Homeownership comes with surprises you don’t find in the listing.

One young couple learned that their next-door neighbors felt entitled to their yard, their labor, and even their fence.

But when they pushed back, it revealed these awful neighbors would stop at nothing to get their way.

Keep reading for the full story!

Entitled Neighbors Demand I fix “my” fence

Ten years ago, I had purchased a house with my wife when I was about 26.

We were definitely the “kids” of the neighborhood, but excited to get started making the home ours.

All of our issues stemmed from one of the next-door neighbors. This started with basic entitlement.

The previous owners of their house weren’t the most proactive when it came to landscaping.

The landscaping in the section of the property that bordered theirs was pretty horrific, made worse by how the previous homeowner stored their RV there.

There were some paver stones creating a little walkway across our front lawn.

We set about to fix this whole section first—moving all the old landscaping rocks, building a retaining wall, putting down landscaping fabric, and moving the rocks back.

It took the entire summer and looks great now.

This didn’t prevent their elderly neighbors from constantly hammering them about it.

Not good enough for the neighbor.

Old Lady: “I use that pathway when I walk between these houses!”

Me: “Well, I would much prefer you use the sidewalk if you need to come to my door.”

Old Lady: “Hm. When are you going to clean up the rocks on my yard?”

After tolerating their tirades, the young homeowner finally stood their ground.

She wanted me to do the same thing I did on my side of the property to her section.

Sorry—you are going to need to hire a landscaper.

Fall rolls around, as does winter.

Still, their neighbor continues to hold exceedingly high expectations for their labor.

She made sure to point out to me, “The previous homeowner used to clean the leaves off my yard, and used to shovel my walkway and driveway for me.”

Yeah… maybe if she had ever been polite to me, I would have considered helping out an elderly neighbor.

It’s the middle of winter, and I’m keeping pretty busy being Dad to our new baby and going back to school. It’s finals week.

Their older neighbors decided this was the perfect time to strike once again with their petty complaints.

We find a note on the door:

“Your fence has fallen onto our property and WE CANNOT GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE!”

(Well, how did you post this on my door?)

I go out back and take a look.

Sure enough, a few sections of the fence have failed.

So this homeowner did what any responsible person would do and fixed the issue.

It is leaning against their house, preventing access to the back gate. I call my dad, and he shows up with tools and his truck.

We proceed to dismantle the broken fence sections, put up some temporary fencing, and clean up.

I’m going to have to do some grading work and dig out the old concrete footers to fix this right.

The ground is frozen solid, so this will need to wait.

But of course, this still wasn’t satisfactory in their neighbors’ eyes.

The next day, I hear some commotion out by the fences. It’s Old Lady and Old Man.

My wife and I go to see what’s going on.

As we approach, they are both standing out by the temporary fencing, scowling and shaking their heads “no.”

Me: “Hi there…”

OL: “This is not acceptable.”

Me: “What do you mean? We put this up for now, so—”

OL: “YOU NEED TO FIX YOUR FENCE.”

Me: “Excuse me? I need to fix my fence?”

OL: “Yes. This is not acceptable! This fence was here before we built our house!”

The homeowner immediately clocks this lie and calls them out on it.

(Total lie. Her house was built before mine. This is public record, and I have documentation that shows this. It was provided to me during the sale.)

Me: “What do you mean? This should suffice just fine for now to keep the dogs out of each other’s properties…”

OL: “YOU NEED TO PUT UP A SIX-FOOT PRIVACY FENCE!”

At this point, I’m just ticked

The fencing that borders my other neighbor’s property has fallen before, and we both worked together and split the cost of the repairs.

Me: “Oh, do I? Well, if it’s my fence, I don’t need to do anything. In fact, I could remove the rest of the fencing, as you are claiming it belongs to me.”

OL: “NO. YOU need to put up a six-foot privacy fence!”

Me: “Says who? Not the state. Not the city.”

So the neighbors spin another convenient tall tale, which the homeowner again disproves.

OL: “The HOA says so!”

(I have documentation stating the HOA was disbanded 20 years prior.)

Me: “There is no HOA. It was disbanded in 1987.”

OL: “THEN WHO AM I SENDING CHECKS TO EVERY MONTH?”

Me: “Ha! I have no clue, but it definitely is not the HOA!”

The conversation continues to escalate.

OL: “OH. IT FIGURES YOU WOULDN’T PAY YOUR HOA DUES. YOU ARE THE WORST NEIGHBOR EVER!”

Me: “I’m done here. There is no HOA, and since you stated this fence is my property, I will do whatever I want with it. The only requirement here is that I keep my dog out of your yard, and this temporary fence will do just fine.”

OM: “I’M GOING TO RIP THIS FENCE DOWN AND THEN YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR DOG COMES ONTO MY PROPERTY!”

Me: “Sir. If you damage my property and lay one finger on my dog, I will have you thrown in prison so fast your head spins.”

OL: “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?”

OM: “YOU COME SAY THAT TO MY FACE!”

I grab my wife and walk back into the house.

A few days later, Code Enforcement shows up.

They come out and inspect the fencing section.

They decide the fence is, in fact, in good standing.

Code Enforcement informs them there is no code that dictates any type of fence, and since I cleaned up all the debris, there is no code violation.

Or is there?

However, they did notice a violation in the old neighbors’ yard.

As I can now see, Old Lady and Old Man’s backyard is 100% undergrowth.

Some of it is at least 6 feet tall.

Some of them are considered “noxious,” meaning you are legally required by the state to remove them.

I send a letter to Code Enforcement.

And, oh how the tables have turned!

The next day, I see Old Lady scowling at me, trying to drag a trash bag full of underbrush out of her backyard.

Sounds like these two old neighbors were a pair of hypocrites!

What did Reddit make of this story?

It’s important to know how to keep up a household, especially as a young homeowner.

This commenter is ready to swear off neighbors altogether.

This harrowing tale made this reader appreciate their good neighbors even more!

Bad neighbors are one of the worst things a homeowner has to deal with.

The fence wasn’t the real issue here — their neighbor’s blatant entitlement was.

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