Nightmare Neighbour

luckylucy1977

Hi all,

Thanks for any advice.

I have been really worrying out a situation with a neighbour for the past 11 months. Our neighbour has 2 sons aged 11 and 15 years old. The mom and dad works so the kids are alone during the school holidays and after school until the mom and dad gets home. The kids are a nightmare. They used to play with my 3 children on the drive but then one of the neighbours children started getting jealous for some reason and decided he didn't want to play altogether so they would often argue. In the end we told the kids to just stop playing with each other and our children stopped going out to play on the drive. One weekend all the kids were playing a group game of tennis with other children on the road and the neighbour shouted out the window to shut up so my partner shouted back at her and then it turned into a brief argument. One of the other neighbours heard the argument and then started saying what a horrible family they are and they are a nightmare, he then started going on a full rant what a terrible mom she is  and the dad is a waste of space. There house is a bit of a mess with broken cars on the front garden and matresses and sofas in the back garden and the neighbours my side are always moaning about what a mess it looks and what bad parents they are. Then my neighbour was leaving and seen us talking and stormed over. Before she even said a word i said i was not interested and walked away. The next day i had a police officer on the door saying there had been a harrasment case against us. I was so shocked. The mom, dad and 2 sons had basically made up a load of lies about us and told this to the police, the other neighbour had also said that we were saying awful things about them when in fact we never said anything, it was him that was gossiping. The police told us to just stay away from each other and she will tell the neigbours the same thing. They advised us to get CCTV but this is something we can't afford.

We have completely kept our distance as we were before. Our kids do not play out on the drive anymore, ever!. We do not leave the house at the same time. We don't look in there direction if we are pulling on to the drive but her sons are still saying we are giving them hassle after school when we are literally in the house not doing anything. Even all my neighbours can see we do not leave the house. I love my front garden and its full of flowers and bushes and will only go outside to water my plants during the day when everyone is out just in case i get accused of something again and its the fastest plant watering i can do. I do not leave the house and our shopping is done online so i don't have to leave the house. My husband does the school run and that even gives him aniexty.

The family have now put the house up for sale and are telling everyone they are moving because of us and how awful we are. They have made up a load of stuff about us and keep telling the neighbours how horrible we are. Our 2 children also attend the same school as her children and now her kids are telling all the other kids that we are freaks and they are moving because of us which is extremely embarassing for our kids. All we want is for them to move and we can all get on with our lives. 

She has about 5 people she is friends with on the road and she keeps running around with legal letters now shouting as she walks past that this is going to cost you a fortune and your going down.  I have heard a conversation saying she is going to claim compensation because they are having to move.

My question is.....is there any legal action they can take after 11 months even if the police told everyone to ignore each other and grow up?  Can she claim compensation because she has put her house up for sale (even though she has made 70k equity)?  Surely she would need CCTV proof of us apparently doing these things not just a couple of friends agreeing with her? What is the worst they can do? 

I am so worried about this situation. I know its been 11 months since the argument but i am so paranoid. We are not bad people and get on with everyone and the thought of the police or legal action is really worrying me. My husband lost his job to Covid so we are down to one salary and can't afford to be hit with thousands of pounds in compensation. Everytime i see her speaking to a neighbour on her side or one of her friends i start freaking out, it makes me feel sick and i end up thinking the worst or that one of use will end up in jail as they have made up so much stuff they could have literally said anything. Its affecting my daily life in every way.

Windofchange

My initial thought is it seems a bit silly on their side as they have to declare any neighbour disputes when selling, so given that there seems to be a large neighbour dispute with yourself, she could be shooting herself in the foot as potential buyers may be put off purchasing the property thinking you’re a nightmare however angelic you see yourself in all of this. Sounds like it will be shooting you both in the foot as you want her gone too. 

In terms of legal compensation I would say no chance. What is she going to take you to court for? Your word against hers and even if anyone did listen I would imagine this will be a civil rather than legal matter, and really not something that will go anywhere. Have you considered putting cameras up on your house to capture her bahaviour? Not sure if they are people who’d put a brick through a window or similar? 

RelievedSheff

The house is for sale. Just cross your fingers that it sells quickly and then your nightmare will be over.

Carry on ignoring them. I know it is easier said then done but hopefully it won't be for much longer.

teachfast

Keep a detailed written log of any and all incidents, no matter how small. They won't have done this so if there ever is any action or intervention, you will be the clear winner. Tell nobody you are keeping the log. Have it by the window/door with a pen so any of you can write in it and have columns for dates, times, places (be specific) and quotes, as well as what happened.

You'll be fine. These bullies will leave then life can go on. 

AdrianC

luckylucy1977 said:

One weekend all the kids were playing a group game of tennis with other children on the road and the neighbour shouted out the window to shut up so my partner shouted back at her and then it turned into a brief argument.

Ignore them.
Ignore them a bit harder.
No, harder even than that.

Then hope that they hurry up and sell their house and nice people move in.

Jeepers_Creepers

And in the middle of all this are the poor kids.

I'm not even referring to yours, ll1977

Fingers crossed for you that they move and it doesn't fall through due to their own stupidity.

Then put it behind you.

Don't bring it up, unless the new neighbs do. They'll soon get to know you, and the ex-neighb's 'friends' on the street will also likely become fairly normal since their linchpin has gone.

But, the kids. The poor kids.

Phil4432

They're moving, who cares.  You are very fortunate that they are moving.  Just do nothing, and let them take off.  House market being what it is, they'll sell.

In their interests to not take any action, so that they can sell their house.  Any conveyancer would advise them of this.

The police will do nothing without evidence.  Nothing to worry about, from what you said.  Be an idea to get a basic CCTV setup, amazon are selling them for about £150. 

I'd plan the street part for when they leave.

[Deleted User]

All sounds extremely petty TBH. And all over a game of tennis? 

I wouldn't worry about any sort of compensation she thinks she might get out of you. Any case she manages to muster together will be laughed out the door sooner than it goes in. 

The issue I see here is that her actions mean she has essentially created a dispute which will need to be declared to the buyers of their house, which may hinder their sale. Not only this, but if they end up staying there and instead you decide to move, you will also need to declare it as a dispute. 

Whichever way it goes, one of you is going to have to move in order for you to find peace from this. So fingers crossed they sell up and move on! 

[Deleted User]

Have to agree with the other posters - they are moving, thank God you don't have to put up with this for much longer. Also silly of them to be telling people they are moving because of you. My advice? Let them. As the old saying goes, what other people think of me is none of my business, and it applies in this case. You can either remain neutral and let them gossip (they are just making fools of themselves frankly), or get irate and upset, to the detriment of your own wellbeing. There is no point in the latter since they'll be gone soon. Look after yourselves, safe in the knowledge that the housing market is moving quite swiftly so hopefully you'll have much kinder neighbours soon!

moneysavinghero

Maybe they have no intention to move. Maybe they want to put it up for sale, find a buyer, then on the forms declare the nightmare neighbour next door and wait for the sale to fall through. Then try to take legal action against you because you made her sale fall through.

NameUnavailable

moneysavinghero said:

Maybe they have no intention to move. Maybe they want to put it up for sale, find a buyer, then on the forms declare the nightmare neighbour next door and wait for the sale to fall through. Then try to take legal action against you because you made her sale fall through.

How will that help though? They still have to prove everything AND pay for legal action. Not sure what actual basis they could proceed on.