Some neighbors just can’t resist stirring up trouble, especially when they think the rules are on their side.

So when one nosy neighbor decided to report the neighboring house’s shed for “breaking building codes”, her complaint set off a chain of events that left her scrambling to make changes to her own backyard.

Read on for the full story!

So you want to make sure our shed is to code?

Our neighbor reported our old (but sturdy) shed to the city for being too large without a permit.

Inspector comes out, measures, and says nope — the shed is well under the size limits and doesn’t need a permit.

But this got the husband thinking.

Husband starts asking questions about the rules and gets all the specifics on what is allowed. The shed is old and very basic, so why not have a bigger, better shed?

Turns out, this neighbor has always been up to no good.

Oh, and by the way, the inspector knows the neighbor.

She used to work in the planning department, knows the rules, and clearly was just trying to make trouble — her M.O.

But this lady is no saint either when it comes to following building codes, but they decide to take a more circuitous route.

He looks into her property and says he can see a good half dozen issues if we’d like to report them. We laugh, but nah, we’re going to go the malicious compliance route.

We rip down the shed, hoping the neighbor is smugly gloating to herself.

But these homeowners are patient ones.

We do nothing for three weeks — well, except draw up plans, buy material, lay the foundation, and line up a couple of construction friends to help.

Then one Saturday, our glorious big new shed goes up!

The neighbor isn’t done scheming, though.

Now, we hadn’t heard from this neighbor in the three weeks, but now she’s asking about our new shed. She’d love to see inside if we don’t mind. We did.

Cue another inspection notice for building a granny flat (the shed) on our property.

This time, they find something to report the neighbor for.

Obviously, the inspection goes fine. Well, except for those violations on the neighbor’s property.

That unpermitted open fire pit built right against the retaining wall and fence is a concern — we don’t want it burning down our new shed, haha.

Now she’s working away and they’re enjoying some well-earned R&R.

She’s got a couple of guys out there right now jackhammering out concrete.

I think I’ll go offer them some cold drinks from the mini-fridge in the new shed.

Now she’s stuck cleaning up a mess of her own making!

Reddit is sure to get a kick out of this one.

Patience is a virtue when it comes to malicious compliance.

Why not keep this nosy neighbor busy?

How dumb does this neighbor think they are?

Always get a permit, people!

So while she’s out there jackhammering, they’re kicking back by their new shed.

Funny how this all worked out!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.