Neighbor issues. Not sure if I am crazy or what.

My wife brought up a good point last night. We basically live next to a bully. LOL.

 

i would have hooked one of those electric cattle wires to the fence and wait for them to touch it. theyd be scared to go near that thing ever again haha

 

^^^^^^ excellent advice IMHO. lousy neighbors are a part of why we moved to our present home in the countryside. sometimes my wife laments that we have no sidewalks for our daughter to ride her bike, or simply walk on, but the peace of mind we, ok I have, from living in a quiet rural area is PRICELESS. now the few neighbors we do have are wonderful, though i do wonder when the elderly couple next door "leaves", who will replace them. anyway, tough tactics rarely work, they just make you look like an ass to everyone else, and weigh on you the most, even when you are in the right. i say this because you obviously have a conscious, whereas your neighbors do not. realize you may not want to hear this, and it's still a tough time to sell here in illinois, but good luck nonetheless.

 

I feel for you man, I really do. When I lived in Florida, I was fortunate enough to have good neighbors. Me and the other parents all grew up old-school teaching our kids respect for other people and their property. My kids knew that if I ever heard they went into someone else's yard without asking first, they were gonna get it!

That being said, OP, you are in an unfortunate position. Over the past year (I read the whole thread) he and his kids have learned all the right things to push your buttons. They KNOW that they are getting to you. The time for politeness and civility is long gone. As others have mentioned, it is unfortunately time to get the law involved. I would document EVERYTHING that has happened, and then I would video tape EVERYTHING. Not just what happens, but bring a camera with you when you go over to talk to the guy and video the conversation. (NOT hidden camera, but out in the open) Once you have a fair amount of documentation of harassment on file, contact an attorney and get a retraining order against them. I know it sounds a bit extreme, but it works! This way, they KNOW that if they ever cross your property line, it becomes a violation of law, and they WILL get arrested.
You have tried being a civil neighbor. They have brushed you off. You have a right to peace in your own property.

 

To prevent dogs from barking at each other, you put up a 6-ft tall fence? How tall are the freaking dogs? Seems that fence was intended more for people then dogs. As you say, it's your property, but it's also not very friendly. However, no big deal (some like privacy), but next it's the kids playing. And next it's trees & fence to block off the neighbors entirely. At this point, it's fairly obvious you just don't like the neighbors.

Several suggested security cameras, electric fences, and/or calling the cops. Might as well get a gun to shoot those kids as well.

I've made a real effort to get along with my neighbors (successfully), so I can't identify with any of this.

 

I remember over the years growing up as a child my friends and I would play in other people's yards bigger than our own, but I strictly remember asking them each and every time to do so. If they weren't home, we went elsewhere. It sounds like these kids are under some sort of bad parenting or not been shown a good example of the do's and don'ts. It also sounds like the 23 you've dealt with is an immature douche bag, who in turn will maybe find out what it's like to be in your shoes sooner or later.

I'd hate to see you guys succumb to moving because of them but after stressing all possible (humane) factors and even spending your hard earned money to resolve the issue, it seems like it might be a good option for your near future.

 

In all honesty Stewart, I think the neighbors are going out of their way to piss him off. I wouldn't want kids tearing up my yard either. Not to mention the first kid to break an arm or leg would get the OP sued for liability. I wouldn't like my neighbor either if he allowed his kids to disrespect my personal property. I have always enjoyed bantering and talking on different subjects with you Stewart, but I can't believe you would show favoritism to his neighbor. Maybe I am wrong, but would you put up with your neighbors kids tearing up YOUR lawn? I know I wouldn't. And as the OP suggested, he DID try early on to be polite, and his politeness was met with MORE activities by the neighbor.

 

We didn't put the fence up simply of barking dogs. We put it up because our dog would fence fight with theirs, to the point of foaming at the mouth. Also, we did want privacy for when we were in our backyard, that's why we put up the 6ft fence. I see no issue with that. And we didn't have any issue with them after putting up the fence. The issue didn't start until they started using my yard as their personal football field, and climbing my tree.
When we first asked them and their kids not to do that, we were very nice about it. After being nice about it 6 times that's when we decided to not be anymore. We weren't screaming or anything. But we were a little more stern in our request. It is our property. I don't think it's too much to ask to have them not play football on our property. Everything was fine for the last year or so after putting the bushes/fence up to keep them out of our side yard. Last night was the first time we really had any issue since.

 

This is my current belief. Based on the way the father acts towards me, I believe he is just trying to do anything he can to piss us off.
He really is very childish.

 

You did right by talking first. The fact is, your neighbors don't have respect for you or your property. I would put the bushes and the fence up too. Kids will do things like that and may not listen very well, but the dad doing it after you asked... no respect.

 

You have been way too patient. Stop saying your gonna call the cops and do it.

 

After last night, I definitely feel this is true.It's blatantly obvious now that its all just a joke to him, his wife and probably his kids too. And I'm done playing games. From now on, law enforcement can handle it, cause I am literally done dealing with them at all.

Yep. From now on, they will be the only ones to converse them, cause I am done.

 

Move to the country and do this..

 

this!!!

 

I commend you on remaining cool. I'm pretty confident I would have gone off the deep end at this point. The face to face disrespect would have triggered it.

 

Its been hard to do, trust me. I'm already on meds because I have an outta control temper. This hasn't helped. But for my sanity and my wifes, I haven't gone off the deep end. It would be a bad deal.

 

1 year & 6 days since you started thread & you're STILL having this issue ??

Shoulda called the cops & logged a complaint long ago, they'd gotten tired of talking to neighbors & hooked one or both of them up for a short "time out" if ya catch my drift... I promise tho' that shit would've stopped long ago, you must have really good meds or dont rage as bad as you think or you woulda blown a gasket already & been "timed out"...

 

I'm currently trying to work through my downstairs neighbors getting pissy about me taking an open parking spot they consider "theirs" so they called the office and claimed I'm running a used car business and storing vehicles on site until they sell. The complex straight up told me it was the downstairs neighbors and it's been REALLY hard for me to not confront them. I've done nothing and I'm still pissed about it but if I do anything I'll look like a bad guy where as right now they look like and are in fact liars.

I can't handle face to face disrespect, I dont know why, it just triggers a fight reflex that luckily I've learned to control. I feel for ya man, it's much harder to stay calm and cool when words dont work anymore.

 

Ok. Don't leave; become a SLUM LORD! Rent the house out to undesirables (if you know what I mean) Still own the home and leave. Payback is a Bitch.