When you have a difficult neighbor, it’s difficult to live in peace.

This female tenant has always received complaints from a senior female neighbor. She tried to be reasonable with her, but when it got too bad, she had to get the council involved.

Find out what happened next…

AITA for filing a complaint against my neighbor?

I, 27F, live in a small village in the UK in a terraced house.

My property is the only house on the street that’s privately rented, as my landlord bought her house from the council a long time ago. Every other house is council-owned.

I’ve lived here for about 2 years now.

Meet Helen.

I have a neighbour, Helen (63F), who has been a nuisance since I moved in, and apparently the entire time she’s lived here.

She harasses all of our neighbours about little things, like what time they take their bins out, how empty or full their recycling bins are, etc.

She thinks I’ll be a headache.

When I moved in, she made a few comments about how she hates a young person moving in, and how I’m probably going to be a party animal.

That’s not true.

I have a full-time job and I’m studying for a PhD. I don’t have time for parties, and I’m rarely home during the week.

Then the complaints started coming in.

A few months ago, she complained that she didn’t like that a tree in my front garden blocked the light coming into her garden, so I cut the branches short, so it wouldn’t be an issue. Then, she complained they were too short.

She complained about the noise from a dinner party I had at New Year’s to everyone but me.

Since I moved in, she’s found something to complain about at least once a week.

When OP’s girlfriend moved in, there were more complaints from Helen.

But my girlfriend moved in with me 6 months ago, and since then it’s been constant. Almost daily.

Her biggest complaint is that my girlfriend always comes home dirty, and sometimes, there’s mud on the communal path (which we always clean). My girlfriend is a field archaeologist, so obviously she gets dirty.

No one else minds this (I’ve asked).

She even made up a story that OP was cheating on her girlfriend!

The final straw came last week.

I’ve had various people over to interview them for my thesis, all men. She told my girlfriend I was cheating on her because I’d had 10 gentlemen callers this week (it was 3 elderly French men).

My girlfriend freaked out, and we had a massive fight where both of us were confused before we realised it.

It’s time to put an end to her crazy acts.

I filed a complaint with our council. Unbeknownst to me, our council has a “3 strikes and your out” policy.

I was the 3rd complaint. Now she faces the possibility of having to move or being evicted in her 60s. I didn’t intend for that to happen.

She’s been accosting us every time she sees us since.

AITA?

Let’s see what the comments say.

This user says it wasn’t OP’s fault.

I agree that we all have the right to live in peace.

Bad behavior equals bad results.

Every action has a corresponding reaction.

This senior commenter assures OP she did nothing wrong.

If you don’t have anything good to say, just keep quiet and mind your own business.

Bad actions lead to bad consequences.

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.