Anyone who’s had a really good neighbor knows to never take them for granted.
But when a new neighbor moves in next to this homeowner, it quickly becomes obvious that their relationship won’t be nearly as smooth as the last one.
When the new homeowner starts feeling taken advantage of, a turf war for the ages begins.
Read on for all the juicy details.
AITA I placed a fence around my yard because my Neighbor is way too eager to talk to me and sort of rude?
My previous neighbor died a little under a year ago.
She was a very sweet old lady that I used to help out here and there and it resulted in a close friendship, despite me being a guy in my 20s and her being in her 80s.
The homeowner describes what made their relationship so special.
It is also important to add that she fully respected my privacy, which is very important to me.
I also pretty much allowed her to use a good portion of my yard since hers was basically tiny and she loved gardening, meanwhile my yard is giant.
This is important later, as it is easy to think a large part of my yard is a part of her house.
Now to the issue.
Then one day, a new neighbor moves in. Things start off well enough.
2 months ago, a man in his early 70s moved in, he immediately knocked on my door, introduced himself and referred to me as “The nice neighbor the family told me about.”
A bit weird, but I guess it was a part of the sales pitch the lady’s children used to sell the house.
Good neighbors are always a plus.
Apparently after that conversation, he decided we were best friends.
But the neighbor thought things went much better than they actually did.
I got home from work, he literally waited for me to show up nearly every time and I was forced into an hour-long conversation.
He started monopolizing the driveway with his 2 trucks and his fishing boat.
Again, I own the driveway. Me sharing it is me being nice.
The homeowner sets their boundaries, but it doesn’t take long for the new neighbor to cross them again.
Of course, I spoke to him about it, so he moved the boat to “His” yard, AKA my yard.
I often have a BBQ with friends on the weekends and, since restrictions were lifted, I started holding them again.
Dude literally invites himself.
Then one day, enough was enough.
Now, the final straw for me was when I got home and he and his son were cutting down 2 large trees from “their” yard, again MY yard.
I approached them and started a pretty heated discussion in which I finally told him to get off of my property, move all their stuff if off my yard otherwise I’d have it towed.
They complied, and the next day I bought a load of building supplies and invited a few friends to help.
The homeowner figures the new neighbor could use a visual.
We put down a fence on my neighbors side of the yard which turned “his” yard into the tiny stamp sized cage it is in reality.
Luckily he wasn’t home that day, because he was furious the next day, accusing me of stealing his ground.
So I told him to get bent and we finished construction around the entire yard in the next few days.
As a result, the neighbor will have to downsize.
Apparently, he is now forced to get rid if his boat and one truck as there is not enough room on the street and he has been threatening legal action.
Some of my the other neighbors think I was way too harsh, kind of a jerk, and should at least let him use my driveway.
So AITA?
It seems there’s no turning back now for these two neighbors turned enemies.
Redditors share their thoughts.
The neighbor was annoying, but maybe he deserves a small shred of empathy.
If solid boundaries aren’t established, someone is always bound to cross the line.
This property manager agrees sharing your land is a slippery slope.
The new neighbor messed with the wrong house.
Unfortunately, there will always be neighbors who take advantage of someone else’s kindness.
It just goes to show that good fences make good neighbors.
If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.
