awful neighbor

[Jhowemca]

I have an awful next door neighbor.

This is the latest stunt she is pulling. She has called the building department and told them someone is living in my RV in my driveway. This is not true.
No one is in my trailer but me. I sleep on a temperpedic in my bedroom in my house.

Why would I sleep on the uncomfortable Denver mattress unless I'm camping?

The building department left a notice in my mail slot that says no overnight sleeping in an RV in your yard. Please call building department if you have any questions. Ok no action required by me so no big deal.

Today I get a business card in my mail slot of the local health department with hand written in the corner to call them regarding the RV in driveway!

Ok now I'm ...... off! She has been shut down by the police department because she calls them for no good reason but to harass not only me but two other of our neighbors. Now she is using other local government agencys to harass me.

What would you do?

I don't think I want to answer any questions from any government agent.
I haven't broken any laws. Or have been using my RV inappropriately.
I know some towns and neighborhoods have laws prohibiting RVs on the property. We don't have those laws (yet) in my town.
I see it as a form of harassment, bullying, and intimidation by the agency in my neighbors name.

Do I have a case of harassment here or what?

[J.Lockhart]

Answer the department's questions. The more people that are on your side the better.

Always always always take the high road...

Who knows what her story is. Maybe she's never had nice neighbors. Maybe she's never had close friends. Maybe she's never had someone show her the time of day to even begin to give a crap about anything...

Heck, buy her flowers with a note saying sorry she's upset. Invite her over for a campfire and marshmallows. LOL!! As my Dad used to tell me.... "Kill 'em with kindness."

Sorry you have to deal with this.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jhowemca]

Originally Posted by J.Lockhart

Answer the department's questions. The more people that are on your side the better.

Buy her some flowers and cookies. Leave a note that says, "Sorry we've gotten off on the wrong foot. If you have any questions/concerns... come talk to me."

Always always always take the high road...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Believe it or not, I have bought her flowers (Never cookies tho).
And "I apologized for any miscommunication in the past. We have to be neighbors, let's make the best of it."
That was answered with a grumble and a stomp off into the house with a door slam to top it off.

I like the high road too... Less traffic

That was 11 years ago... She is a miserable person. She's had problems in every neighborhood she's lived in this town.

I don't interact with them at all... That's the high road for me in this situation.

PS. You have a great attitude by the way!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Jhowemca

Believe it or not, I have bought her flowers (Never cookies tho).
And "I apologized for any miscommunication in the past. We have to be neighbors, let's make the best of it."
That was answered with a grumble and a stomp off into the house with a door slam to top it off.

I like the high road too... Less traffic

That was 11 years ago... She is a miserable person. She's had problems in every neighborhood she's lived in this town.

I don't interact with them at all... That's the high road for me in this situation.

PS. You have a great attitude by the way!

I agree that you should respond to all complaints. Government agencies do not like receiving false complaints and will act against people who make them but they need feedback from the people the complaints are directed at to know that the accusations are false.

[Nukeneck]

If you can prove that she is the one calling all of these various agencies on you then yes, you can file a harassment complaint against her (At least in my state you can), as long as the various agencies are not finding any wrong doing on your part. Sounds like you are out of options and if need be file for a temporary restraining order so she can't contact you in any way shape or form even by a third party. Maybe just maybe she will get the message. She wants to play dirty, play dirty right back! Sometimes these are the only options left when every other thing you've tried hasn't worked

[Grumpy]

Most municipalities don't act on anonymous complaints so under the Freedom of Information Act you should be able to get copies.

[TWP723]

Comply. You have nothing to hide. It's just a royal PIA though...I agree with ya.

[3'senough]

I agree with all above as hard as it may be. A personal visit to the agencies might well be in order to explain your situation and record it. If the departments know your situation then I think they will know how to address it when a complaint comes in and you won't see them around anymore.

Inviting the departments to your house is not something I would encourage as that could open up other potential issues you may not see.

If it persists...then consult a professional in that area for advise.


On this subject. I have a neighbor who has his unit in the driveway due to no backyard access. Also this is only during the season and for a week at a time with gaps of no unit. He gets complaints on his, while since mine is in the backyard I get none. His complaints come from no one directly next to or around him too. Some people just have it in for others.

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by Jhowemca

I don't think I want to answer any questions from any government agent.
I haven't broken any laws. Or have been using my RV inappropriately.

Silence is agreement and that's how the agencies involved will view lack of response. I think you need to answer them. Defend yourself now and don't wait. Do it in person or over the phone, follow up with a written letter. Document every incident. If you should find yourself in court or facing unwarranted fines you will be able to show the chain of events through documentation and keeping a journal. Since they have to actually prove there is a problem, anything you do to defend yourself will go a long way toward them leaving you alone.

As far as a harassment claim, I'm not lawyer, that said you may need to contact one. Most will offer a brief opinion over the phone.

[dewey02]

We had an interesting thing happen to us.
We keep our trailer in our driveway during the camping season and between our camping trips. We live in a small town, but we are the last house on a dead end road that ends at our house at the top of a hill.

During the last US census, we recieved a form for our sticks and brick house, and we also recieved a form for "house trailer in the driveway." No one lives in the house trailer, we don't sleep in it when we are not out camping with it. It doesn't have an address and the mailman doesn't deliver mail to it. It is only a 26 foot trailer with no slide outs. We filled out the Census info for our sticks and bricks house and threw the other form in the trash. Several weeks later, we got an in-person visit from a census employee knocking at our door and asking who lives in the trailer. We responded "nobody" and asked her if the census bureau questions everyone who has a travel trailer (a large amount of folks in our town own trailers and have them parked in their driveways when not camping).

So...the only thing that we can figure out is that the Census is looking at Google Earth photos when determining what forms to send out, because you can clearly see the travel trailer in the Google Earth photos. Big brother really is watching you.

[Rustysocket]

Every situation isn't always as it seems and as an RV owner and Property owner I have empathy for both sides.


As a homeowner I had a neighbor who parked a dilapidated 34' pile of crap RV in the water retention ditch in front of my home as it was the only spot it would fit. When I called the county they said they could do nothing. Meanwhile the guy loses his home to forclosure and begins the process of becoming "homeless" living in front of my house. Again, county won't do anything. I hired an attorney, we videotaped the guy dumping black water on the ground. Tow vehicle is now repossessed by bank. This went on for nearly a year. Once the tags expired, I visitied code enforcement daily, in person and eventually the RV was removed.


This was all under the guise of a guy who wanted to store his RV at home...

It was a year of hell but it I now understand how the other side thinks. It caused me a lot of stress and frustration.

I don't know you or your neighbor, but I'm a firm believer that RV's / Boats should be behind a fence in your backyard and not stored in the drive-way and certainly not on the road.

[Jhowemca]

Originally Posted by Rustysocket

Every situation isn't always as it seems and as an RV owner and Property owner I have empathy for both sides.


As a homeowner I had a neighbor who parked a dilapidated 34' pile of crap RV in the water retention ditch in front of my home as it was the only spot it would fit. When I called the county they said they could do nothing. Meanwhile the guy loses his home to forclosure and begins the process of becoming "homeless" living in front of my house. Again, county won't do anything. I hired an attorney, we videotaped the guy dumping black water on the ground. Tow vehicle is now repossessed by bank. This went on for nearly a year. Once the tags expired, I visitied code enforcement daily, in person and eventually the RV was removed.


This was all under the guise of a guy who wanted to store his RV at home...

It was a year of hell but it I now understand how the other side thinks. It caused me a lot of stress and frustration.

I don't know you or your neighbor, but I'm a firm believer that RV's / Boats should be behind a fence in your backyard and not stored in the drive-way and certainly not on the road.

I didn't mention the trailer is behind a fence in my 150' driveway 200' away from the property line (I have 2.5 acres).

[Mustang65]

I would definitely follow up with the government offices. Find out the email address of the city, county officials that would have jurisdiction over the matter and send them a response to the notices and letters that they have left at your home. This will establish a document trail regarding the issue. Each future notification you get from the governmental organization, include the history (prior email links) at the bottom of the current email so that they can see the history of complaints by your neighbor and may eventually lead them to take action against her. Make it easy for them to see the history behind her complaints. Florida has a "Freedom of Information" law, not sure about your state.

Just a thought

Don

Or, you may want to get an old rusted out piece of junk car (cheap from a bone yard) that is an eye sore with a current tag on it (claim that you want to restore it) and park it in plain view of her house, that should take her focus off of the TT. Warn you neighbors ahead of time... (only kidding)

[MrJackSprat]

I will chime-in on this. Upon purchase of our MH last summer, it was proudly parked in our driveway with the intent in storing it at my office parking lot. But we were waiting for the village to install/update some streetlights (security) in front of our commercial bldg before moving MH to parking lot. We live in south Chicago suburbs in a planned upscale neighborhood. According to "some" in the neighborhood, anyone who owns a boat, pickup, camper or MH is a "redneck"... hmmm. So the brand-shiny new MH was in our driveway for maybe 3 days and my wife gets a nock on the door from the local police regarding a complaint from "a neighbor". He said that it extended a little over the sidewalk and this caused issue for walking pedestrians (also in plain view of the next-door neighbor) - so it was moved. It could only be our next-door neighbor who made the call since they are jealous little varmints (and also one making the "redneck" comment). Of course they would never admit to it, but we are 98.5% sure it was them. My wife wants to pour a concrete pad next to our house (between the two of us) and permanently park the MH there so they have to look at it every day! As long as the MH is parked behind the front edge of the house, it is admissible by village ordinance. One last thing, those that think we are "rednecks" don't realize that that new boats, campers and alike can cost $50K+, nice pickups $60K+, 5ers $80K+ and MH such as ours $90K+. A little more than their POS, rusting 2005 Caravan... talk about redneck!

[House of Harview]

I too, agree with most other respondents in this matter. You see, this government agency is attempting to take full advantage of an opportunity to pillage revenue from the OP with the complaint from the neighbor being the catalyst. I suggest the following if or when anyone is presented with such a notice from any of these government agencies. Immediately write across the notice, Date received: 06/07/2016, Date returned: 06/07/2016 "Refused for cause without dishonor". Below the above writing and above your signature write, "All right reserved without recourse and without prejudice" Sign your name below.

Immediately send this notice directly back to the agency and to the attention of the agency personnel if provided. This government agency is attempting to directly contract with you as being a violator. What you are doing is totally electing not to contract with them and under contract law, it takes two parties to lawfully contract. If one was to ignore the notice, a maxim of law comes into play. This maxim is, "Silence is acquiescence".

Once you return the notice, this agency will most likely go away and leave you alone. If they pursue, they will have to provide true fact evidence that you actually violated one of their laws, codes, rules, statutes, etc. I could get deeper into what should transpire if this government agency elects to pursue further but, we can save that for another day.

The above suggestions are not to be construed as legal advice in any way, shape or form.

[Fire_Instructor]

I have my 42' fifth-wheel parked in my side yard. I also just happen to be the Chairman of my Town's Zoning Board of Appeals, an the former Code Enforcement Officer.

Our Town Code clearly states where a boat, RV, utility trailer, etc can be parked on a residential property. In our town, a side or rear yard is permissible. There is provision for occasional short-term parking in the front of a property for purposes of loading, unloading, etc.

A municipality that does not clearly spell out the rights of RV owners (or any other stakeholder group) is subject to the whiney whims of neighborhood NIMBY's, who want to make up the rules to fit their personal agenda. Don't assume that if the law is silent, then it must be allowed. This is just the opening that e complainers are looking for, to push a more restrictive rule through.

Fortunately, our Town does not enforce deed restrictions or HOA rules. They are a civil matter, and not under the purview of Codes or the ZBA....

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by Jhowemca

I didn't mention the trailer is behind a fence in my 150' driveway 200' away from the property line (I have 2.5 acres).

Then it certainly falls under my definition of none of their business (neighbor .gov or otherwise)

[Country_Mouse]

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[norty1]

Originally Posted by dewey02

We had an interesting thing happen to us.
We keep our trailer in our driveway during the camping season and between our camping trips. We live in a small town, but we are the last house on a dead end road that ends at our house at the top of a hill.

During the last US census, we recieved a form for our sticks and brick house, and we also recieved a form for "house trailer in the driveway." No one lives in the house trailer, we don't sleep in it when we are not out camping with it. It doesn't have an address and the mailman doesn't deliver mail to it. It is only a 26 foot trailer with no slide outs. We filled out the Census info for our sticks and bricks house and threw the other form in the trash. Several weeks later, we got an in-person visit from a census employee knocking at our door and asking who lives in the trailer. We responded "nobody" and asked her if the census bureau questions everyone who has a travel trailer (a large amount of folks in our town own trailers and have them parked in their driveways when not camping).

So...the only thing that we can figure out is that the Census is looking at Google Earth photos when determining what forms to send out, because you can clearly see the travel trailer in the Google Earth photos. Big brother really is watching you.

I don't they think they use Google Earth but may be close. They hire a army of locals to survey every property way before the census starts to id every place that someone can live. I think they even go under bridges and such to count homeless. Last census we got a form hanging on our rv in the side yard. I talked with the local census people and cleared it up in a few minutes.

[House of Harview]

I do know that some government agencies use air reconnaissance flights to survey many aspects and even as far as someone's property having a lush, green landscape as opposed to most having brown dry landscapes which can be used as possible water conservation violations. This stuff is endless folks, and the problem is, most of us have been trained to overlook or just put up with many of these overreaching matters. Granted, some are for the good but, if I was to guess, most are designed for as much collective, progressive and eventual total control of the people as possible.