YES!! Horrible neighbors got evicted!!

[Seraph]

Oh thank you God, I'm still so happy after finding out. /dance

Background:

Shortly after we moved in to this neighborhood, a small family moved in to the rental home across the street. Then another family moved in. Then another. I believe it was two small families plus a couple living in there. And oh my lord, were they obnoxious. This is a rather nice little community here. Mostly elderly folk, but everyone here is very friendly, peaceful, and well-kept. Not these people.

It wasn't uncommon to be woken up around 2 or 3 am to hear them hooting/hollering/screaming on their front porch at each other. Beer bottles strewn in the street, in their yard....wasn't that uncommon either. Neither was hearing the father screaming at his daughter, and on several occasions we saw him chasing her around the home. Not in a playful manner either. The father also tended to park his oversized pickup truck half in the street, and when he got a job at the electric company nearby, his crane truck as well. People had to swerve and drive partially in our front yard to get around it.

And then, there was their dog. First, it was just the single Chihuahua, who they let roam free around the neighborhoof. It was a mean little thing, and has tried to bite my children several times. I actually kicked it at one point because it nearly got my youngest. I called animal control on it a few times, and I know I'm not the only one. I've been told that they were fined over and over again, but that nothing happened beyond that.

And the poop. Yes, its just poop, but when it got to the point that my kids couldn't play in our front yard anymore because they ALWAYS stepped in dog poop, it got really, really frustrating. And since it always used our yard for the bathroom, whenever it wandered to someone else's house, people would come to OUR home and yell at us about it pooping in their yard. I had to tell people over and over again, its not our dog, its THEIRS. One woman was just about rabid in her anger at me, because the dog pooped in her yard, and when she came outside to yell at it, it went after her cat. Her cat's really old, can't move fast, and frail. Even though it was a Chihuahua, it would've done some serious damage.

Then they got another one. This one was even meaner, and they actually were ordered by the PD to keep it tied up, because I believe it actually DID bite someone. It got loose one day, and I didn't see it again. From what I hear, it chased a jogger down to the main road, and was hit by a car. I feel guilty admitting that when I heard about it, I kinda wished it would happen to the other dog too.

A couple of months ago, was The Glorious First Sign.

I was sitting in the office, working, when I noticed a police car pull up in our yard. He got out, checked the house number, then went over to their home. Then another pulled up. Then a third! They all got out and knocked on their door. Amusing part was, they were ALL home, and we could see them literally diving behind couches and chairs to hide, through their living room windows. I may or may not have been inspired to turn on Yakety Sax while witnessing it.

Eventually the police left, and we watched them come out on their porch and quibble, but after a few they FLED inside. Literally fled. I'm pretty sure someone just about got knocked over in their haste.

The police had come back.

There was an amusing repeat of earlier, and then they departed. Not less than a minute after, they came back AGAIN, with the Sheriff's car this time! They still stayed hiding, and once they left, the fun REALLY began.

They stood out on their porch, screaming like banshees at each other, and just throwing anything and everything into their vans. This went on for a couple of hours, and they left, came back, threw more stuff, left, came back, etc etc. We figured they were leaving right then, but ah, it was not so. Eventually the police did catch up with them on one of the trips, and after talking with him, they stopped their frenetic packing, and business went back to normal. Except, they got an "electric fence" for their dog, that worked for all of two days, and then she ran wild again. Sigh.

But then, Yesterday.

Police showed up with one car. Posted something on their door, and left. Woman came out and checked it, and then went back inside quietly. Within the hour, EVERY single one of their cars, trucks, and vans were lined up in the street (two vans, two cars, three trucks) , and they were packing SUPER FAST. They cleaned out the entire house in under 12 hours. Literally.

We suspected an eviction, but it was confirmed today by one of the people who live down the street.

So yep, I'm celebrating. Finally, no more dog, no more being woken up in the wee hours, and no more worrying about my children getting bitten.

The only people I feel bad for are the owners of that home, because I can only imagine what kind of damage they left behind. It's probably quite horrific. <.<

[Raveni]

Don't feel too bad. Lazy landlord is bad landlord. It sounds like these three families were living there for quite some time. All landlord cared about was collecting the rent check, not how many people lived there, how often they trashed the inside or the yard, what things they built on landlord's property (electric fence! Really?).

If landlord cared about finding good tenants, it would still be rented, still in good shape, and the neighbors would be happy. I always say that I shouldn't be able to tell who is an owner or a tenant without looking it up online. Good tenants take care of their home, because they will be living there for awhile.

[Food Lady]

Even though I rent my apt, I keep it as nice as I can because I feel it's my home, and at some future point it will be someone else's. I actually cried out of frustration when I spilled a bottle of dye. I don't understand people who live in absolute filth.

[Kogarashi]

Hooray for evicting bad tenants!

what things they built on landlord's property (electric fence! Really?).

I suspect Seraph meant one of those electronic fences. The kind that (somehow, I'm not entirely sure on the details) keeps the dog in the perimeter without requiring a big eyesore physical fense. I see them in the SkyMall catalog all the time.

[pitmonkey]

My SIL put up an actual eclectic fence because a neighbor dog kept sh#tting in their yard. They put 2 stands less than 12" tall and the deposits quit. It was turned off for one day and new deposits where found. The frustrating thing is that the whole county has a leash law.

[XCashier]

for losing the bad neighbors. Let's hope that the new tenants are much nicer, or at least tolerable. And that they curb their dogs.

[Raveni]

I suspect Seraph meant one of those electronic fences. The kind that (somehow, I'm not entirely sure on the details) keeps the dog in the perimeter without requiring a big eyesore physical fense. I see them in the SkyMall catalog all the time.

Oh, that makes a lot more sense...

[Seraph]

Even though I rent my apt, I keep it as nice as I can because I feel it's my home, and at some future point it will be someone else's. I actually cried out of frustration when I spilled a bottle of dye. I don't understand people who live in absolute filth.

Oh man, same here. When we were renting, and had to leave, our landlord begged us to stay. We'd been the tidiest, nicest tenants she'd had. She even offered us a discount on the rent. But, we'd gotten a house. =/

I suspect Seraph meant one of those electronic fences. The kind that (somehow, I'm not entirely sure on the details) keeps the dog in the perimeter without requiring a big eyesore physical fense. I see them in the SkyMall catalog all the time.

They bury a wire. Or, that's how its supposed to be. They actually just laid the wire in the grass. Which, of course, doesn't work well when you have kids kicking it around.

[Mytical]

There is the 'invisible fence' which requires the animal to wear a collar, and when it tries to cross the 'line' it receives a shock. Then there is an electric fence. Which is wire fence that has electricity running through it. I suspect it was the first type. Since I have seen a small dog that was able to ignore the first type, it would be easier for an animal to overcome that type. The second type..not so much. However, I would hope in a city setting nobody would put up that type..as children would (without fail) eventually get hurt by that type.

The second type is typically used for government facilities and some farms..but not many.

The 'invisible fence' that I am aware of actually has no wires. It has posts, that send a signal to each other by radio waves. When the collar gets to near to the posts (or tries to go between the posts) the waves reach the collar, and it is the collar that gives the electrical shock. Warning the animal that they are not to proceed. It gets stronger the closer they are to the source of the waves. However..if the animal moves fast enough, and is stubborn enough..they can 'rush' through the waves..and once to the other side as they move away from the posts the signal lessens meaning that the shocks lessen.

[Kogarashi]

Thanks for the explanation, Mytical. I suspect there are "bury the wire" versions too, and Seraph's neighbors fail in executing that method.

My great-grandparents' farm actually had an electric fence on the bull's enclosure, I think because the bull spent some time trying to get out for a while. I don't honestly know the reason, as by the time I was old enough to understand about electric fences, it no longer had an active current running through it.

[dragon_wings]

Thanks for the explanation, Mytical. I suspect there are "bury the wire" versions too, and Seraph's neighbors fail in executing that method.

There are. My parents had one at both houses we lived at in Tennessee. The collar would give the dog a mild shock if it passed the boundaries where the wire was buried. But before that happened the collar would emit a beep that (most smart dogs) would associate with the shock thus causing them to get the boundary a wide berth. Our dog Ginger Snap intensely disliked the beep but that didn't stop her a few times from running the fence if she was freaked out. Like if my mom was vacuuming with the central vac, which Ginger didn't like, and mom put her outside, sometimes Ginger would "run away." Often times this meant a little while later she'd appear across the street as far away from the "electric fence" as possible but in view of the front windows.

[Scorpodael]

My great-grandparents' farm actually had an electric fence on the bull's enclosure, I think because the bull spent some time trying to get out for a while. I don't honestly know the reason, as by the time I was old enough to understand about electric fences, it no longer had an active current running through it.

Well, I can think of a few reasons that a bull would be trying to escape from his enclosure... Most of them have to do with the lady cows that a farm with a bull would surely keep around. No real point ta havin' a bull less'n yeh have the heifer, after all. </accent>

[Mytical]

*nods* Most electrical fences on farms (the above ground/visible ones) are to keep animals in..like horses who jump fences. The government ones are usually to keep people out.