Problem neighbour

[condor]

I own my house and next door is a rental property. Over the years there have been a few good tenants and some who haven't been. The current couple have lived there for 2 years and aren't nice people. They have a dog which they don't walk, the only time it gets let out is on a lead to toilet on the driveway. This poo isn't cleared up and there's piles of it which is a health hazard. The curtains are always drawn so the dog can't see out and I often hear the woman shouting and swearing at the dog to hurry up and do it's business. I have often thought I should report them to the RSPCA for cruelty, but then would the dog be taken away and put down?
6 months ago I received a letter from a solicitor asking me if I know there wherabouts, which I didn't respond to.
I want a quiet life and hope they'll eventually move on.

Yesterday they installed an exterior light outside their house which is so bright that it lights up my driveway and house as well. The light affects my bedroom. I know I could get black out blinds but why should I when it's their new light that is causing the issue? I asked them to turn it off and I got a load of abuse from them. This then escalated for me to retaliate - I said why did they want to highlight the piles of dog st on their drive and perhaps their time would be better spent clearing that up. More verbal abuse from the woman from inside the house and the man then threatened me with a 10, 9, 8 countdown to get back inside my house. Which I did.
I rang the non emergency police number to report the incident just in case anything happened overnight ( which it didn't) and their advice was to report it to the council , which I will do after the Easter break. They did turn the light off but it was upsetting to have this confrontation. I'm a single woman and not a powerfully built company director!

I don't know the landlords address as I would complain to him. Could I get it from the land registry details? would that give me the landlords address? Any suggestions as to what to do next?

[Vitorio]

Hammer frozen sausages in their yard? Though i dont they would care much...

Seriously though, keep a low profile, report any and all incidents and document all anti-social behaviour so you can make a case towards council/landlord/police.

Id also seek information on what the RSPCA would do with said dog if reported,

[steveo3002]

unless the light is pointed at your windows i dont think theres alot you can do , the way things are now we need security lights with all the scum creeping about after dark

[Leptons]

Respond to the solicitors letter, they might move on.

P.S Have you paid your mortgage off or do the bank own it

[Spare tyre]

Similar issues with our social housing neighbours, although I've managed to not get stroopy with em yet


Sadly as I can't see an end to the numpties next door we are moving

You'll never win and even if you do they may just be replaced with new idiots

[condor]

Leptons said:

Respond to the solicitors letter, they might move on.

P.S Have you paid your mortgage off or do the bank own it

Mortgage is paid off, I've lived here for 30 years and don't want to move. I'm hoping that complaining to the council/landlord will make them move on. It's not an ex council house or housing association one - it's a buy to let type house.
I'm going to look for the solicitors letter - but I might have thrown it out.

[red_slr]

Was the house marketed by an estate agent? If so call to them might yield land lord details..

[Puggit]

Rental property contracts tend to include a clause that the tenants can not cause upset for their neighbours. If you can find out the landlord's details, you can then complain to them.

However, the landlord may very well not care - and it's I assume it's all dealt with in civil courts.

Council is a good call too - dog poo is a health hazard.

I don't understand people who get dogs and then treat them like this. A dog is a social animal who benefits enormously from being part of a welcoming group, and then returns a lot of time/effort invested. Sounds like walking would benefit the tenants too

[condor]

red_slr said:

Was the house marketed by an estate agent? If so call to them might yield land lord details..

I've never seen an estate agents board outside. I think it was probably advertised in a local newspaper advert or similar. I know the man works but the woman doesn't and stays home all day.

[br d]

condor said:

and the man then threatened me with a 10, 9, 8 countdown to get back inside my house.

This to a single woman, horrible, bullying bd.

[br d]

This lady is asking for advice from the wider PH community regarding threats and anti social behaviour from her neighbour, how on earth does this belong in Homes, Gardens and DIY? She isn't asking about artificial grass.

[Eric Mc]

Segmentation is the enemy of discussion.

[condor]

I usually click on 'The Pie & piston' heading which lists all the recent posts so not too fussed if it's been moved elsewhere. Though I did think it was OK for the lounge where I posted it originally.
I think first port of call will be the Council and see what they recommend me doing. I'm sure it's not the first time something like this has happened to somebody else. I'll take photos of the dog poo on the driveway to show them as well.

[Mr GrimNasty]

condor said:

I own my house and next door is a rental property. Over the years there have been a few good tenants and some who haven't been. The current couple have lived there for 2 years and aren't nice people. They have a dog which they don't walk, the only time it gets let out is on a lead to toilet on the driveway. This poo isn't cleared up and there's piles of it which is a health hazard. The curtains are always drawn so the dog can't see out and I often hear the woman shouting and swearing at the dog to hurry up and do it's business. I have often thought I should report them to the RSPCA for cruelty, but then would the dog be taken away and put down?
6 months ago I received a letter from a solicitor asking me if I know there wherabouts, which I didn't respond to.
I want a quiet life and hope they'll eventually move on.

Yesterday they installed an exterior light outside their house which is so bright that it lights up my driveway and house as well. The light affects my bedroom. I know I could get black out blinds but why should I when it's their new light that is causing the issue? I asked them to turn it off and I got a load of abuse from them. This then escalated for me to retaliate - I said why did they want to highlight the piles of dog st on their drive and perhaps their time would be better spent clearing that up. More verbal abuse from the woman from inside the house and the man then threatened me with a 10, 9, 8 countdown to get back inside my house. Which I did.
I rang the non emergency police number to report the incident just in case anything happened overnight ( which it didn't) and their advice was to report it to the council , which I will do after the Easter break. They did turn the light off but it was upsetting to have this confrontation. I'm a single woman and not a powerfully built company director!

I don't know the landlords address as I would complain to him. Could I get it from the land registry details? would that give me the landlords address? Any suggestions as to what to do next?

Both the light pollution and the dog poo build up come under the powers of your council's environmental health, obviously your neighbour will guess who complained and it may escalate things.

You may also want to speak to your neighbourhood police about a harassment warning.

Edited by Mr GrimNasty on Saturday 26th March 13:27

[Gareth79]

condor said:

I don't know the landlords address as I would complain to him. Could I get it from the land registry details? would that give me the landlords address? Any suggestions as to what to do next?

It's worth a shot, only a few quid, but I think it might just have the property's address as a contact address.

One other idea - write a letter to that house and mark it as for the urgent attention of the property owner. Use a fake name and address (or use a friend's address a long way away) and a disposable phone number, then make the letter request them to call you, but make it vague but genuine enough that the tts will pass it on and not bin it (this is the tricky bit!).

Another idea, possibly the mortgage company (names on the LR data) might pass on a request to contact you? I imagine it might be a common request to them because neighbours often need to contact each other about important maintenance matters.

Edited by Gareth79 on Saturday 26th March 14:24

[Moominho]

Mr GrimNasty said:

You may also want to speak to your neighbourhood police about a harassment warning.

Edited by Mr GrimNasty on Saturday 26th March 13:27

I agree, I know the police generally don't want to get involved in neighbourhood conflicts, but the fact you were threatened, and you are by yourself (and female) should mean they pay more attention, at least I would hope so...

[The Mad Monk]

condor said:

6 months ago I received a letter from a solicitor asking me if I know there wherabouts, which I didn't respond to.

Pardon?

You received a letter from solicitors asking if you knew where your next door neighbours were?

Why didn't you reply :- er, um, they are next door!

Or have I missed something?

[steveo3002]

the guy shouldnt have threatened you , but with all the crime and bad stuff going on i cant see much happening becuase he lets his dog poo on his own driveway and has an outdoor light like lots of people have which he turned off when asked

do you get on at the council becuase theres street lights outside ?

[condor]

The Mad Monk said:

Pardon?

You received a letter from solicitors asking if you knew where your next door neighbours were?

Why didn't you reply :- er, um, they are next door!

Or have I missed something?

I thought it was likely a debt collector agency type letter and as such didn't want to get involved. There are other ways to trace someone than ask a neighbour to possibly compromise themselves by giving the information. Electoral roll, car reg details...even knocking on the door!

[condor]

steveo3002 said:

the guy shouldnt have threatened you , but with all the crime and bad stuff going on i cant see much happening becuase he lets his dog poo on his own driveway and has an outdoor light like lots of people have which he turned off when asked

do you get on at the council becuase theres street lights outside ?

He didn't turn it off straight away, but some time later.
The council street light is much further down the road and is an orangeish light - not blazing white light which was only put up there that day, and seemingly without any thought. I asked him to turn it off as it was too bright and received a volley of abuse.
Quite often when people have neighbourhood disputes the answer is to talk to your neighbour about it before taking further steps to resolve the issue - I did.