Friday, December 09, 2005

Trailer Trash Neighbors From Hell

I'm seeking advice from the internet.

Let me preface by saying, I live in a trailer park. (Hey, it's all I could afford when I got divorced and I didn't want a condo (Read - expensive apartment). It's really not that bad. I live in the newest section (1987) that has large lots and nice "manufactured housing". I'm talking cathedral ceilings, skylights, garden tubs with a separate shower, my son even has a half bath in his bedroom. I have a decent sized yard that allows me to have a nice garden & room for the dog to run.

The drawbacks are that you pay rent & mortgage and....You live fairly close to your neighbors. One side of my home is my yard - the other is my neighbors. Most everyone in the neighborhood is pretty cool, quiet and keep to themselves. That is except for the ones that live next to me.

You've all heard about neighbors from hell, well....I live next to the definition of "trailer trash".

Seriously, I've put up with a lot over the last 11 years.

Here are some examples:

snowballs thrown at my house
rocks and eggs thrown at my house
soiled diapers thrown in my back yard
my son sucker punched so hard it broke his nose and he is constantly verbally harassed
plants trampled in my front garden
loud booming stereo (this is constant and ongoing with many calls to the local PD)
A grown man peeping in my windows (a complaint was filed and he was found guilty, got a slap on the wrist)
constant noise - yelling, screaming, cursing
comings and goings at all hours of the night
Revving engines and exhaust fumes
Listening to mental, emotional, verbal & physical abuse
fish heads left on my doorstep and car

There's more, but you get the idea.

When I first moved in, things were fine. I lived next to a woman and her husband, their grown son lived with them. There was some loud shouting, but that ended when the husband died. Then the son went to jail for some reason and things were quiet, until the grandchildren moved in.

At first it was cool, my son had kids his age living next door. He played with them for a while, until their behavior became a problem. The two boys, 6 and 5 (at the time my son was 6) basically ran amok with no supervision. The only time Grandma was outside was at 4 o'clock in the afternoon to hose down the driveway. A tradition still in effect 9 years later. (I swear, "a broom" is not in this woman's vocabulary, and the words "water shortage" just don't apply to her).

A short time later, their mother, her husband, and their daughter moved in. Three adults and three children living in a two bedroom trailer. They continued to breed and produced two more children. Now, there were 5 children and three adults living in a two bedroom trailer. I found out later that this woman actually had six children by four different fathers, she started having babies at 16. She only has custody of five of the children though. What a surprise.

So, you get the basic idea, loud, noisy, abusive, dirty (the trash and mess are a sight). They have no respect for anyone. A family that represents the cycle of abuse and welfare abuse. A couple years ago charges were brought against the eldest son and friends for sexual abuse against his stepsister and another 8 year old. Nice.

The abusive father was finally thrown out about a year ago. This is the man that I caught peeping in my windows 4 years ago. A man that convinced his wife that I pressed charges because I made a pass at him and he refused. PUUULLLEASE! The guy looks like a 5 foot Neanderthal. I'm talking nasty here. But, she bought it, hook, line & sinker. And believe me, she's no prize, this woman has a face only a mother could love. My son has even commented about how homely she is.

Recently - he's been back though. With his loud Trans Am and loud pickup truck, spending nights here and there. She's just dumb enough to take the SOB back. Then I'll be able to enjoy the sounds of him beating his wife and children again.

Basically, it's hell living next to these people. I've complained to the park manager till I'm blue in the face. They were supposed to be evicted 5 years ago. They're still here. It's a park rule that "guests" cannot stay more than 30 days. The Grandmother is the one that owns the home. The daughter and children are considered guests. They've been there 10 years! The manager and owners are nothing more than slum lords that want to sit back and collect the rent checks. No help there.

This family is like the Munsters. They don't come out until 8 o'clock at night to play in the driveway, right next to my open living room windows, during the summer. Then they make all kinds of noise. Just at the time when I am winding down and want to relax. I've been woken several times at 11PM by pounding base of vulgar rap music. Nothing like being woken up by Eminem rapping about fuck this and fuck that. There is the occasional toddler in pajamas at noon time dancing on the car without an adult in sight. I'm talking quality parenting here.

I want to make one thing clear - I HAVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO THESE PEOPLE. I mind my own business and have even lent them tools and helped them out on occasion. I've called the police department countless times about the loud music and fighting that never seems to end, but only when things become completely intolerable. I let a lot slide.

So, imagine my surprise when I got home tonight to find that "someone" had gone on to my property and shoveled 4 feet of snow on to my doorstep. No shit, it was 4 feet high at my front door. The tracks in the snow show that two individuals went on to my property and shoveled snow from the driveway on my steps. Do I need any other evidence to think that it was the delinquents next door? I think not. Nevermind that I left my house at 6:30 AM and didn't return until 7PM to find 14 inches of snow in my drive, plus what the plows left.

My son wants nothing more than to throw rocks through every window and beat the shit out of the eldest boys. I have to say, I don't blame him, I'd love a piece of that. He & a friend spent 8 hours today snowblowing and shoveling driveways in my parents neighborhood. He worked so hard that he woke up shouting that he couldn't feel his leg 20 minutes ago. He was writhing in agony at the muscle spasms in his thighs. But, I'm also afraid that these same freaks will burn my house to the ground while I'm at work if he does. It serves no purpose to get into a pissing contest with these losers.

I'm at a loss here.

I can go to the police department tomorrow and file a complaint. I have no proof that it was my neighbors and nothing will come of it. Complaining to the park manager is a joke.

So, what do I do? What satisfactory recourse do I have? How do I get these total waste of a human life things to leave me alone? Does anyone out there have neighbor horror stories and how they dealt with it? Ideas? Anyone? I wish I could deal with them as tactfully as MM dealt with his Really Big Home Improvement Store problem and get the satisfactory results that he did. Help me people. I'm just left of going postal here.

4 comments:

Shafa said...

My first reaction is to crumble and dissolve styrofoam pellets into gasoline, aka napalm.

Start documenting. Notes and photos of all the stuff they do to you. That way you have proof of what goes on. Also begin looking into what kind of action you can take against the park owners for refusing to enforce their own rules, which is in effect a breach of contract, I think. It may be, it may not be. Just educate yourself and keep proof to backup your assertions.

If you accumulate enough evidence, then you can take legal action against your neighbors. Other than that, there's not much else I can think of. Let me know if you need any other help.

My Puerto-Rican friends and I can always show up with baseball bats and switchblades... Kinda like West Side Story, but without the singing and dancing.

KFarmer said...

I have been in your shoes- it sux. Perhaps you could ask Santa for a cam-corder and film those pecker heads- then take it to the local authorities.

Bottom line- you should not have to do any of this. A persons home is her castle and you work hard for what you have. They will get theirs, it's just a matter of time. Mean while, collect evidence and try to stay calm. Bastards.

izchan said...

your paying rent. and you are getting shit. logical action list.

1. Complain to the people in charge.
2. Complain to the people at the higher level.
3. Complain to the police and lodge reports.
4. find a different trailer park.

I am not asking you to be non-confrontational, but from the description that you are giving, I am seeing a dysfunctional family that has nothing to loose when they go postal. I mean these guys DO NOT NEED TO FOLLOW THE LAW. It does not apply to them because they really have nothing that the law can punish them on.

Jail time is vacation to them.

Beating them up is condisered a massage at the parlour.

Killing them means, you go to jail.

You have a son and other more important stuff to protect. Thats the what the law is for, to protect people like you and you use them to defend yourself. when the law does not do what its intended to do, then its time to move to a place where that law can keep you safe.

Do not take the law into your hand. Let them do their job if it is possible.

Its not being afraid or running away. Its being sensible and fight battles which are beneficial to you and your family.

I am not joking about this.

If those that are suppose to protect you dont. Then leave. ok?

Anonymous said...

WRITE ONE, JUST ONE GOOD LEGALESE LETTER TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY - THE ORGANIZATION YOU HAVE THE LEASE CONTRACT WITH. BACK IT UP WITH PHOTOGRAPHS, DATES TIMES, RESPONSE, IF ANY, OF EACH THE MAJOR (*CRIMINAL*) HARASSMENT EVENTS. ENSURE YOU CC EVERY SINGLE LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL AUTHORITYTHAT MAY HAVE JURISDICTION. GET NAMES AND ADDRESSES. THE LIST OF CC'S SHOULD BE AT LEAST TWO SINGLE TYPED PAGES. THEN RETURN RECEIPT/REGISTER EVERY SINGLE CC. IT'S A "PRODUCTION" PROJECT, BUT WORTH IT. THE CC'S ARE THE AUDIENCE. GET A DOCTORS NOTE RE THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL DAMAGE TO YOUR CHILD. GET A LAYWER, ADD HIM/HER TO THE CC. MAKE SURE YOU ADVISE, IN THE LETTER, IF YOU DO NOT GET RELIEF WITHIN 30 DAYS, YOU WILL PURSUE LEGAL ACTION. THEN, REGARDLESS OF WHAT ACTION THEY TAKE, DO PROCEED AND FILE SUIT FOR AT LEAST 1 MILLION FOR THE DAMAGE TO YOUR KID. MAKE SURE YOU CC THE SAME LIST - TO ADVISE OF THE LAWSUIT. YOUR LAWYER AND YOU CAN HAVE A LOT OF FUN WITH THIS.

HAVE FUN, LIFE IS TOO SHORT.