Neighbour from hell.

[Bravotwozero]

Seems we're having constant problems with one of our neighbours and it seems to be getting worse.To fill you in on what's been happening I'll go back to the start. In June last year my wife (who was heavily pregnant!) and I moved into our newly built home in Monbulk. Right from the start our next door neighbour has been giving us grief. It all stems from the fact that both our driveways share the same crossover. Anyway the plan for us was always to put down a gravel driveway until we could afford to get it sealed. Well the guy next door was dead against any concreting work at all. I didn't antagonise him as I knew it'd be at least 12 months before we could get the money together to get it done. The problem is my driveway is steep. Really steep! I couldn't get up my driveway so there was no option but to seal. Anyway this is pretty much where the problems begin. Every time we got people out to quote (often we'd both be at work) he'd get in the way and tell the guy quoting that we didn't want the crossover sealed. I'd tried to explain to him that the crossover was council land and we didn't have a choice in the matter. If our driveway was sealed, then the crossover had to be sealed. He actually butted in to a meeting my wife was having with a council guy from asset protection who tried to tell him the same thing.

Our original preference was for asphalt with brick edging because we both really liked the look of this. But after his veiled threat that his Bobcat would rip it up going in and out of the driveway, we decided that concrete was really the only way to go. Only problem with concrete is we were only given a choice of 2 colours by the council. Plain which would look like garbage or 4% charcoal. Again our neighbour wasn't happy. He wanted a more earthy colour. Bear in mind that this guy didn't want concrete at all now he's saying he wants the concret he didn't want coloured an earthy colour! Also bear in mind that the total cost of this work was coming out of my pocket, not his. At no point did I ask him to contribute to costs. He than said he wanted to get his driveway done when we got ours done. Again not bad for someone who didn't wan't concrete. The only thing is he's always broke so if we waited until he had money to go ahead with the job we'd still be waiting. Our driveway was done in August and he still hasn't touched his.

By this stage I'm starting to think he is simply being difficult. Unfortunately I'm a pretty passive guy and tend to be over-accommodating to what other people's needs or wants. I'm a non-confrontational, non-agressive guy.
So we go ahead and get the driveway done and since then the neighbours haven't talked to us. And since then they've been engaging in petty stuff like blowing their fallen leaves accross our driveway. I live in the Dandenong Ranges so when I say leaves, I mean ALOT of leave. They have also taken to driving accross our nature strip when they leave our driveway. This hasn't been a problem as it has just been bare earth. Anyway we wanted to plant it out so that it looked a little better than bare earth. Only problem being that they're driving accross the nature strip and we didn't want to spend money for them to simply run them over.

On a seperate issue we voiced some concerns with our council that we were having visibility issues reversing out of our driveway because of ferns close to the roadside. They came out and installed a guide post on either side of our double crossover. Well the guy next door promptly ran them over with his Bobcat. We can't prove this so there is nothing we can do. So we go ahead and plant out the nature strip which the neighbours proceed to run over. This is environmental vandalism but again, nobody can prove who it was so council won't do anything. For 8 months we've been ignoring his little childish games hoping he'd grow tired of it and give up but tonight it all came to a head. Last night was bin night. They also put their bins in front of our place even though they have double block frontage!!! This doesn't bother me. If he thinks putting his bins in front of my house is going to annoy me he's mistaken. But last night was didfferent. He decided that he would put the bin right on top of one of the plants we've planted. Again we don't react; but simply move his bin off the plant.

So he comes home from work today around lunch time, (I'm at work but wife is at home with baby) spits the dummy about his rubbish bin being moved and proceeds to rip a nice big burnout on my $8000 driveway! I get home from work to a black driveway and an hysterical wife! She says she doesn't want to live here anymore and that's the final straw for me. We've worked hard to build this place and this guy is ****ing it up for us. So I'm out the front and he comes home and stands the staring at me. I've been psyching myself up for this confrontation. Anyway the asshole has the nerve to have a go at me and says if I keep playing games he'll retaliate! WTF?!?! I've done nothing and this guy is making our lives a misery. On top of that his cat digs up our plants and his dog shits in our backyard!

I'm seriously at my wits end and have had enough. Council won't do a thing and police can't because he hasn't broken any laws; well not caught anyway. Not sure what to do. I don't care that we're not on speaking terms but I hate going out and wondering what he's going to do this time. Sorry about the long post guys but I really needed to vent and I'm hoping some members here might be able to offer some helpful advice

[Ryan.mate]

get a gun shoot the cat, and make his life so bad he leaves.

[Julie]

lol call aca they love this sort of stuff, I'd be inclined to sell up and move somewhere with my own driveway and no crossover crap, sounds like its only going to get worse, especially with u having a kid just wait til your kids are old enough to run around they'll be the next target for the whinging neighbours from hell.

[ClairBear]

I would install hidden cameras angled at the cross over to film him doing burnouts, driving over your nature strip and destroying your plants, then hand the evidence to the authorities to deal with.

[TVR-190]

Start doing everything back to him, set up cameras to watch your property so next time he does something you have proof and can get him charged / fined. if he has threatened you or your family go and take out an AVO or whatever its called these days.

edit: put nails / screws in your nature strip. thatll stop em driving across it.

[Bravotwozero]

Problem with CCTV is that the crossover and nature strip aren't visible from the house. I'd have to install in a tree of on the nature strip. Not sure of the legal/practical aspects of this. Plus it is lots of $$$

Unfortunately I don't think it will end either

[Grennan]

Yeah id be putting cameras on your driveway. Just plant the plants again and wait till he runs over them. Gather up enough evidence, take it to the council and lodge a complaint.

Being the vengeful arsehole I am however, I would be doing it right back to him. It wouldn't get very far and would result in escalation, so probably not the best course of action.

Have you spoken to any other neighbors or previous owner of the house to see if hes done anything similar to them? If hes annoyed a few other neighbors gather them up and go to the council.

[VNexecutive]

nails through a bottle cap, turned upside down, hidden in grass will do him a world of good.
put his cat in a bag on your lawn and see if he runs it over? im not one for animal cruelty though..
put him in a bag and run him over? ive got a set of 35 inch simex's that'll rip his lawn or anything soft to shreds if you really need it

[TVR-190]

if it was me id probably escalate things and we'd end up killing each other.

I'd suggest against that. unless your sure you can beat him.

[Bravotwozero]

Yeah id be putting cameras on your driveway. Just plant the plants again and wait till he runs over them. Gather up enough evidence, take it to the council and lodge a complaint.

Being the vengeful arsehole I am however, I would be doing it right back to him. It wouldn't get very far and would result in escalation, so probably not the best course of action.

Have you spoken to any other neighbors or previous owner of the house to see if hes done anything similar to them? If hes annoyed a few other neighbors gather them up and go to the council.

Yeah I also think he'll get worse if I retaliate. But I also hate not doing anything. We've built a place so the block was vacant before. We can apply to have the easement removed but there's not much chance that'll work.

Their driveway is technically on our land but there's a convenant on the title which says we must give them access to their property VIA this crossover. We could apply to have it removed so they'd have to get their own driveway done but it is a long shot and again it'll cost $$$.

[S.T.K.E]

We had an issue with some kids eggin our house and spray painting the road in front of our drive way.

MOTION DETECTION DVR & WIRELESS INFRA RED CAMERA CCTV - eBay Security Systems, Surveillance, Gadgets, Electronics. (end time 18-Feb-10 02:02:54 AEDST)

That was the solution to our problem. It is cheap and It works.

[Lumps of cheese]

Take a dump in his mailbox, that'll learn him
Seriously, this guy is obviously somebody who can't be reasoned with, so as others have said you need to somehow get evidence that the cops can act on.

[alien]

Cameras will be your best option. Doing anything will result in further retaliation. Contact Swann by phone to discuss what options there are? They have a really good customer service line which works out what is best for you and tells you where you can purchase them.

[cracker]

maybe stop letting him walk over the top of you and tell him too **** off?

[Julie]

You could always burn his house down, that should buy you a few months of peace while its being rebuilt. If you wanted to get real nasty set it up to look like he's doing an insurance job the fact the prick doesn't want to spend any more or show any pride in his place will just add to the case against him

disclaimer: I accept no responsibilty should you choose to follow this shocking advice

[Grennan]

Yeah I also think he'll get worse if I retaliate. But I also hate not doing anything. We've built a place so the block was vacant before. We can apply to have the easement removed but there's not much chance that'll work.

Their driveway is technically on our land but there's a convenant on the title which says we must give them access to their property VIA this crossover. We could apply to have it removed so they'd have to get their own driveway done but it is a long shot and again it'll cost $$$.

Yeah getting rid of the crossover might work, but Id say theres a pretty good chance of him just annoying you out of spite if you did. Youre going to have to get some dirt on the guy and take it further. Contact neighbors etc see if theyve had any issue with the guy. If all else fails you could go through VCAT, but they tend to drag you through things like Mediation and stuff before they actually do anything, and Mediation wont do much good with this guy.

[MasterOfReality]

Damn, I thought one of my neighbours was a pain but he has nothing on yours.

I would make his life hell.

- At night, go for a walk with a spray bottle full of roundup or petrol if he has any plants or gardens around,

- Drive over his nature strip.

- Hire a skip and park it on his lawn.

- Get a shitload of blood and bone and liberally spread it around your place, or right along the fence line.

- When he isn't home, get under his cars and whack some zip ties on his tail shaft.

- Sign him up to all sorts of bullshit mailing lists.

- Set up a camera pointed directly at his place, so he can see it but not reach it.

- Find an excuse to use a drop saw or equally noisy power tool at 7am every day.

Or my favourite, which I have done and works,

Set up a outdoor floodlight that points directly at his house. Put it in your property though.

Don't put nails in the nature strip because someone else might get injured.

[Grennan]

Oh man, if his bedroom faces your property... Floodlight ftw.

[acarmody]

Give us his address, I'm sure we can find someone to tell him to F off, or do burnouts on his property.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

catch his cat/dog and take it to the pound, escalate that shit till he does something you can call the cops on him for

[TVR-190]

Give us his address, I'm sure we can find someone to tell him to F off, or do burnouts on his property.

JC to the rescue

grab your pitchforks guys

[Bravotwozero]

Lots of good info. I'm going to look into the Swann and see what I can do. I would rather not antagonise him as my wife is home by herself 3 days a week with our 6 month old. This is when he tends to play his games. Thanks for the tips.

[acarmody]

Ignore every prick who is suggesting to escalate it. You have a wife who is home with your baby. What if he decides to escalate it while your not home?

EDIT: You beat me him 1 minute. When you normally go away for the 3 days, park your car down the road so he can't see it and sneak back home. When he does something, go out and go off at him, and I mean let your throat go raw.

[MasterOfReality]

I'm also a pacifist but when someone pisses me off repeatedly, I hold a grudge and make it a mission to give more back.

The neighbour thats giving me trouble at the moment has taken to watching movies on his new home theater at 11pm, right when I go to bed.

I'm on the hunt for a quality 12-15" home theater sub that will pound his farkin brains out when I decide to watch movies. My slab is a foot or two higher than his so he will receive the majority of the bass I intend on giving him. The moron is on permanent nightshift so this should be relatively easy to take care of.

[Panama]

two words mate. star pickets. hammer them in on your nature strip with chicken wire around them, so it looks like you're protecting the plants. they should help stop him driving over your nature strip for a while. i'd be putting newspaper in his diesel tank on the bobcat too if your sneaky enough and so inclined.

i'd also consider hiring a skip bin and having them drop than on the shared driveway so he can't use it but you can.

some guy kept running my aunty's mailbox over until my grand dad used a steel i beam and put the mailbox on top. they found out very quickly who the guy was when his car was wrapped around it.