Pesky neighbors--A rant

[FlockEweFarm]

Im not offended. So what if people perceive me as a little over the top? I do not want to spend 10 years of my life caught up in a lawsuit like my poor sis did. She had her idjit husbands blue heeler in a chain link pen on her property. It was actually in a pen inside a fenced yard, because the dog was old and nippy. Woman came over with her darn poster child for ad/hd kid and little bouncy boy decided to take the tour in the yard and he began it by kicking Buddys pen. Buddy nailed him through the wire, and little bouncy boy ended up with a couple of stitches in his calf. The father of the brat was a lawyer who had coveted the nice lil farm my sis had, so guess what? bouncy boys calf suddenly became worth $150k! This was over 15 years ago, and it was over the amount of her liability and even exceeded the appraised value of her place in BFE East Texas, so she fought it with her insurance company, and for 10 years it dragged through the courts, and consumed her. I fully believe it aged her prematurely and gave her the heart condition she now suffers from. She used to love animals, but now she wont have one on the place, and she especially hates dogs.
I would rather be the crazy lady who is most likely to open a can on someone, than the sued lady who lost her knickers because she was afraid of looking like she was paranoid. Not that anyone would want my place, its a pimple on the fundament of the San Fransisco Peaks. Im only here until my Masters is done this time next year, and then.....whoosh!

 

[12 Acres]

Quote:
Amen! You can't be too careful in our lawsuit-happy country. Bottom line--if you weren't invited you'd better get off my property!

 

[CritterHill]

Quote:
Was my comment to you what Amazon Doc is getting her knickers in a twist over? I was actually seriously agreeing with you on that one!

My entire point in this thread was that people tend not to read minds and you need to give them some clue they aren't welcome on your property.

Your post laid out pretty much every single method of communication I could think of and if they ignored all that, they get what is coming to them.

There was truly no offense intended. I was serious and it seems so were you.

If that wasn't what AD is getting at, then I give up. Apparently something has been read into my posts on this thread that was not intended. So I'll give a blanket apology to anyone that was offended here and say that it was not the intent.

 

[Oblio13]

You guys are making me appreciate my neighbors.

I find that it pays big dividends to help them out once in a while - cutting up a tree that's blown over, snowblowing their sidewalk while I'm doing my driveway, and - of course - taking them some eggs.

 

[chiknlady]

Breathe in.....breathe out.....

Neighbors are people with whom you share a vicinity. Some are friends, some are idiots, some are lifesavers, and others are weird. That being said--we have to live together and learn to co-exist. From my perspective I had the expectation that my neighbors would wait to be invited to enter onto my property. That did not happen, therefore my sensibilities were offended and I reacted with outrage and confusion. From my neighbors perspective, they were anxious and interested in "playing" I had 7 adults and 1 child expressing their inner child--actually excited enough to see chickens that they lost all sense of reason and entered private property to do so.

My animals also include a rambunctious Pitbull and we all know that if I had let him out--without knowing there were people on my property--it would be his life at stake. As for liability--they were not invited so the law is very different depending on who is on your property as a different duty of care is owed to each class of people. ( I spent a good part of my career in Insurance)

"Invitees
When a homeowner invites or induces others to enter the premises for any lawful purpose, this triggers the homeowner's duty to exercise ordinary care to keep the premises safe. An invitation may be expressed (i.e. through words such as "please come in"), implied from known customs or use of the premises, or inferred from the homeowner's conduct. Contractors are typically considered invitees.

Licensees
A licensee is a person who has no contractual relation with the property owner, but who is permitted -- expressly or implicitly -- to be on the premises. A social guest at a residence is normally considered a licensee. The homeowner is usually liable only for willful or wanton injury to a licensee. This means that the homeowner is required to exercise enough care to prevent injury to a licensee who is actually known to be -- or could reasonably be expected to be -- within the range of a dangerous act or condition.

Trespassers
Surprising to many homeowners is the fact that a duty of care is also owed to people who have no permission or lawful right to be on the premises. A trespasser is a person who enters the premises of another without express or implied permission of the owner, for the trespasser's own benefit or amusement. A homeowner cannot lawfully prepare pitfalls or traps for a trespasser in order to purposefully injure the trespasser. Once the owner is aware of the trespasser's presence or can reasonably anticipate such presence from the circumstances -- evidence of skateboarders in an unfinished swimming pool would fall into this category -- then the owner has a duty to exercise ordinary care to avoid injuring the trespasser."

I don't want this to cause a spark amongst BYC'ers as I think we are all on the same page and I have my own issues that I am working through. I live here alone with my daughter now, and I don't feel safe with strangers about--primarily because of trauma I have gone through. So I hope we all stay safe and remember to kill them with kindness and to turn the other cheek ( even if you are doing it to hide the scowl)

Peace, love and light to all who enter here....

Calamity--you are a'right girl--if I need help--I am putting you on speed dial...

Thank you to all for weighing in as I clearly wanted perspective and I appreciate hearing those that differ from mine the most--because there are always more than one sides to an issue...

Chiknlady

 

[speckledhen]

Well said. I may be the anti-social person who doesn't go to n'hood parties, but if they need me, I'm there. If I need them, I know of several neighbors I can count on. Some of us respect each others' privacy, some disregard a closed gate on a 200 ft driveway and perimeter fencing. I just want someone to ASK me if they can see my chickens. Then I'll probably let them if they spray their shoes and dont spook my birds. I dont want some little kid I am unaware of on my place getting hurt by one of my roosters, who are not used to little people. And I like to not be in full dress and makeup when I go out on my deck, either.

 

[Ringo71]

As long as nothing comes up missing or my chickens don't get hurt I could care less if my NEIGHBORS come inside my house when I'm not home. lol I'm a single guy and I love it when people stop over for a unexpected visit or want to go fishing in my pond. I've met some great people that my NEIGHBORS have brought over to fish, some are good friends of mine now.

I guess I do have great NEIGHBORS though, which is probably the exception to the rule. hehe I was going to sell my house a couple of years ago and my neighbors kids literally started crying when they found out I might not be next door. Everywhere I've lived I've been blessed with good NEIGHBORS. When I lived in the city I had a NEIGHBOR that worked in a brewery and brought home all kinds of good stuffs!!! lol

I'm not really worried about getting sued as I'm probably liable for those that have permission or don't. If I had a prob with any of the kids around me all I'd have to do is call the parents and it would be nipped in the butt. Again, I have great NEIGHBORS though, so my opinion is probably a bit one sided. hehe Besides, it would probably be more of a pain to sue me than what it would be worth. lol

I guess the only problem I have with my NEIGHBORS is they try to set me up with every single woman they know and they keep my fridge well stocked with goodies. I guess the food part really isn't a problem. lol Seriously though, I love my NEIGHBORS to death, almost to the point I'd consider them family.

Edit:

We are talking about NEIGHBORS right? If I saw strangers poking about my property it would be a different story. The OP said her neighbors though so... I just assumed that's what was being discussed. lol

I think my NEIGHBORS would chase anyone off that appeared to be exhibiting strange or unwanted behaviors on my property. They keep a good eye on my place, which can be a bad thing when a guy has to tinkle and is too lazy to run to the house. haha If only my NEIGHBOR didn't mow the trees down by accident on the east side, I would be able to run around buck naked!!! Course, I'd never do a thing like that!!? hehe

 

[Chick_a_dee]

We're very lucky our neighbors are so good, we're surrounded on 2.5 sides by the farmer who sold us the property, and he's great, he cut our hay in exchange for our alfalfa which he can use for his cows, and we can't use for horses. His kids brought cookies over, I mean they're just great! and our other neighbors are good too.