In the delicate dance of homeownership, finding harmony with neighbors is often challenging.

These new owners try several times to politely set boundaries with their neighbors’ kids, but they are continually crossed.

So when their neighbor’s child is injured on their turf, a whirlwind of accusations swirl.

Read on for all the details.

AITA for not paying for my neighbors child’s medical bills?

We bought our new house last year.

Right off the bat, there were subtle signs of trouble ahead.

When we first viewed the house, we noticed bikes and children’s toys in the driveway and on the side yard.

At our final walkthrough before we signed the final documents and got the keys, we noticed kids in the driveway coloring with sidewalk chalk and riding scooters and bikes.

The new homeowners tried to make their expectations clear from the start.

We introduced ourselves to the kids and asked where they lived, and they pointed at the house next door.

After the walkthrough, my SO and I went to the house the kids pointed out and introduced ourselves to the parents.

We let them know we were buying the house and would be moving in soon.

We also mentioned that with the trucks coming and us moving things in and out, it wouldn’t be safe for the kids to play in the driveway.

All was fine when we moved in.

It seems the neighbors didn’t fully honor their wishes.

The kids didn’t play in the driveway anymore, but they were still leaving toys and digging in the side yard.

We went over and asked the neighbors to please have the kids clean up the toys and stop digging in the yard.

The mother of the kids had a pretty lousy excuse.

The mother laughed and said that Mr. and Mrs. X (the previous owners) always let the kids try to dig for fossils in the yard.

We explained that we were not Mr. and Mrs. X and didn’t want the kids digging or playing in our yard.

Then the bikes in the driveway started up again.

The homeowners were positive it was the neighbor kids who were responsible.

We have cameras facing the front of the house and saw the kids riding in the driveway and yard, as well as drawing with chalk again.

We went over to the neighbors’ house and explained again that we didn’t want the kids playing in our driveway, yard, or drawing on it with chalk.

The neighbor again mentioned that the previous owners let them do it, and again, we explained that we were not them.

The homeowners decided to capture their distaste in writing.

We followed up with a letter to the neighbors, informing them that the kids were not allowed to play, dig, or draw on our property, and sent it by certified mail.

Fast forward to Sunday.

My SO was inside, and I was in the garage cutting wood for some projects. I pulled my truck out of the garage so I could work.

And guess who they run into?

About 20 minutes in, I heard the neighbors’ kids laughing in the driveway, so I went out to see what they were doing. They were riding bikes on the driveway.

I politely asked them to stop riding their bikes on the driveway and go home.

Before long, the homeowners’ worst fears are realized.

Not five minutes after I said that, I heard the kids again—and then a scream.

One of the kids rode his bike straight into the truck.

The neighbor acted about how you’d expect.

The neighbor came out screaming at me, accusing me of causing this.

However, the other kid told her that wasn’t true, and that the kid had ridden right into the truck.

My SO came out to see what the commotion was, and the neighbor started screaming at SO, saying we would regret this.

They weren’t going to play nice.

Last night, the father came to our house and said that we were responsible for the medical bills from the kid getting hurt.

I told him we weren’t responsible and that his kids shouldn’t even have been in our yard.

AITA for not paying the medical bills?

It’s almost like the homeowners warned their neighbors about this from the start.

What did Reddit think?

This commenter thinks the homeowners need to start compiling evidence now.

Not much sympathy here for neighbors who repeatedly defied the homeowners’ rules.

According to this redditor, it’s a pretty clear-cut case.

Maybe a physical boundary is needed, since the neighbors don’t seem to respect verbal ones.

Despite their best efforts to keep their property safe, these new homeowners found themselves caught in a tangled web of averted blame and misunderstandings.

Sometimes the price of peace is more complicated than it seems.

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