Bad neighbour

[stevelous]

I am at my wits end dealing with the neighbour from hell, violent, drug user, drunk and a womaniser (if you can call a 19 year old a woman).

This lout is telling all my neighbours that I swore at his son, the crime of the centuary, which I did not do. Yes I told him, the adult, to f@@@ off when he verbally assulted me in my back yard. He is the noisiest person I have met and refuses to even listen to me or turn the music (just noise) down to a reasonable level. Guess the drugs and alcohol make him the way he is.

The Landlord does nothing to pervennt his excesses, even has illegal cars on the road, nothing happens. I went a day over my MOT (annual inspection) and was told to remove it or it would be taken away, she was inspected and passed that day. I then had to prove thatvit had happened.

What to do, I do not want to move but my be forced to do so, get an injunction will be expensive and no guarentee of success unless the power of arrest is included. Anyway he ignores the law so nothing will stop him.

[Big and Bashful]

Have you tried complaining to the council / housing association etc? I seem to remember on the news fairly recently that some pretty severe action was taken against a bad neighbour in their own house, so anti-nuisance laws are improving.

[partlyscot]

While I have some issues with the idea of an ASBO "Anti-social behaviour order" it would appear to be tailor made for this situation. Issuing an ASBO is a civil matter, but breaching one is a criminal offence. Maybe look into the costs of filing one yourself? How about visiting the local court when such orders are being sought, see what sort of evidence they are looking for? As for the illegal cars, around here the parking authorities are quick to respond. When they get to tow away an offending vehicle it raises revenue. ( in that case, it would be good to be conspicuously "away" when the call is made so you can deny having anything to do with it )

[Sinned]

stevelous, if there are rental issues involved then have a look at the property118 site. It's free to join and there is loads of information about neighbours such as yours and what actions you can take. Not saying that all the answers will be there but it is a good place to start.

[dillon]

Handle it the American way. Follow him out one night and bust a cap on him in a drive-by.

Just kidding...

I have had irritating neighbors before; the worst ones were those who actually acted the nicest. They took advantage of my reluctance to raise a row with someone who treated me sweetly, despite their stinking, overflowing septic system, thoughtless teenagers parking on my lawn, and a husband who started his leaf-blower at 6:30 am on Saturday mornings...

I don't know the system in the UK, so my advice would be of no help.

[Kirbstone]

Stevelous, I sympathise with you.

You can't reason with people under the influence of alcohol or drugs, alas. I have such a son-in-law and how my daughter tolerates him defies reason.

Living on an estate where neighbours are just feet away on either side does normally require compliant behaviour all round and it must be possible to have the Law deal with transgressors. Problem is that it can be expensive and a move might be the softer option.

Solution: Join Tor in the Outback far away from neighbours, as I have done here in Ireland by arranging our domicile to be surrounded by acres of green.

Tom

[Tisch]

Did you find any resolve to the situation, i found myself in a similar situation some number of years ago.

[stevelous]

Well my bad neighbour has spoiled Chfixtmasband New Year with his antisocial behaviour. More loud music atvall hours, doors slamming constantly, the smell of marjuana pervading the air.

The landlord does nothing, the Police do not want to know so we are stuck here suffering.

Mind you he has made one mistake in not controlling his dog, that thing attacked one of the local cats and is thus legally a dangerous dog under the 1991 law. The feelings I have is at first a cat then a child, we have a lot of small childern on the street so action must be taken. However if the thing hurts one of my cats I will cut it throat and risk the wrath of the owner. I hope it will not come to that and the law actually does somthing to protect us.

[moonshadow]

Well it's nice to know I'm not alone in the cesspool of ghetto.

This trailer was nice for all of 2 weeks. Then suddenly one obnoxious bastard rolled his ratty old RV into my neighbors backyard which now sits about 20 feet from my bedrooms VERY thin walls. Loud thumping music all hours of the night, mopeds without mufflers, etc. I need no alarm clock, he takes care of that for me. Yes, the ghetto is crapping all over our place, literally- he ran a piece of gutter drain tile into a sewer clean out. Waiting for that to backup all over the driveway.

The landlady is powerless since she doesn't own the neighbors property. The landlord who does own it is a slum lord who lives in another state and doesn't care what goes on as long as the rent is paid. Phone calls to the town authorities have accomplished nothing. In fact they've been quite snotty, as though we shouldn't have had the audacity to complain.

So 11 months to go on this lease and we're outta here! I'd live in my car before I endure any more of this hell hole than I have to.

Spent $100 last Saturday buying my wife and I both a pair of sound canceling headphones. That and our constant road trips out of town are our only escape.

I don't want the son of a ***** to get hurt, but it wouldn't bother me a bit if that f___king RV rolled off the side of the mountain.

[Sinned]

As far as playing loud music then complain to the council and they can confiscate the sound equipment and issue a noise abatement order. Breaking of the order is a criminal offence. It'll not solve all your problems but it's a start. Did you try the property118 site.

As far as the dog goes if it has attacked a pet and been classified as a dangerous dog then if you can provide proof that he is not keeping it under control then get the police involved. If the dog attacks a child it could kill and no-one wants that.

[hoborob]

As far as I know Virginia does have an 11:00 PM Disturbing the Peace law. If the music does not get turned down to a respectful volume by 11:00PM and the local police do nothing about it call the State Police. If they ask why you are calling them, tell them the local police refuse to do anything about the issue. Note that the State Police don't enjoy stepping in to a local jurisdiction but if they will not address the problem you go up the chain to the next level. Of course the next level is the FBI if the State folks won't respond.

[Fred in Skirts]

As far as I know Virginia does have an 11:00 PM Disturbing the Peace law. If the music does not get turned down to a respectful volume by 11:00PM and the local police do nothing about it call the State Police. If they ask why you are calling them, tell them the local police refuse to do anything about the issue. Note that the State Police don't enjoy stepping in to a local jurisdiction but if they will not address the problem you go up the chain to the next level. Of course the next level is the FBI if the State folks won't respond.

In South Carolina there is one step above the town police that is the county sheriff. Then you go to the state police known here as SLED (State Law Enforcement Division).
After that is the FBI and Homeland Security.

[hoborob]

Thanks Fred I forgot about the county folks.

[dillon]

In one of the counties I cover, there is no noise ordinance. I once consulted with a man who was part farmer, and part auto mechanic, and part auto junkyard vendor. He ran a bodywork shop from his rural home; the auto junkyard was hidden in some woods. As I entered his property, I noted an unusual sort of "sculpture"; it was basically a tall welded metal rack and it was covered with about forty old car horns; even a couple horns from diesel trucks, and one so large I could only presume it came from a locomotive. The "sculpture was oriented toward a residential area across the rural road that we colloquially call a "trailer park", though perhaps more politely called a "mobile home village", although my client referred to it as a "labor camp".

After the consultation, I inquired about the rack of horns. He answered "I once had a real problem with all night parties going on in the 'labor camp'; they played Tejano music all night long, and the parties didn't end until almost dawn. I'm old...I go to bed early and get up early. I couldn't handle being awakened all night long with their noise. I asked them repeatedly to turn down the music around 11 or 12 at night...but to no avail. And the Sheriff told me there was no noise ordinance, so no laws were being broken. So I decided if that was the case, I'd make a little music of my own. So, at midnight, if the noise of their sound-system was still too loud, I just plugged in my little noisemaker... I only had to use it twice before they got the point. And that's good, because my preacher said it woke him up, and he lives 3 miles away."

[r.m.anderson]

Ever been on a cruise ship - the ship's HORN is awesome for raising hell on the high sea - get out of my way you little dingy boat !
At port when the ship's HORN is sounded - it's a clue you ought to be on board er or we're leaving without ya !
Sort of like getting a two minute warning from 2 miles away !

So maybe with the collection of horns that the poster was referring to also included a ship's HORN !

After thought get the co-ordinates of the offending location and create one of dem faux news stories about the aliens picking that
site for a close encounter of the nth degree kind - press release something about the Russki's clandestine hacking location !

Lastly the best solution get a family of them forest kitties together and give them a home right at home with the skunky neighbors !