Facebook farce?

[Cupcakes1827]

My problem is more than likely small in comparison to many but I am not sure where to turn.

My house is up for sale and I have lost 2 sales in 2 weeks because of my neighbours three wheeled motor bike parked on his front lawn. On his driveway is an old car under tarpaulin that hasn't moved for over 3 years.
Some of you would say 'go and ask him to move it', well this is where it gets complicated. Three years ago my husband and I applied for planning to convert our integral garage into a room. The garage could not be seen by next door and as far as we were concerned would be of no significance or cause any difficulty once converted. We didn't know for quite some time that he had objected to the application. The lies he told the local council were ridiculous! He started blocking our drive access with his car, he planted trees in tubs on the grass to prevent me being able to open my car door properly and get my children in or out of the car, and shouting abuse at us. Last year his garden gate blew down in a windy storm onto my car which was parked on our drive. It caused £250 worth of damage for which he neither apologised or offered to pay for. We even had a witness who saw the gate on my car write a letter stating this and still he refused to pay. So you can probably now understand why it is impossible to approach him.
Anyway, after losing these house sales I asked my Facebook friends "How do I get rid of an eyesore? A three wheeled eyesore." No names mentioned, no addresses, nothing. There were only 2 friends on my FB list who know where we live as we are neighbours. Whilst I was on the school run this 'neighbour' I considered to be a friend printed off my Facebook status and posted it through the eyesore neighbours door. Upon returning home I found the paper through my letter box with the hand written words "Ask politely you ignorant arrogant sh** stirring woman" Then at 9.00pm the police turn up knocking on my door!
He called the police on me! Shocked wasn't the word.
In a nutshell the Special officer said "It's Facebook. Just don't speak to them at all." Well seeing as we haven't spoken for 3 years that's no problem to me.
However, what is bugging me is the other neighbour taking my intellectual property and giving it to someone else knowing we have issues with them. Do I have any comeback on him for that? Do I have any case against the eyesore neighbour for writing what he did on the printout?
If I have posted this in the wrong place please point me in the right direction as this is the first time I have used a forum like this.
Any help and advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

[wales01man]

Re: Facebook farce?

Why should he move it if its legally there? instead of using facebook why did you not ask them to move it as for intellectual property it was on a website viewed possibly by millions as for what he said some may say he was correct?

[Cupcakes1827]

Re: Facebook farce?

Wow, for a start I am not ignorant nor arrogant and most certainly not a sh** stirrer! He has made our lives extremely difficult over the past three years. We want a house sale and because of his bike being there we are not getting one, he doesn't like us so if it gets moved and we get a house sale it's a win win on both sides. Did you not read why we can't approach him? Guess not.

[wales01man]

Re: Facebook farce?

If he damaged your car its criminal damage?were police involved if you don't talk to him you may never sell the house im guessing getting a solicitor involved is a no no as for the win win situation maybe he don't care either way unless you can reach a compromise with him or get a buyer who doesn't view it as an eyesore your rather stuck,
We all have had or known bad neighbours careful that this doesn't escalate into something bigger remember a prospective buyer may ask questions about the neighbours as I don't know either of you I cannot say if you are what he says you are but putting things on Facebook that may get to him makes him think of you as one

[Cupcakes1827]

Re: Facebook farce?

Yes we went to the police and they point blank refused to help as did a solicitor. He denied all knowledge of the damage and basically told my husband to f*** off. Before all of this we had a good relationship. We looked after their house for 3 years while they let it out as they were posted away with the army. We cut their grass, informed their letting agency of the fence falling down in winds, and I cared for their dog for 2 days as they were moving back up and needed to drive their old car up and it is only a 2 seater so they could not bring the dog at the same time. I'm greatly saddened by how he has behaved towards us. As for the other neighbour who printed off my status he can't even look at me anymore so I guess he feels as guilty as hell for doing what he did. It isn't me who is bothered by the bike, I've lived here for 9 years and he has always had one. It's the fact that prospective buyers are driving by and seeing the stuff he has outside and they assume it's not a nice area. Obviously I appreciate it's their issue but if the bike wasn't so visible it would make it a lot easier to get a sale. This is genuine feedback from the people who have been and viewed our house.

[enquirer]

Re: Facebook farce?

On his driveway is an old car under tarpaulin that hasn't moved for over 3 years.

Possible nuisance.

Three years ago my husband and I applied for planning to convert our integral garage into a room. The garage could not be seen by next door and as far as we were concerned would be of no significance or cause any difficulty once converted. We didn't know for quite some time that he had objected to the application. The lies he told the local council were ridiculous!

Do you know what he said? If the lies were particularly outrageous, it might be defamation.

He started blocking our drive access with his car, he planted trees in tubs on the grass to prevent me being able to open my car door properly and get my children in or out of the car, and shouting abuse at us.

Pity you didn't catch this on video.

Last year his garden gate blew down in a windy storm onto my car which was parked on our drive. It caused £250 worth of damage for which he neither apologised or offered to pay for. We even had a witness who saw the gate on my car write a letter stating this and still he refused to pay.

Given the evidence, if you claimed through your insurance, they would probably have pursued him for the cost of repairs. Alternatively, you might have been able to sue, alleging negligence.

Anyway, after losing these house sales I asked my Facebook friends "How do I get rid of an eyesore? A three wheeled eyesore." No names mentioned, no addresses, nothing. There were only 2 friends on my FB list who know where we live as we are neighbours. Whilst I was on the school run this 'neighbour' I considered to be a friend printed off my Facebook status and posted it through the eyesore neighbours door. Upon returning home I found the paper through my letter box with the hand written words "Ask politely you ignorant arrogant sh** stirring woman".

Possible harassment. Note that monitoring another persons activity on the internet is specifically included in the definition of harassment. Always be careful when using Facebook, twitter, and other social networking sites.

Then at 9.00pm the police turn up knocking on my door! He called the police on me! Shocked wasn't the word.

What did they say was the complaint? This might be worth pursuing, depending on how recent it is. It is also faintly possible that he committed a criminal offence.

However, what is bugging me is the other neighbour taking my intellectual property and giving it to someone else knowing we have issues with them. Do I have any comeback on him for that?

No.

Do I have any case against the eyesore neighbour for writing what he did on the printout?

Possible harassment.

Overall, it sounds as if it's time for a very stiff letter from your solicitor.

[wales01man]

Re: Facebook farce?

think a solicitors letter may make things worse the OP needs to find away to talk to the neighbour after all they were once friends

[des8]

Re: Facebook farce?

Neighbours falling out....nearly as bad as family feuds.
Agree with Wales' comments in post 7.
At the moment it all sounds like "handbags" and I certainly wouldn't escalate the problem by going down the solicitor/police/legal route.
As long as the material he is storing (car under a tarpaulin and a tricycle) aren't dangerous there's not much to be done. He planted trees (presumably on his own ground) and you couldn't open your car doors...not very neighbourly perhaps but nothing wrong with that. You have to park elsewhere.
IMO the only result of going down the legal route is to line the solicitor's pocket and worsen relations.
Try talking (not arguing) again

[labman]

Re: Facebook farce?

Well, you're getting two very different types of help and advice, both with their own merits and downfalls. Ultimately only you can decide which way you want to go, if either. Exercising your right to trim trees which overhang your garden so you can get out of your car is reasonable; asking him to secure the gate is reasonable if he hasn't already.

The police usually attend incidents like this as there's not a lot happening and they are trying to stop anything escalating that would cause problems. I wouldn't worry about being visited by them. They usually leave a number for you to call if you have problems in this sort of case. Did they? That could be handy.

To me, the planning permission incident and the sudden blocking of your driveway and planting of shrubs sound like two separate incidents. Did you have a falling out over the planning permission which led to him doing this?

You do have some redress as outlined above, and you have the other approach as outlined by Wales and Des. I'm not going to comment further, as I feel there's a bit missing somewhere which links the jigsaw together. :beagle:

[Cupcakes1827]

Re: Facebook farce?

With regards to the planning permission he told the council we continuously look in their front window when we park our cars, it looks like we are as their window is in the natural eyeline when you pull onto our driveway, after all this is a housing estate and not a country field. To combat that we always reverse onto our drive. He said that if we convert the gagrage into a bedroom it will cause parking issues, I fail to see how when our drive is wide enough to get our 2 cars on and he's the one who obstructs the road. Other people have complained about his inconsiderate parking. He also said that while we were having work done inside the house the workmen constantly walked over their grass. The workmen never once set foot on their grass and any cutting was done in our back garden to prevent mess at the front of the house. They tidied up after themselves every day. When we originally talked about the planning it was to be as a bedroom for my eldest son, he actually left home before the planning application was put through so we made the room into a computer/playroom. Had he actually bothered to talk to us we would have happily explained this. The planning was passed in 2010 and we didn't do the work until 2012. This next part is a complete mystery to me. On his objection he claimed his wife was recovering from a cancer operation and had to rest all day and that any building work would prevent this, I honestly have no idea if this is true or not as they certainly didn't say "Listen, * has been poorly could you possibly wait a while before starting any building work?" Had they said this then yes we would have held off, as it was it was 2 years before any work started and it was completed in 8 weeks! But, while supposedly meant to be recovering she was in full time employment as a cleaner. I remember clear as day saying to her how happy I was to hear that she had a job as she had been looking for quite a while. I shall say again, I honestly don't know if she had cancer.
Enquirer, As for the blocking of the driveway I have photos of that. The trees have been moved and planted elsewhere.
The police gave no reason for the visit, I have no number other than 101 to call should they start being abusive.
Labman, may I ask what you feel is the missing link?

[labman]

Re: Facebook farce?

Labman, may I ask what you feel is the missing link?

If I knew what the missing link was, it wouldn't be missing! :tinysmile_grin_t:

[Cupcakes1827]

Re: Facebook farce?

That made me chuckle for the first time this week :tung:

[Cupcakes1827]

Re: Facebook farce?

Could someone please explain how libel works, I'm a bit confused about it. :confused2:
Thank you.

[des8]

Re: Facebook farce?

Briefly libel is the publishing in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others.Publication need only be to one person, but it must be a statement which claims to be fact, and is not clearly identified as an opinion

Are you planning to utter a libel:rolleyes2: or sue for libel:badidea:? IMO both courses of action to be avoided.

[teaboy2]

Re: Facebook farce?

Briefly libel is the publishing in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others.Publication need only be to one person, but it must be a statement which claims to be fact, and is not clearly identified as an opinion

Are you planning to utter a libel:rolleyes2: or sue for libel:badidea:? IMO both courses of action to be avoided.

Agreed - As to be honest, he'd have more grounds to sue Cupcakes for libel, as not mentioning names, addresses etc is no defense if you knew the person you were talking to would know who you were talking about in any case, which you admitted they would here!

By the way, a Three Wheeled bike is known as a Trike, and it maybe an eyesore to you cupcakes, but to him and to others it will likely not be if it is well maintained and in working order. So stating its an eyesore as if it was a matter of fact, like you did on facebook, when it may well be well maintained is libelous and can lead to damage to your neighbors reputation or course them distress.

To me this sounds like a petty feud. The gate was an act of god, so hardly his fault, as it could have happened at any time, whether your car was there or not. though granted his home insurance would have covered it i suspect. And really you should have made a claim via your insurance company, if you knew he was likely to stick a finger up at you and they would have recovered the cost of repair from him as mentioned earlier in the thread.

In regards tree branches that over hang in to your property, well that is actually trespass as it invades the airspace directly above your land, so the fact they are planted in his land is irrelevant - So you do have grounds to take action over the trees, but little else to be honest.

Is it not possible to take picture of your house at an angle where the neighbors Trike and car under tarpaulin can not be seen? can you not erect a 6ft fence (with planning permission) between your land and his front lawn? Such fence would prevent him saying you look into his front window when pulling on the drive too.

As for the police turning up, how can you not know whey they came, you stating yourself it was because your neighbor reported what you had put on Facebook to them - Trolling is actually the word for it. In this case what he puts on his land, so long as it doesn't trespass on yours, which the trees branches appear to be, then its frankly none of your business to put it bluntly, and as such you have no say over it, unless it causes an environmental issue or social nuisance, such as his blocking your entry to your drive etc.