Problems with neighhbor kids, landlord won't do anything

[crystal77]

I live in a duplex owned by Spokane Community housing authority who builds houses foir lower income families. My husband and I have 5 kids and so do the couple adjoining us.
They have lived here since the place was built in 1997 and we moved here 2 years ago. Since we have lived here we have dealt with their kids coming on our porch looking in our windows, opening our front door, turning our outside water faucet on and leaving it on, digging in our garbage, one punched our dog in the throat, coming on our side of the property, instigating arguments/fights with our kids, provoking our kids, teasing our dog when he is outside, found them doing in cannonballs in our 2 year old's pool, jumping on our trampoline, calling through our open windows for our kids or to talk to me. We repeatedly ask them and tell them not to do things and have been doing that for 2 years with no sucess. The parents always get a bit of an attitude when we come to them and it causes tension between otherwise good friends.
Unfortunately we are no longer on speaking terms with them now because we are tired of them having an attitude when we come to them and not acknowedging or taking responsibility for their kids' actions. We made phone calls to our landlord and apparently they did too.
This is the letter all of us received:

This letter is sent in response to several phone calls from both of you or your spouses ragarding issues with children.

One of the calls was heard by the members of the Board of Directors on the evening of May 22, 2006. Their guidance to me is as follows:

This is NOT an issue that a landlord must deal with until such time as something happens that is covered by your lease agreement, for example property damage, criminal activity, assaults, etc.

If, because of the situation either of you would decide to move and relocate your family, that would be your decision. We are not going to be an arbitrator-that is not our responsibility or our role.

It is our opinion that the four adults involved in this matter should be able to remedy the situation.


My question is, do we have any rights? And if so, what can we do about this? Thank you

 

[sandy79]

If the parents of these children won't do anything and neither will the landlord then I would take the matter to the police as surely this would come under invasion of privacy/harrassment. If the kids are coming into your property this may be seen as trespassing. I would keep a diary of events icluding times and dates and if there were any witnesses. Also may be an idea if you had a disposable camera to catch them in the acts.

I am not an attorney and comments made do not represent legal advice.

 

[hanue]

video tape...

Video tape those hooligans abusing your dog. that's bound to shake some cages. However, if the parents of these unruly kids are as they appear to be from your description, you might be in for slashed tires or other repercussions. You get somebodys kid arrested and you just made an enemy!

Police will help you keep a paper trail, but I don't think they are going to make them go away. Your landlord doesn't want to get involved and the other family has been there longer. You might just stir up the perverbial bee's nest right next to your own dwelling (which in my opinion isn't a wise choice)

I would move. You can't solve your neighbors enept parenting issues, your land lord has ducked out of the matter and Police action will probably cause a bigger backlash than you are comfortable with. the best option I see, is to control what you can... and move.

Good luck!

 

[calalily]

Is it possible that the landlord/Housing Authority would put up a fence? Would they allow you to do so, one tall enough that they can't climb over? I would write the board and state the item about the water and the potential for property damage occuring or damage that occured due to the water being left on and I would state in the letter it is criminal to trespass on another's property and enter another's home uninvited (through a window) especially if the children and parents have been requested not do so. However look up on-line your state laws on trespassing to be sure the type that is occuring is criminal. If the behavior is putting your children at risk you may want to call the police when they trespass, especially when they enter your house. Call right then and there and when they (police) arrive ask them to escort the children home. However, as the last poster said that could escalate things betweeen you and the neighbor and retaliation may occur, so documentation would be important in this case. You could also just ask the police what recourse you have and if they would visit the family to explain that trespassing is illegal and they may be able to make some other suggestions. If the neighbor's children are at risk because of their behavior then you may want to call DFPS, but once again that could cause an escalation of problems between you and the other family. You always must weigh the consequences of any action you take in regards to how the people will respond.

Check out this website: http://www.spokanecounty.org/crimereportingcenter/report.asp

When the landlord said you could "move/relocate tyour family", was that to another low-income housing; Or was he saying you would have to move to a non-Housing Authority place? Good luck and respond back to this forum to let us know what actions you have taken. Your follow up responses may be helpful for others in the same situations.

 

[calalily]

Fyi

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/trespass
trespass n. entering another person's property without permission of the owner or his/her agent and without lawful authority (like that given to a health inspector) and causing any damage, no matter how slight. Any interference with the owner's (or a legal tenant's) use of the property is a sufficient showing of damage and is a civil wrong (tort) sufficient to form the basis for a lawsuit against the trespasser by the owner or a tenant using the property. Trespass includes erecting a fence on another's property or a roof which overhangs a neighbor's property, swinging the boom of a crane with loads of building materials over another's property, or dumping debris on another's real estate. In addition to damages, a court may grant an injunction prohibiting any further continuing, repeated or permanent trespass.

Your state may have a different definition or law.

 

[crystal77]

Thank you for your responses. I sent the landlord a certified letter requesting he ask his tenants to respect our property. Since he did not even want to hear what was going on and chose not to listen to either side's story, I also detailed some of the problems. He has not mentioned 1 word about it.
Now the neighbors who live in a house on the other side of me (they own the house) are having problems with the kids teasing their dogs from the other side of the fence, picking up gravel from their driveway and throwing it at their dogs. Guess we're not the only one with a problem with their kids.
These people are very into church and you would think they would take some kind of responsibility for what their kids are doing. Believe it or not, they are great people in all other ways.
We are looking for a house and actually got one yesterday but housing put some blocks up, preventing us from getting it because they said a check was already cut for our current landlord.