When leasing a part of your land to neighbors, it can get complicated fast. This is even worse when additional family members are involved.

What would you do if the neighbors you are leasing your land to are constantly complaining about your behavior at your own home?

That is what the couple in this story are dealing with, and they are trying to figure out if they handled it appropriately.

Check it out.

AITA for telling the people renting land from my in-laws they should be nicer to me if they want to keep renting when my husband takes over the lease?

My husband and I, and his parents, live on their farm.

We renovated it to make it a hobby farm again.

There are three pastures: two my husband uses and the third we were repairing to use it.

My ILs were aware of this.

Well, it is still the in-law’s land so they can lease it if they want.

During our repairs, one of the neighbors asked my ILs about renting out the pasture because they had too many heads for the land they already had.

My ILs agreed because it was the “right” thing to do according to their faith and it’d generate a bit more income for them before they moved.

My husband and I weren’t happy about it but stuck a pin in our plans to see how things played out until the end of the lease to see if something could be worked out to accommodate everyone.

We’re now 3 months into this arrangement and it’s been a nightmare.

Oh, that would make things hard.

The path to the pasture goes right by our house since it’s close to it.

They have complained about my smoking the good stuff on my porch no matter what time I go out to smoke.

These types of things are none of their business.

They complain that I play music they don’t want their kids to hear.

They complain that we use our firepit which is about 50 yards from the pasture.

I reached the end of my patience yesterday: When I’m getting ready in the mornings or after a shower I walk around our house nude.

Ok, I would try to cover up a bit, but that is just me.

My ILs house isn’t anywhere in sight and we’re tucked off our road going through the farm so our curtains are always open.

If I see the renter’s truck going over before I shower I either close the curtains or just get dressed.

No one was at the pasture yesterday when I took my shower and I didn’t see the truck after so I just walked around the house for a while.

After about 25 minutes there was a knock at the door.

It was the neighbors.

They complained that I needed to be more considerate and ‘act decent’ by putting clothes on because I should be well aware by now they bring their kids with them to take care of the cattle, and they don’t want their kids seeing that.

Then they started about how they’re paying good money to use the pasture and paid out of pocket to make it usable.

I stopped them there and told them they didn’t do all the work to make it usable, it was already halfway done because of my husband and me.

She’s just giving them a fair warning.

I also told them, paraphrasing here, “You don’t own the farm, you’re only renting one pasture so you’ve got no right to tell me what to do in and around my own house. Don’t want to accidentally see something? Stop looking at our windows. If you want any chance of having your lease renewed after my husband takes over, you should stop acting so self-important, act like the people of faith you claim to be, and be nicer to me.”

They told my ILs about it who took it to my husband.

He’s fine with what I said as he’s had his own issues with them, but we’re wondering if we should apologize to ILs and the neighbors to keep the peace if I handled it wrong.

We’d like some outsider views.

Additional info: We are not waiting for my ILs to die, nor is it a matter of ‘if’ he inherits but ‘when’.

Early inheriting is a thing that reduces the inheritance tax here and makes the transfer go more smoothly.

They’ve already started the process for turning the farm over to my husband’s ownership so that when they move in with BIL in 1-2 years its already done or at the very least, close to completion.

AITA?

While it sounds like a hard situation, it is almost always a good idea to do your best to get along with neighbors.

Let’s see if the people in the comments have anything to say.

Good point, they are all technically tenants.

Yup, nose to the grindstone please.

Yup, I’m betting their lease won’t be renewed.

It sounds like they are just walking by.

They really have no right to tell her what to do.

Good fences make great neighbors, even if they are just leasing.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.