning and screaming were unacceptable (mind you I was a crazy pregnant person at that time as well).

We'd bang on the ceiling with a broomstick and yell at them to be quiet. Finally, all the other neighbors complained to them as well as you could hear this all the way out to the street.

We moved into a house on a quiet street soon after. No one should have to deal with this rude behaivor. I really feel for you and personally i'd just keep on them and make them move, especially if you really like the town and the area you're in.

 

[CEDmom]

I agree with the pther posters, I'd keep calling the police. They are not going to say "Mr and Mrs Jones from next door called in a complaint" they will say "we've gotten reports of a disturbance". I would rally the neighbors and have them call as well. Are there things in disrepair that the landlord could get fined for? I know you like the guy but his not showing any concern about his tennants actions would tick me off a little. Maybe having to shell out a few bucks because of these punks might light a fire under him.

 

[Chicago526]

Thank heaven, I've never had to deal with this. But is there away to take them to small claims court for damages? If the cops can't/won't do anything and you've already tried talking to them, I can't think of anything else you can do. Maybe if they are faced with having to take the time and money to fight you in court they'll realize that they need to either tone it down or move themselves. Also, find out the zoning laws for your neighborhood, maybe renting out homes isn't permitted and you can make the landlord get rid of them. It's too bad to punish a nice guy that isn't really at fault, but I don't see any other way.

If you can't or don't want to sue and renting is permitted, then I think your only option is to move away if you can or try again with the landlord. Maybe you get lucky and he'll have to evict them for non-payment of rent. I think people who behave like this tend not to pay their bills on time...

Good luck!

 

[tonyswife]

I see that the OP is from Northern CA, like me. I'm sure these ordinances are different city to city. But, where we lived, when we called the police, they would come, ask them to quiet down and leave. They would quiet down, until the police left. We would call the police again and they would tell us all they could do was ASK them to quiet down, unless we filed an official report, in which case the neighbors would know who did called. Even then, it's just a miniscule fine. There really is nothing the police can do. It makes me sick to my stomache even just thinking about this again. It is really a horrible thing to live with.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I feel your pain. Last summer the husband of a family that lives 2 houses away from us died from an unexpected heart attack. It was very sad. He had a generous life insurance policy which the wife used to pay off her mortgage and invested the rest. A couple of months later the house right next to us went up for sale and she decided that it would be wonderful if her 22 year old son and his wife moved in. So she bought the house for them. They seem like nice people and everything was fine for a bit.

Then they started throwing these huge parties every Saturday night. My husband was grumping around midnight about the noise, and I teased him about turning into such a grumpy old man. They installed a hot tub in their back yard and it wasn't uncommon to have screaming 20 year old men screaming at the top of their lungs "WET T-SHIRT CONTEST IN 10 MINUTES!!! LADIES GET YOUR TIT**** WET NOW." at 1am. Now I was young once, but still.....I have a 14yo kid trying to stay up and watch and we are not on College Frat Row.

By the third weekend -- I was getting a bit ticked off myself. We have several older neighbors, and after a bit the phone lines started heating up, but nobody knew what to do. Alot of these people have been in their houses for 20 or 30 years and they are very good friends with the Mother of this young couple.

My husband took to getting up at around 6:30 am every Sunday morning after one of their parties and mowing the strip of grass between our houses. Then he'd take the stereo out onto the back deck and blare it toward their windows. Finally one weekend we went into our yard and found what appeared to be beer bottles filled with urine scattered all over. The was kind of IT. My husband stomped over there, banged on their door and had a good long talk and asked them to come clean it up which they did. It didn't help though, the parties continued.

A couple of weeks ago the neighbors across the street finally did call the police who came out and broke things up. They didn't have a party last weekend ... I'm holding my breath.

 

[Disney Doll]

If the only issue is noise, then perhaps all the police can do is ask them to quiet down. However, if there are drugs involved, and marijuana is still considered illegal, then there may be more options. Next time it starts up, I would call the police on the emergency number and say "there is a lot of loud noise next door and I am smelling the odor of marijuana"(if in fact you are at that time...don't say it unless it's true). The police will probably come more quickly and catch them in th act.

My other siggestion is have your attorney write the homeowner a letter stating that there are illegal activities occurring in the home he owns, and legal action will be taken if he does not do something, since he owns the home, he is ultimately liable. I know you like the homeowner, but he is not exactly looking out for you anymore, is he?

 

[chager]

Many years ago we had a neighbor that had teenage children that often played their stereo loud on nights the dad worked. So loud our windows shook!! Well this didn't go over well with me to begin with and I became very mean after Nick was born. These kids were usually very polite to me when I spoke with them. Well one night the boy came home at 2am with his car stereo so loud that it shook the windows even after he pulled in their garage. He did wake up Nick and I was not happy. Well about 7am I went over and started pounding on their door and ringing the doorbell. Eventually the boy came to the door. I looked at him and said good morning and asked how he slept. I told hom I hoped it was well since I was up at 2am with a screaming baby he had woke up. I also told him the next time he came in with his stereo that loud I would let him put the baby back to sleep and dad and I would have a nice long chat! This seemed to scare him. (I think he actually thought I was crazy enough I actually would hand Nick over to him..lol.) We did eventually move due to other reasons.
A couple of years before that we had lived in an apartment and the neighbors tended to party alot. I often called the police on them. I even showed up in my bathrobe and told them I was going to permenantly remove their stereo if they continued to play it loud. We found out they were the managers child and friends! We got an attorney and broke our lease because the complex didn't live up to the contract we had signed.
Maybe you could start calling the father/landlord in the middle of the night when the parties are going on. Let him know since you aren't sleeping due to his tenants he could be awake too! You could just hold the phone up and let him hear the goings on. I would also start making a log of the disturbances and the times. Then call the police. That way there is also a log that you called them. I don't know if that would help or not, but you could always show it to the landlord also. I know we have a noise rule here and could probably take the landlord to court if we wanted. Again I'm not sure if any of that would work or not.
I'm so glad I have great neighbors here!!!

 

[Kallison]

Stuff dog poop in their tail pipes. I can get you some dirt cheap!

Oh and the nights they aren't partying -- have the neighbors get together and blast boom boxes towards their house as loud as you can.

 

[syncer55]

If asking them to quite down doesn't work. Definately get the police involved. If that doesn't work, the next step would be legal action, if they don't get the message.

 

[Trish Bessette]

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. I agree with the above post to have your attorney write a letter to the homeowner. That may help.

If not, since they are up until wee hours of the mornings partying once you get up early in the morning I would start blaring some cute Disney toons out of your window That will really get them

 

[popeyeohoh]

I feel your pain. My loser neigbors finally lost their house. I get upset just thinking about those days. The twins peeing in the front yard, the father falling down drunk on payday. The big ****ed mother flopping around in a cut off t-shirt with no bra. The teen daughter with a mouth like a sailor. The condition of that house was horrible when they left. Great new neighbors have sinced moved in and have fixed up the house. I am selling my house now. But I would have sold earlier had dh agreed. I called the police and talked to them to no avail. Good Luck!

 

[shortbun]

As the city traffice people to make your street parking by permit
only. You have to get a petition signed by all resident owners
usually. then they wouldn't have more space to park than they
were willing to pay for OR you could get the city to come out
and write tickets until they got tired of it and went to party someplace else. This is exactly what my neighborhood did. We
don't call the cops on each other when parking violations happen-
just the offending renters. The late night partying stopped because their friends all got tickets. Our parking by permit is from
5pm to 5am only.

 

[canwegosoon]

I love the parking permit idea, and the DH with the lawn mower is good too...we have a similiar thing at our cape house....we put in a 6 foot fence...and the other neighbors complained to the landlord (I don't know who it is, by wish I did....) Good Luck...I would perhaps try doucmenting their actions for the landlord, so he might have a reason to evict them....how are they paying rent?

 

[beachbunny]

I TOTALLY sympathize. The house next door has changed hands four times in the last couple of years and so far everyone living there has been a loser.

The first occupants were an 70 year old woman (she owned the place) and her 30 somthing year old lover. He was the creepiest guy who would climb over the fence and stare at me as I swam laps in my pool. (That's not against the law so I could do nothing.) She passed away and her lover continued to live there until her daughter had him forceably removed.

The second occupant's (the first occupant's daughter) teenage daughter would bring home her 20 something year old boyfriends who would stay for weeks at a time - drinking, playing loud music, and throwing crap into our yard. We called the police several times but it didn't do much good except to provoke them into throwing more crap into our yard. Second occupant couldn't pay the mortgage so the property was foreclosed on.

The third occupants were the daughter's boyfriend and his friends. They were squatters who moved in after the second occupants were foreclosed on. The third occupants operated an automobile chop shop in the garage. We could hear engines gunning at all hours of the day. Then in the middle of the night, they would roll the car out onto the street so the city could remove it as an abandoned vehicle. At the time, we didn't know they were squatters (we thought they were renters) so we first asked them to keep the noise down, and when that didn't work, we made noise complaints to the police and complaints to the city that they were operating a business on their premises. Third occupants were forceably removed and the bank finally sold the house.

The people who purchased house from the bank are renting it to the fourth occupants - the new owners believe they can turn around and sell it soon with a huge profit - I don't think so, not in the condition it's in. The fourth occupants are three different sets of renters - because even though the house is trashed it still rents out for a lot of money because it is in a high rent neighborhood and no way could they find just one renter. One of the fourth occupants has three terriers who can't shut up, and another occupant loves loud booming rap music (so loud that the windows shake). They've only been there a few months and already my husband has had to talk with them a couple of times. If talking doesn't work, we're going to start calling the police on them. I'm all for turning up the opera on the stereo and pointing the speakers at them, but my husband doesn't think they'll even care.

Wow, sorry that was so long. Back to your situation. Since the tenant is the landlord's step daughter, you probably won't get any sympathy by complaining to him. Also, a letter from a lawyer won't help unless you intend to back it up in court - that would cost a lot of money and it doesn't look like you have a legal leg to stand on because nuisance is very hard to prove. So all I can say is good luck to you and keep making those noise complaints.

 

[Luv2Roam]

My first thought was to play Barney music as loud as possible next to their windows, but on your property, when you know they are sleeping.
Maybe more effective is not only calling the police, but going down and meeting with them. See what can be done.
If illegal activity is involved I would even be tempted to start videotaping and taking down license plate numbers.
I would certainly contact the owner of the house. If you have to, show him the videoptapes and what you are living next to.
I would think there would be a noise ordinance. Also with the police constantly visiting them I would also think they would get tired of that nad move on to torture someone else's life.