Has this every happened to you? (Cincinnati, Dayton: apartment, renters, house)

[WILWRadio]

Specifically have you had this kind of experience in the Cincinnati area. Since I have a house in NKY and expect to live in it by the end of this year (or I'll rent it and buy another as that is the plan) I need to get some perspective about the following story and whether or not this has happened to others.

I have a next door neighbor here in Missouri who is around 20 years old with a girl friend that is probably 18 to 19 years old. They moved in last Summer (rent to own deal for their house) and I have had some amicable visits with them since that time. I could go into some detail about their background (not exactly a rosy picture) and relationship but I will avoid that for now though I think it would help to show what kind of character or lack of they possess.

Recently we had two decent snowfalls leaving over a foot on the ground here. Being from Connecticut and being accustomed to lots of snow (had 30 to 36" on the ground a couple of weeks ago in my hometown in the Hartford area) I got out there after each event and cleared my sidewalks and driveway. Well, this lazy clod next door has not tried to clear his driveway even after I offered his girl friend and he the use of my snow blower and snow shovel. Instead they've been driving OVER my lawn and to my driveway to park the car in their front yard. Since I am going to close on my house next week I decided not to make an issue of it and just let it go because I just want to get the hell out of this town. This morning, I kid you not, I get a knock on my door around 8:15 AM and this guy has the audacity to ask me to move my car because he can't get into my driveway to get out of his front yard with his car. At that point I gave him a good lecture about violating my personal property and that he would most certainly get arrested in ANY town in Connecticut if he had pulled this stunt on numerous occasions like he has here. He told me he didn't think it was a big deal even after I asked him how he'd like it if I did that to him? What a moron. I then proceeded to tell him that he could borrow my snow blower and snow shovel (again) but that didn't register. I then shut the door in his face and walked back into the house.

Anyone have this kind of moronic neighbor that has blatantly violated your personal property and how did you handle it?

[CarpathianPeasant]

Had a neighbor in Dayton that kept his garbage cans on our side of the property line. No amount of diplomacy got them on his property for years. Never mind the details.

[kjbrill]

Not quite what you describe, commandering someone else's property. But we do have one neighbor who in all the years they have lived here have never had a vehicle in their 2-car garage as it is perpetually filled with junk. But they do have multiple vehicles as their grown kids have never left. They simply pull off the side of the driveway onto what was obviously intended to be lawn. So it is now a big muddy mess At least it is their property, they are not encroaching on anyone else. Several of us have complained to the city, but they say they cannot force them to pave the area. I don't understand, if it was a business they could force them to pave a parking lot. Why not a private residence?

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Not quite what you describe, commandering someone else's property. But we do have one neighbor who in all the years they have lived here have never had a vehicle in their 2-car garage as it is perpetually filled with junk. But they do have multiple vehicles as their grown kids have never left. They simply pull off the side of the driveway onto what was obviously intended to be lawn. So it is now a big muddy mess At least it is their property, they are not encroaching on anyone else. Several of us have complained to the city, but they say they cannot force them to pave the area. I don't understand, if it was a business they could force them to pave a parking lot. Why not a private residence?

I don't give a damn what they do with their own property as long as their activities don't encroach upon my own property. But when someone starts to step on my toes then I get angry. Naturally that is what has happened here and I gave him a good lecture. Not sure if he even comprehends what he's done is wrong since so many in his generation have been taught to be collectivists. What's yours is mine... He's even parking his pickup truck on the property on the other side of his house which he used to rent and is now vacant. Unbelievable.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

I don't give a damn what they do with their own property as long as their activities don't encroach upon my own property. But when someone starts to step on my toes then I get angry. Naturally that is what has happened here and I gave him a good lecture. Not sure if he even comprehends what he's done is wrong since so many in his generation have been taught to be collectivists. What's yours is mine... He's even parking his pickup truck on the property on the other side of his house which he used to rent and is now vacant. Unbelievable.

It is nice to be tolerant and say people have a right to use their property as they see fit. But that only goes so far. Once it becomes an eyesore and begins to affect the value of adjacent property their rights diminish.

I have another neighbor who has a corner lot. Everytime it snowed, for some strange reason, older kids would cut the corner with their cars digging ruts in his lawn. To counteract this, one summer he constructed a good sized low rail fence on the corner which he planted with climbing roses, very attractive. Now we are prohibited from having fences in our front yards. Someone complained and he contended it is not a fence, it is a rose arbor. They finally decided to let him keep it under that guise.
The next winter they knocked the rose arbor down. By this time he is getting pissed. He goes out and gets two wooden planks and drives a number of good sized spikes through them. The next snow he lays them down near the broken arbor and covers them with snow. Sure enough a car full of kids comes around the corner, on his property, and puncture the tires on their car. He gets arrested, taken to court, and fined for committing an act endangering someone. How can you win?

[CarpathianPeasant]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

It is nice to be tolerant and say people have a right to use their property as they see fit. But that only goes so far. Once it becomes an eyesore and begins to affect the value of adjacent property their rights diminish.

I have another neighbor who has a corner lot. Everytime it snowed, for some strange reason, older kids would cut the corner with their cars digging ruts in his lawn. To counteract this, one summer he constructed a good sized low rail fence on the corner which he planted with climbing roses, very attractive. Now we are prohibited from having fences in our front yards. Someone complained and he contended it is not a fence, it is a rose arbor. They finally decided to let him keep it under that guise.
The next winter they knocked the rose arbor down. By this time he is getting pissed. He goes out and gets two wooden planks and drives a number of good sized spikes through them. The next snow he lays them down near the broken arbor and covers them with snow. Sure enough a car full of kids comes around the corner, on his property, and puncture the tires on their car. He gets arrested, taken to court, and fined for committing an act endangering someone. How can you win?

1. Move. Obviously it was deliberate. Sell the place to someone they wouldn't like, like a black family if they're white.

2. Take down the license plate number -- it's called tresspassing and report it or even sue for damages.

3. Take pictures. Contact a member of the school board or city council (or even neighborhood newspaper if you have one) and say something like, these kids need better training beyond the home. (Doesn't work in big cities.)

Granted, that's not pleasant living, but the above message asks, how can you win?

[Ohiogirl81]

I've had annoying neighbors, who did take advantage of my property, but never to that degree.

Wherever your car was parked that blocked his egress onto your driveway, keep it there. He sounds like a supreme idiot, so you'll never convince him that he shouldn't have unlimited access to your property.

[restorationconsultant]

Since I am president of neighbrohood association I have dealt with this type of individual for years.

I try diplomacy and when that doesnt work I unlease every agency I can think of and make sure I cc everyone up and down the governmental chain. Thats how we stopped a motorcycle gang from moving into our neighborhood , how we chased the drug dealers out and shut down several illegal apartment conversions.

It's a "take no prisoners" approach and it works every time for me.

My neighborhood is a better place.

[natininja]

I think your #1 problem is that the kid's a moron. He also has no clue what it is like to own property. Hopefully he will learn as he gets a little older, but learning is not the strong point of a moron.

[Ohioan58]

I once owned a duplex and my first renters were a 20ish brother and sister whose aunt and uncle were sponsoring them in renting in order to re-establish themselves in the "big city" (not in Ohio.)

I rented to them persuaded by the uncle who put down 2 months of deposit rather than the one month I was asking.

What a freaking mistake. These kids were hillbillies and they were irresponsible and stupid white trash.

I kicked them out after 4 months of late rent, late parties, and parking in my driveway.

Now, the local police exist in part to prevent people in situations like these from killing each other. Cops may protest that they should not be tied up with trivia like property disputes, but that is a ridiculously stupid defense of the status quo and such cops need to get out of the doughnut shop. In today's age this is how people wind up assaulting or shooting or stabbing each other.

I have only lived in middle class neighborhoods, never around scum-s!!! like you're describing, and I have never had this kind of experience. I've had careless knuckleheads drive into my lawn and leave tire tracks or burn off the grass but only a few square feet.

Using your lawn for a driveway should by all rights get a person's @zz kicked. I would call the cops if it happened. It's in their direct interest to compel the other party to behave responsibly, so they aren't putting yellow police tape around the scene in the near future.