Problem neighbours

Debbie9009

Would like some thoughts on this before I do something daft.

last autumn I had my garden fence repaired and stained, it looked great. Spring this year my neighbour spray stained his side and it came through all over the fence, over the path, the shed door, some of the shed brickwork and also a couple of plant pots, it looked a complete mess. I was devastated I had spent a lot of money on the fence and just like that it was a mess.

I spoke to the neighbour who said he would fix it, few weeks later I asked again same response, few weeks later asked again and was very rudely told he would do it but was busy at the moment.  I gave up and sorted it myself,  I gave him a written request for the money for the materials, and have had no response.

The amount of money is not worth taking any legal action and I can’t force him to pay so there isn’t really anything else I can do. However he has now attached lights to his side of the fence, as I bought and paid for the fence I want to be really petty and tell him to remove them.  I have this idea of showing him he can’t get away with behaving in this way. 

Friends and family are telling me I’m right, but of course they will side with me.  Logically I think this could escalate into a dispute that would have to be declared if I wanted to sell. 

I need opinions from people that are not friends and family, as I suspect I am being very over the top now, and I probably need to just forget about it and move on.

all comments welcome 

Bendy_House

Hi Debbie.

A toughie, but well done for approaching them, even tho' they were crass enough not to respond. At least you know their calibre moving forwards.

Almost certainly you could have successfully sued them for the costs of sorting the mess, but to justify the move you would likely have been best bringing in professional cleaners to do the job, and not DIYed it - I mean, just how much did the cleaning materials cost? So, probably not worth it?

Folk have a duty of care towards others, and should also be able to anticipate this type of damage - you'd have to be a complete knucklehead not to.

To take action - Small Claims/MoneyClaim.org - you need to follow the correct process, and that would have been to note down all the evidence (lots of photos), transcripts of conversations, dates of the times you approached them, their responses, etc. And then you give them an ultimatum - 'clean it by this date, or else I'll get pros in to do so, and sue you for the cost'. If they fail to respond by that date (and you give them an actual set fate, say a couple of weeks, for them to respond positively), then you get the work done, and send them the bill - again with a date to respond (one week?). If they fail to do this, then I understand it's a 'letter before action', and then - you sue.

They've done themselves no favours by not responding, so that would help your case enormously.

As it happens, you were able to clean it up yourself, so well done. (On that note, if it was 'easy' to clean up, then it would make launching a claim more shaky.)

Anyhoo, what to do moving forward? That's even tougher! It's a balance. If you think that the worst that will happen with their carelessness and consideration is that you have to live with the knowledge that they've stuck lights and stuff on your fence, but that it won't cause any practical issues, then I think I'd be inclined to grit my teeth and put up with it. No harm at all, tho', in 'putting them on notice' that they shouldn't touch what is your fence*, you are not giving them permission to do so, and if they cause any damage, you will sue them for the cost in future. That should make it watertight - they have been informed, and have zero excuse.

So far, no 'dispute'. Tho' you may be expected to declare this minor issue in the SIP form under "Is there anything that could..."

Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance? If not, add it, but don't say there's any current issue.

*I'm taking your word for this being 'your' fence! If it's fully on your side of the boundary line, then it is. But if it straddles the actual boundary line - ie is placed exactly ON the line - then it's shared, and you probably cannot stop them fixing things to it, tho' they shouldn't damage it, or cause damage to other parts of your property.

Woolsery

My feeling is that you haven't a 'problem neighbour' yet, but you might be on the way to having one, so it's sensiible to take stock.

Let's start by asuming the neighbour wasn't intending to cause a problem. No one likes to be wrong and your neighbour was clearly wrong and incompetent by making a mess with the spray paint. To compensate you he has to admit to himself he was incompetent, and for some people that would be very hard. Worse still, he failed to act in time and you fixed the fence yourself, not only showing greater competence, but also denying him the chance to make amends....well, that's what's in his head now. So it's really your fault! No wonder he's not compensating you!

 People do these mental somersaults without realising it; particularly if they aren't the sharpest tool in the box. Most adults could  predict  paint sprayed on a fence will go through slats and knot holes to the other side.

What to do? If it were me I'd be both charming and vigilant. I'd still say 'Hi' to the guy to show there are no hard feelings, but I'd be watching him like a hawk. I wouldn't worry about the lights if they are affixed without doing harm to the fence, but I'd be ready for him to start fixing hanging baskets to it or adding an incredibly awful trellis to the top etc. At that point it would come down fast and stay down until we'd had an adult discussion.

I did the above once to a neighbour who attached his fence to mine at right angles with no post. It had the desired effect. They erected a post, my fence returned and we co-existed peacably thereafter.

anselld

You have concluded yourself it would be petty to take further action and you are correct.  Not to condone the neighbours actions in any way but this just isn't worth escalating.

74jax

Is the fence on your land so his lights are on your land, or is the fence on the boundary? 

Are lights on his side, or on the top? 

TheJP

Unless you had an agreement to do the work yourself and the neighbour would pay then its pointless trying to recover the costs. Chalk it down to experience, let it go and hope that they don't give you anymore issues.

For what its worth i did the same thing your neighbour did but it was the opposite in this case, we almost had a dispute because we both wanted to pay. Sometimes great neighbours are worth more than the house.

user1977

Debbie9009 said:

he has now attached lights to his side of the fence, as I bought and paid for the fence I want to be really petty and tell him to remove them.  

Yes, that would be really petty.

HTH.

Flugelhorn

I live on an estate with lots of small gardens, lots of fences - people just get on with painting them, attaching things to them etc etc - a friend's fence blew down in mega storm earlier in the year, not entirely sure it was her fence but she got panels replaced, probably conscious that neighbours a bit strapped for cash and there was no good arguing over it 

Schwarzwald

Write off the expenses for the repair work and move on from that.

on the lights: if they causing some REAL issues, speak to him.
if it is just be petty, be the bigger person and save yourself the mental and emotional headache and let it go. 

Mildreds_Earrings

Hello @Debbie9009 it is annoying and frustrating. Could you pursue this legally? Yes. Should you? Well.... as someone who had to sell up and move, not once but twice because of nasty, nuisance neighbours, I would not pursue this. 

I do not mean to lessen your experience but you really don't want matters to escalate further, to the point that you are worried or frightened about seeing him and preventing you from enjoying your own garden.

I wouldn't have sent that letter with costs etc. Write it off, keep him at distance by all means but there is no harm smiling at him and saying hello. He probably knows he's in the wrong, no point rubbing it in and if he doesn't, who cares? Just enjoy your garden and enjoy your life. Take care. 

RelievedSheff

Just to put the shoe on the other foot for a second as well. You say that you had already painted your side of the fence. Can you categorically say that no paint ended up on their side? I suspect not.

This just isn't and wasn't worth the argument. Sending letters was probably the worse thing you could have done. You will now have got their guard up. 

Sometimes you just have to live and let live with neighbours and keep the peace.