Need Neighbor Help!

[Michelle2]

Tigger&Belle, boy I feel for you. We have a nutcase of a neighbor that once screamed at me and threatened my INFANT (who was in a bike trailer that he threatened to throw in the street) because we crossed a 2 feet corner of his property that had nothing on it. He must have been sitting there watching for someone to do that. I was in complete shock that someone could be so anal and rude. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head as I was walking off. I think that ticked him off! LOL
But, he was verbally and almost physically abusive. I was starting to fear for my safety, especially as he was following me yelling at me. Over crossing a tiny corner with my bike because the other lot was fenced in.

Sorry, I do not have any suggestions that haven't already been said, but wanted to sympathize with you. It's tough having an inconsiderate fruitcake (insert other words here) as a neighbor. You are not alone, they are EVERYWHERE as I have found out....But I truly believe what comes around, goes around...maybe not immediately, but eventually.

 

[luvthatduke]

...telling my DH that he was going to call the police and that his property line extends into the street. My DH told him to go ahead and call. ...

This killed me - I would've had to offer to dial 911 myself and told
the nut I needed a good laugh!
My understanding is that the property line in most municipalities ends at the skirt between your sidewalk and the street.

Our neighbors across the street used to pull in and out of our
driveway at their leisure, actually sitting there "saying goodbye"
(the daughter & BF).
When I finally was able to get out the door one night and confront
them, they told me our driveway "was public property." WHAT????
I informed them they were trespassing and we knew they used
our driveway nearly every night as their personal turnaround
(our driveway is only 15-20 feet long - a normal, short one,
and we're one of 60 identical twin homes, with another 60 across).
I said I'd be calling the police in the future
and they haven't done it since, to our knowledge.

Your driveway issue, BTW, is grounds for towing by the police
in our borough. Here, it is illegal to park in front of your own
driveway, let alone your neighbors.
All it would take is one call, the police would come investigate
(albeit after a "real" crime was taken care of),
make a report, perhaps order it towed if the owner couldn't be found,
and the owner would be told that it better not happen again
or they will be towed and cited.

I'm sorry you have to deal with such a nut,
we had one across our yard that finally moved, praise God.

 

[golfgal]

Holy crap! half my block would be towed..including my moms car!! She doesn't drive it from Dec-April LOL..it stays in teh street in front of our house for the snowy months! What happens if you go away for a few weeks...you come home and your car is gone??? My neighbors go to Florida every winter and leave one car in the driveway and one in the street!

Her car would most definitely be towed not only for not being moved but you have to get your cars off the street for the snow plows. Most people here have garages and driveways so it usually isn't an issue. I saw a car being towed just the other day. It was obvious that it hadn't been driven in a while, there was still snow on the windshield and it had been several days since our last snowfall.

 

[dg39]

How I would hate having trouble with the neighbors, it just ruins day to day living. I hope all can work out for you. I was looking at the pictures you posted and he is clearly blocking part of your driveway and obviously don't care. Before confronting him ( which he may be waiting for you to do so he can go off on you) can you park your old van in front of your house. If you park it so the front end of it just goes near your mailbox, he won't be able to park any of his cars infront of yours without totaly blocking your driveway and it will still leave room infront of your old van for your mail carrier to get to your mailbox. If your township doesn't have the "no parking in the street overnight" rule, I would just leave that van there. You can then park your new van and your other car in your driveway side by side so both cars can get out when needed.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

i would call the police and get them involved

 

[Christine]

While these ideas of retaliation certainly sound fun, I think they are only going to send this nutjob further into his frenzy.

I guess what I would do is to go over to his house and ask him about the new "parking pattern." I'm sure he will give you a dumb explanation. After that, I think it is time to either contact your HOA or to contact the local police and explain the situation.

Now, I will tell you that if this was all brought up in my neighborhood, I would probably get the first "slap" because one of our HOA rules is to park all vehicles in the garage. Of course, this is NEVER enforced but when a situation arises (like this one) you can bet that they are going to point to the covenants (and so might the police). Technically, we are not allowed ANY overnight street parking. This is not a law or anything, just an HOA rule and I have to say, I kind of agree with it. It is no longer enforced in my neighborhood and sometimes it's a real pain in the butt to navigate down the street.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We actively drive all our vehicles since we have three drivers in the house. The car will be leaving with our DD when she goes back to college at the end of this month, but it's our car and will be returning so this will be an ongoing issue.

We can't park the car in the driveway even when both the vans are not home because it has some kind of fluid leak which makes the driveway slippery. OUr basketball hoop is in our driveway (per the rules of our community, don't get me started on that one...) and when the kids play basketball they slip. Hopefully we'll get the leak fixed eventually, but it's an old car and the cost of repairs is high compared to it's value.

I thought that my DD had pulled our car up close enough to our mailbox that he wouldn't be able to park in front of it, but I guess not. In order to get my van out of the driveway I had to angle it sharply and put my front tires on the grass. Our second van was not parked in the driveway since my DH was not home, but again, I can't park the car there (and am not required to) because of the fluid leak.

Yes, he's a nutcase if he thinks that his property line extends into the street. The night that he had that confrontation with my DH about my DD's friend who was parked there I was hilarious to be in the house looking out at the two of them. The neighbor would point at the property line between the houses and then point at the street, my DH shook his head, etc, etc Went on for awhile until the neighbor said, "so you're just going to be an ____hole about this?" And my DH nicely said, "yes, if you word it that way".

I didn't know if calling the police was the right thing to do, but I agree that it is. Maybe I'll try to calming talk to him once and explain why our car can't be in the driveway, why it can't be on the other side of our house, etc. If I'm in the right mood I can do it calmly, but last night would not have been that time. I need to catch him when he's not blocking me!

Michelle2, I think I would have lost it if someone was threatening my child. Good for you for walking away!

Rita, there's only enough room between our houses for one car to park, so it's halfway in front of each house, so the mail can be delivered.

Yep, we have dogs--2 of them, as a matter of fact. I don't think that they would pee on his car because they would be so excited to have their leashes on, thinking that they were going for a walk that they wouldn't want to slow down to pee. Well, maybe my old male dog would consider it. Seriously, though, one of my concerns is that he will do something to our dogs (poison, opening the gate so they get out, etc) so I want to keep them away from him. The ironic thing is that they are the ones with a little yappy dog who poops in other yards, barks outside at 6 in the mornings, comes into my yard barking at me and my kids,etc. Don't think that I haven't thought about letting my "dog eating dog" outside at those times.

When I have time later I'll post about the first time we met this neighbor. Time to get little guy off to school right now.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Christine, we don't have any overnight parking rules that I know of. I should call our homeowners association today and ask them about how to proceed, there rules for cars that haven't been moved, etc. I didn't find anything on their website last night, but I could have missed it.

I really wouldn't do any of the retaliation ideas, but it sure is fun to think of ideas!

 

[OceanAnnie]

I was just kidding about the retaliation. I wouldn't really do it or suggest doing it for real. It was just fun thinking about it.

No telling what this looney tune would do if you were to retaliate in any way.

 

[ChristmasElf]

You could go to any auto supply store and buy one of those silver liner type thingies (looks like an over sized cookie sheet) and leave it in the driveway so you could park your car there. (the leak would land on the protective sheet) that way, you could park in the driveway and when the boys want tp play basketball, they just move it aside!.

Those protective pads/sheets whatever you call them are lightweight and very inexpensive, and work great!!!

 

[luvflorida]

Jerk, to put it nicely! Actually, that's not how we refer to him--we use the acronym FOAD, but I can't say here what that stand for.

I really don't have any advice for you, but people like that just tick me off, (my husband, on the other hand, would probably back into his car-oops!), but what I'm really wondering, am I the only person trying to figure out what FOAD stands for?

Feeble-minded
Obnoxious
And
Demented?

Freaky
Obstinate
And
Disturbed?

Probably none of those are right because those are words that CAN be said here. You said your words aren't allowed.

And, which one of you stole his right, front hubcap?

Seriously, though, I don't mean to make light of your situation. He sounds like he's more than a little unbalanced.

 

[mom2of2]

FOAD= the F word, off and die?

 

[Wishing on a star]

If my driveway were being blocked, I would call the police immediately. (not wait until you were in a hurry to get out.) While this area is not legally your property, there are easements and access rights involved. Your neighbor is breaking the law. The police should have the vehicle towed right away, at HIS expense.

Continue to take photographs of his vehicle illegally parked, so that the police will take this problem seriously and send an officer out as soon as possible when you do have to call.

I think I would be looking into these legalities in your area. But, I am thinking that what I have had posted would be true anywhere.

 

[luvflorida]

FOAD= the F word, off and die?

I seriously couldn't figure it out! I bet you're right.

 

[golfgal]

We had a neighbor in our old neighborhood that had a fit if someone parked in front of their house. He too claimed that the street in front of his house was "his" property. One of the other neighbors is a police officer and she said that just isn't true (he called them frequently for people parking in front of his house). I think your neighbor is also probably wrong about it being "his" property. I tried to search on the net but couldn't figure out what exactly to search under.

Another solution is to just start parking in front of his house on the other side of the driveway. If he insists on taking the only available spot by your house, put your DD's old car in front of his house, leaks and all and if he says anything, show him the pictures and say that he started this whole mess and this is the only solution you can come up with.

 

[PaulaSue]

I am sorry but I don't understand why your cars are not in your garage and driveway, but you complain that his aren't. Maybe it is time to declutter the garage and ignore him.

Now a Days you just can't risk it with some people and your family's safety is MUCH more important. He sounds like an idiot and not worth the stress.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

I'm sorry your neighbor is, well, a whack job. I've had a few nutty neighbors near me, still do.

I don't know what it is like by you, but by me your front lawn is the end of your property. The sidewalk and that little patch of grass by the street are the towns property but you have to take care of them. It is just common curtesy to not park in front of someone elses house and to not block their driveway.

My one neighbor is the corner house on the cross street and my house is the first on my street. So there is a long stretch of road to park on with no driveways to block. (And there are no mailboxes here.) A friend of the neighbor used to take my parking spot all the time, it was clearly in front of my house and not theirs. I had an older, dented, soon-to-die car so I would purposely park VERY close to them so they couldn't get out. I'm one to take quiet revenge.

I'm sorry but I would have called the cops a long time ago for what he lets his dog do nevermind his strange parking habits.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You could go to any auto supply store and buy one of those silver liner type thingies (looks like an over sized cookie sheet) and leave it in the driveway so you could park your car there. (the leak would land on the protective sheet) that way, you could park in the driveway and when the boys want tp play basketball, they just move it aside!.

Those protective pads/sheets whatever you call them are lightweight and very inexpensive, and work great!!!

That would be a good idea if the car wasn't the third vehicle and we need the driveway for our 2 vans. Hey, why didn't you tell me they made those before we got our new van???

 

[Tigger&Belle]

FOAD= the F word, off and die?

Ding, ding ding, you got it!!!

And the funny thing is that I hate that word normally, but in this case it is so fitting. My 60yo sister is the one that started using that term for him and it kind of stuck.

 

[sorcerormickey]

Don't you just LOVE neighbor issues??

In most places, it is illegal for a driveway to be blocked by a vehicle. I would just get the police involved (using the non-emergency #) whenever the vehicle is parked there. Let them deal with the wackos.

Good luck T&B!