I awoke this morning to find my neighbor had begun re-roofing, my driveway covered with debris, and my car blocked in. No warning or discussion about this. Based on some prior problems, had actually specifically told the neighbor to stay off my property.
Roughly speaking, what are the legal ramifications? Must I give them "reasonable" access, or can I say no more? I've had it.
you sir, are a dick.
How? Why? His car is blocked in, and is driveway is covered in shit. His neighbour should have asked, its called courtsey and tresspassing.
I agree he absolutely should have, but neighbors have to get along & he already told his neighbor to stay off his property. this is a lose lose situation
Most likely it ain't worth the lawyer unless you have substantial damage. Reroofing usually only takes a day or two, so it'll be over quickly. If you decide to push back, these things can escalate. I have no idea of the situation and what parts the two of you have played in creating the antagonism, but nobody benefits when neighbors fight.
It's hard to prove damages in such a case. It is difficult to put a monetary damage value on being inconvenienced because you couldn't take your car out. If the debris is just a mess and didn't damage your property it'll be gone soon. Take some digital photos of the debris, call the police about the trespass, have them come out and talk to the neighbor, don't let the roofers on your property and hire a cleanup crew to pick up the debris. Then take it to small claims court. Be advised this will be a huge hassle and annoyance for everybody and you won't really solve anything.
I can't understand why the neighbor would piss on your shoes like that, particularly after you told them to stay off your property. I've reroofed houses that are 3' from the property line and made the necessary arrangements to keep the debris contained on the owners property. It's possible that the owner left the reroofing in the hands of the roofer and didn't make any mention of your property being totally off limits. Too many contractors assume that a little debris on someone else's property comes with the territory and they're happy to clean it up. If the owner didn't say anything to the roofer, the roofer should have still rang your bell and told you what to expect.
R
Call the police and have them talk to the neighbor and tell him he is trespassing.
Unless they are causing damage, I recommend you just suck it up. It will only be for a couple of days. You might approach the foreman and ask him to have his crew do an extra-thorough job of cleaning up your property when he is done. He will probably oblige.
If he speaks English. I had my house re-roofed last fall. Had 8 workers, have to give them credit, they worked but not a damn one of them spoke English. I didn't like it but there wasn't much I could do that late in the game.
why do you care as long as the job is right ? If I'm working for someone that's hard to get along with or if they bug my workers none of them "speak" English either
kickstart
Also call the village building department. Most towns have ordinaces against leaving debris out, AND against leaving debris on someone else's property. If you're having trouble with a neighbor its good to have an objective legal record of his/her intrusive actions.
S
My "Anglo" contractor has been nothing but trouble. My grandparents didn't speak English when they came here. Times have changed and we all just better get used to it or move to Canada.
This summer I drove from Niagara Falls through Canada to Michigan. Along the way we stopped at a Wendy's for a bite. Still fairly close to Everyone behind the counter, from the manager to the guy cleaning the toilets was an Anglo. I was shocked, I have seen a fast food place staffed this way in a very, very long time.
S
One . They were not legal and they were taking jobs from my own country men who could have used the job. Here I want to see every employer sent to jail who hires illegal's and I (unknowing) did the same If they are going to work in my country, learn the language, And before you give me a cute answer, yes it is English.
Second. The SOB's screwed up a few things that I had to have the roofing owner out to re-do. The company knew my background as a long time contractor before they started and if they would screw up my job what would they do to a little old widow?
Call the cops and have them make sure the guys make your driveway useable. They need your permission for that. Then if you need to call the cops again, they'll be cited.
why do you care as long as the job is right ?
Since the immigrant issue is a sore point with you I'm a little surprised that you didn't ask the contractor who exactly comprised his crew before you hired him. Of course he could have lied to you... The other issue is how do you know they were illegal? You're making assumptions, maybe correct, maybe not.
The main issue I have with the keep-em-out-at-all-costs crowd, same as the outsourcing-is-killing-our-businesses camp, is that we're not in a race to the bottom. No one that I know of, born in this country, has/had ambitions of being a laborer. It seems to me that all too many people born and bred American feel that they're entitled to a cushy accounting job or maybe one as a stockbroker.
"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because philosophy is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."
--John W. Gardner
As another long time contractor I've gotten over the expectation of perfect work from others on my house - particularly as a contractor that "knows" what things should cost. It's tough being cheap and a perfectionist. ;)
RYou have every right to demand that he not make a mess on your property. Go over and inform him that his trash is all over your driveway and "ask" him to remove it. If he is a good neighbor he will stop his work and immediately clean up your property (as any good neighbor would.) If he refuses, you now have reason to call the police. Tell the cop that you attempted to discuss this with him and what he said. Next have the cop threaten arrest and see if that gets his attemtion (it should.)
If he was a good neighbor to begin with, he would have taken measures to make certain that he did not throw his trash on your property, even if that meant it was more trouble. As the old saying goes, "if you were really sorry, you wouldn't have done it in the first place".
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