Neighbour Issues - Advice Greatly Appreciated

Lkariba on 22/10/2022 - 22:54
Last edited 25/10/2022 - 19:20

Hi,
I'm having an issue with my neighbour. Its not the home owner I believe it is a relative of his staying at the house. Neighbour has young kids, they never seem to leave the house and constantly shouting and screaming, I'm talking blood curdling horror movie screams, there's never any supervision or parenting.

This screaming/shouting can occur any time of day or night, 5am, midday, 4pm, 10pm, even woke me up at 3am. I've caught the parent encouraging the kids to scream and shout through the holes in the fence. I was working in the garden and they were banging on it really loudly so I asked them to stop, I aslo asked them why they scream so much, at this point the parent put her head over the fence and began shouting out me saying the kids are allowed to scream, who do I think i am, I've lived here for so many years, etcetera.

She was really aggressive and my partner is scared of her. There is a complete lack of supervision, many times seen the youngest climbing on the house roof and cars with no correction. They also have a dog which is neglected, its locked in the house/out of the house all day/night. The poor dog is so broken, just barks constantly when left alone, and again, this can be all night, early morning, whenever. Been several occasions where neighbour is home, dog is locked in the house barking and she plays loud music. Never seen this dog leave the house, never seen it out of the yard. I sent the council barking dog letter to her and she put it back in our letterbox!

I would really appreciate some guidance here as I have tried talking to them about it but have got absolutely nowhere, tried again today as we got woken at 7 30am by the screams and shouting. As there is rarely an adult around I asked the kids through the fence if they could keep it down, they didnt so i went out again and asked to speak to the their grandpa who owns the house. I spoke to him in a polite manner about all these issues and all i got was its unfortunate that you bought the house next door. He then said something Iike 'stop chatting up the kids', i pulled him up on that repeatedly asked what he meant by that but got no answer. I'm really upset about that comment, in 10 months thats the first time ive spoken to the kids. Bumped into the family who live directly across from us and they even can hear all the noise, my other neighbour too. I would be so grateful for any advice, never had bad neighbours before.

thanks

***so three days after i talked to the owner it's been pretty good. I initially wanted to speak to him about the need to replace the old asbestos fence, just the section between the house. little bit of retaining too but having a proper fence in this section will help us no end with the sound issues, also knew they don't work so prob don't want to spend money on the fence. checked the legislation and no repairing that fence and it almost every circumstance its 50/50, i know the mother seemed to think 'it was whoever wanted it paid done and how the guy who lived here was gonna do it before he died". So that definitely hurt them, hopefully it stays that way and we get a fence there and the rest can be mitigated by the shrubs. I've also started renovating a horse float for a mobile bar and I've parked it right on boundary. Been a lot of grinder work, satisfying!

Thanks almost everyone for the responses there were some crackers in there I'll definitely be implementing. cheers

Home & Garden

Comments

  • poboy on 22/10/2022 - 22:58
    +40

    That sucks. Perhaps you need to document with video and a diary of events. If it escalates, you can use that as evidence.

    • HeWhoKnows on 23/10/2022 - 09:57
      -3

      Any noise and agression complaints should be directed to the Police

      • Mozzmanau on 23/10/2022 - 15:22
        +38

        Police don't care. Trust me I've been in this situation before

        • DoctorCalculon on 23/10/2022 - 20:10
          +1

          That's right. Unless it is a serious safety related matter, they won't get involved. Even then they will simply tell you to bugger off to the Magistrate's Court to apply for an IVO.

          • Lord Fart Bucket on 24/10/2022 - 18:54

            @DoctorCalculon:

            Unless it is a serious safety related matter

            youngest climbing on the house roof

            Unless the youngest is 15 or older, i would call this a safety issue.

        • adpaholic on 25/10/2022 - 18:53

          Yes. Unless your neighbours did damage something from your property otherwise Police won't do anything. My neighbour use cement to block my door before, police said unless they damaged your door otherwise nothing they can do

    • capslock janitor on 24/10/2022 - 10:43

      And if it doesn't escalate??

    • CrispyChrispy on 22/10/2022 - 23:00
      +91

      No, it's called bad parenting

        • elgrande on 23/10/2022 - 04:00
          +2

          Agree, the premier was raised wrong..

        • [Deactivated] on 23/10/2022 - 17:29
          +11

          No, its bad parenting.

        • smartazz104 on 23/10/2022 - 22:51

          So you have no idea.

        • Jackson on 24/10/2022 - 13:34

          I don't know about you, but during covid I became on even better terms with my neighbours

          • jv on 24/10/2022 - 13:37
            -4

            @Jackson:

            I became on even 'better' terms with my neighbours

            Too much info…

      • kariba on 22/10/2022 - 23:10
        +2

        doesn't work, barely leaves the house still can't manage to be a parent.

    • kariba on 22/10/2022 - 23:12
      +6

      we only had a lockdown for a couple of weeks here

    • SBOB on 23/10/2022 - 07:04
      +17

      Op has Perth in their profile….

      At least try trolling with some knowledge behind it ;)

        • SBOB on 23/10/2022 - 13:13
          +2

          so you're claiming educated trolling?

            • jackspratt on 23/10/2022 - 14:25
              +5

              @jv: Meanwhile, back in Perth where the OP lives …….

            • whatwasherproblem on 23/10/2022 - 18:02
              +2

              @jv: Wait a second, I thought you were pro-lockdown? You can't toy with my heart like this, jv.

            • ChatCPT on 23/10/2022 - 21:13

              @jv: Nahh. Try harder mate

            • smartazz104 on 23/10/2022 - 22:53
              +1

              @jv: If you’re going to go off topic, how about talking about Robodebt, or you don’t because that only affected welfare recipients?

        • kariba on 23/10/2022 - 16:48
          +1

          haven't used this since i left Melbourne which was 7 years ago

    • kariba on 22/10/2022 - 23:13
      +21

      you've been extremely helpful

    • ChatCPT on 23/10/2022 - 21:14
      +8

      Go back to Austria

  • screensaver on 22/10/2022 - 23:18
    -2

    say nothing for awhile then list the house for sale,you will always be seen as an enemy

    • johnno07 on 23/10/2022 - 14:08
      +16

      Maybe list thier house for sale.

      • Matt P on 23/10/2022 - 23:45
        +2

        Or if you can't do that, list their car/s for sale for well below market value with their phone number in the listing.

  • dylanando on 22/10/2022 - 23:18
    +22

    There’s honestly not much you can do. Document as comment above but retaliate.

    I had a new neighbour move in and were very loud with screaming children, this went on for months.

    I may have thrown dog shit in the middle of one of their many gatherings and had a few words.

    Never heard from them again 😬

    • whyareyouthisway on 23/10/2022 - 11:10
      +9

      True… perhaps the only course of action if police won’t get involved and they don’t want to move is to retaliate with equally loud and disruptive noises.
      Time to enjoy the music you like at full volume on a new set of speakers maybe. Maybe there’s some projects you could do with power tools?

      This is a horrible situation, I’m sorry you have to deal with this. It’s never a good feeling when children aren’t getting adequate care but you aren’t in a position to truly help.

      • Sensiekatie on 23/10/2022 - 15:44
        +8

        When I was I High School there was a neighbour across the road and down a couple of houses about my age who was a "bad girl". Parents seemed to let her do what she wanted. She would go out very late at night and return at 2, 3 am or even later and play very loud music on n her return home. Sometimes people noise too as she would clearly bring home people to party - even on a school night. Her direct neighbours were completely fed up and were getting nowhere with the parents, so every time she had a noisy session that woke them up, at 6 am they would make as much noise as possible. Banging saucepan lids, power drills, clanging rubbish bins ….. anything they could think of virtually right outside her bedroom window. She actually got the message after about a week. I think they were only renting as they moved out after about 6 months.

      • kariba on 23/10/2022 - 22:04
        +8

        ive done this, im a bit of an audiophile and have a couple of good systems that rattle her windows. ive pointed my speakers at the open window closest to her house, gone out all day and left a 40 minute sermon from a Christian evangelist. im a tradie, ive got brick saws, grinder, impact drivers, blowers. she had the kids banging on the fence while i was retaliating with the blower cleaning my yard. could hear the banging and shouting with ear defenders and over the 2 stroke motor. turned it off to ask them to stop and she was waiting there, popped her head over the fence and abused me!

        • cerealJay on 23/10/2022 - 22:39

          retaliating with the blower

          Interesting. What else have you done?

          pointed my speakers at the open window…, gone out all day and left a 40 minute sermon from a Christian evangelist.

          Do you mean on repeat, or did it end after 40 minutes?

          We can't choose our neighbours, unless you buy the houses around you and choose who you lease them to. Otherwise, your best option is to move. Bogans from hell usually stay put.

          • kariba on 23/10/2022 - 22:53

            @cerealJay: yea on repeat, theres a few left but the area is changing fast. she's on too good of a wicket to go anywhere, rent assist going straight in the old boys pocket

            • Assburg on 25/10/2022 - 17:18

              @kariba: Report to Centrelink, shouldn't be getting rent assistance then paying rent to a family member/relative.

              Put some ads online suggesting she's running a brothel from her house, i.e. Street name, prices, services, find some pictures that don't even have a face in it. Few weeks later report her to ATO.

              You might be able to get some rotten meat onto her roof, then when she sends up child unsafely to investigate, snap some pics and send to child protection…

  • George Washington on 22/10/2022 - 23:22
    +37

    Report them to Child support…… FACS in nsw

      • TrustNoBody on 23/10/2022 - 11:02
        +20

        i think they meant child services like welfare

      • pegaxs on 23/10/2022 - 14:20
        +5

        If you have issues with possible child abuse or neglect, it goes though FACS and DCJ in NSW.

        There is information about it on the FACS website

      • ChatCPT on 23/10/2022 - 21:15

        Hahaha. What planet are you on?
        Rekt. Don’t talk too soon

    • MessyG on 24/10/2022 - 13:11
      +1

      Agree - please report to Child Protection, they will investigate. And the RSPCA.

  • Muzeeb on 22/10/2022 - 23:31
    +25

    I'm guessing drugs or mental health issues.

    You will never win. Lay low. Don't engage with them at all.

    Is the dog emaciated (if you have seen it?). If so call RSPCA.

    • Mozzmanau on 23/10/2022 - 15:25
      +6

      RSPCA don't care. They couldn't give a rats unless they can fine them and make money from it. They're a garbage organisation

      • kariba on 23/10/2022 - 22:08
        +6

        ive spent a lot of time volunteering with the behaviour department at rspca. its very hard for them to seize dogs because the laws are cooked. its not illegal to tie your dog to a chain all day in WA. about 7 years ago the house behind left a dog chained to a trailer on less than a metre of chain. middle of summer, they weren't breaking the law technically. it had a bit of shade, was so sad to watch, three other neighbours complained too and the dog got seized.

        • juki on 23/10/2022 - 23:03

          as a teen we set a few dogs like that free (granted it was overseas and we didnt look up what laws were)
          we'd throw the dog a bit of food now and then then it would do a disappearing act (the stuff you do to impress girls..)

  • bobbified on 22/10/2022 - 23:46
    +23

    how old are these kids? If they're really young and left alone all day long, call the cops for a welfare check.
    If I hear blood-curdling screams in the middle of the night and I know where it's coming from, I would actually call the cops. Who knows what's happening in the house at the time?

    As others have said.. video documentary of it all would be the best thing to do. You may not be able to do anything with it now, but it could come in handy one day if you needed evidence of it all to protect yourself. For example, if they call the cops and accuse you of trying to "chat up the kids" etc…

  • avoidfullprice on 22/10/2022 - 23:54
    +7

    Loop some violin song at full volume.

    Then watch some Wiggles and laugh obnoxiously.

    Cook curry daily.

    • elgrande on 23/10/2022 - 04:02

      So… go about their normal activities?..

    • cookie2 on 23/10/2022 - 15:03
      +5

      I love it when my neighbours cook curry tho. It always smells awesome.

      • yokel on 23/10/2022 - 16:40

        Then smoke them instead of doing the curry

      • jackspratt on 23/10/2022 - 18:03

        curry tho

        Sounds like a new dish - can you get the recipe from them?

    • smartazz104 on 23/10/2022 - 22:56
      +8

      Nah find a high pitched sound, akin to a dog whistle, something the kids will hear but not the adults, and play it on a loop, all day, every day.

    • juki on 23/10/2022 - 23:04

      just boil slop, or fry tripe sausages (you may have to fight off my dad for the latter)

  • Veebee88 on 22/10/2022 - 23:57

    Call DHS

    • Muzeeb on 23/10/2022 - 00:14
      +24

      Department of Homeland Security is probably a bit harsh at this stage.

  • Euphemistic on 23/10/2022 - 06:39
    +3

    It’s relatively easy to deal with the dog barking. Keep a Note of when it barks for a week or so, report to local council.

    Kids? Much harder to deal with.

    • splicer on 24/10/2022 - 16:13
      +2

      Stuff that, I have recorded my neighbour's dog barking on about a 2-3minute long audio track. Have this play every 5-10mins. If there's a complaint, it will be directed at their dog.

      When I'm away, I play this at a high volume on a speaker near a window facing neighbour's property.

  • Vulgar on 23/10/2022 - 07:32
    +5

    I guess since you've tried communicating with the neighbours and that failed, the only thing to do is file a noise complaint.

    https://www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au/Pages/representing/Noise/Ma…

  • Shoocat on 23/10/2022 - 07:36
    +24

    Photograph the kids climbing on the roof and report them to child services for endangering their children.

    • capslock janitor on 24/10/2022 - 10:52

      Where did the roof come from?

      • capslock janitor on 24/10/2022 - 14:50
        +1

        There is a complete lack of supervision, many times seen the youngest climbing on the house roof and cars with no correction.

        3rd par.

    • MessyG on 24/10/2022 - 13:11

      They don't need to - concern for safety should be enough.

  • Overclocked91 on 23/10/2022 - 08:06
    +5

    Call the police when it happens. Police will probably attend and scare them lol

    • AndyC1 on 23/10/2022 - 09:33
      +3

      Ring the cops and ask them what you can do, like take a video of it happening from on your property, but not overlooking the fence.

    • AlanJ on 23/10/2022 - 09:40
      -4

      The problem with calling the police is that you have taken the conflict up to the next level. You might, indeed, put enough fear into them that they will quieten down…. at least for a while. They may also decide you are their sworn enemy forever, and take revenge. The police don't really look forward to intervening in disputes between neighbours, and they won't look kindly on you if you keep having to go back to them all the time because that first visit made things significantly worse. Noises, such as the ones you describe, are one thing, but you live right next door to these people and they have no end of opportunities to do you real harm. As tough as it is to just forget it, there probably isn't an Ozbargainer on this site who hasn't had to put up with an unpleasant neighbour at some time or other, and you have to accept that it's just part of modern living, where everyone is in everyone else's pocket. Try to grin and bear it.

      • RiseAndRuin on 23/10/2022 - 11:08
        +2

        I think you mean "Aussie living" rather than "modern living", in most civilized countries this would never happen, or the police would make it stop (one way or another).

        • whatgift on 24/10/2022 - 14:10

          You think this wouldn’t happen in other “civilised” countries lol. What actions would you suggest the police take?

          • RiseAndRuin on 25/10/2022 - 17:43

            @whatgift: I don't "think", I lived in other countries for decades. What's your source of information instead?

      • Overclocked91 on 23/10/2022 - 12:31
        +3

        Suppose they are screaming as OP said. It could be anyone calling the police for the kid's safety. Who knows, there could be something seriously going wrong within that household.

      • kariba on 23/10/2022 - 22:11
        +3

        we both have 1000m2 blocks, more upsetting to know there are people this stupid and ignorant that are breeding

    • TrustNoBody on 23/10/2022 - 11:05
      +2

      i doubt these ppl would be scared of the police

  • TilacVIP on 23/10/2022 - 08:27
    +11

    Nothing worse than issue and problems with your neighbours.

    I had a problem with a barking dog with a neighbour, which has somewhat been sorted, but at its peak, wow, what a nightmare. Throw kids in the mix & I can only image how bad it is for you OP.

    Hope you get it sorted.

  • bbinc on 23/10/2022 - 09:17
    +21

    The more you let them know they annoy you, the more they’ll do it. Adds some fun to their day.
    They WILL grow up and get out of your hair. Eventually. If the parents are still breeding, then move!
    Solutions:
    10 acre block in the country.
    Retirement village.
    Swap houses with the family whose neighbours don’t have bathroom blinds.

    • kariba on 23/10/2022 - 10:26
      +5

      lol, i read that post. if only my issues were as simple as that haha

  • cfuse on 23/10/2022 - 09:20
    +8

    I had screamers/child abusers live next to me for two decades. Double brick house and could often hear their ruckus through that. Had to call the police several times (simply because I thought they were about to kill one of their children), police did nothing and never attended as far as I know (and no cop ever bothered to knock on my door to ask me about the time one of their kids 'fell' out of a second story window and busted their arm).

    There is no real recourse for poor neighbours.

    • tallkid123 on 23/10/2022 - 09:30
      +4

      You must live in a shit area? I cant imagine cops not coming at least once to check?

      • cfuse on 23/10/2022 - 09:47
        +13

        I live in Southern Sydney in an area that is (at least from my perspective) made from money. The land value alone of the block I'm currently on is roughly 1.7M.

        The cops don't care about DV or child abuse, period. It doesn't matter where you are. I used to believe otherwise too, until I needed them to pay attention and they didn't.

        • TrustNoBody on 23/10/2022 - 11:09
          +3

          if you are under sutherland cops or st george they attend to stupid things so i can’t imagine not coming for kids ..

        • Wayne7497 on 23/10/2022 - 14:25
          +2

          Complete rubbish its having the time, just as your attending one job another serious comes in, you finish that head to original job, boom another more serious comes in, it happens every day 24/7 there will never be enough police to attend every job fact of life. Oh n yes you have traffic police, they like all are usually directed to attend serious jobs as well, but like any trade they are specialists in their particular area, so even if they attend they would need locals to help out just as locals need them with serious traffic matters.

          In 37yrs it frustrated the s#$t out of me, but im sure glad i out of it .

          • cfuse on 24/10/2022 - 12:00
            -1

            @Wayne7497: Scheduling competing priorities is a solved problem. Everything gets pegged with an initial priority and put in a queue (or several thereof), and as it ages it gets bumped up. Every time you ever sat in a hospital ED you experienced that triage. I might take hours, but you will be seen, and nobody gets missed. Scheduling tasks to individuals based on their expertise is also a solved problem, specialists are often generalists and thus suitable as overflow staff.

            • Wayne7497 on 24/10/2022 - 12:33
              +1

              @cfuse: Policing is nothing like an ED , age of job has no bearing on priority, priorities change by minute at times, seriousness has bearing on all jobs, your idea sounds great but you cant plan anything in Policing, everything going nicely homicide pops up 1/2 your staff gone. Then vans got an arrest off the road, mental escort to hospital for examination 8hrs minimum, prisoner escorts, before u know it the 6 cars you had are down to zero, try next district if your busy so are they. No solutions work been tried over n over many different ways all failed.
              Add staff on multiple training courses.
              Court appearances
              Annual leave
              Paperwork
              Etc etc

              • cfuse on 24/10/2022 - 14:02
                -1

                @Wayne7497:

                age of job has no bearing on priority

                That guarantees error, because incidents require assessment to gain any priority under that paradigm. Anything that isn't assessed is automatically missed, whether or not it is serious.

                If I were a criminal that would represent an excellent opportunity for disguising more serious crimes as less serious incidents that you routinely ignore. If I know that you're allergic to DV calls then I immediately know where to camouflage criminal operations (ie. in the house next door to the DV performance. I'm willing to bet there's an anti-policing aura around DV calls, and you can use that to compartmentalise your operations for additional security).

                priorities change by minute at times

                Yes, but the fundamental difference is that under your paradigm jobs get missed. The entire point is that you have to override assumed priorities to some degree to ensure that the maximum number of jobs are dealt with.

                The other element here is low hanging fruit. Just because a job is low priority doesn't mean it's automatically a time waster. There can be huge benefits to allocating dedicated staff to quickly resolved matters. Easy wins are still wins.

                No solutions work been tried over n over many different ways all failed.

                What do you do when someone tells you a job is simultaneously too hard and being performed optimally the way they do it? No, police and policing are not special, and I've heard these excuses many times before.

                If you are a member of the world's most lauded and admired police force and you're still swamped then I'd be willing to entertain the possibility of the job being impossible. However, if you're a member of one of the world's adequate to abysmal police forces then I'm going to take a bit more convincing before I take your mei ban fa attitude seriously.

                Shaving off the fat is an entire industry in itself. The reason that doesn't happen as often as it could is that it is expensive and painful, not because it doesn't work.

                • Wayne7497 on 24/10/2022 - 16:42

                  @cfuse: A reply by someone who has never worked in Policing ill just ignore. You dont get it and never will. I know your just guessing.

                  • cfuse on 27/10/2022 - 09:36

                    @Wayne7497: Whatever is rewarded you end up with more of. Not a particularly difficult concept to understand, but often a difficult one to implement.

                    You weren't rewarded for clearing the queue. So the queue didn't get cleared. No great mystery, no particularly exceptional circumstances. Do you really think you were the only workers that were ever understaffed, under resourced, and overworked? That's a bit silly.

                    Policing, just like everything else in the world, can be made better or worse via the application of a bit of thought. I will say it again: you're not special. Even if policing were somehow exceptional there's the obvious fact that policing is a global industry. Are you really so prideful as to say nobody did it better than you, or that you could never learn anything from them? That's a bit silly, too.

                    Improvement starts with a very simple premise: I am not the best, and there's room for improvement. In your defence it has to be said that when you're a public servant you are under a virtually immovable bureaucracy, so for someone at your level to do anything substantive is borderline impossible.

                    As for me guessing, private industry is completely different to public service. You never would have been expected to bear the sorts of liability and risk I did every day of the year (and no, you're not the only one to ever have to worry about people's lives). That being said, you'd have never been given the level of autonomy or budget I had either. I had scope to improve (and a mandate to do so) and you didn't. We weren't in the same position.

      • Mozzmanau on 23/10/2022 - 15:28
        +1

        Cops don't care. Simple

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