Bad neighbors

[geoffil]

My neighbor decided to extend his yard into my backyard (by over 10 wide and 60 feet across) by planting bushes and edging. I asked him to remove the landscaping in my yard and put back my sod and he said no. I got a survey to determine the correct boundary, $400 and found out he was in my neighbors yard by over 15 feet deep and 70 feet across in addition to my yard. I hired a landcaper to put my sod back for $700. I asked the neighbor to reimburse me and he said no and we went to court. I won the lawsuit. To my surprise he filed a claim with his insurance company and State Farm paid the lawsuit judgement. I can't believe I had to go to all that trouble if he was just filing a claim under his homeowner's policy. My agent said that it was not covered under homeowners. After that lawsuit he planted 20 bushes at the boundary and put a hose on each bush and ran the water and this flooded my backyard all summer. Any comments please?

[kayrharris]

It's not covered under homeowners as far as moving the bushes and putting back the sod.

It is covered under Section II, Liability. State Farm is obligated to pay to defend him. He was found negligent, therefore they had to pay on his behalf. I guarantee you he will now be cancelled by State Farm, since the negligence appears to be willful.

He sounds like a real jerk. I would think you could haul him back into court for the flooding nonsense. I doubt if State Farm will cover that, but it should come out of his pocket anyway.

Good luck and we can hope maybe he'll move soon.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Robert Frost said, "Good fences make good neighbors."

[geoffil]

The neighbor planted all the bushes right at our boundary line which is over the sump pump pipe that feeds from 5 houses. The city told me that the roots will soon damage the pipe which is 5 feet underground. So I can't put a fence at the property line because if or when the pipe bursts, if I do I couldn't get him to pay for fixing it. The city told him he was violating several ordinances and somehow he was able to keep doing it without being fined. At the small claims trial I wanted to bring up the cost of having to pay for a survey to determine the grading and the judge asked the neighbor if we could proceed with that issue since it happened after the encroachment. He said no. So now I have to go to court again to get the reimbusement for that survey. Also he had two different law firms calling my attorney every day for over a month, runing up my unreimbursable costs.

So how is a lawsuit reimubursable for willful negligence? I know he lied to State Farm about this. No claims agent ever called me about it nor did they come out to look at the damage.

[kayrharris]

It if was a lawsuit, it would have been turned over to attorneys and not claim reps. That's why you weren't contacted by any claims people. I am surprised you weren't contacted by the attorneys, however your attorney may have handled all that.

The liability portion of homeowners coverages negligence. I'm not sure how this was handled, but as I mentioned, I feel sure his insurance will be canceled soon. He may have lied to State Farm, but I wouldn't think he would under oath in a court room. Since he was found negligent, the attorneys for State Farm would report that to the underwriters and that's when the policy would be terminated.

I had a customer who wouldn't cut down the dead trees in his yard. One of the dead trees ended up falling on a neighbor's car. State Farm had to pay for the damage. They advised the insured to remove the other dead trees from the property since they are a liability hazard. The homeowner refused to have the other dead trees cut down, so his homeowner's policy was cancelled.

[geoffil]

My agent got the name of the claims agent that handled the case and she called me. I asked the claims agent why didn't she just call me and then the lawsuit would have been unnecessary. She said there wasn't any time. I said yes there was a time span of 5 months because we waited for them to pay and then they asked for a delay in the trial. She also said it was disputed as the whether or not he was even on my property. I said no because we had the survey done back in July to get the boundaries before any lawsuit was filed. Then she said that I gave them permission to do what they did. I said why didn't you come out to look at the property and she got mad at me, yelled and hung up. Humm.

[geoffil]

kayharris,

Do you work for an insurance agency?

[kayrharris]

Yep. I've been with State Farm for 30 years. Not in claims though I am a licensed agent.

All cases are different. People who get mad and hang up on you certainly don't help insurance companies any. Like I said, there was no property damage claim since there is no way your neighbors policy would cover that.
It had to be filed under the section II liability portion of their policy.

[Bob78164]

My neighbor decided to extend his yard into my backyard (by over 10 wide and 60 feet across) by planting bushes and edging. I asked him to remove the landscaping in my yard and put back my sod and he said no. I got a survey to determine the correct boundary, $400 and found out he was in my neighbors yard by over 15 feet deep and 70 feet across in addition to my yard. I hired a landcaper to put my sod back for $700. I asked the neighbor to reimburse me and he said no and we went to court. I won the lawsuit. To my surprise he filed a claim with his insurance company and State Farm paid the lawsuit judgement. I can't believe I had to go to all that trouble if he was just filing a claim under his homeowner's policy. My agent said that it was not covered under homeowners. After that lawsuit he planted 20 bushes at the boundary and put a hose on each bush and ran the water and this flooded my backyard all summer. Any comments please?

This issue will vary a lot state-by-state, but it sounds like his current conduct (flooding your backyard) is both a trespass and a nuisance. I don't know Illinois law, but in California, both trespass and nuisance are strict liability causes of action -- in other words, you don't need to prove either that he intended to do something wrong, or even that he was careless. All you need to prove is what was actually happening.

You probably need to file another lawsuit, this time asking for an injunction (if that's available in Illinois) and punitive damages (same caveat), because it certainly sounds like his conduct is both willful and oppressive. As an extra added bonus, in most states, punitive damages are uninsurable. --Bob

[geoffil]

Thanks Bob and Kayharris for your insight and comments.

I am so mad because I can't understand why a neighbor would think he could take 2 people's land and then get mad when we want it back. Then he retailiates by flooding our backyard.

And he also strung about 20 boxes of Christmas lights on the bushes and keep the lights on all night shining in our backyard. He put up 2 Merry Christmas signs that flash neon lights facing our house not his.

He is the same neighbor that I wrote about 2 years ago that put a pen of animals in my backyard when he had a birthday party.

[Bob Juch]

Thanks Bob and Kayharris for your insight and comments.

I am so mad because I can't understand why a neighbor would think he could take 2 people's land and then get mad when we want it back. Then he retailiates by flooding our backyard.

And he also strung about 20 boxes of Christmas lights on the bushes and keep the lights on all night shining in our backyard. He put up 2 Merry Christmas signs that flash neon lights facing our house not his.

He is the same neighbor that I wrote about 2 years ago that put a pen of animals in my backyard when he had a birthday party.

If he had been my neighbor, he would have found his lights mysteriously failing.

[silvercamaro]

I am so mad because I can't understand why a neighbor would think he could take 2 people's land and then get mad when we want it back.

It worked in Boulder, Colorado, where a judge and his attorney wife got another judge to rule in November that the couple was entitled to one-third of the next-door neighbor's million-dollar lot under the principle of adverse possession.

People who are convinced of their own self-entitlement are everywhere.

[TheConfessor]

It worked in Boulder, Colorado, where a judge and his attorney wife got another judge to rule in November that the couple was entitled to one-third of the next-door neighbor's million-dollar lot under the principle of adverse possession.

People who are convinced of their own self-entitlement are everywhere.

Funny you should mention that case. I've been reading all about it today, mainly because of the front page article in today's Boulder newspaper. The subject of the article, Don Wrege, has been a good friend of mine for about 36+ years, since the days when we were both going to school in Louisville, Ky. He has always been a creative and talented musician, and a bit of a character. Check out his parody songs about the great Boulder land grab:
http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/jan/06 ... d-dispute/

[BackInTex]

If he had been my neighbor, he would have found his lights mysteriously failing.

You and I think alike, almost. My Christmas lights would have been running off the same extension cord. And anything else the breaker would handle.

I've only heard about people like this in movies. Its hard to believe they really exist.

[silvercamaro]

Funny you should mention that case. I've been reading all about it today, mainly because of the front page article in today's Boulder newspaper. The subject of the article, Don Wrege, has been a good friend of mine for about 36+ years, since the days when we were both going to school in Louisville, Ky. He has always been a creative and talented musician, and a bit of a character. Check out his parody songs about the great Boulder land grab:
http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/jan/06 ... d-dispute/

I've already seen Don's song lyrics and loved them. I subscribe to a news alert on this case because it seems like such a blatant miscarriage of justice. Your friend is wonderful!

[peacock2121]

In these parts the guy would hear blaring music during all legal hours - and only during legal hours. He would hear the yelling of 'close to bad words' when the music was being changed. He would experience all legal forms of annoyance.

We are big on escalating in these parts.

[fuzzywuzzy]

And he also strung about 20 boxes of Christmas lights on the bushes and keep the lights on all night shining in our backyard. He put up 2 Merry Christmas signs that flash neon lights facing our house not his.

He is the same neighbor that I wrote about 2 years ago that put a pen of animals in my backyard when he had a birthday party.

Geez, sounds like this guy is related to my neighbor...who's parents bought their house for them with cash without an inspection, got screwed by our former neighbors (who also were not too nice to us), we watered and mowed their lawn for them while they were on their honeymoon, and they never thanked us, we saved their finished basement from being flooded by putting in a new sump pump line, and absorbed most of the costs. She repeatedly complained about the landscape company.

You all know that I LOVE animals, but, they have two barking beagle bitches who are loud and yappy at all hours, who are NOT trained and dig into my yard. The wife never speaks to us, husband does (he is nice, she is not), when we lost electricity, we checked on them - they didn't care about us. She also kills the animals that come into her yard...possum, rabbits etc...

But, now she's got a new trick, she leaves on her outside spotlight at night. The light shines into our yard, and the neighbor behind her. She obviously wants to keep animals out of her yard, and her neighbors awake at all hours! My Mom taught me to be nice to people. I tried, but, she is not a nice person.

No Christmas card this year...last year she came over and gave us a card, and we usually give them a card with homemade pizzelle cookies. We sent a nice card, but didn't do any pizzelles this year...fwh was ill.

HOWEVER...Yesterday, I see her outside taking down her Christmas lights...lo and behold, she is pregnant...and I mean at least 6 months. Not the tricky first trimeseter...

WTF?

They are only here temporarily, and I am counting the days til they move back to the St. Louis area. They both come from money, but, her family has alot of money.

Having lots of money is NO excuse for being ill-tempered and having bad manners!

fuzzy (thanks for posting your situation, it was great to get this off my chest)

[gsabc]

Having lots of money is NO excuse for being ill-tempered and having bad manners!

It's not an excuse, but it's probably a reason. She's likely used to getting everything she wants and looking down on those with less money. Think Veruca Salt and Leona Helmsley.

[christie1111]

HOWEVER...Yesterday, I see her outside taking down her Christmas lights...lo and behold, she is pregnant...and I mean at least 6 months. Not the tricky first trimeseter...

WTF?

They are only here temporarily, and I am counting the days til they move back to the St. Louis area. They both come from money, but, her family has alot of money.

Having lots of money is NO excuse for being ill-tempered and having bad manners!

fuzzy (thanks for posting your situation, it was great to get this off my chest)

We have a family to our left which has gone through quite a transformation.

When we first moved in about 4 yars ago, we had a pretty negative experience where it was obvious the dad had no interest what so ever in being friendly. They weren't nasty, just no interest in being neighborly. Never saw the wife except the rare times when she would be getting in/out of her car. Two girls high school college aged, again, no contact to speak of.

Then the husband died suddenly. I wrote a note expressing our sympathies and a offer of assistance w/ phone number, etc.

The wife has now spoken to me several times. Younger daughter was actually on Daughter1111's golf team.

Quiet people. Strange as neighbors. But there has been a thawing.

Who knows what the future holds!

[fuzzywuzzy]

Having lots of money is NO excuse for being ill-tempered and having bad manners!

It's not an excuse, but it's probably a reason. She's likely used to getting everything she wants and looking down on those with less money. Think Veruca Salt and Leona Helmsley.

Ah...thanks gsabc for the insight! I needed that!

fuzzy

[MarleysGh0st]

Think Veruca Salt and Leona Helmsley.

Yeah, but the evil squirrels will get them.

And then split the inheritance with the spoiled dog.

[fuzzywuzzy]

Then the husband died suddenly. I wrote a note expressing our sympathies and a offer of assistance w/ phone number, etc.

The wife has now spoken to me several times. Younger daughter was actually on Daughter1111's golf team.

Quiet people. Strange as neighbors. But there has been a thawing.

Who knows what the future holds![/quote]

Maybe, my Ice Queen will melt when she has her baby... or maybe she'll become Ice Queen ^10!

Thanks for the positive spin... christie1111

fuzzy

[wintergreen48]

We are fortunate not to have 'bad neighbors,' we just have 'absent neighbors.' The people next door have lived here almost as long as we have (we moved in New Year's Eve 1992, they moved in late 1993) but they have absolutely nothing to do with anyone about anything; I suspect that they do not know that Margaret has died. Margaret and I used to refer to them as 'the aliens,' just because they acted so odd; once, the kids in the house behind us were playing some ball game, their ball flew into the aliens' yard, and the kids called out to their parents, "Mommmmmmm, the ball went into the Strangers' yard; can we get it?"

The aliens did the luminaries the very first Christmas that they were here, but have not done it since (they do decorate the house nicely, candles in the windows, swags below the windows; they just don't do anything that involves other people, like participating in a community luminary activity); the second year that they were here, we were across the street visiting some other neighbors, and we noticed, after lighting our luminaries and those of the other neighbors, that the aliens' house went dark-- they turned off all of their lights-- and they sat in their house, in the dark, for the next four hours (luminaries are lit at 6 pm, and burn out or our supposed to be doused at 10 pm), when suddenly the lights all went on-- they pretended not to be at home that evening.

Much better to have absent neighbors than to have nasty ones.

Oh, and the flooding in your yard should count an actionable tort-- if it happened negligently, you should be able to recover the full value of the damage, but if you can show that they did it deliberately, or allowed it to continue to cause more damage after seeing that it was a problem, then you may also be able to recover punitive damages. Insurance won't cover punitive damages, but should still be there for the other damages (assuming that they have a policy that pays based upon when liability arose rather than when the claim is made-- most insurance companies are quick to drop people who file claims, and I suspect that your neighbors no longer have the insurance that they had before; if they have a mortgage on their house, it could be very interesting, since failure to have insurance is probably a breach of the mortgage).

If you really want to have some fun, if/when you get a judgment against them, don't be so eager to push immediately for the insurer to pay it off, instead, find out where the neighbors work and find out where they bank, then file garnishments against their wages and their bank accounts. Employers just LOVE getting wage garnishments, and I understand that it is a really great career thing for the employee whose wages are garnished. And when you hit their bank account, the garnishment freezes their funds, letting checks bounce, and you get the added pleasure of seeing them pay all the bounced check fees, the garnishment fees, and the credit hit when those bounced checks work through the system.

Not that I would ever recommend anyone doing anything unneighborly; I just hear about stuff like this...

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

If you really want to have some fun, if/when you get a judgment against them, don't be so eager to push immediately for the insurer to pay it off, instead, find out where the neighbors work and find out where they bank, then file garnishments against their wages and their bank accounts. Employers just LOVE getting wage garnishments, and I understand that it is a really great career thing for the employee whose wages are garnished. And when you hit their bank account, the garnishment freezes their funds, letting checks bounce, and you get the added pleasure of seeing them pay all the bounced check fees, the garnishment fees, and the credit hit when those bounced checks work through the system.

Not that I would ever recommend anyone doing anything unneighborly; I just hear about stuff like this...

When I worked as Assistant Controller at a very large construction company, we got many garnishments for many people.

I loved getting the garnishments for the serial cheaters who would marry somebody, start a family, cheat, divorce, marry somebody, start another family, etc. I remember having to set up a third garnishment line item in the chart of accounts for one guy who was working on the third alimony/child support garnishment. The sad thing was that a year after setting up the line item, he wasn't the only person utilizing it.

Garnishments are a confidential payroll item that few people knew about. It's not like we gave a list of garnishments to the President of the company, but anyone looking at the books could see who had garnishment issues.