First I apologize for such a long post but I would really like some advice about a problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am a homeowner and have been in this particular home almost 20 years. Across from my home are duplexes which are rented. Over most of that period the renters have been fine, quiet, respectful and neighborly. The last 2-3 years the type of individuals that have rented those units are not, how should I put this, the quality of persons as in past years. I have witnessed arguments, extremely loud foul language, trash in front of the duplexes, “visitors” coming at all hours of the night, sometimes a group of folks will move in with some of the renters for weeks to months at a time. Parking on the street is damn near impossible. We can never have family functions at our house because all the parking is taken up by duplex “visitors”. Last November a few of us homeowners got together to discuss all the issues in our neighborhood. A couple of us went to talk to one of the duplex residents about noise and were promptly threatened and called every four letter word you could think of. I had considered selling our house recently and was showing a potential buyer. Once he saw some of the junk in front of a duplex and heard the loud car radio, he just turned to me and said “sorry” without even stepping foot on my property.

 

The property owner (who does not live in my city) seems to be a nice guy, he’s owned the units for a long time. I know that a neighbor sent an anonymous letter alerting him to the problems. The neighbor sent it anonymously because he/she was worried about retaliation to his/her car or home. Across from me there is a guy who has one of those booming car radios. It is so loud I can hear it in my house and feel it in my house, even dishes and glasses rattle. I have neighborly asked him to turn it down twice. He always says he is sorry, I don’t hear it for a few days then it is back to the noise. I have a disabled family member who lives with us that is now afraid to sit out on our front porch because she is afraid.

 

I need to know what I can do to solve this situation. Do you think a signed letter or phone call to the property owner would help? I could call our police but I fear I might have them up here on a weekly basis. What was once a nice quiet friendly street has turned into street from a not so nice neighborhood. I dread coming home every day.

Call the owner, talk to the police and talk to the city. Tell the owner you are going to talk to the police and city.

If you are all willing to go and attempt to talk to them again calmly, record the conversation, this is where whoever goes over needs to be VERY polite, then if they start cussing again and threatened, then you have your evidence. I would then first go to the police, the city, the council, the county, anybody and everybody, as well as send the tape to the owner. And I would be a pest and call the police for every incident of loud noise late at night and all. If you think that the "visitors" are there to do something illegally, which I am taking that you all do, I would call the police every time to check up on them somehow. Hopefully they will be considered a nuisance and will have to leave.

First of all, stay anonymous.

 

Second, if you don't mind me asking, what city do you live in? You can PM with that info and then I will advise you further.

A couple of questions. Is there a home owners association? How about noise ordinances? Any police friends?

A couple of questions. Is there a home owners association? How about noise ordinances? Any police friends?

 

Add code enforcement to that along with some zoning laws. That is why the location/city is really important.

I would not confront them again. Call the police and document occurrences.

Buy the duplex, then you have control. If not sell and take your lumps. Don't mess with the people.

Buy the duplex, then you have control. If not sell and take your lumps. Don't mess with the people.

 

There are four duplexes directly across from us 3 homeowners. Afraid I won't get near what my house is worth now because of the issues across from me. I'm semi-retired so I don't make much. Pluse we take care of a disabled family member. I feel stuck.

In that case I would follow the advice of Guru. He is wise and had some experience from the enforcement side.

 

My father was a property owner and these are not easy people to deal with.

75 sent me a PM. He lives in a small city.

 

In short, I would:

 

1. Never confront them.

2. Document every last thing that goes on. Times, dates, and specifically what happened.

3. Set up an appointment to meet with your Police Chief.

4. Explain to the Chief what is going on and how many neighbors it is affecting.

5. "Demand" that the Chief keep your complaint anonymous so that nothing you report to him is open to public records.

6. Ask the Chief who you can speak to in your city about Code Enforcement and Zoning Laws.

7. Learn all the laws, ordinances, codes, etc. your neighbors are violating.

8. Call the police every time they violate. You can remain anonymous. You need to learn how to call into the Police Department and block your phone number. Otherwise their software logs your number into the call and that information is subject to an open records request.

9. If you get any resistance along the way rally the troops and speak to each of your city Council members and your Mayor. If you still get resistance, interview three lawyers and hire the best one to handle the dirty work.

10. Get your other neighbors to do the same and go with you when you meet with the Chief/Council/Mayor/Lawyer. There is strength in numbers.

11. If you are not willing to do these things either suck it up or sell your property.

12. Good luck.

13. Please let us know what happens.

14. Just in case you missed number one, never confront them.

I don't think I'd confront them and feel that I've lived in places where retaliation and the like just happens. This is my personal advice, and should not be taken as legal advice at all.

 

#1 . Sorry that it is what it is. Guru was probably best in telling you not to confront them. Doesn't seem like a situation where any good comes from that if it is as you've said.

 

#2 . As for them taking up street/visitor parking: it's just as much theirs as anyone else's if it's open to the public. If it's private though, that's different.

 

#3 . Junk in front of the house may be a code ordinance or fall into some other things, depending on the level and all that.

 

#4 . At some point, you need to take a hard look at assessing how much of this is your neighbor and how much is your landlord. If things are this bad and you don't have a long term lease, then maybe consider moving to a different place. Know that might not be the most helpful advice but sometimes when areas start to get neglected, the best thing to do is just jet and bounce. If the LL is ignoring serious tenant concerns and deterioration, then you need to vote with your dollars and find someone who is willing to offer more what you thought you'd signed up for because there is likely a better situation that will result.

I'm interested in what these "visitors" are doing there, as I said previously, it sounds like you are thinking they are doing something illegal, again, call a PD if you truly think this.

 

Some are either not reading your posts fully or not understanding, that you own your HOUSE, and that not everyone has the luxury to just pick up and move, it's not as simple as that for many, plus you mentioned you tried but the prospective buyers won't want to but there, and there is only so much that you can afford to lose in the transaction.

 

But it seems like you have PM'ed Guru, I'd take his advice.

I'm interested in what these "visitors" are doing there, as I said previously, it sounds like you are thinking they are doing something illegal, again, call a PD if you truly think this.

 

Some are either not reading your posts fully or not understanding, that you own your HOUSE, and that not everyone has the luxury to just pick up and move, it's not as simple as that for many, plus you mentioned you tried but the prospective buyers won't want to but there, and there is only so much that you can afford to lose in the transaction.

But it seems like you have PM'ed Guru, I'd take his advice.

 

And if the landlord across the street from him is neglecting a nuisance and the owner has some city codes/ordinances on his side, then he can make the landlord feel it if his tenants aren't listening.

 

Did misread the earlier post because he just talked about the landlords and only briefly mentioned that he was an adjacent homeowner.

 

I realize it's not easy to pick up and move. But regardless of whether he is a homeowner or a renter, the same rings true of his neighborhood, homeowner's association, or whoever has discretion over the neighborhood's regulatory controls. If it's bad and just getting worse and you feel like your hands are tied, the best long term move is to cut bait and leave, though I understand that there are serious barriers to doing so and had mentioned before that it's not as easy as it sounds. At the same time, how could you not expect it to get worse if you can't do anything positive and no one else is willing to either?

75 sent me a PM. He lives in a small city.

 

In short, I would:

 

1. Never confront them.

2. Document every last thing that goes on. Times, dates, and specifically what happened.

3. Set up an appointment to meet with your Police Chief.

4. Explain to the Chief what is going on and how many neighbors it is affecting.

5. "Demand" that the Chief keep your complaint anonymous so that nothing you report to him is open to public records.

6. Ask the Chief who you can speak to in your city about Code Enforcement and Zoning Laws.

7. Learn all the laws, ordinances, codes, etc. your neighbors are violating.

8. Call the police every time they violate. You can remain anonymous. You need to learn how to call into the Police Department and block your phone number. Otherwise their software logs your number into the call and that information is subject to an open records request.

9. If you get any resistance along the way rally the troops and speak to each of your city Council members and your Mayor. If you still get resistance, interview three lawyers and hire the best one to handle the dirty work.

10. Get your other neighbors to do the same and go with you when you meet with the Chief/Council/Mayor/Lawyer. There is strength in numbers.

11. If you are not willing to do these things either suck it up or sell your property.

12. Good luck.

13. Please let us know what happens.

14. Just in case you missed number one, never confront them.

 

15. Pay a skilled craftsman to bust into their ride and jack their stereo system. Multiple times, if needed.

16. Pay a neighborhood kid to egg their vehicles and their visitors' vehicles

17. Pay a skilled heavy to go over and get your point across, by all means necessary