Bad neighbour sabotages house sale

TheTalkingDead

trevormax wrote: »

My thoughts exactly. Of course, all legal. Nothing which may be considered harassment in the eyes of the law.


Not harassment but other laws may apply defending on your actions.

Start with parking your car in front of her house or making sure friends park there when they visit as it bugs people like this no end and is perfectly legal. Be sure not to block her in to her drive, but do make it awkward for her to get in or out. I believe blocking someone OUT of their drive is not illegal too but doing it more than once may be considered harassment so is not advised.


Doing this repeatedly could seen as intimidation tactics , Causing harassment and distress, could see a visit from neighbourhood policing team on the horizon as a result.

A nice, bright, sensitive security light. Be sure it is aimed at your garden of course as it is there to illuminate your garden. Sadly, it also shines a bit at her house every time a cat walks past through the night. Totally coincidental.


Big no no even if it is on your land and over shines onto their windows like bedroom etc, you could see a visit from the council or environmental health (light pollution), and a neighbour hood policing team asking you to point it down further, or even be taken to court and the court order you to take it down and reposition, That's 2 possible contacts and court possible action as a result and a case start to form against you.

Big, regular, loud family gatherings (or BBQ's if she happens to have some washing on the line). Invite all of your neighbours (except her). If you know any unsavoury looking fellows, be sure to invite them. If you have kids, dress them in a hoodie. Make sure they do absolutely nothing to the neighbour and you stick to noise nuisance laws to the letter. The sight of them just hanging around, legally standing in the street, being a bit noisy near to her house is agony to the typical curtain twitcher.


Just being under the noise nuisance legislation doesn't mean your acting within the law, a visit from the police for disturb the peace would most certainly be a curtain twitchers revenge and ofcourse frequency of such events to annoy your neighbour could lead to offending other neighbours, another incident number to go in the log and referral to police neighbourhood team, that would be three valid founded reports.

A spot of gardening on your garden boundary right next to her garden. Best thing for gardening is some nice, smelly fertiliser. Probably not the best smell in the summer when someone is out in their garden enjoying the sun but think of all those nice flowers, maybe even some home-grown veg. She will understand I'm sure. Maybe even help her gardening out a bit by sprinkling some catnip seeds in her garden. When they grow, she gets some beautiful, oxygen producing plants and plenty of cat friends visiting her house.


If caught could lead to criminal damage charges, and the OP footing a bill for having the garden re turfed/re soiled boarders and replacement of any subsequent plant that has died to cat spray and wee, this could lead to the OP having sealed their fate and have a prosecution on the books as well as other order placed upon them by the courts.

Brighten up your garden with garden gnomes. Special gnomes which have a compulsive requirement to face a certain direction (North, South, East, your neighbours house, West). Maybe some of these gnomes have little holes drilled in to them for some reason. Little camera shaped holes. No cameras of course but no one else knows this.


If I suspected my neighbour of having gnomes fitted with camera's then DPA and GDRP would apply and i'd be calling police to have them inspected (my neighbour has camera's in garden pointing through my bedroom window would prompt a serious visit), no then just playing mind games and intimidation games could be a police mans conclusion.

Does she have a tree with branches overhanging your garden? Be sure to chop off any bits hanging over your garden and return the cut bits to her. Just plop them in to her garden, as you are legally required to return these bits to her.


Whilst this isn't illegal, if the Op has been reported numerous times by now from the above the context in which and why the OP decided now to chop some trees branches and deliver to her neighbour could be seen as provoking/intimidation if by now the neighbourhood policing team are well involved.

All of the above is perfectly legal and if a neighbour was to complain to the police or council about it, they would seem to be petty and/or losing their mind and promptly ignored.

Response in bold. Whilst entertaining and satisfying has repercussions and backfire.


If the OP has the evidence currently would certainly go down the civil court's procedure's rout and obtain an order telling her she has to curb her activities, breaching the order could result in a more serious charge against her.


Kill them with silence I say, don't talk, stay within the laws, don't do nothing to provoke, or exact revenge, just go about daily life, and if she is persistent in reporting you for offences that are made up then the order is there for it to be acted upon.

Dean000000

Buy a road legal banger, tax and insure it and park it there instead.

Always wanted a malicious reason to do this

Davesnave

OP didn't return last night, so I'd guess there's no news either way yet. Hardly surprising.

As someone buying, I'd be disappointed to discover a neighbour like that at the 11th hour, but it wouldn't necessarily put me off. After all, someone with a 'holier than thou' attitude is preferable to someone constantly flouting every code of decency!

Also, as happens near me, when there's a number of others close to such a source of friction, those others stick together, so it can actually have a positive effect on the immediate community.

The buyers will have to weigh all this. If they have practical sense, they might talk to the other neighbours before acting in haste, or they might, like some of you, go into combative mode.

Personally, I'd hate to be deprived of a good buy and/or my positive feelings about it via the undisclosed mental state of someone not even known to me yet.

babyblade41

I think it probably wasn't disclosed on the seller forms as I can't understand why they'd think it relevant this late in the day.

Far too many people don't realise those questions form part of a contract and must be answered truthfully .

As for the neighbour then if it has been malicious and falsehoods have been put on a public domain then there are certainly legal ways to get this removed for future reference , but this will alway have to be declared on a further sale.

Tit for tat would escalate and cause long term stress and never worth it... do it the right way and this person will eventually realise it isn't getting them anywhere and if they continue will be hauled before a court

Ozzuk

trevormax wrote: »

Finally, the tree thing. Perfectly legal and even expected if a neighbours tree is blocking sun light and preventing me from enjoying my garden.

No, you are legally required to offer them back, the neighbour has no legal requirement to clean then up or accept them. If you dump the branches on their land it will be seen as flytipping. You are correct on the cutting part though.

PasturesNew

Davesnave wrote: »

After all, someone with a 'holier than thou' attitude is preferable to someone constantly flouting every code of decency!

If the neighbour is the one "in the right" I'd welcome that too... saves me a job

Davesnave

PasturesNew wrote: »

If the neighbour is the one "in the right" I'd welcome that too... saves me a job

Yes. Our council has an on-line form especially for reporting breaches of planning. Out here in Ruralshire, all sorts go on that the council cannot possibly keep tabs on....but we Nimbys can!

DigForVictory

Miword.
Still hoping Dawneeee, comes back with news.
Apologies if I have the name wrong, first cup of the day not yet kicking in.

TheTalkingDead

trevormax wrote: »

Your first point about it being seen as intimidation tactics. Wrong. A person has every legal right to park on a public highway, even more so if it is in the street where they live. A PCSO or NBM can visit the OP, but they have no power to stop someone parking on a public highway, as long as they aren't causing an unnecessary obstruction or blocking someone in their drive.

No one has more rights to park in a street where they live, outside the boundary of your home is equal to all who wants to park, I get the point as long as they are legal, but if the OP hasn't done this in the past and now starts this up post sale breakdown it can only be seen as adding fuel to the fire, its circumstantial evidence granted but don't be convinced it wont be frowned on. I wouldn't be bothered with the extra cost of a car as mentioned by someone else, and I wouldn't dream of asking family or friends to join in on my revenge and ask them to park there either but then again I am not the vindictive type, park where they like their responsible for their parking, to be honest and why draw attention to myself!



Your point about the security light, also wrong. The EPA 1990 (I assume you are basing on this?) requires the light to "unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises". As long as the light isn't aimed at or closely at the neighbours house, you will not be taken to court if some of the light also illuminates other areas, otherwise Christmas lights would be illegal. As I said though, it should be aimed at your garden and to illuminate your garden.



No your wrong, artificial lights inc flood lights security lights and yes even Christmas lights can be assessed as a nuisance. Your whole point of the security light is to cause a nuisance to the neighbour, which means it has to aimed in a way to cause such nuisance, if not then its pointless. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/artificial-light-nuisances-how-councils-deal-with-complaints#artificial-light-not-covered-by-statutory-nuisance-laws

In relation to the parties, I think you are referring to "Breach of the peace" which is not in relation to noise which is a matter for the council. What you are probably referring to is ASB Noise Nuisance, maybe even the ASB Crime and Policing Act 2014. Again, a person is allowed to have parties in their own house. Police "may" drop by and ask you to keep the noise down, but that is all. As long as you are not causing a statutory nuisance, the council will do nothing. As for the frequency of the parties, big families means lots of birthdays and lots of parties.
Again even by police speaking to you creates an incident log and perhaps a referral to the council for noise abatement assessment OR other community enforcement actions, you've drawn attention to yourself and created more evidence against yourself in favour of your neighbour. I may have the wrong law but there are several other avenues councils can follow as a result from noise nuisance. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/noise-nuisances-how-councils-deal-with-complaints#noise-at-night-warning-notices

In relation to the gardening, I agree that the catnip thing is not best advised, but everything else stands and is perfectly legal.

In relation to the gnomes, good luck doing anything about a gnome with a hole drilled in to it. It doesn't matter what you suspect either. Also, go right ahead and waste police time (or try to as I suspect they would do very little). Also, police have no power to tell a person not to have gnomes on a lawn. They would be powerless to stop it.
You know its just a hole they don't!, but if a neighbour truly believes that someone has placed gnomes with "camera's" in them facing their property and "secretly" recording their braking Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and Harassment Act 1997 and could be seen as "voyeurism" by police and they WILL investigate even if it turns out that it is a gnome with a hole drilled in it, it wouldn't be wasting police time when the call has a justified reason behind it police would also question your motives.
Finally, the tree thing. Perfectly legal and even expected if a neighbours tree is blocking sun light and preventing me from enjoying my garden.

If you think that the police will arrest you for doing this stuff, you are mistaken. Having a family party, placing gnomes in your garden, doing a spot of gardening, all this does not amount to a course of conduct required for harassment and any police you speak to will consider the reports to be petty and time wasting.


There needs to be a necessity to arrest, I don't think I mentioned being arrested? but you would be building your own case against you for your neighbour, whilst you see it as nothing wrong, that may not be the case from your neighbours councils and polices point of view. Just because you break no law as pointed out your conduct and intentions could cross lines and backfire on you.

I can see it now in magistrate court:
CPS - "Your worship. The defendant was caught gardening in their garden and grew several flowers. They also had a family gathering the day before where they celebrated their nieces birthday and the aggrieved was not invited. Finally your worship, they parked their car on the road.

It would probably be dealt with by either or by both high court and or county court by district judge not a magistrate bench, as such the council or neighbour would most likely seek a abatement, injunction or Behaviour contract or order, nothing to do with the magistrates as like I said there would be no arrests and I don't think I mentioned it either as a possibility.


I wouldn't do nothing other than take this neighbour to court "high or county" depending on what you want to apply for and get a injunction/order whatever with the evidence I already have, not play vindictive games that could backfire and prove Mrs Meldrew right.

SnooksNJ

davidmcn wrote: »

Suing for libel is strictly a rich man's game - I would try to get the objection off the planning site.

Or potential defendants with deep pockets.
One to watch in the US.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/legal-team-of-covington-high-school-student-in-viral-video-prepare-for-possible-libel-fight-release-15-minute-video-of-the-truth