Solicitor recommendations for neighbour complaint

blurmoth69

We have a rent-to-buy home and have a problem with a neighbour making a complaint through our neighbourhood housing association.

There have been previous complaints, which resulted with neighbourhood housing association ruling in our defence. After a period of agreed peace however, complaints have  started again, and because this took so much of our time previously, we have decided to just get a solicitor to deal with it this time, but we have no experience with solicitors.

I cannot go into detail, but can say that it has resulted in wasted police time and this time we fear for our wellbeing, as we do not want to live our lives defending against a barrage of complaints. That was no life before and that is not how we wish to live, going forward. 

Any ideas and recommendations welcome.

Thank you for your time.

greatcrested

Without knoing th details of the complaints and issues I don't se how it is possible to comment, other than to say that if it is of a criminal nature the police should be involved.

eddddy

What do you want a solicitor to do?

Solicitors can charge £250+ per hour, so anything they do is likely to be expensive.

steampowered

Can't you simply ignore the complaints? If they are simply vexatious and without substance, you can just ignore them. As they have already been dismissed by the housing association I'm not sure the complaints are meaningful?

You could sue this individual for harassment, either using a solicitor or doing it yourself, but starting a court process is just going to add stress.

You could get a solicitor to write a letter before action threatening court action I suppose, but not sure that would help.

davidmcn

You'll need to give us a bit more detail even to work out what sort of solicitor you need. As you've posted in this forum I'm guessing it's property-related, but you've also mentioned police which suggests something else is going on.

blurmoth69

Thank you for the replies.

Let me see if a few more details can help.

Firstly, the police have been involved but as it was for wasted time, we agree with their verdict that the nature of these problems complaints is not a matter for them.

Secondly, as we are technically renting, we cannot just ignore letters of complaints that the neighbourhood housing association send to us, as that escelated to a letter from the counsil and then a visit from the police. But it was suggested to us that perhaps the best way to avoid the long repeated involvement of the neighbourhood housing association again (which we felt required so much involvement from us, to defend any complaint made at us), that all dealings through a solicitor might be the best thing to do (dealing with the neighbourhood housing association itself seemed in defence of complaintive).

The person that gave us that advice is just letting us know how serious it could be should the neighbour keep making so many complaints (we have been informed dozens within just weeks) effectively creating a barrage of complaints that allegedly they are recording (we were previously told that the counsil recommended this to them previously). No evidence was produced by our neighbours previously despite this, instead we were able to dispute that complaint as false due to being able to prove a key piece of a complaint as factually incorrect, evidenced by dates and photos.

Recently, we had an intermediary peace until this new letter of complaints. Seemingly from the same neighbour.

Lastly, the details of the re-occuring complaints are pertaining to they disagreement of sound levels of our home being louder than theirs. We checked government website for acceptable noise levels, even had police side with us when they had to waste time responding to neighbour complaint to them, but the neighbour seems to be back to try to create the worlds longest list of complaints, which we are informed have some legal power if we do not spend them same amount of time and effort of them logging complaints in logging a defence. We had to do this previously and it honestly is not a legal game we enjoyed.

We like to think that with no other ajoining neighbours having brought complaints towards us that this would not be taken seriously, but as we are tennants of the neighbourhood housing association, we have been advised by a friend that we should take this seriously.

blurmoth69

I have previously suffered a panic attacks shortly before the original complaints. With so much ware and fear that resulted in us constanly having to defend ourselves from the neighbourhood housing association and counsil, I worry that going through this again could bring about anic attacks again (previously we lived very close to both our GP and hospital, but this is no longer the case). Getting older now and do not need to be in fear of unsubstantiated complaints, just because our neighbour has some agenda, by trying to make as much use of the legal process of logging and recording something so long as it is in volume, to then use towards us in a misused and vindictive way. Not being a solicitor, it gives us little confidence in the legal system that we can be scare with letters of complaints like this.

davidmcn

Is the housing association accusing you of breaching the terms of your lease from them? Or are they just trying to mediate in a complaint between neighbours?

blurmoth69

They tried to mediate which resulted in using a third party, which seemed to go well as it resulted in peace ... until some weeks later we got the same pattern of letter that there had been further complaints and what seems like a reoccuring pattern of the housing association try to mediate again.

It was alot of hassle last time, and to be honest with you, the neighbourhood housing association have historically demonstrated some incompetance (as evidenced in numerous emails in various ways), but most worryingly we feel discriminated by them (especially given the full range of facts of all issues and complaints since we moved in, which so far have either been agreed in our favour or conveniently ignored). It is the feeling of being discrimated against, that a complaint made about our property to the neighbourhood housing association, was then used as a complaint by our neighbour to the neighbourhood housing associationagainst us. The neighbourhood housing association ignore our complaint, but took the neighbours complaint of the same problem, but took it seriously becasue instead of blaming the neighbourhood housing association our nbeighbour blamed us.

This continues to feel like discrimination, but feel there must be abetter way to get a reslution. We have been diplomatic, we have acknowledged we could help with some complaints against us, we have made no complaints about them (maybe we have higher tolerence, not sure, just a guess) but whatever it is, complaints are made at us and we are again feeling alone in having to yet again, defend ourselves against what feels like a discriminatory alliance of the neighbourhood housing association and our neighbour.

blurmoth69

To answer your question "Is the housing association accusing you of breaching the terms of your lease" directly, no. That was a previous complaint made against us from the neighbourhood housing association and our neighbour, that we successfully defended against. But that was very official and scary, and this feels like it is happening all over again.

davidmcn

I wouldn't treat the involvement of the housing association as somehow making things more "official" or requiring legal intervention, if all they're doing is passing on complaints from the neighbours.