Harassment warning

[steampowered]

Try to think about things from the new neighbour's perspective. If your new neighbour does not know that the bitterness stems from your old neighbour's attempts to park on the property, then tell him!!! Otherwise how will he know to resolve the dispute?

 

You cannot assume that the solicitors fully explained the covenants. But I think you can assume that your old neighbour has told the new neighbour bad things about you. If you don't go and talk to this new neighbour he won't know any better. If your first contact with him is a formal legal letter you will put him on the defensive and he will probably think you are a nutcase.

 

Just knock on his door and talk to him. I know it takes a bit of courage but it is worth it. Best case scenario is that you resolve the issue, worst case scenario is nothing happens.

[unclebulgaria67]

Try to think about things from the new neighbour's perspective. If your new neighbour does not know that the bitterness stems from your old neighbour's attempts to park on the property, then tell him!!! How will he know what you want to resolve the dispute if you don't tell him?

 

You cannot assume that the solicitors fully explained the covenants. But I think you can assume that your old neighbour has told the new neighbour bad things about you. If you don't go and talk to this new neighbour he won't know any better. If your first contact with him is a formal legal letter you will put him on the defensive and he will probably think you are a nutcase.

 

Just knock on his door and talk to him. I know it takes a bit of courage but it is worth it. Best case scenario is that you resolve the issue, worst case scenario is nothing happens.

 

Wise advice here Lawrie.

 

Perhaps take the new neighbours a bottle of wine or a bunch of flowers as a welcoming gift and you can mention the issues you had with the previous neighbours. You might just turn this around, with the new neighbour thinking that the previous owner of their house was an anti-social idiot.

[l1awrie]

steampowered and unclebulgaria67 I appreciate your comments, you seem good people with warm hearts.

I would in the normal course of events be nothing but polite and cosiderate towards my neighbours.

Never have I come across people like this, I have always, before this house purchase, had really good neighbours.

I don't want to get into a conversation with somebody who is going to quote what the third neighbour has said to him or go over the past.

My letter is not couched in legal terms but invites him to write and advise me of any problems he has that does not involve a third party.

I have also quoted the covenants that he is breaching and suggested that in need he take the matter up with his solicitors.

I also suggested that he get his solicitor to explain the meaning of the clean hands doctrine.

My dad used to say never trouble trouble 'til trouble troubles you, then either walk away or fight your corner.

I have no other option but to fight my corner.

[unclebulgaria67]

steampowered and unclebulgaria67 I appreciate your comments, you seem good people with warm hearts.

I would in the normal course of events be nothing but polite and cosiderate towards my neighbours.

Never have I come across people like this, I have always, before this house purchase, had really good neighbours.

I don't want to get into a conversation with somebody who is going to quote what the third neighbour has said to him or go over the past.

My letter is not couched in legal terms but invites him to write and advise me of any problems he has that does not involve a third party.

I have also quoted the covenants that he is breaching and suggested that in need he take the matter up with his solicitors.

I also suggested that he get his solicitor to explain the meaning of the clean hands doctrine.

My dad used to say never trouble trouble 'til trouble troubles you, then either walk away or fight your corner.

I have no other option but to fight my corner.

 

You are going about this in totally the wrong way, but I don't think you will appreciate anyone telling you this.

 

If I were your neighbour and I received your letter, I would ignore you. Your letter will only confirm what the previous neighbour has said about you, however it is written. If you don't like face to face contact with a new neighbour, why not send them a welcome card, in which you can mention in a light hearted way that you are glad to have a new neighbour, as the previous neighbour was a nightmare, always blocking your driveway.

[steampowered]

Fair enough l1awrie. It is always difficult to advise through the internet since we don't know the full background. My gut instinct is still that you should go and talk to this person, as I don't think you have known him for long enough to start making judgments about his personality (we all make bad first impressions sometimes). I also don't think you have enough information to know that this a situation where trouble cannot be avoided ... if you start a fight he is just going to fight you back. I'm also not sure you will get any response to a letter, most people are not used to writing formal legal letters and are likely to ignore it.

 

My gut reaction is that you are trying to get his solicitor to explain his covenant to him, rather than doing it yourself. This is not going to work because most likely his solicitor will be a conveyancer on a fixed fee. Most conveyancers do not advice on disputes/litigation, and even if they do the solicitor will not start giving further advice now that the sale has completed unless the neighbour pays a few hundred quid for the privilege. If you are envisaging your neighbour going back to his solicitor for advice that might not be practical. You are basically choosing the most difficult route (formal letters) without even trying the easy route (talking to him for 5 minutes). However good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

I'm not sure why you think the 'clean hands' doctrine is relevant here. You are referring to the legal maxim 'he who comes into equity must come with clean hands'. This would only be relevant if the neighbour was seeking an equitable remedy against you (such as an injunction). Its not really relevant in this situation since you would be the one seeking court assistance not him.

[smokejumper]

A card sounds a good idea, I would have a problem approaching someone.

 

I'm not sure your insurers are giving good advice and surely they should be doing the work.

 

They asked you to write asking what his problem was, well we don't know he has a problem, just a perceived one from watching an hour long conversation. The new neighbour might have been trapped and had to listen, he would hopefully not judge until he had been exposed to unwanted treatment.

 

I don't want to re read all the posts, but is the new neighbour taking liberties, or just being a little bit forgetfull, by parking near his property to unload his belongings.

 

I think it does need a word to explain the covents and that the last person didn't repect this. I think if you asked him if he had a problem, he would have to say no, because i can't see he has a problem, even I wouldn't knock him out straight away ;-) .

[l1awrie]

The neighbour does have a problem it is only since his conversation with his neighbour that he started to stop in front of my cctv poke his head out of the glare to glare.

The reason the insurance said to write is because they expect you to deal with the problem in the first place.

The neighbour is parking in front of his garage, double, where he does not own enough land to park, so parks half his vehicle on the right of way which is the land I use to reverse my car onto to face the road.

I have had seven years of threats of violence, attacks on my property and abuse. Before these events took place I would never have believed that people behaved in this manner.

The police choose not to deal with anything to do with the neighbours despite cctv coverage and one of the neighbours friends admitting that he threatened me.

Awhile ago I visited the NFH website and was shocked to find that this behaviour from neighbours is not uncommon.. That the police not wanting to get involved is also not unusual.

If it turns out he doesn't have a problem then he will either write back and say so or stop glaring into the cctv.

If he chooses to ignore my letter and continues to breach the covenants that affect me then I turn the problem over to the insurers.

Maybe I should send some guys from rent a thug round with some flowers bet trouble would cease straight away.

Again thanks for your input which I may not act on but is a appreciated.

[honeybee13]

Maybe I should send some guys from rent a thug round with some flowers bet trouble would cease straight away.

Again thanks for your input which I may not act on but is a appreciated.

 

Hello there.

 

CAG does not encourage violence, there has to be an easier solution.

 

HB

[smokejumper]

Now your in trouble ;-)

[l1awrie]

Sorry if I have upset anybody - just joking

[l1awrie]

smokejumper I enjoy your humour, thanks

[Ganymede]

What is your cctv pointing at again please?

[l1awrie]

CCTV covers my drive and my row, doesn't cover other properties

[unclebulgaria67]

CCTV covers my drive and my row, doesn't cover other properties

 

Do any of your neighbours have CCTV?

 

Is there a local burglary risk or did you have it installed due to the problem with the previous neighbour ?

 

You do realise that your Home Insurance legal expenses cover won't help you beyond giving advice. Coming from an Insurance background and dealt with such situations, the Insurers usually don't want to get involved, especially as it has been going on for the last 7 years. Home Insurance legal cover is usually very basic. The staff that answer the phone calls are not all legally trained. They may have Insurance qualifications that have a legal part to them, but I doubt they have any legal qualification. The advice they provide can be pretty general and probably comes from a manual the staff have. i.e when you have a problem with a neighbour, send them a letter asking whether they have any issues with you as their neighbour.

[l1awrie]

My cctv was installed following previous owners girlfriend driving her car at mine as I was going down my drive. She then sat there laughing, I just got out of my car and told if she found it so funny she could sit there all day long laughing and walked off, she realised that she had blocked herself in.

I found out later that she was on her way to take some sort of exam.

Again despite photographs showing what happened the police were not interested

The neighbour then installed two cctvs one looking directly into my home, it took two years for the police to make him take it down.

I can honestly say that I have never done anything to provoke the neighbours except not to back down when they have tried to intimidate me.

All this stems from the neighbours mistaken belief that he owned my drive, apparently didn't like losing face.

[Ganymede]

For the new neighbour the CCTV might come across as a bit stand off-ish hence why he wanted to stare at it?

[l1awrie]

Not as stand off-ish as his visitor parking on my drive last night.

[smokejumper]

You really need to go and have a word, nip it in the bud.

 

Getting to the point that I feel like coming over and speaking too them .

 

Get the kettle on ;-)

[unclebulgaria67]

You really need to go and have a word, nip it in the bud.

 

Getting to the point that I feel like coming over and speaking too them .

 

Get the kettle on ;-)

 

I know how you feel Lawrie seems to be carrying on her war with the new neighbour, which is a tad unfair. This new neighbour is probably thinking that everything they have been told by the previous owner of their house is true. If I were the new neighbour, I would appreciate being told of anything that I was doing to irritate neighbours, so I could stop doing it. If this was parking on Lawries drive, I would stop doing so. Unless you are told what the problem is how would you know. I don't think I would like a letter from a neighbour asking whether I had a problem with them. I would think this was very unfriendly.

[smokejumper]

Uncle, everything you said, I agree with.

 

If nothing is said, then after a while they will think it is OK to park there and that Lawrie doesn't mind.

 

Talk to them before they gain squatters rights ( not sure if they still have rights anymore) ;-)

[l1awrie]

I think we need a recap.

I am in my property, don't interfere with anybody else's rights or parking.

New neighbour moves in has long conversation with next door neighbour, new neighbour from that moment on stops in front of my cctv to glare on a daily basis.

If anybody needs to explain themselves it's the new neighbour.

I am writing to the new neighbour explaining, and including plan of his property showing his boundaries, what rights he has over my property, to pass over with no parking rights.

I also suggested he see his solicitor if he wants to query what I have said.

Pound to a penny this will go down like a lead balloon and bad feeling and behaviour will increase, backed up by the next door neighbour who will not tell the new neighbour that he tried to claim that he had parking rights on my property and when I told he didn't I received the I'll be seeing my solicitor about this.

Well it worked he has never parked on my property since.

[smokejumper]

Lawrie, I'm on your side, not against you.

 

Your idea should work, only I thought it better to approach new neighbours without letters etc.that way you could live in peace and you might even get a christmas card.

 

Either way, I really hope it works out for you.

 

By the way, what part of the country do you live ?

[smokejumper]

Just re read your post.

 

I guess you may have a point, by sending letter you don't risk an argument.

 

But be prepared for the neighbour to want to talk about this.

[l1awrie]

smokejumper I live in Kent.

 

I doubt that he will knock on my door, I don't see what he has to discuss with me, if it is tittle tattle from the other neighbour I wouldn't be interested.

 

I just have a feeling that he, like the previous owner thinks he owns my drive, the plan of his property will soon straighten out that misconception.

[The Mould]

smokejumper I live in Kent.

 

I doubt that he will knock on my door, I don't see what he has to discuss with me, if it is tittle tattle from the other neighbour I wouldn't be interested.

 

I just have a feeling that he, like the previous owner thinks he owns my drive, the plan of his property will soon straighten out that misconception.

 

 

Send a brief letter to all neighbours and remind them of the covenants affecting the land upon which their property is situated. State that upon purchasing their property or taking residency of such that their conscience is bound thereby.

 

 

 

State that you do not wish to fall out with any resident,but if your rights under the covenants are not considered nor respected, then you will take all action as is necessary in order to protect your rights to live in peace and free from any nuisance that contravenes the covenants to which all residents conscience are bound by or indeed any action directed at you which contravenes statute or common law. State that these covenants are imposed upon the land and the properties situate thereon for the sake of good order and that any resident who breaches such can face enforcement proceedings whereby upon the Order of the Court to enforce the same that any resident found in breach or in default of any such Court Order can be held in contempt of Court and face fines and or imprisonment for such.

 

 

 

Regardless of any unfounded rumours, you sincerely hope that all residents will act within the law to which they are bound by and that all residents will continue to enjoy the peace and tranquillity and enjoyment oftheir private household’s life and afford all of their neighbours the same.

 

 

 

Get that sign erected, minus the clamping of unauthorised vehicles parked on your land!

 

 

 

Kind regards

 

 

 

The Mould

Edited October 3, 2013 by citizenB
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