Ugh! Neighborhood vent!

[tikilyn]

I so feel all of your pains!! We moved into a new subdivision August of 03. All was fine and dany until both of my nieghbors moved in. They both just "LOVE" their music. They play it so loud that sometimes I can't even hear my tv (at normal volume). What ever happen to having respect for your neighbors. Of course the one time I asked them nicely to turn it down they acted like I was taking away their right to listen to thier music. What about my right to be able to listen to my tv with out being forced to listen to their music.

Oh and our house are only 12 ft apart from each other.

 

[Sandcass]

If a fence is "not your thing" what about "prickly" landscaping? There are some nice rose bushes that would make a nice hedge, and other bush types that are prickly.

NICE!

 

[emily1982]

i live in a small street in the uk with about 20 houses, most have kids and most of these kids happen to go to the school i work at, its a nice estate and all the families are lovely, but up until last summer the kids would play soccer using the gardens as a pitch if the ball hit off one of the cars, well tough luck, and one even hit off our window, not i understand we dont have sidewalks, but these kids have gardens and we also have a field at the back of the estate, anyway after a while the neighbours whos kids werent involved got very annoyed and several people were getting very angry and going out shouting at them, one of our neighbours completley lost it and ended up shouting at the one kid (whos ball smacked off his brand new car) and this childs father, i agree this isnt a good way...but it worked...so it might be worth having a word before it can get out of hand!

 

[Caradana]

Call me crazy, but when the kids cut through our lawn here in the PA house ... I smile. I like seeing them. I don't mind a bit that they use the lawn. My friends and I did the same thing when I was young. So they leave some tire marks ... in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather smile at them as they go their merry way.

 

[ItsonlyExperiment626]

Do you have a HOA for your neighborhood? If so then I would bring this problem up the next meeting. Also, if your HOA has a newletter, you could call the person who is putting it together and ask if she/he could write something up about respecting other people's property.

If you don't have a HOA would you consider making a flyer up with a gentle request that kids use the sidewalk and not cut through neighbor's yards and just stick it in each of your neighbor's mailbox. If you don't want to be seen sticking the flyers in the mailbox, you could mail the flyers. I would use the reason for such request as people have put a lot ot time and money into their lawns and concern for the kid's safety.

 

[DawnCt1]

That is scary. The thing is, I live in a HOA. The only type of fence allowed is, (I know there is a proper name for this but I don't know what it is) the kind like on a farm, picture 3 horizontal slats not higher than 4 feet. Then a meshy type material on it. Can you picture what I'm saying? Even having that type of fence up is silly because a child (certainly not a toddler) could easily climb it. The ages of the kids using my yard is 7-12. I wonder if the fence was up and someone climb it and got hurt would I be responsible? The way our yard is formed, again, hard to explain, it is open to 2 other yards and a culdesac. I know the neighbors would definetly frown upon a fence.

If you can't keep kids out of your yard than I would definately REMOVE THAT TRAPOLINE. That is definately a serious liability.

 

[rileyroosmom]

I just told my dh about this. He is an attorney. He said 2 things, there is an exception to the "attractive nusiance". A playset and a trampoline in 2006 would no longer be considered an attractive nusiance because they are not uncommon anymore, everyone has one. 2nd, if an injury did occur, a claim could be filed against your homeowners insurance.
I'd like to think that if, god forbid, someone did get hurt, that no one would hold us responsible. In September my son was in my neighbors yard playing on their new putting green (could be considered an attractive nusiance) when the owner's child swung her golf club hitting my son in the head. 8 stitches later in the emergency room and $100 co pay. The neighbor offered to pay any costs (I of course declined, accidents happen). Anyway, about a month later, my insurance company sends a letter looking for the "responsible parties" name, address, etc. My husband said the ins. co. was looking to go after the homeowner. We wrote back saying it happened in the street, that way no one was held responsible. I think it was ridiculous! Kids play, kids get hurt, I'm not blaming anyone. I'd like to think someone would treat me with the same respect......call me nieve(sp?)

 

[KathyTX]

If your DH is an attorney, then I'm sure he'd know more about the issue and the risks than me.

But his assertion that a playset isn't an attractive nuisance because everyone has one doesn't really fit with what you said about your neighbors' thanking you for providing it.

And I agree with Dawn- I would personally not feel at all comfortable having a trampoline (or a pool) in an open yard due to the risks. JMHO.

 

[DawnCt1]

I just told my dh about this. He is an attorney. He said 2 things, there is an exception to the "attractive nusiance". A playset and a trampoline in 2006 would no longer be considered an attractive nusiance because they are not uncommon anymore, everyone has one. 2nd, if an injury did occur, a claim could be filed against your homeowners insurance.
I'd like to think that if, god forbid, someone did get hurt, that no one would hold us responsible. In September my son was in my neighbors yard playing on their new putting green (could be considered an attractive nusiance) when the owner's child swung her golf club hitting my son in the head. 8 stitches later in the emergency room and $100 co pay. The neighbor offered to pay any costs (I of course declined, accidents happen). Anyway, about a month later, my insurance company sends a letter looking for the "responsible parties" name, address, etc. My husband said the ins. co. was looking to go after the homeowner. We wrote back saying it happened in the street, that way no one was held responsible. I think it was ridiculous! Kids play, kids get hurt, I'm not blaming anyone. I'd like to think someone would treat me with the same respect......call me nieve(sp?)

You might like to think that if someone got hurt, that they wouldn't hold you responsible, wouldn't we all, however, imagine a 14 year old boy, tresspassing in your yard, you are not home and so he jumps on the trampoline. He decides to show off for his friends and does a double backward flip landing on his head. He immediately becomes a quadraplegic with no movement from his shoulders on down. He will require a lifetime of total care. Something that his parents won't be able to afford. He will no doubt exceed the limits of his catatrophic medical insurance and without question, exceed the limits of your homeowners liability and your mega umbrella policy. I would take that trampoline down.

 

[Stacerita]

Geez, sounds like there are a lot of neighbor issues out therer. Thankfully I dont seem to have to deal with stuff like that. My family has owned our home since in was built way back in the day. We are talking when the entire area was strawberry fields, orange groves, and open fields. We have seen neighbors come and go and most of them have been great. Kept to themselves, clean, relatively quiet. When someone goes on vacation, we look out for their house. I think it has a lot to do with living in a cul-de-sac. Also, the sweetpea is the only kid in the circle. There is a baby who lives arcoss the way, and some college kids who rent another house on the street, but no "kids" to speak of. That helps a lot. There are two that live behind us, but we usually only hear from them when they toss a ball over or visa versa. Our biggest problem is parking though. The cul-de-sac just doenst have enough room for everyone to park. But we all work together and share the space. I feel pretty lucky to not have to deal with what a lot of you do.

 

[rockin_rep]

You might like to think that if someone got hurt, that they wouldn't hold you responsible, wouldn't we all, however, imagine a 14 year old boy, tresspassing in your yard, you are not home and so he jumps on the trampoline. He decides to show off for his friends and does a double backward flip landing on his head. He immediately becomes a quadraplegic with no movement from his shoulders on down. He will require a lifetime of total care. Something that his parents won't be able to afford. He will no doubt exceed the limits of his catatrophic medical insurance and without question, exceed the limits of your homeowners liability and your mega umbrella policy. I would take that trampoline down.

I totally agree. One cannot afford to be naive in this day and age. Sad, but true.

 

[Stacerita]

You might like to think that if someone got hurt, that they wouldn't hold you responsible, wouldn't we all, however, imagine a 14 year old boy, tresspassing in your yard, you are not home and so he jumps on the trampoline. He decides to show off for his friends and does a double backward flip landing on his head. He immediately becomes a quadraplegic with no movement from his shoulders on down. He will require a lifetime of total care. Something that his parents won't be able to afford. He will no doubt exceed the limits of his catatrophic medical insurance and without question, exceed the limits of your homeowners liability and your mega umbrella policy. I would take that trampoline down.

How sad that something that brings her family joy and entertainment should be taken down because someone tresspasses on her property, using it without her permission, does something they know they shouldn't, and then blames them.

But I agree, if you can't keep the kids out from using it and they continue to do so, I would take it down. With the possiblilties of what could happen.....its just not worth it.

 

[DawnCt1]

I totally agree. One cannot afford to be naive in this day and age. Sad, but true.

And one couldn't blame the parents. Their first responsibility would be to find away to provide for their permanently disabled child after they are deceased. They could certainly rationalize suing by pointing out that an "attractive nuisance" (nuisance is also in the eye of the beholder) caused their son's permanent injury. It is one thing to forego a $100 co pay in the interest of being good neighbors but when faced with a potential multi million dollar "co pay", not many people have the luxury of declining.

 

[disykat]

It wouldn't even necessarily be the parents, their insurance could go looking for the other party hoping to go after their homeowner's insurance. In the case of a trampoline injury they couldn't say it happened in the street.

 

[rileyroosmom]

I totally agree with what everyone is saying, however, I still feel it's a tough decision. We got it for my kid's enjoyment and it saddens me to think I'd have to take it down because some kid tresspasses and gets hurt on it. I feel soceity needs to take responsibility for their actions.
Like I said earlier, with dh being an attorney, it burns me up when people sue over the stupidist things. Nothing makes me happier when their case goes to trial and they get $0!!! One example (his company represents Wendy's hamburgers) a 3 year old was running in the restaurant and fell and hit his head on a table requiring stitches to his head. The family wanted something like $50,000!!! Why, because you didn't stop your kid from running?

This has been an interestng thread and dh and I will definetly talk somemore about it.

 

[barkley]

i live on a cul de sac (actualy a double one) and one of the reasons we selected our particular lot was because it was only one of 2 houses that did not share a front lawn with a next door neighbor (we did not want to get into a "my lawn/my lawn" argument if there were problems with kids. all of our houses came with fencing around the back yards but that does not stop kids from running into other peoples back yards. the only thing i've seen stop it is one owner going to another and laying down the law-"i've politly told your child not to go into my yard and when they continued to do so i spoke with you. if your child continues to go in after you speak with him (mostly boys) i will have to contact the police-i do not want to be liable for your child injuring himself on my property and i don't want to have to pursue you for damages your child causes" (we've had neighbors whose landscaping was damaged, had terra cotta pots tipped over and broken....).