Neighbors Complained About Absolutely Everything, So He Read The Fine Print And Made Them Understand Why They Shouldn’t Mess With Him Anymore

Trisha Leigh

2 months ago

Source: Shutterstock/Reddit

In an ideal world, everyone would do their best to get on with their neighbors.

I mean, even if your whole relationship is just friendly waves hello and the occasional discussion about shared property lines, life is a lot easier if you can be cordial.

This man bought a house he wanted to renovate, and the neighbors were on his back from day one.

They weren’t pleased when he got down to the fine print in order to get them to back off.

Check out the details!

Neighbours only seem to speak one language, so I spoke it in reply.

I recently bought a rowhouse. Next to my house is a cervitude. This is a path(1.5m) where other neighbours have right off passage. But the path itself is my property and I have to maintain it.

But recently there’s another passage (3m) next to my left neighbour so my path is never used. I know this because the shutter is electric.

But I shut off my electricity when I stop working so the shutter can’t be opened.

So my plan was to get rid off the fence between my yard and the cervitude, both my property.

I checked with the correct instance if I was allowed to and there’s no reason why I won’t be allowed, just have to make sure there’s still 1.5m passageway.

A cervitude is apparently like an easement, or a pathway between properties that everyone has access to. FYI.

When I was getting rid off my fence my rightside neighbour says hi for the first time. Not saying hi but asking what I’m doing.

After I explain I’m getting rid off the fence.

He somewhat says it’s only half my property, need to place another fence.

And asks if I could keep the shutter closed most off the time, else his cat runs towards the street.
I ignored part one and said ‘no problem’ for the cat issue.

I wanted to keep the shutter closed anyway.

The first issue was about the placement of his rubbish bin.

Few weeks go by and I have a container coming. I get the call at 7.30AM that the truck driver is there but can’t place the container. Three cars are parked in the temporary no-parking zone. One was on vacation, the other was a neighbour from across the street and the other was obv the right door neighbour. I had to call the police to figure out which car was from who so I wasn’t waking up people at 7.30AM.

Then the container was getting placed. In front of their house because that was how it was drawn up by the city. I just asked for a license and the city decides the exact spot.

They complained and whined to the police officer, that they were moving that weekend etc… . I wish now that I placed it in front of their house.

But it would’ve been a bit more convenient on the other side and the police officer replaced the signs and the container was moved.

Then they came outside and asked the officer if the container could be placed at the other side off the street which would mean that I had to walk across a street every time I needed to dump something in my container.

It was 20m³ so a lot was going in there. Officer said that there’s no way in hell that would happen.

Then the guy asked I not throw anything from my first floor into the container and that I did it before from the back. Newsflash, that was the previous inhabitants, not me.

But whatever dude.

Keep in mind that until the container is placed I have to pay the driver. So them being parked illegally costs me money.

All said and done.

Then the neighbors found out he wasn’t putting up a new fence.

The day after I had done a lot already and it was time for a break.

Me, my dad and my best friend had just eaten outside and were chatting when the mother from one off the neighbours addressed us.

‘Man, that doesn’t look great’. Not even a hi, just that line, talking about my grass that was growing really high because I wasn’t living there yet and had been working inside all the time.

My dad replies it will be easy work, just one pass and it’ll be fine. Then she asks what I am planning to do about the fence, if I’m placing a new one? I inform here that I’m not placing any fence.

You’d think I’d killed their firstborn by the way she reacted. I couldn’t do that, that path isn’t mine, yadayada.

I inform her that it is my property. She says it’s in their certificate (that’s the word right?) that it’s not.

I ask her to show me given I don’t have mine at this house yet.

She says they will and asks her daughter(I assume) to fetch it. She keeps yapping on and I tell her I won’t discuss this and I’ll continue when she shows me the documents.

She keeps talking but I just resume my talking with my dad.

The neighbors did not have the property they thought they did.

Five minutes later she’s there with the certificate. I go over and ask if there’s a ground plan with it, there’s one with mine. There isn’t but there’s a clausule referring to the cervitude. It clearly says I have to make sure the other 4 neighbours have passage and then a bunch of details about the passage. But it says it’s mine.

At that point the guy is there again and seems rather aggressive. There’s a fence between us so I don’t care.

I state once more it’s my property and I can do this.

He then raises his voice ‘Don’t act like you’re a bigshot, the man with “My property”‘

And then, in almost the same breath asks if I can close the shutter from the cervitude after I’m done working.

I had opened it to get through with a wheelbarrow. I found that pretty ironic, given they can’t open it.

And if I had to abide by the certificate they just showed me I would have to keep it open.

I angrily replied that if he’d keep on yapping on I’d keep the shutter open. He walked away.

Now I’m not a petty man so I closed the shutter.

Wouldn’t want an innocent cat get hurt or lost.

I guess this is when the war started though and they saw me as the devil neighbour who has it in for them.

They weren’t happy about him jackhammering all day on a Sunday, either.

So the day after I’m working again, breaking out a floor. There’s no easy way doing that. I have a jack ammer, some normal hammers and chisels and three people working with me on it.

Few hours after working the doorbell rings, the police.
So they called the police for noise pollution.

I explained I had to break out this floor. I’ll try to not be too noisy when I dump things in my container but there’s no way I can break out a floor with silence.

On top of that, the cervitude is between my house and theirs, doubt a lot off noise is coming through.

Police asks how much time I think I need and I say I estimate a few hours. Two to three.

They leave, likely informing the neighbours off what I said and that they advice to go somewhere for the few hours.

So I’m working as hard as I can and my jack hammer breaks. It’s broken, no way I get it working.

We try with just hammers and chisels but it’s way slower. Given I don’t want to make noise all day long anyway (I do have other neighbours as well)

I actually go to the store and buy a new jack hammer. But it’s not easy finding an open store on a Sunday.

So find one, get back to work. My front door is open because else I have to reopen it every time I pass with the wheelbarrow with stone.

The women is standing there with the kid and probably yelling something but I can’t hear her, there’s someone using a jack hammer between us.

Eventually it dies down and she’s yelling. How can I be so selfish and I said it would only be a few hours and I had all day yesterday to do my work (as if I didn’t do anything the day before.

Besides, I’m allowed to work on MY schedule, not theirs.).

My stepdad is bored with it and just starts using the jack hammer again, she can’t be heard. Her husband takes her away but within a second she’s back, yells “At least close your d*** door” and slams my door shut.

I wanted to go outside and floor this b****, who the f*** does she think she is.

But I didn’t because I, compared to others, can control and channel my anger.

And this guy had enough.

I spend the rest off the day that I was working figuring out how I would get what I would percieve as justice.
Given that we have a shared border at our property I took photographs of everything.

First I went to a lawyer to ask about certain things I figure was an infraction. So they have a tarp on my side off the fence at the cervitude, probably to stop wind from gusting on their backyard. That one has to go.

Right next to it there’s a straw one at their veranda, probably to stop me from looking in. That one has to go.
Their bin for compost is bending the wire fence onto the cervitude, has to be moved.

I didn’t do anything yet with this information, I asked a surveyor to measure my ground. Mainly the backside.

Because they have a shed and after that shed their fence suddenly jumps in. I was pretty sure it was on the cervitude and therefor on my property.

The same would be true about the attached gate at my side.

Turns out I was right, it was on my property and in violation of the cervitude clausule. If that fence remained I could not provide 1.5m because off my garage.

I glanced over and noticed they have some nice concrete at the other side. I’d enjoy watching them break out and move the fence.

Then the lawyers got involved.

But still I looked for more. I didn’t want to annoy them, I wanted to make sure they understood I don’t play games, I win wars.

So while I was looking at the certificate off my house there’s another clausule. Because the neighbours get right off passage they have to pay 1/5th off all costs for the certifitude.

I had placed an electric shutter, new tiles, the works.

I contacted my lawyer with all I had, all documents necesarry and got him to send an official letter with all the issues found and that they should comply.

They didn’t.

I sued them.

And as we know these cases, they drag on. In the meanwhile they were planning to move and their house was for sale.

But you’re having a hard time selling when you are being sued over an issue with the property.

I won the case but they didn’t do anything.

I sued them again for not complying and they finally did.

They had to pay me quite a lot in legal costs, for the work done on my cervitude, and some for the work to do on their end.

I also assume they had to get a bridge credit(to pay for the new house while the old is on sale).

They eventually did manage to sell and move. They spoke to me with arrogance and aggression.

I showed them not to taunt me when I try to be friendly the first two times.