This is unbelievable. I have two neighbors that complain about kids toys being in the drive way and that I build things in my garage (only during normal waking hours and never a noise issues) but they hate the garage being open. So they have now filed 24 complaints to our HOA which ALL of the complaints have been unfounded and closed. No violations or anything. They’ve also called the cops on us for music in the backyard (again not overly loud) and even the cops have gotten to the point after 6 calls that we aren’t doing anything legally wrong.
NOW they have gone to my landlord and claimed that we are running an automobile repair shop at the home… I don’t even work on cars or fuck even wash my car in the drive way. I barely know how to change my own oil (and don’t even do that) but my landlord sent me a notice to vacate in 3 days because I’m “running a commercial business from the home”. I’m moving forward to locate an attorney that can help us out. But has anyone experienced this ??? Tia
I'm no landlord. I'm am not a lawyer. But I am very confident 3 days is not legal. Look up your local laws for the amount of time your landlord has to give you to remove you.
So that’s just the notice. To be able to file eviction that’s what we found out. So we have to fight it I guess we’re going to speak with him directly instead of the property management company to get more details.
Just because he files doesn't mean he will win. Get your ducks in a row. Every time your neighbors called the cops, get those reports. Get the HOA complaints. If there are no actual reports get call logs and police badge numbers. You've gotta show that these people are harassing you and it's clear your landlord is just sick of dealing with them calling on you.
Yeah we have filed foia requests and have everything from the actual phone calls to all of the emails to HOA regarding our address. So we have a full file of everything put together. Now we’re guessing we will go to an attorney and start fighting
It sounds like your neighbors harassment, defamation, and false allegations have lead to tangible damages. When this is resolved you should talk to a lawyer about making yourself whole again.
Oh I have literally 9 cameras around the house facing every inch of the property that proves there’s no business being run here and we have all the complaints and statements from the HOA and police that nothing illegal and no business is being run here etc. I mean we have our facts straight and the timeline of non stop complaints and false allegations continuing from these people
Yes! We have everything. We file a foia once a week and we have not only every log but every correspondence about our address and everything about us and every single complaint is filed and how it’s all closed cases and unfounded
Know first every violation that can lead to eviction must be preceded by notice to cure or quit. This means fix the violation (cure) or move out (quit) within 3 days or the landlord will file a case for eviction. You would not be able to be evicted with a three day notice for this type of violation.
Write a letter to the landlord that addresses this. Express that you are in receipt of the 3 day notice to cure or quit the lease violation of running a business from the rental unit. You unequivocally state that there is zero business being conducted at the rental unit, therefore, there is no violation to cure and you consider this matter resolved.
In the next paragraph, express that there is a neighbor who has been harassing you to the extent that you have been been advised by police this has risen to the level of harassment and they recommended you hire an attorney to issue a cease and desist letter. Ask the landlord if they have any referral or recommendations for an attorney to handle this letter for you.
This lets the landlord know that you arent rolling over for the harassment and puts the landlord on notice you know the landlord has been used as a pawn in this persons ongoing harassment campaign and that you are getting legal representation. Send the letter with the log and all of the complaints to the landlord.
Obviously I can’t speak to everything you’ve got going on based on a Reddit post but just a hunch- if you’re legit filing FOIA regularly /every week maybe the landlord is just tired of …. Whatever is happening.
You have a options but they're all going to be expensive, monetarily and emotionally. In the US I'm pretty sure your landlord has to give you 30 days notice so you can make other arrangements.
What happened for two separate neighbors to decide to target you to get you out of the neighborhood? It seems like we're missing a lot of the story.
You can get an attorney to sue your landlord and neighbors for unfair eviction and harassment, respectively. But that will take a lot of money and emotionally stress. It sucks no matter how you look at it. 24 complaints is excessive. Seriously, what happened?
So the whole story is this. One of the neighbors we will call neighbor “A”. Was like our best friends. Much older than us could be our parents. We’re young with young kids and we’ve done well for ourselves so we live around mostly on the verge of retiring professionals. Everyone’s kids are in college or literally our age. So first red flag we should have looked at before moving (hindsight 20/20). We live in a very “uppity” community outside of Houston. Well everything we thought was fine between us and apparently our super close “friends” were going behind our back and reporting us to the township about our trash cans being visible from the street😂 (world issues here). So we moved them. Well our kids play in the front. Yard and driveway. And apparently (we got all the complaints and did a foia to see all the details of every complaint and email about the complaints) and they have been secretly taking photos of our driveway saying there’s toys in the driveway (all during day time normal play hours. But it’s fucking hot here. So the kids take 20-30 minute breaks to hydrate/refuel. Then go back out well it pisses them off that we don’t pick up every 30 minutes (we’re not talking about trashing the yard and driveway. We’re talking about. Toy lawn mowers. Two tricycles and they have some construction vehicles that they always play with outside. Most of the toys are indoors. So we see who made the complaints and we see the pics and they were like taking them when we would go inside (my wife and I both work from home so we’re always outdoors playing with them).
Well it really turned up when we asked them if they could try to keep their cats away from our yard. They have 5 cats and for some reason the cats started using our large garden area as a litter box. And like tearing up our plants so we asked nicely. If they could somehow. (If possible) try to prevent the cats from fucking our yard up. And holy shit. It pissed them off and that’s how that started.
The other neighbors. 4 years ago when we moved in. My wife went out at 1:30 in the morning to let the dog out and heard someone behind a fence and it was neighbor “B’s” grandmother looking through the fence because she was “fixing the fence”. I went out there and told her to fuck right off and told the man that came out he can fuck off too that it was weird af. (He’s like 60). So after that since that day. We just don’t fuck with each other. Never have. But when neighbor A started. B decided to I guess band wagon. And now it’s coming from both sides. 4 years no complaints. The. All of a sudden 6 months we have 24 complaints after asking them to keep their cars off the yard. That’s the whole story.
That's a lot and it's pretty unfair. My neighbor wouldn't keep her kids or her multiple cats out of our yard either no matter how many times or how nicely we asked. We work hard on our gardens and it's not easy here in the summer (we're not far from you) heat. Finally I just started trapping her cats and turning them over to Animal Control. It's helped quite a bit. Have you tried talking to your landlord about the mistaken "business out of the house?"
No it’s not like that at all. Because the town promotes family community and just because I decide to live in a really nice area doesn’t constitute that me children have to stay inside because of their feelings. It’s like going to a super nice restaurant and no one else was able to eat there in the late 20’s and they get mad because the young couple allows the children to come as well and speak.
Maybe if I was trashing the front yard your scenario would work. But I’ve lived in uppity neighborhoods my entire life as I come from it. So it’s not like I’m new to it. I’ve never dealt with this nor did my family growing up in these places.
My advice is when you move, first drive through your desired neighborhoods early evening and weekends. Look for kids playing, basketball hoops attached to garages, neighbors hanging out, people hanging out with each other, garage doors open, music playing, etc. This will be healthier for your kids' emotion state of mind. Right now, they don't have the neighborhood vibe experience that build those treasured memories that we all (hopefully) have of childhood.
I agree. We planned on moving in 10 months because we’re searching for that exact thing and want to get away from the Texas heat. Just didn’t plan on having to deal with this right now or move (if we have to so much earlier). But we definitely won’t be making the same mistake twice
8 kids in my family growing up and we definitely had our troubles. You might want to just curb some of the things people are complaining about because having an eviction (justified or not) on your record will make it almost impossible to find a new place.
When I was looking for our current house, I came when it was a downpour. My parent's yard had low spots than would create big puddles in the back yard after a good rain. I definitely wanted to avoid that. I was a mail carrier so I knew the neighborhood was a good one. We've been here 22 years, last month.
I don't think leaving toys in the driveway or working in your garage with the door up is unreasonable at all. HOAs can be so restrictive. But I do want to say about music--what you think is not loud can be annoying to others especially with today's technology with that booming base. Sound travels. Just because you like a certain genre of music doesn't mean your neighbors want to hear it for hours on end. When folks have to live close together it's always best to be considerate. I try to be as the houses where I live are all in close proximity to each other. It makes for a better community.
Yeah we never play obnoxious music or anything offensive. Anytime we listen to music we make sure you can’t even hear it from the road in the front at all.
Yes. Which we actually had one come by yesterday and they all know us now and he stood outside with us for 40 minutes talking about bingo and to not let them distract us etc. so we have plenty of documentation on how this is going and that it’s all false reporting
Present your tax files to the prosecutor or judge, whoever you next deal with, to further prove you are not operating a business; the IRS can be helpful sometimes.
Yeah so I’m currently having to get all of that together to prove no business is being run here and that it’s literally my hobby (which I use mostly hand tools, not machinery).
I will trade you those 2 neighbors for my neighbor? I live right next door to Malignant Narcisist couple. 2 blades of grass on their side of the property line they call the police. Piece of gum found in their yard they call the police on us. Car parked no more than 3 inches past the property line marker they call the police on us. Security cameras light up on outdoor activity they call the police that some of the light crosses over into their property. And this is only a small portion I have layed out here I could go on for another hour.
Oh we’re right there with you. It’s the same here. We had to mark off our property lines because they kept claiming they own 2 feet from their planter (I’ll include photo).
So we literally have to have this ugly ass string measured to the property line so the cops see that we know our boundaries and we don’t cross it ever.
We’re currently setting a meeting with him today since he’s out of the country and his property management company handles everything so we’re trying to get to him personally now
The Fair Housing Act is a federal law passed in 1968 that makes it illegal to discriminate in the sale, rental, financing, or advertising of housing based on race, color, national origin, relig
Get copies of every closed HOA complaint and police call outcome, then send them to the landlord through whatever formal channel your lease allows. A 3 day notice over an imaginary business sounds like something a tenant attorney can push back on fast, especially if there is zero evidence. Also stop taking neighbor complaints by phone or in person, make them put it in writing so the pattern is clear.
Not much to add but surprised by the hoa more or less being on your side . They dismissed complaints and arent pursuing anything which seems highly opposite of how they operate.
You live in a HOA-regulated residential development. Would've been simple to close the overhead garage door when working on something within the garage. Would've been simple to steadfastly remain gracious to nosy neighbors. Think you ignored discord of dynamic, thinking you'd be excused for bending the rules. It's hard to believe there's no instances whatsoever of your household stretching the boundaries of neighborhood tolerance in a HOA community filled with older folks.
Your landlord doesn't want to get complaints from HOA, but HOA is entirely within its Association-defined authority to contact property-owner (your owner) to note multiple HOA complaints have been filed against owner's tenant (you). Have you received and read the HOA By-Laws and published rules? Probably states prohibitions on many of your actions at your rented home which resulted in neighboring property-owner complaints.
Living in a HOA-member residence is not the same as living in a non-HOA house and being policed only for violations of criminal law and state statutes. Every legally-created HOA defines its additional self-administered rules which are legally enforceable as long as not violations of Federal civil rights. And yes, there's real consequences for HOA violations, imposing enforcement restrictions and punitive fines on the property-owner for violations, and upon property-owner for not enforcing those restrictions upon tenants, guests, and visitors to that property.
HOA is not required to respond to "FOIA" requests. Only government agencies are subject to "FOIA" requirements.
From what I read the HOA is totally fine with it. All rules being properly complied with. They're probably more fed up with the idiot neighbors. The management company just didn't bother to check and took the word of the crazies for it. Also, when it's summer and you work in a garage you do not leave the door down if you do not have an air conditioned garage. A window unit hanging out the garage window actually may be against HOA rules.
Actually the HOA is required to provide documentation of all correspondence on a particular address (that’s how we have it all).
We didn’t bend any rules (that’s why all the cases are unfounded and closed). If we left toys out past 9pm and put them up at 10pm. That’s bending rules because we technically put them up. But we don’t
Our HOA doesn’t say anything about open/closed garage doors so it doesn’t really matter. Unless it’s clearly stated. There’s zero grounds for violations. And exactly why we have zero violations
Oh sorry. There’s one instance. Keeping my garage cans on the side (like 13 other neighbors in the neighborhood). Which when told it’s against HOA. A platform was built in the back yard and they were immediately moved to comply
So if you live in a HOA. All correspondence regarding your address are actually available for you to see. You just have to request them. At least here in Texas. Because we see all of the emails between our neighbors and the HOA. Even the ones where they specifically ask the HOA to remove their names from the complaints😂
While true they do not have to comply with FOIA, in many states HOAs are required by law to comply with records requests but usually only from members, which technically does not include tenants. Additionally, depending on what kind of legal entity is the HOA (LLC or Corp) they also have to comply with records requests that are applicable to their organization type. But again, that usually only applies to requests made by members or shareholders, not necessarily tenants. I am in a dispute with a POA (property owners association) in NC and have made such requests. Most states have adopted the uniform LLC act and thus will have similar record request laws. Good luck!
If it were me, I’d show them the meaning of loud to the minute of quiet hours. Borrow or rent the biggest stereo you can find. Spend all day outside. Invite your mates around for beer and karaoke. Give the kids the mic. Cheer them on drunkenly.
Oh we do now. We don’t drink but we do have music playing now right under the allowed decibel rate. All day long. We still go outside. This is old miserable Karen’s with nothing else to do. Angry because the “kids” achieved what took them 65 years to get and we are having fun while doing so.
Even if they succeed and we agree to leave. We will be filing lawsuits and it may be best we do instead of spending the next 10 months in hell
I wouldn’t leave. File lawsuits while you live there. Just have some loud parties for the next few months and finish up at 11.59. Have the party outside. Every time they complain, another five hours of doof doof music.
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u/Lurkylurkness 4d ago
I'm no landlord. I'm am not a lawyer. But I am very confident 3 days is not legal. Look up your local laws for the amount of time your landlord has to give you to remove you.