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  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Do I do anything or just let it go?

    I take care of one of my immediate neighbor's properties. That's a loose term. I mow and pick up debris and have been known to try to landscape without much success since he won't spend any money on anything. He doesn't really live there. His primary residence is now about an hour and a half away. He's older and can't cope anymore.

    The neighbors on either side of him are furious. I've talked about this before. But it is escalating. The irony is that both of their properties are deteriorating and the patchwork they are doing is horrifying at best. It looks like one of them picked up some excess siding from a construction lot, put it up on part of his house and now he has three different types of siding, one of which is an strange shade of yellow. I'm sure he thinks it's great since it's new. It's awful.

    The other neighbor has an overgrown backyard that literally collapsed on itself this winter like a domino effect. A large tree went down and brought down a whole bunch of others. He didn't want to spend the money to clear the area in spite of the fact that it is completely unusable and is half of his property. His kid could be growing up on a huge yard but no. He just complains about everyone else's property.

    Here's the thing. When the trees came down on that guy's property, one of them landed smack in the middle of the property of the guy whose lawn I mow.

    It's been a month. The guy who complains and owns the tree has done nothing. I don't have the means to remove the tree and won't pay someone to do something with it. In the meantime, it landed in such a way that I can't get my riding mower up the hill to take care of the property for the absentee owner.

    Meanwhile, the water main for this property broke and there is an enormous pile of dirt and rock in the front from when the water department made an effort to fix the problem over the winter. The problem has not been resolved. So now the property truly looks like crap. But so do the properties on either side of it.

    I think I know the answer to this but have to ask. Do I just let this go at this point?

  2. #2
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    I would. You've done so much so far and he's not even there...if he doesn't want to spend $$$ on his property, your efforts are actually futile. Send him a letter telling him that you're no longer going to get involved. Mention the other properties.

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  4. #3
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    At this point, I think enough is enough and I would step out of the picture. It's hard with adjacent properties not being taken care of, but I think unless someone is breaking local codes there isn't anything you can do about the conditions of the properties. I also don't think he will care about the condition of the other properties if he doesn't care about his own.

    Does your neighbor know about the tree and water main work? Does he know how much work you have been doing on his property? Regardless, I would contact him, make sure he knows about the tree and water main (send pictures) and tell him you can no longer help him take care of the property especially since you can no longer navigate the property. Outline specifically what you have been doing and tell him he will need to find someone else to handle all of these things. That way he knows how much you've been doing. Since he is older and can't handle things, can you include his family or gaudian so someone else is aware of what is going on? Maybe they are unaware and will step in.

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  6. #4
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    What about contacting your absentee neighbour's children? Or other family? If there is some arrangement between him and you to cut the grass I do think you must tell him why you cannot.
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  8. #5
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    If the old guy whose property you've been mowing knows you were doing it, I'd let him and/or his family know you cannot/ will not be doing this any more and why. You had no contract and weren't being paid. Aside from it being adjacent to your property and not wanting it to impact your yard and being neighborly, I don't recall if there was some other reason you were doing all that work. Is there any sort of municipal authority you can contact for a property that seems to have been abandoned by its owner, especially in light of the water issue, the house falling into disrepair, all that? They might have some authority that you cannot personally exert and I'd think they have an interest in seeing the water main problem be resolved. Don't you have to pay for your water? Who pays the utility bills for that neighbor? I'm guessing there's no homeowner's association for where you are?

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  10. #6
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Thank you. He does come by a few times a year and we talk on the phone periodically, mostly if there's a big storm. He is always so grateful so I feel bad about this. He was here when they started the water main work and was the one who called because his water was brown. I don't know if he knows that they effectively abandoned the project. He wants us to buy the house (and start a B&B of all things) and always talks about that and I always say no. Most recently, he told me that he was not actively selling but that if someone was interested, they would need to know that he won't spend any money on the property at all.

    I've done this so far because it's easy and I love to use my mower. The neighbors are just awful though and . If there was someone to complain to, they would have. No HOA and an effort to establish an historic home policy was shot down years ago so as far as I know, there's no real recourse to make him sell. I suppose it could be deemed unsafe but it has good bones and a 15 year old roof so I'm not seeing that that's a possibility.

    Anyway, the thought of taking on the neighbors is just too much and the thought causes me stress so I'll let him know what's going on and let it go.

  11. #7
    "Sorry" Woody's Avatar
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    I saw an add on either Kijiji or Facebook where a person had a fallen tree on their property and was offering it as firewood if anybody wanted to come and take it away. Seemed like an interesting way to get rid of it without having to pay.
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  13. #8
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woody View Post
    I saw an add on either Kijiji or Facebook where a person had a fallen tree on their property and was offering it as firewood if anybody wanted to come and take it away. Seemed like an interesting way to get rid of it without having to pay.
    That's an interesting idea. Whoever came would have to stop at the property line unless the guy whose tree it is/was wanted in on the action. I don't know if it's true in every state but if your neighbor's tree is hanging over the property line, where I am you can cut it back to the property line but no further. I've trimmed back limbs but not without telling/asking the neighbor whose tree it was if the result is going to be really noticeable.

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  15. #9
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Very unfortunate situation. I know you've done a lot to help keep his yard looking nice. Other than talking to him, there's not much you can do. The situation with the tree and getting someone to come in to cut it up for firewood sounds good.
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