Imagine living next to a neighbor who decides to add a shed to their yard and use it as housing. If you knew they didn’t pull permits with the city before starting construction, would you mind your own business or report them to the city?

In this story, one woman is in this exact situation, and it’s even more complicated. It’s technically her job to enforce the city code, but she has to live next to these people and doesn’t want to start a war.

Let’s read all about it.

WIBTA For doing my job and enforcing the city code on my neighbor?

I am a 48F that works for a small city (pop 1.000) and part of my job is enforcing the city code.

I have new neighbors next door to me. They bought the house about a year ago and when they moved in they mentioned they had wanted “mom” to park her motorhome in the yard and live out of it but she declined their offer.

I said that was good because it wasn’t allowed under city code.

We talked about our jobs a little bit and I told which neighbor I was fighting with for establishing illegal uses on city property…they clearly knew what my job was from the get go.

So the neighbors decided to put something else in their yard.

About six months ago I came home and a 10×12 pre-fab shed in the front yard setback.

I called to let them know it was in the setback and needed to be moved, let them know I would send a letter that described the yard setbacks.

In the letter I also let them know that the “shed” did not meet the standards of an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) fully aware that their intention was likely to move mom into it.

The neighbors moved the shed.

A few weeks a later a guy came with a forklift and moved it to the backyard.

The wife asked me how it looked and I told her it looked good.

She agreed saying she didn’t like where it was to begin with anyways.

Now, for the last two months I have been watching them spend a considerable amount of time and money finishing off the space and watching mom move her personal belongings in.

She noticed another problem.

It doesn’t look like the handyman is properly licensed and they haven’t pulled an electrical permit to legally wire the shed which now has power in it somehow.

Would I be a jerk for citing them with a civil penalty for clearly violating the city code?

I’m stuck with these people as my neighbor but they are blatantly ignoring the rules of the city directly in front of my face.

I’d be really annoyed with OP at this point if I were a member of the family next door, but they are ignoring the law. Should OP report them?

Let’s see what Reddit suggests.

Here’s a suggestion on how to report it.

Here’s another vote for reporting the neighbors.

But this person thinks she shouldn’t report it unless she has to.

And another person has compassion for the neighbors.

Doing your job isn’t always straightforward when it involves the neighbors.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.