Annoying Neighbors: Let Us Count The Ways, Readers Say [Block Talk]

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On top of that, there are rats under the front stairs, the front yard is often strewn with trash and garbage because 15 people are using garbage and recycling bins intended for a family of one, and package deliveries intended for Gigi’s family always seem to end up in the hands of one of the property owner’s kids.

Reporting the problem to code enforcement officials is hit or miss, Gigi said, but “I stay vigilant.” Gigi said.

Annoying neighbor problems started for “Thumbelina,” who reads Norristown Patch and Malvern Patch, both in Pennsylvania, when her neighbors moved in at 1 a.m., using only flashlights because they didn’t yet have the power turned on.

Once they had electricity, “they used power tools almost every day for almost two months from 7 a.m. until well past midnight,” Thumbelina said. “There was banging on the walls so hard that pictures fell off the walls in our house.”

That’s not all. “The front of their porch is overgrown and littered with Corona 40-ounce bottles, cigarette butts, and trash. They have one sedan, one SUV, three pickup trucks, and one work van that take up five spots on the one-way street we live on. Everyone on the street has to park on the street if they don’t have a driveway, which is 90 percent of us.”

Thankfully, Thumbelina said, “the banging has stopped but nothing else. They started selling drugs in broad daylight on the front porch, though.”

Neighborhood Snitches And Gladys Kravitz

Among other annoying neighbor traits that stood out are people who can’t seem to mind their own business.

“It is VERY annoying when your neighbor is a snitch about EVERYTHING,” a Shrewsbury (Massachusetts) Patch reader said. “You drag the garbage cans to the curb an hour before the borough ordinance states is acceptable because you will be out of town overnight. The landscaper started his mower at 7:58 instead of 8! The music coming from my yard is still on at 9:45 (not at all loud, it’s just on), when the noise ordinance is 10 p.m.”

“He doesn’t like my kids’ friends parking their cars in front of his house — legally parked and orderly,” the reader continued. “He is verbally abusive to the parents that take their kids around the neighborhood trying to ‘solicit’ without a permit when trying to sell Girl Scout cookies or Boy Scout Christmas wreaths! The neighborhood kids (ages 6-10) are ‘PANHANDLING’ when they ask him to buy lemonade from their stand while he is walking his dog!”

Connecticut Patch reader Lisa’s neighbor is a little like Gladys Kravitz from the old “Bewitched” sitcom who couldn’t resist sticking her nose in when things seemed amiss at the Stephens home.

“Our next-door neighbors are very nosy. They are always trying to find out what is happening at our house under the guise of caring and wanting to help,” Lisa said. “The police came by one day on a routine matter and they were in their yard watching and calling out to the police to come over to them while they were still talking to us!

“One of the two officers did go over there and came back to tell us that they were asking what was happening,” Lisa went on. “He told them there was nothing to be concerned about. Later they called to make sure everything was okay. We said it was.”

“GOSSIPING!” Berkeley (New Jersey) Patch reader D said of annoying neighbor traits. “I had a tree removed because it was infested and destroyed by spotted lanternflies. A week later, I see comments on social media by friends of the gossiping neighbor that the tree was cut down so I wouldn’t have to rake leaves. Needless to say, I no longer speak to the old witch.”

‘Threatened To Shoot Me’

Jen’s neighbors may have crossed the line from annoying to menacing. Jen’s problems with her new neighbors began when they cut branches from her tree, explaining they were “hanging over their property,” the Nazareth (Pennsylvania) Patch reader explained.

When she complained to the man, his wife came outside and “threatened to shoot me,” Jen said. “This was our first meeting.”

The tree was a living symbol of friendship planted by Jen’s old neighbors along their shared property line.

“It is now cut down by the new people,” she said. “Also, she watches me with a camera and runs out to take pictures if I go near her property. She is also very big on declaring that she called the police on me. With all the problems in the world, I wish my neighborhood was a comfortable haven,” Jen said, adding, “I live in fear and sadness.”

“Sad Hermit,” a Palm Desert (California) Patch reader, also has a neighbor who “behaves like a Karen, is a busy body, spreads rumors and lies, and also graffiti and trash, like knives and beer bottles thrown into my property.”

How does Sad Hermit deal with all of that?

“Not well,” the reader said, explaining the neighbor’s actions trigger fear, nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD after the death of a child.

‘Miss Understanding’ Really Doesn’t

Try living next to someone’s personal recreational vehicle storage lot or junkyard, other readers said.

“I currently have several neighbors that fill their yards with large vehicles, such as contracting trailers, boats, large motor homes, jet skis, etc. I have seen five or six items per yard,” another Patch reader said. “Additionally, neighbors run businesses such as contracting, landscaping, boat storage and automobile repair shops from their homes.”

Neighbors have tried to talk to the offenders, but “this ends in an argument and does not resolve the situation,” the reader said, adding that township officials have done little to enforce their ordinances.

“Harassment usually occurs when you report them,” the reader said. “It is very frustrating for the community, as these are very unsafe conditions No one should have to live near these homes.”

A Centreville (Virginia) Patch reader calls herself “Miss Understanding” because she’s been asked to overlook what annoys her.

“My neighbors have a garage full of stuff and too many cars so they park in front of my house, making my front yard look like a used car lot. The mail carrier has yelled at me because he doesn’t have access to my mailbox. Trash and recycling aren’t picked up because cars are in the way,” the reader said.

When she tries to talk to them about it, “they say they hope I understand they don’t have enough room in their driveway for three cars.”

“No, I don’t understand!” she said. “Clean out your two-car garage and you’d be amazed at how much space you have in your driveway.”

Fairfield (Connecticut) Patch reader Amy said she reported her neighbor for paying the trash pickup driver extra to pick up items that are not allowed, such as used motor oil, mattresses and construction debris.

“I watched a guy jump on a twin mattress to force it into the compactor,” Amy said.

Oak Lawn (Illinois) Patch reader Slim spoke for many about a neighbor who “takes zero pride in the upkeep of his property.”

“The house literally looks abandoned. Dead trees. Weeds as tall as the house. Gutters falling off. He just doesn’t care,” Slim said. “I will never understand why someone will not take care of their biggest investment! Meanwhile, I pay a big mortgage payment to live next to all of it.”

Smokers, Tokers And Fire Stokers

Secondhand smoke, from tobacco but also from weed, is a big rub among survey respondents. Recreational cannabis may be legal in nearly half of U.S. states, but that doesn’t mean it should be smoked with disregard for neighbors, several readers said.

“It annoys me that I can’t enjoy my yard without the smell of weed,” said Staceface, a Woodbridge (New Jersey) Patch reader. “It infuriates me that the smoke drifts into my son’s bedroom at night. He has asthma and the smoke triggers it, reducing the sleep we all get.”

An Owings Mills-Reisterstown (Maryland) Patch reader is annoyed by the chain smoker on the other side of the condo wall. The smoke “seeps into our own living space,” and the neighbor seems to have “an incessant need for attention over everything coming out of our house, like us talking normally, and also blaming us for anything happening wrong in their unit, like a broken [garbage disposal].”

Isle, a Kingstowne-Rose Hill (Virginia) Patch reader, said her neighbor in the cul-de-sac burns newly cut wood from trees he claims are his “at all hours, when he knows all surrounding neighbors have their windows open for fresh air, and also on windy days.” He often leaves the fires unattended, Isle said.

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Andrea, who reads Imperial Beach (California) Patch, tried to talk to her neighbor about his dog, who “barks no-stop when the owner is gone,” but he “got rude and defensive” and “turned on me.”

H.L.’s neighbor has loud dogs and plays the drums “so loudly I don’t think it’s safe for my dogs’ hearing, let alone their many dogs.’ ”

“My dog only barks when someone is at the door, thankfully,” said H.L., who reads Phoenixville Patch, Norristown Patch, Limerick-Royersford Patch, Pottstown Patch, Malvern Patch in Pennsylvania, New Port Richey (Florida) Patch and several others. “I’m not sure it’s legal to have five dogs and two kids in a three-bedroom home.”

“How about the pigs that leave their dog poop baggies in the street gutter, or along the paths between the cul-de-sacs or the shrubby brambles between properties where no one can witness their disgusting foul droppings?” asked Chatham (New Jersey) Patch reader Bill said.

“I can’t believe there are such selfish irresponsible citizens residing in such an affluent community as Chatham,” Bill said. “If they take the time to gag and bag it, why in the world can’t they dispose of it properly? I’m waging my own Carl Spackler-like obsessed mission to find and identify the filthy varmints, the dog owners that is.”

Mickey, who reads Frankfort Patch, Mokena Patch and New Lenox Patch, all in Illinois, has a solution for the Carl Spackler wannabe. “Return the poop to the neighbor’s yard,” Mickey said.

‘What’s The Worst That Could Happen?’

Junie, a Woodbury (Minnesota) Patch reader, hit an annoying neighbor trifecta but tries to keep good humor.

“We have one neighbor whose dog never stops barking when it’s outside, another who brings out the leaf blower nearly every day year round, and an HOA narc,” Junie said. “It’s annoying, but I guarantee there are things about us that annoy them, too. It’s just something we chuckle about privately, roll our eyes, and move on. They won’t be our neighbors forever.”

Scott, a Huntington (New York) Patch reader, said the concept of an annoying neighbor is a two-sided coin.

“My neighbors are great. I’m actually pretty lucky — they were there to support us when we had a house fire, and any little annoyances are on me because I just generally am not a people person,” Scott said.

“Everybody ticks off somebody else at some point in their lives,” he said. “One of my neighbors has his sprinkler on my driveway, what’s the worst freaking thing that could happen?”

About Block Talk

Block Talk is an exclusive Patch series on neighborhood etiquette — and readers provide the answers. If you have a topic you’d like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com with “Block Talk” as the subject line.

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