suburbandad
New Member
Hi,
For some background, I purchased my home in the fall of 2008. At the time, the owner of the house next door was not living in the home. He was finishing up renovations and preparing to put the house on the market. After I moved in, he said he would be holding off on selling it until the market bounced back.
Shortly thereafter, a family moved into the home. Quickly, a woman named Susan had introduced herself and given me quite the background on her current situation. She had informed me that she did not have a job and wasn't paying rent for the house – the government was. She let me know that she had lived in that house prior to the renovations, so the owner was aware of what the situation was and failed to mention it to me. The landlord also "sells" out the end of his driveway for other people to leave their trash for pick up from the town (costs everyone in town $275/year). The trash is left at the end of their driveway (sometimes mine) in open barrels – no trash bags. The trash cans tip over and I spend far too much time picking up their trash from my yard/driveway. Beyond all of that, the back yard surrounding their house is littered with garbage that is always blowing over to my yard. Countless cigarette butts are a minor nuisance. This is very frustrating. I have alerted the DPW here (in Pembroke, MA), but nothing has been done.
Susan and her 3 very young out-of-control grandchildren live in the small house. The mother of the children, Meghan, was not permitted to be with the children [alone] as she was a drug addict (heroin). Susan told me stories of how Meghan had been in and out of rehab and had gone as bad as to steal from her grandmother.
Meghan was never around, so I was not too concerned about my property or family (wife and 2 year old child). Susan is a nice lady – although she does hang with a seedy crowd that has gone so far as to openly urinate in their backyard (face fronting my backyard). Other than that, usage of Marijuana is rampant and I have had to ask them to take it inside on occasion as the fumes and smoke tend to put a heavy cloud in my outside living space. All of this is incredibly unacceptable but they have always been very cooperative and responded positively to my requests to "cut it out".
Over the past several months, Meghan has been staying at the house with Susan and the children. Isnt this a violation of her free housing? Susan has complained about how out of control Meghan has been and that she disappears for days, returning "all messed up" on drugs. Over the past month, I have had my car ransacked (I left my doors unlocked), and money has been stolen. I did not report this to the police. Last week I was asked to come over to their house to fix their internet. While doing so, I witnessed Meghan very "high", in front of the children. There was drug paraphernalia out in the open. While I was there, Susan informed me that the father of Meghan's youngest child (also Susan's ex boyfriend) was arrested and sentenced to 2 years in jail the previous week. Susan expressed concern that Meghan was out of control and that she would be "sending her away" the next day. She told me about how Meghan had spent the previous weekend in a motel smoking crack. Needless to say, Meghan was not sent away and is still living there.
Meghan is left alone with the children. On one day, with tons of snow outside, Meghan came to our house asking for an ice pack because her daughter "fell". We were incredibly suspicious of this. Was she coming to scope our house out? With all the snow, we knew the ice story was just a lie.
One day while I was at work, Meghan came over to my house and spoke with my wife, in front of my son. She asked if we had any anxiety pills and said that "xanax" really works best for her and the stress of having 3 kids.
At this point, I contacted the child protection folks in Plymouth County to inform them of Meghan's activity. They were dismissive and wouldnt do a thing without their last name. To say that I was frustrated with their response would be an understatement.
Yesterday, these children were climbing on my fence. I told them to get down. Meghan insisted they weren't climbing on the fence (even while they were still on it). I told her to stay away from my family. I fear for potential repercussions for confronting her.
The trash is an issue that the town does not care about. A high mother that isn't supposed to be alone with her children yet she is, is not a concern to the state, apparently. I would report the free housing fraud but am sure I will hit the same brick wall.
I feel that my property, family and safety are in a threatened state. I am nervous that we will leave a door or window unlocked and I won't be home to protect my family. Knowing that the state won't do anything and that if I contact the police it will only make a bad situation worse, I am at a loss for what to do.
If I could move – I would. I want nothing more than to be as far from this problem as possible. Selling a home in this market, especially next door to a crack head, is incredibly tough.
What other options do I have?
For some background, I purchased my home in the fall of 2008. At the time, the owner of the house next door was not living in the home. He was finishing up renovations and preparing to put the house on the market. After I moved in, he said he would be holding off on selling it until the market bounced back.
Shortly thereafter, a family moved into the home. Quickly, a woman named Susan had introduced herself and given me quite the background on her current situation. She had informed me that she did not have a job and wasn't paying rent for the house – the government was. She let me know that she had lived in that house prior to the renovations, so the owner was aware of what the situation was and failed to mention it to me. The landlord also "sells" out the end of his driveway for other people to leave their trash for pick up from the town (costs everyone in town $275/year). The trash is left at the end of their driveway (sometimes mine) in open barrels – no trash bags. The trash cans tip over and I spend far too much time picking up their trash from my yard/driveway. Beyond all of that, the back yard surrounding their house is littered with garbage that is always blowing over to my yard. Countless cigarette butts are a minor nuisance. This is very frustrating. I have alerted the DPW here (in Pembroke, MA), but nothing has been done.
Susan and her 3 very young out-of-control grandchildren live in the small house. The mother of the children, Meghan, was not permitted to be with the children [alone] as she was a drug addict (heroin). Susan told me stories of how Meghan had been in and out of rehab and had gone as bad as to steal from her grandmother.
Meghan was never around, so I was not too concerned about my property or family (wife and 2 year old child). Susan is a nice lady – although she does hang with a seedy crowd that has gone so far as to openly urinate in their backyard (face fronting my backyard). Other than that, usage of Marijuana is rampant and I have had to ask them to take it inside on occasion as the fumes and smoke tend to put a heavy cloud in my outside living space. All of this is incredibly unacceptable but they have always been very cooperative and responded positively to my requests to "cut it out".
Over the past several months, Meghan has been staying at the house with Susan and the children. Isnt this a violation of her free housing? Susan has complained about how out of control Meghan has been and that she disappears for days, returning "all messed up" on drugs. Over the past month, I have had my car ransacked (I left my doors unlocked), and money has been stolen. I did not report this to the police. Last week I was asked to come over to their house to fix their internet. While doing so, I witnessed Meghan very "high", in front of the children. There was drug paraphernalia out in the open. While I was there, Susan informed me that the father of Meghan's youngest child (also Susan's ex boyfriend) was arrested and sentenced to 2 years in jail the previous week. Susan expressed concern that Meghan was out of control and that she would be "sending her away" the next day. She told me about how Meghan had spent the previous weekend in a motel smoking crack. Needless to say, Meghan was not sent away and is still living there.
Meghan is left alone with the children. On one day, with tons of snow outside, Meghan came to our house asking for an ice pack because her daughter "fell". We were incredibly suspicious of this. Was she coming to scope our house out? With all the snow, we knew the ice story was just a lie.
One day while I was at work, Meghan came over to my house and spoke with my wife, in front of my son. She asked if we had any anxiety pills and said that "xanax" really works best for her and the stress of having 3 kids.
At this point, I contacted the child protection folks in Plymouth County to inform them of Meghan's activity. They were dismissive and wouldnt do a thing without their last name. To say that I was frustrated with their response would be an understatement.
Yesterday, these children were climbing on my fence. I told them to get down. Meghan insisted they weren't climbing on the fence (even while they were still on it). I told her to stay away from my family. I fear for potential repercussions for confronting her.
The trash is an issue that the town does not care about. A high mother that isn't supposed to be alone with her children yet she is, is not a concern to the state, apparently. I would report the free housing fraud but am sure I will hit the same brick wall.
I feel that my property, family and safety are in a threatened state. I am nervous that we will leave a door or window unlocked and I won't be home to protect my family. Knowing that the state won't do anything and that if I contact the police it will only make a bad situation worse, I am at a loss for what to do.
If I could move – I would. I want nothing more than to be as far from this problem as possible. Selling a home in this market, especially next door to a crack head, is incredibly tough.
What other options do I have?
