To have good neighbors is a wonderful blessing!

But when you have neighbors who aren’t top-notch, things can get complicated in a hurry.

A person talked about how her dad got even with a next-door neighbor who decided they wanted to do things the hard way.

Let’s take a look at what went down.

“HEIGHT APPROVED.”

“This isn’t my story, but my parents. It was probably the first time I witnessed “malicious compliance” and I still remember it well.

It was about 25 years ago, so I was about 8, and we had just moved into a 150 year old house that was in need of major repairs.

My dad, thinking ahead, knew he would need a large garage/workshop to really get started on the renovations properly.

On the edge of our yard was an ancient barn that was falling apart and needed to be torn down. My dad figured this was the best place to build his new workshop, so that was the plan.

We had met and were on good terms with all the neighbours at that point. When the plans for the new workshop were finished, my parents went around to all the neighbours as a courtesy to show them the plans and get their blessings.

There was an issue…

The neighbours whose property the current barn and new workshop would border, I’ll call them the Peters, were concerned about the height.

The existing barn was 16′ high and they asked if we could only build it one story, 12′ max, as to not block the sun in their yard.

Sure, no problem my parents agreed; they wanted to go two stories for extra storage, but just one wasn’t a deal breaker.

So the old barn was torn down and the foundation laid for the new one.

Things were about to get more complicated.

During that time, there was a falling out with the Peters and my parents. I’m not sure what happened, but it turned nasty.

One day, my brother and I were playing street hockey and Mr. Peters came out yelling at us “Get off the road, you half breed jerk!” (my dad is black, so we’re both half black) “You have to earn your place in this town!”.

Upon hearing this, my mom had to physically restrain my dad from going over and beating the living hell out of him. Eventually, he cooled off, and started on his plan.

It was time for some revenge.

The plans for one story went out the window. Soon, the new garage that was only supposed to be one story soon gained a second in the blueprints. If they were going to direct inappropriate comments at his kids, my dad would build what he wanted.

As construction started, the Peters came over to ask why there were two stories being built and were told to go screw themselves. We didn’t hear from them again until the roof started to go on.

The by-laws of the township limited all out-structures to 24′ high. The Peters called the township and then a building inspector, claiming that the new garage was over 24′ high.

If it was over height, the entire thing would have to be torn down and rebuilt, costing us tens of thousands of dollars. I remember the Peters standing there, watching the inspector, with smug looks on their faces.

Hey o!

Two days later, we got the final report back from the township and inspector. 23 feet, 11 inches, just as my dad had drawn up in his new plans.

He sent me up on the roof of the garage (just plywood, no singles yet) with some spray paint and had me write “23 FEET 11 INCHES – HEIGHT APPROVED” in 2 foot high neon orange letters across the entire roof, facing their yard and house.

Not only did the garage block all sunlight from reaching their yard, but my dad waited until everything else was done before he shingled that side of the roof. They had to stare at those neon orange letters for almost 3 years.

It may not be much, but it certainly ruined the enjoyment of their newly darkened yard and there was nothing that could be done about it, because it was “HEIGHT APPROVED”.

They didn’t comply with the Peters’ request, but they certainly complied with the by-laws as maliciously as they could.”

Reddit users shared their thoughts.

This person chimed in.

Another individual spoke up.

Another Reddit user shared their thoughts.

This person was impressed.

And this reader chimed in.

This jerk neighbor definitely deserved it!

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.