Home › Forums › Open Discussion › My hillbilly infestation…
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August 5, 2008 at 7:53 pm #587695
ToddinWestwoodMemberTwo years ago this Oct. a family moved in across the street from us. I had a bad feeling about them from the start.
I went over and offered a hand and introduced myself. I politely told him that this end of the block, everyone knows each other, keeps an eye out for the neighbors, and is nice. He flat out asked me if I was a home owner or renter. His response was “oh, a homeowner….well I’ll tell you, we had trouble with the neighbors at our last place”
Well , almost two years into this, now I know why.
His family and dogs have trashed the house to the point of probably never being a good home again. They tore the blinds down and put up sheets, ripped up all the grass in the yard, filled the back yard with garbage bags and engine parts, they have a total of 6 cars and trucks, of which only 3 run, barely, constantly out working on said cars and trucks, spilling, dumping oil all over the street, piles of broken furniture and debris in the front and back yards at any time. Their kids feel everyone else’s yards are now their play area.
I have asked him to please park some of his vehicles somewhere else. I even offered to help him tow them around back.
It has gotten to the point where the neighbors on this end of the block have sent an annonymus letter to the owner stating these facts. We have called the city to report the mess and the cars.
It has now come to a point where they wait till the very last day for a city inspection, then move everything and clean up enough to pass, THEN IT STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN.
I only wish they were drug dealers, then I could have a leg to stand on with getting them evicted.
We live on the border of White Center on a block where everyone either is a first time owner or has been here since the 40’s. Everyone at least keeps their place clean and kept up.
where do we go from here?
August 5, 2008 at 9:00 pm #633400
AnonymousInactiveSorry to hear that. Sounds like they are renters.. I’ve lived next to house renters and have had more issues that when I live next to owners. In SOME cases, there is just a different mind set that renters / landlords have. Nothing you can really do about it, I guess. I have heard where people are doing this sort of thing for years, 10 – 15 years before the city will do anything. People’s yards have turned into car junk yards / a mini city dump that is polluting a common water source and they still don’t do anything. Why anyone would treat their car or home like it is disposable is beyond me. These are two of the biggest purchases in ones life. These folks have more money than sense.
August 5, 2008 at 9:10 pm #633401
JanSParticipantTodd, take dated pictures, save them, and use them for evidence. Maybe the landlord/city will pay attention then. Yeah, I know, easy for me to say..I’m not living the nightmare…maybe someone on here has had to deal with this in the past and might have advice?
So sorry this has happened to your neighborhood..no wonder you’re looking at other places :(
August 5, 2008 at 9:30 pm #633402
JenVMember“Sounds like they are renters..”…the issue is not that they are renters, wsblover- some renters have sense and common decency. The people who rented the house before were great. These ones- not so much. I have seen these people, and hillbilly is the best word to describe them. they let their kids run around like wild animals, and they don’t have the sense to pick up their own garbage. Nasty broken down cars leaking fluids into the storm drains. I was there the afternoon he towed his new wreck into the street. pure and simple Whisky Tango White Trash! Can neighbors sue the landlord/owner for diminished property value?
August 5, 2008 at 9:44 pm #633403
ToddinWestwoodMemberevery time I sit back and collect my thoughts about them, they seem to kick it up a notch.
The city said flat out, the only thing you can do is to keep reporting the violations until the landlord gets sick of paying the fines.
We feel the worst for the folks who lived right next door to them. They were never on good terms. They had to put their house on the market to move to Florida for a new job. The real estate agent would have open houses and people would slow down, look at the neighbors mess and drive away.
I feel like he is trying to intentionaly F*#$ them by making his house un-sellable.
August 5, 2008 at 9:53 pm #633404
AnonymousInactiveJenV that is why I said “In SOME cases” … I have equal disgust for owners or renters/landlords who contribute to the degradation of a neighborhood. I’ve just come across more renters who don’t care vs owners who don’t care. I am currently dealing with a similar issue as Todd so my apologies if my frustration slipped out.
August 5, 2008 at 10:00 pm #633405
JenVMemberand it seems like I have the opposite- I am a renter, and the homeowners two doors down are the worst- garbage in the yard, dogs that sh*t all over the neighborhood, motorcycles parked on the sidewalk, loud music at all hours, numerous cars on the street because their garage is too full of crap. Most of the renters on my street hate them. And yes, we’re sure they’re the owners. So, I guess it takes all kinds, wsblover… :)
August 5, 2008 at 10:10 pm #633406
WSBKeymasterJust in case anybody tries to flag us on this:
Somebody a few months back tried to make the argument that hillbilly was an ethnic slur.
We determined it wasn’t. That ruling stands.
Just being pre-emptive. Now back to the regularly scheduled discussion … TR
August 5, 2008 at 10:12 pm #633407
AnonymousInactiveYeah, point well taken, it does take all kinds. In general, people amaze me with their behavior.
The folks that use the street to park even though they have a drive way/garage, kill me. So does finding dog and cat excrement on my lawn, inside my fence. Oddly enough, I do not have any pets so I can for the life of me figure out how it keeps appearing like magic :)
August 5, 2008 at 10:23 pm #633408
austinMemberUsing the street to park because your driveway/yard is full of broken down cars is my fav.
August 5, 2008 at 10:25 pm #633409
villagegreenMemberJenV – I don’t get the motorcycles on the sidewalk. They do have a garage. Do they think they’re doing the street parkers a favor? It’s gotta be illegal, though. We get to ‘enjoy’ their deck parties and loud music as well due to our location – although it has been much better this summer.
We’ve dealt with homeowners storing huge boats on on the street right out our front window for an entire winter before. That’s definitely illegal and I was finally about to call the city about it, but he finally moved it.
So, yes, homeowners and renters are guilty of hillbilly behavior.
August 5, 2008 at 10:38 pm #633410
JenVMember<looks over shoulder> – villagegreen, that you?
;) you must be a lot closer to me than I thought!
August 6, 2008 at 4:05 am #633411
cjboffoliParticipantToddinWestwood: I feel your pain. I’ve had endless problems with the low-rent tenants in a rental unit next door to my house. West Seattle is increasing in density but city ordinances have failed to keep pace. I first tried patience. And when that didn’t work I tried to humbly approach them to try to find a solution. But they perceived my request for courtesy as an attack on their “rights.” I subsequently learned that one of the tenants has a long and distinguished criminal history. When another neighbor complained about noise to their landlords they only made more. And since I tried to talk to them they’ve trespassed on my property to vandalize my car, they’ve spit on the windows of my house, and they’ve threatened me with violence. But the police say there is little they can do. People like this have spent a lifetime of making excuses and avoiding responsibility. They’re experts at working the system.
99% of my neighbors are super nice, considerate and responsible people. But it just takes one degenerate neighbor to ruin everything. I got to the point where I decided to file a nuisance and trespass lawsuit. I hoped that warnings from my lawyers would motivate the landlords and their tenants to come to the table and work something out. But at no point have they acted reasonably and almost a year has gone by and thousands of dollars spend with little results except for their limitless arrogance and constant harassment.
The easiest way out would have been to move but why should I move from a place I love just because others are unsavory, miserable people? I know how to be a kind, considerate neighbor. They only care about themselves.
Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. I’d like to think that the best way to solve neighbor disputes is with honesty and a handshake over the fence. But people of different backgrounds clearly have different ideas about what constitutes a good neighborhood. As people in Seattle live in ever closer proximity, city ordinances designed for houses with suburb-like buffers between them will be increasingly useless. Unless someone in City Hall does something more progressive, the police and other city agencies are going to overworked trying to resolve disputes.
August 6, 2008 at 4:37 am #633412
berthaParticipantToddinWestwood – Give Beth Gappert at the Southwest Precinct a call. She is the Assistant City Attorney assigned to SWP. She attended a block watch meeting when we had some problems with neighbors. Our problem resolved itself when the neighbors moved but my understanding is that Beth’s job is to resolve problems with nuisance properties especially those that don’t fall into the ‘criminal’ category. She might be able to help. Her number is 206-733-9594. Good luck!
August 6, 2008 at 5:08 am #633413
ToddinWestwoodMemberAugust 6, 2008 at 5:26 am #633414
WSBKeymasterTodd, I seem to recall seeing you at an earlier West Seattle Crime Prevention Council (formerly Community Safety Partnership) meeting – Beth is often at those meetings as well, and Jennifer, the SNGi staff liaison to the group, is a wealth of info about nuisance abatement and other situations like this. The next meeting will be in mid-September; hope your situation is resolved before then, but if not, you should definitely try to make the CPC meeting … TR
August 6, 2008 at 5:46 am #633415
ToddinWestwoodMemberTHanks TR, I went to one before and it really opened my eyes as to some of the stuff that the SW Precinct is really up against.
My biggest beef was the big rigs (18 wheelers) doing excesive speed going down Roxbury and what the city has planned to repair Roxbury.
August 6, 2008 at 5:49 am #633416
MissKMemberTry living on Delridge. We have big rigs flying down the road allll the time.
As for your neighbor problem, sorry to hear you have to put up with that. Have you tried to contact the owners of the property?
August 6, 2008 at 6:07 am #633417
JeffSavoieMemberLowmanbeach…
You decided it wasn’t an ethnic slur?
Well if it ain’t ethnic, it’s still a slur, ‘specially used in this context.
What’cha you gon’ do next decide, that “acause the bloggers say so”, the N word isn’t a slur nither?
As a man, who grew up walking on dirt roads, a long ways from a city limits sign, and a fair ways above sea level… am fully offended to hear the term hillbilly used negatively, especially to describe people who may not have come from a similar environment as I did.
*And are more likely a product of urban living?
Todd man, you say hillbilly like it’s a bad thing. ;)
Some of the finest people I have ever known, who gave me some of the greatest memories of my life, who taught me right and wrong, and how to stand up on my own two feet, and BE proud… were PROUD, to call themselves hillbillies.
I’da ran the three miles to the neighbors house, if’n they needed me, and they’da done the same for us.
The thing you don’t understand about most REAL hillbillies, hicks, rednecks, mountain folk, or whatever label you wanna put on ’em… is we don’t feel any different now… any of you in that 3-5 mile circle I can draw around my house, are my neighbors.
I’ll treat you with the same respect I learned “back home”, unlike I see here….
Sheesh… City folk?
P.S. I used Mark Twain’s style of writing phonetically on purpose, I learned proper English up there, too
August 6, 2008 at 6:11 am #633418
FullTiltParticipantYou can sue the landlord for decreasing the property value. The easiest way is small clams court. Scc will allow up to $4k. The real key is to get a bunch of your neighbors to do this all at the same time. a couple of grand might night scare a landlord, but $40k will scare anyone.
I have a friend in the Greenwood area that did this with his neighbors. Worked well. No one went to court, landlord caved within days.
August 6, 2008 at 12:34 pm #633419
ToddinWestwoodMemberIt really wouldnt be that bad if they could just get rid of all the cars and take their garbage out to the can. Thats all we ask. I dont want to sound all high and mighty, or like an ass, and no one is asking them to have their house professionally landscaped, just the bare minimum. Just enough so people wont notice the other things.
August 6, 2008 at 3:21 pm #633420
WSMomParticipantDo you remember seeing this on WSB front page a few months ago? Jon’s neighbors copied the thread and sent it to every offical in the city they could think of. Apparantly, Jon was forced to erect a small fence. You must drive by and see his idea of a fence. No posts, just a couple of premade Home Depot sections slapped up to do the minimum (I imagine the first good windstorm will take it down). It seems the city is unable to address these kinds of issues. Very disappointing.
IMHO, the small claims court idea sounds like your best bet!
August 6, 2008 at 3:32 pm #633421
MikeDadyMemberTodd, sorry to hear about your situation. I have been in the same boat. It is not fun.
As has been mentioned before the newly named West Seattle Crime Prevention Council and Jennifer at the Seattle Neighborhood Group are good resources.
Here is another idea that a friend of mine calls Back-At-You.
Look up the address of the owners on the King County Maps website http://www.metrokc.gov/gis/mapportal/PViewer_main.htm
Have a tailgate party outside their house. Park a clunker/junk, but licensed and legal, art car with proper decor outside their home. Move it just before the 72 hour rule kicks in. Do this over and over. Make a ruckus. Make them feel your pain.
Could be they live in the same manner as their tenants which in that case the above ideas might need modification.
August 6, 2008 at 4:41 pm #633422
AnonymousInactivecjboffoli – such good points! People (even the city) criticize, asking “Well, have you gone to talk with them yourself?!” This should be a reasonable, adult way to deal with an issue but in this day and age it just results in aggravating the situation, 99% of the time.
August 6, 2008 at 10:32 pm #633423
ZenguyParticipantJeffSavoie, I did not think of Hillbilly that way until I read your post…thank you. It is always dangerous when we throw judgements on an entire group like this and I too think it is wrong.
Todd, sorry about your neighbors. Some friends of mine in Highline had a house with “ladies of the evening” although they were no ladies and it was not limited to the evening either. I like the small claims idea…very creative.
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