Two weeks. In a row. Ugh.

[KiaKat]

I thought about posting last weekend, but didn't think it was all that necessary for my own emotional catharsis.

Now, however, I need to. Because, frankly, I have to keep myself from doing something drastic, like packing up the cats and moving back to NH.

My neighbours are a bunch of scum.

Since I moved in here in November of 07, the following has happened:

~ I've been stared at. Repeatedly. Both through the windows (our apartments face each other across the driveway) and in the sidewalk. No catcalling, although they've licked their lips in my direction and leered.

~ They injured one of my cats last year by miauwing at her until she flipped out, tried to come and tell me what they were doing, jumped at the couch, missed, and sprained her elbow.

~ They're drunk, every weekend. Loud and drunk. And they play some sort of AWFUL Latino music...I'm not much a fan of it when it's good, but this stuff is terrible. In the summer, it's worse, and the whole neighbourhood can hear it, because they leave all their windows open so they can smoke and spit.

~ They smoke and spit out the windows. With no regard for what may be below, or across the driveway. I can't use my living room or kitchen windows because of them.

~ Their friends, last Saturday night, backed into my car IN THE DRIVEWAY. No note. No attempt to contact me with insurance info. Nothing. I made a police report last Sunday. My hatch is dented.

~ They broke my car tonight. About two hours ago, Other Half and I were happily asleep, when we were woken by the sounds of a fight. Turns out that my car, and another neighbour's car were collateral damage. My back window is broken, as is my taillight (passenger) and my passenger mirror. A report was made to the police immediately.

There seems to be a camera trained on the sidewalk. I'm going to get the tapes tomorrow so I can drop them at the station and hopefully get a plate number from last weekend.

I am absolutely sick over this. And my nerves are shot.

ETA: Seems like the thunk we heard about an hour and a half ago was a brick hitting the hood of our car. Not certain about the timing, but either way, it's another addition to the list.

I think I'm going to cry.

[Iris Kojiro]

I'm sorry that you have to deal with such jerks for neighbors. It makes me thankful that the worst my neighbors do is get a little loud.

But damage to your car? I would certainly hope those people get caught!

*gives hugs to Kia*

[iradney]

The next time they stare at you, insert your forefinger into your nostril, and dig vigorously. I find that tends to help...
Hope the police can help with the rest... *hugs*

[PepperElf]

... damage to your car followed by a police report.

followed by more damage, another police report.

followed by even more damage...

it sounds like they're doing it in revenge to me.


I would say contact the police.

Also you might have to do this...
1) Post your yard and property as off limits with trespassing notices

2) Send neighbors a letter via certified mail with signature (and proof of delivery etc) stating that they are not allowed to enter your property or toss items into it etc.

I would suggest getting help from the police on the wording.

then set up a surveillance camera of your own. when they attack your house or car again you can bring that to the police and possibly have them arrested

[KiaKat]

The surveillance system is in the works. Has been for a little while, but this is the kick in the pants I need to finish it.

The only issue with the trespassing signage and other notices is that it's a shared driveway. Either it's owned by my landlord with legal easements, or the property line is split down the middle of the driveway, with easements on both deeds. I'm not sure which, but I'm inclined to believe the second.

We're waiting for the owner of the neighbour's camera to contact us. This morning, Other Half spoke with one of the tenants and she said her son maintained the system - he would contact us when he woke up. If we haven't heard from him by 2:30 or so (he's a college student, I think), we'll check in with them.

Also, the dent may have been part of the original damage. It's a very small dent, something I could have easily overlooked last night, in the dark, with just a flashlight. I'm not completely sure, though. And I wouldn't put it past them to take revenge. The police are aware of it too, and said they'd step up patrols in our block. So far, they have.

The other fun part is that, since my local agent is Jewish, and its Shabbos, and I'm in a particularly Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood in NYC, I can't get an adjuster out until tomorrow morning, unless I want to stay home all day and wait for someone to show up randomly from another agent's office. I'll wait, thank you. Hopefully I'll have my baby back by Monday.

I hope I have her back by Monday. I miss my car.

[Taboo]

Oi. I am *so* sorry.

You should get that footage to the police if possible - seems like at this point your neighbors are going to keep on damaging your stuff no matter what, so you should take as aggressive of a stand as possible now and just get it over with. Definitely set up your own surveillance as well.

Are your neighbors renting from the same landlord? If not, then would it be possible to get a sign along the lines of: Trespassing Not Allowed; Tenants and their guests only?

[bainsidhe]

If their music is playing loudly, couldn't this also be considered a noise violation? Perhaps you should try calling the police again, though don't expect them to show up very quickly. Although if they're having parties, are they serving minors? That's another complaint.

I'm so sorry to hear about your car, hope it's fixed soon.

[Akasa]

If their music is playing loudly, couldn't this also be considered a noise violation? Perhaps you should try calling the police again, though don't expect them to show up very quickly. Although if they're having parties, are they serving minors? That's another complaint.

Seconded! Also if you have the same landlord let him/her know of these issues and calls to the police. A lot of leases I've seen have had clauses about noise violations and calls to the police because of the actions of tenants.

[persephone]

If possible, you might want to talk to a lawyer. The damaging your car, loud music after it has been requested that it be turned down, ect. could possibly be considered harassment. Since it is documented with police reports, it is possible you could write to their landlord and basically say that, unless something is done, you are going to bring some kind of suit. I don't know what the terminology would be, but basically it would be for willingly and knowingly allowing criminal harassment to be engaged in / continue. It is the landlords responsibility in most states to be sure the tenants aren't bothering other neighbors / tenants / ect. If they are, it is the landlord's responsibility to make them stop, or kick them out.

Harassment is illegal. Ask the police if writing the landlords would be something beneficial for you or if there's anything, legally, you can do at the moment. It's just a thought. (I once had to type up a letter along the lines of the above. The landlord's gave the tenants seven days to move out. If you want, PM me and I'll see if I can get a copy of the letter (names, ect. blacked out or changed) to send to you for reference.)

[PepperElf]

ooo wait, if the annoying neighbors are renting from the same landlord... in addition to the police you can talk to the landlord then.

yes i have seen people evicted for noise abuse

[KiaKat]

An update:

There are two (or three, I'm not totally clear on how many) apartments with 5+ men living in them (one report says the basement apt. has about 10, these are two bedroom apts). The basement apartment is the one with the violent tenants, whereas the second floor apartment is just a bunch of morons who don't know how to live in close quarters. I didn't even realize there was a basement apartment, let alone one with a rear entrance, though it makes a lot of sense now that I think about how many people I see going around to the back of that building.

We do plan on filing a lawsuit, we're currently looking around for a lawyer. Tomorrow, we'll call the man we used for incorporation and see if he has any colleagues he can recommend. I hadn't thought about adding harassment to the list, but I've noted it and will bring it up.

The landlord is an absent one. Shows up on the 1st of the month to collect rent, and that's it. I'd love to tell him that we're giving him an opportunity to evict them before we add him to the list of People To Be Sued, but I don't want to lose the chance to sue the pants off all of them.

I'm not litigious in the least, but these people have me at the end of my rope. I'm not sleeping well, because every time I hear a noise, I start awake. I nearly screamed at a kid for kicking a ball around in the driveway this afternoon, because I was terrified he was going to hit the car. I'm ready to fall apart at a moment's notice. Thank god I go to work tomorrow evening (I don't usually work Monday), because I'm not sure I can deal with this stress.

I'll have numbers for exactly how much damage they did either tomorrow or Tuesday. It looks like it might be more expensive for us to submit to insurance, because of how much they'd jack up the premium, since it would be two incidents in two weeks.

If the car is fixed by next weekend, I'm going up to my mom's for a few days. I need it.

[blas]

Mind if I print this thread out and tape it to my downstairs neighbor's door? That old bag thinks I'm just the neighbor from Hell, with me working 3rd shift and sleeping all day, and having my boyfriend over on the weekends and if he isn't over, my gal pals come over before we go out....she thinks I'm just the worst neighbor ever and I never make that much noise! I think the noises she makes during the day every day while I try to sleep are worse than the thunder we've been having all weekend!

That many people living in 2 bedroom apartments? WTF?!

[KiaKat]

Go for it. If my situation can help anyone else, I'm all for it.

I learned a while ago that I have terrible neighbour karma. And I have no idea why, I'm generally a good neighbour who keeps to herself and doesn't make a lot of noise.

The warehousing is sadly typical of a certain group of illegal immigrants. When I was bartending, it amazed me how many of the kitchen staff lived in the same apartment. Apparently the day labourers (which most of the neighbours are) are even more packed in. They do that so each person pays about $1-200/month (typical 2BR rent in this area is $1200-$1500).

[protege]

Sounds like the idiots that live next door to my parents. Oh, where to begin...

They have their own security system, since we live in a "high crime area." They really have it...because they've managed to piss off the rest of the neighborhood with their antics, and are afraid that people will retaliate.

They've left nasty letters on the windshields of cars parked in front of their house, usually demanding money for parking. And yes, I go out of my way to park there. What are they going to do, arrest me? I do it just to torque them off. Since it's a public street, there's not a damn thing they can do about it

They got into trouble last year for throwing their yard waste...over their 8-foot-high fence and into our yard, and then called the cops when my dad confronted them over it. Apparently, the husband didn't like it because my father stood up to him. Cops came, and the wife (who *is* crazy) basically admitted what they were doing. We pressed charges, and the dumping stopped.

Right after that, they turned their attention to the other neighbors...usually by using the police and/or borough and county officials as their "goon squad." How, you ask?

On the other side of them, there's a family with a few small children. Children, who have toys, occasionally in the yard. It wasn't long before the goofballs sent them a certified letter about all the "unsightly objects" in the yard. What were these objects? Nothing more sinister than a pair of bicycles on the patio, and a child's wading pool against the shed.

Then they tried to get our other neighbor (up the street) into trouble. Why? Well, he had the truck and trailer from his landscaping business in the driveway. Now parking a trailer like that *is* illegal, but rarely enforced. The borough doesn't care, unless someone complains, which they did. He got fined several hundred bucks for that.

At least they didn't try to bust me for working on the MG in the driveway I'd roll the car outside and work on it...then push it back into the garage. I got away with it, since it was only certain days, and wasn't left outside. Still, it didn't stop me from giving the "Pittsburgh Salute" to their cameras

What gets me, is that they'll harass everyone else on the block, yet they leave me alone. Maybe it's because I take cars apart as a hobby, or because I give off a "don't fuck with me" vibe. Whatever it is, they leave me alone, and I'm not nice to them--I don't take kindly to people who mess with my family.

Since they moved in about 15 years ago, quite a few people have retaliated. Their house has been egged (twice in one night!), TP'ed; their cars have been messed with...including having the tires slashed and keyed. But, if that wasn't enough...the big white rock (why?) they put in the yard...has been tagged, and had many dogs piss on it. But, the best...had to be when the Newfie across the street got out, went into their yard, and took a shit. You could hear the wife screaming for about 6 blocks

[KiaKat]

I am a firm believer in Karma.

I haven't seen or heard from the assholes in a couple days, although I'm still on edge, and will be setting up an appointment with my most recent therapist (haven't seen anyone in a couple years) to nip the anxiety and potential PTSD in the bud, before it develops into a full-blown syndrome.

I've gotten quotes from a few repair places. Turns out the entire tail light has to be replaced, because newer model cars don't just have the coloured plastic over top, it's a full unit. So we're looking at around $5-600 just to make it drivable, and that doesn't include the dents. I think at some point this summer I'll have to find a body shop.

We're also hunting out a good litigation lawyer to see if we have a case against the landlord as well as the tenants. We DO have video of the idiots throwing a brick through the windshield of the neighbour's car, as well as them tearing out of the driveway like the Dukes of Hell are after them. Sadly, the video does not show them doing actual damage to our car, and did not get the plate number of the hit-and-run car from the week before. So that's somewhat circumstantial.

I'm also now wondering where I put the receipt from the vet visit to diagnose the kitty's sprained elbow from when the upstairs neighbours (different people from the violent ones) miauwed at her until she got so freaked out she tried to jump from the window to the back of the couch, missed, fell, and hurt herself. That was another $200 for the appointment and meds.

I need a better filing system to keep track of all this stuff. Let that be a lesson learned.