Most of my neighbors are a little annoying, but the family across the street are really awful.
Problem #1
They have had a series of dogs, about 1 new one every year until they decide that they don’t like the dog, then they get rid of the dog for another one. I don’t think that’s very nice, but that is not where my problem is. One of their dogs is tied outside constantly, the wife says she has to keep him outside because he’s out of control. As a result, the dog barks all night long. He also gets loose from his rope(Neighbor claims she can’t afford a chain) and runs loose all over the yard. I politely asked her to do something about the dog, but she says she like him and will not be getting rid of this one.
Problem # 2
The wife had told me some time ago, that her husband was getting a Harley Davidson. That wouldn’t bother me, but he had straight pipes put on the thing to make it louder, claiming it’s a safety issue. It still wouldn’t bother me, except that he starts it at 4:15 A.M. every morning and he says he has to rev it because since he put the pipes on, it doesn’t run properly. He revs the freakin think for about 5-8 minutes before taking off. This has my daughter waking up screaming every morning, she is scared of the loud noise, and since we live in the country, it is really loud.
I talked to the neighbors about it, he claims it cost him $45.00 a week to drive his truck to work, so it’s less expensive to take the bike. I knoe this is not true since the wife told me where he works, it’s only 4 miles away. I spoke to the community association, they told me to call the police. I called the police and they told me to go to the township. I went to the township and they told me to go to the magistrate. I went to the magistrate and he told me to go to the community association. :smack: So where do I go now?
I have nothing against motorcycles or dogs, but this is just unreasonable, these problems come from the same family. Other neighbors have a problem with this family too, and we all just keep getting the same run around. What should I do next ?
I’d go back to the police and file a noise law complaint. If you have loud radios (boom boom boom stuff) here, you can pitch a fit about them, and the cops usually fine the culprits and the fines get steeper if they continue to disregard the law.
I don’t know how big a town you live in (but you said rural, so I’m guessing not too huge) or if there are any ordinances like that where you are, but you shouldn’t be shuffled about like that, and to me, it sounds like something the cops should handle. Not that they want to, but I bet they are supposed to.
YMMV. Go back and get pissy. Pissy and determined will make somebody wake up and hear the Harley.
I have trouble with noisy neighbours at the moment; they play VERY loud music every Saturday night, all night (until about 5AM) - they usually turn it down if I go round and bash on the door, but of course I’m awake, dressed and out of bed by then.
My next move will be to catch them when they are not drunk and demand that THEY suggest a mutually acceptable solution that does not involve me invoking the authorities.
We don’t have a noise law in the community and our town is so small that we don’t have a police department, we have to use the state police and they just don’t seem to want to bother with this.
Are you and the evil neighbors both in the same community association? Is it one of those deals where there is a neighborhood covenant with rules about on street parking, what kind of fences are allowed, etc?
If so, you can start a political process going to have the accociation adopt noise rules. And then start legal action to enforce the rules.
In general, your best bet is to get some other, equally annoyed, neighbors together and take some group action. If this is not possible, and the cops truly refuse to act, then you’re pretty much hosed.
Second to last resort; do some research on what specific laws he may be breaking, call the cops again with a more specific complaint, and after they fail to act, call the county prosecuter or county board president and complain about the cops.
Some years back I had a similar experience living in an apartment. The people upstairs would literally blast the heavy metal continuously throughout the night. We complained to the management repeatedly but nothing ever came of it.
My roommate, desperate, conceived a method of retaliation. This was the middle of the summer, see, and these apartments were not air conditioned. Or at least not well enough to make a difference. The apartment above was sure to have all their windows and probably the balcony door open. On the assumption that these people slept during the day (since they sure as hell didn’t sleep at night) he put the stereo speakers on the balcony facing upwards at 10:00am and played the local easy-listening station full blast.
And they had the nerve to complain. Not to the management, they came pounding on our door. We explained cheerfully (without opening or unlocking the door- we weren’t stupid) that we would knock it off when they did.
Things improved. A little. Don’t expect too much.
And let me guess, after claiming “them loud pipes, I gotta have 'em because of the safety!” he doesn’t wear a helmet. I have no problem with loud pipes (as long as they’re not going off at 4 am), but this tired old line spouted out by people who blithely ride off helmet less really irks me.
Other than that, I have nothing to add to this post. Sorry to hear about your troubles, but if the police won’t do anything, I can’t think of another solution.
One way to solve the small problem of the dog getting loose at night, could you just buy a chain for the neighbor?
Dunno what to tell you about the Harley. Can you move your daughter to the other side of the house? Maybe you could show her (from a distance) what the Harley revving noises are. Just the dumbass neighbor trying to prove his manhood (I would rephrase it, though). In many cases, once we explain to our daughter what something is, she isn’t as scared of it. The noise would still wake her up, though.
Have you considered moving?
The way you’ve set this up, I don’t think you have an option short of killing the neighbors & their dogs. You don’t have the support of anyone with authority who can do anything about these rude cretins. I’d just get the heck out of there.
Yes, I’ve thought about moving, but I’m not ready to do that quite yet. For heaven’s sake, I just can’t understand what the evil neighbors are thinking when they do this stuff. I’ll just have to keep trying and if I can’t get something worked out, maybe I will have to move.
it sounds like you are able to at least have some kind of normal conversation with these people, so try this:
take a plate of cookies over (or a 12 pack of beer if it is more appropriate). let them know you think the motorcycle thing is cool and ask him to show you the bike. once the ball is rolling all friendly-like, explain that the noise is really bothering your kids sleep. Unless the guy is a real asshole (i’m guessing he is, by the way!) he should do the right thing and put the stock pipes back on. if he doesn’t, then i would complain to the cops until they do something.
around here, the animal control people will provide traps for free to catch strays. get one in your yard, snag the pooch and have it hauled away. chances are, they won’t pony up the dough to ransome it and the problem is solved. if they do fork out the cash, they will probably keep hold of it a little tighter. if not, catch it again, and repeat the cycle till either they run out of $$ or get smart.
if you have an evil association, i would say sick it on them (god how horrible!! i HATE HOMEOWNER’S ASSOCIATIONS!!!) and get the other folks who are bothered by these jokers behind you.
but i would try just talking to them first.
by the way: do they own the home or rent? if they rent, start pestering the landlord. that should work.