[sngo]

I recently moved to CT in one of the fluent towns along the coast from CA. Overall I like it. However I received an anonymous note in my mailbox (actually the note states 'from all of your neighbors on the street' but I know it's just from one neighbor) saying that "please clean your front yard, drive way, front porch, fix windows." . Yes, I have not been cleaning these places because I have a lot going on lately with works and stuff, and I am doing renovations little by little (that's why the windows don't look finished).

Back in Cali. I live in an upscale town Bradbury CA, but never had received note or anything from neighbors asking me to do stuff like that (maybe CA does not have as many tree leaves as CT and I don't really get used to do that.) Anyway, I'm going to do what I was asked to do and I am just curious is it a CT thing that neighbors concerns a lot about how other neighbor's yard and the house looks, even peek into front porch? is there a like street admin or some organization like that? or is it just my town here that people need to keep up upscale image?

[mels]

No, that is NOT common. It sounds like you got stuck with a busybody for a neighbor. I wouldn't blame the area or town, just your crappy neighbor

[smackfu]

CT tends to not have HOA like other states, so anonymous notes are about all your neighbor can do.

I don't think it's unusual that people expect their neighbors to keep their house up though, and start talking about the ones who don't. But raking leaves immediately isn't something I consider a required piece of maintenance. Mowing grass or shoveling your sidewalks are.

[Stylo]

Never happened to me.

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by sngo

I recently moved to CT in one of the fluent towns along the coast from CA. ?

Is that fluent or affluent?

I've known people who did it to neighbors over the years. Sometimes there is that one neighbor that is just plain lazy, loud, or lets their dog roam and defecate on neighborhood lawns. After a while people get mad, and as smackfu noted notes are about all you can do. The next step would be to report it to the town, some have blight or noise ordinances. A person usually has to be pretty bad in order to get such a note, though. I've heard neighbors complain a lot about others who don't rake (the leaves from the offending neighbor's yard blows into the freshly raked/blown yards) but I can't recall a note over leaves or home repairs, though. A home would have to be in really bad shape for such a note, I'm picturing a haunted house. I suspect you have an overly fussy neighbor, unless your property is truly out of control.

[Csiko]

The house would have to be in pretty bad shape for someone to complain. Any houses on your street for sale? You could be hurting their chances of selling the place if a house near it looks like utter crap.

Which town are you in? They might be doing you a favor; if your town has a blight ordinance they could have just reported you before passive-aggressively warning you.

[retiree2011]

Actually no one is supposed to put anything in a mailbox other than stamped mail put there by a mail carrier. You probably just have an obnoxious neighbor. I live in a condo and have a real whack job next to me. She once left me a note to "sweep the leaves" when we have landscapers who come weekly and the leaves come from a town tree that is out near the street. She also once saw ants outside and left me a note that she would "sue" me if she got "one ant" in her place and also accused me of "making her dog bark" - the dog was a Chihuahua that just hung out in the window all day barking at anything, everything or nothing at all.

I agree with one of the above posters who suggested maybe someone is trying to sell a house on your block, or as I say, you just have one bad neighbor. If the house was a fixer-upper of sorts, it probably has not been looking great for a while now and they should see that you are getting to things as time allows.

Good luck!

[Meglion]

How bad is/are your yard, windows, etc.? People take pride in their homes, some could even be considering putting their homes on the market, and if the appearance of your home is an eyesore, this is a less confrontative way to deal with their concern. I think it's stressful to walk the neighborhood I chose to live in only to see someone not taking care of their home/property. I'd recommend cleaning up your yard and windows and just thinking of it as being considerate toward your neighbors if you don't care to take that kind of pride in your own surroundings.

[JayCT]

I have never heard of anyone doing this so it is certainly not the norm. The neighbor is probably too chicken to approach you directly on the subject. There are ordinances in most towns that require home owners to maintain their properties so it is better they did this than went directly to the town. Still they should have approached you directly. Jay

[panasyncp17]

Sounds like an annoying neighbor with nothing better to do to me.

Kids toys and junk littered in the yard with old beat up cars in the driveway is one thing. But leaves in the yard in October?

As a single homeowner who travels a lot for work I'm glad I don't have any neighbors. I do leaves ONCE when they are all down, I try to keep the grass cut but sometimes it gets a little too long. I just don't have the time or I haven't even been home for a while. People don't understand not everyone lives like they do.