# How to Be an Undesirable Neighbor (without breaking the law) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800 "2010-03-01T01:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800/41 "2010-03-01T14:14:44Z")
One of the things I can tell you is that if it were that bad, he would have done a lot more than six months. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800/42 "2010-03-01T14:56:03Z")
I’m in agreement with most of the other posters here. I’m not saying his crime isn’t heinous. It is. But if you pour manure into your backyard, mow the lawn at 3 a.m. or pull other annoying stunts, there’s a good chance that you’ll not only be pissing him off but also other neighbors who couldn’t care less about that guy. The best thing you can do at this point is to ignore him. And if for some reason you do feel he presents a danger, well he’s already on a pretty bad shit list so it wouldn’t take much to get the cops involved. Also, if you do check out his police report, let us know what you find. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800/43 "2010-03-01T15:23:54Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > That’s a good point. I’m sure I’m also trying to assert my sense of control over my life. Because it really _ **pisses** _ me off that I went out of my way to find a safe neighborhood and failed. Why don’t you think about it this way: I can promise you that there is someone in your neighborhood that has done things way worse than this guy and is even a bigger danger to you than he is. He ( or she ) is a bigger danger because: He was smart enough not to get caught You don’t know which one of your neighbors it is so you don’t know who to keep an eye on. Feel better now? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800/44 "2010-03-01T15:29:48Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > This is one of those threads that isn’t playing out the way the OP anticipated. ::sigh:: I may have lost perspective. You may be right. But it does surprise me that the consensus here is sanguine about a convicted, violent criminal living right next door. I don’t think anyone here condones what he did. Keep in mind, however, that your _other_ neighbor could just as easily be a convicted violent criminal. The difference is simply that sex offenders have to tell you where they are and regular offenders don’t. I don’t understand the point at all - after all, people convicted of battery are more likely to reoffend than rapists - and the registry thing colors your view of people in a way that non-sexual offenses do not (since you don’t know about them). ETA: What **Ann Hedonia** said. Sorta. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800/45 "2010-03-01T15:44:32Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > And we DO already have a compost pile. The manure would be a new addition. Do you have livestock, or were you considering adding your own manure to the compost? Here’s a list of other things you could do. - get a spotlight on a timer (comes on at dusk and shuts off at dawn) that shines from your house onto his. You can claim it’s for security purposes. - Get outdoor speakers with large subwoofers on your back deck, pointed at his yard, play ABBA, anytime during the daytime that he’s home. - Go buy a beater car for a couple of hundred dollars and park it in front of his house. - Everytime you hear any noise coming from their house, call 911 and report suspected domestic abuse. - Install cameras on the side of your house pointing at his, put up signs that say “Surveillance Cameras” in 4 inch letters underneath them. - Put barbed wire on the top of the fence separating your houses. - I think this may have already been said, mow your grass at 7:00 am on Sunday mornings. - Put up several signs in your front yard 1) Rapist lives here ----\> 2) Our neighbor is a rapist. - Leave your Christmas lights on your house year round. - During the fall, fill those orange jack-o-lantern trash bags full of leaves and leave them in the front yard, all year long. - Put an old couch on your front porch. - Get some old appliances and put them in your front yard. - Adopt a 6 or 7 pit bulls. - Get rid of your trash pick up service and start burning it in a 55 gallon drum. - Start hosting loud parties at your house during the week that go until 2 or 3 a.m. - Start ordering tons of stuff to be delivered via UPS, but put their address on the delivery instructions. That’s all I got right now. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800/46 "2010-03-01T15:45:18Z")
This thread brings to light a major problem: the so-called “sex offender” list is unconstitutional as hell. And this case is a perfect example. As has been pointed out by others, the guy has done his time and paid his debt to society. And yet he continues to catch hell for it, because his name is on a list. I’m surprised that no one has challenged this practice on possibly a 5th but definitely an 8th Amendment basis. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800/47 "2010-03-01T15:50:24Z")
He got caught and served his time. He hasn’t harassed you or your family, and you have no reason to believe he intends to, and yet you are seeking ways to harass _him_ into leaving your neighborhood without good cause. Since there is no way for us to know what is or isn’t permitted legally in your area, I suggest you contact your own lawyer to see if you should be doing anything about this at all. Closing thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-be-an-undesirable-neighbor-without-breaking-the-law/530800.md?page=2)