My neighbor launched a lawsuit naming me and my association as defendants, the suit is based on noise from my garage. This is a condo/Townhome and we are attached. The short story is she hired the biggest law firm who enlisted a sound specialist to study the noise. This was a huge dog and pony show in there there sound specialist had recorded 3 weeks of sounds, in short my garage is now off limits to anything but parking. I suspect she put out between 5 and 7 thousand dollars to whip this together.
P.S. Its not over till the fat lady sings, however I wont spend a cent on lawyers.. The noises that made the cut were all from making parts, cutting, grinding and hammering. I'll just have to make the parts somewhere else, however I wont stop tinkering and didn't spend a cent.

This brat is gearing up to do a sound study based on household noise, she says we wake her up every night, so I suspect there will be a round two.. I would guess its going to be a much harder sell for her to get traction with this issue..

I hate condos x infinity but its made me 500K in the last 10 years but will be replaced by a farmhouse home in Washington state some time soon..

Yep... total PITA is what HOA's etc are... of course then you have my situation.

I specifically built in an area where the HOA rules were expired and there are minimal laws etc... we live in a township...no city government blah blah.

All is fine and dandy until your asshat neighbor decides that he will buy his idiot of a 16 year old the loudest freakin ATV ever made. which he insists on riding on a 1/3 to 1/2 acre lot. (think going around and around in a circle basically).

It is so freaking loud that it shakes my windows at times... you can't even hear the TV with the windows closed.

Of course we asked nicely...several times... to have him take it elsewhere and they basically told us to STFU and live with it.

Over the summer I invested over 25K in my backyard to put in a pool and major landscaping to further my enjoyment of my property and now I can't even stand to be out there when he is riding that thing.

I tried to go through the proper channels... township trustees etc... they were more interested in futhering thier own agenda than actually helping. I have called the Sheriff etc... no help there as there are no noise laws (hmmm circular arguement here).

Sooo... if I want to enjoy my yard again I am basically going to have to sue the bastards I don't want to do it but I feel like I have no choice.

It does not sound like your nieghbor tried to work things out with you as we have... thats unfortunate. I completely believe that people are waaaay to quick to get the lawyers involved these days and your situation sounds as if you just have a PITA of a neighbor. Sorry for your situation.

did she come to you first, maybe ask if there was a reasonable compromise you two could come up with? was there any communication to you from the association, or is this a complete surprise?

i kinda understand a level of frustration with noisy neighbors, especially in a townhouse or apartment setting.

good luck finding the farmhouse! sounds like this is your ticket... small house, big garage!

Thank god for country living!

I'd probably be in jail within a week after living anywhere that had stupid damn rules and guidelines to follow...

Give me a break..

Man that sucks, does she own a horse? Make her an offer she can't refuse...

CC&Rs...condos & alike..I would never, ever live in one again. Associations are a pain in the ass. There is always somone who has nothing better to do than make everyone's life miserable.

We all have to be considerate of others, but sounds like this one has a stick up their

I think we should have the next 914 rally at your place...and everyone must leave their mufflers at home.


PS I still want your car

I would never live in a place where HOA ruled. We have enough government intervention in our lives without some busy body with no life getting into our business.

tell her to get a hobby!

What is the penalty for making noise now? Go to the doctor and have your hearing checked then turn up the TV and stereo! When she complains tell her you have a hearing problem.

How about bringing in some farm animals. Maybe a rooster!

I hate HOA! I would get kicked out for noxious smells that I emit. Maybe you out to have a big bag of fertalizer upwind/near her kitchen for your "garden". New distraction-think 3 year-old, she could then spend more $ on some sort of odor analysis. What about a green/but stinky composter. You could drive her out by the hi costs of her legal crap. What other senses could you involve that are not involved in your codes---yet. Fight the good fight against those communist bastards!!!!!!!!!

if you can pull the trigger, now would be the time to start looking into some land up here. eastern or western wa? you can pick up a nice 60's era rambler on acreage (1-2) in my area, usually with outbuildings, perhaps a barn, for between $250-$300k. when were were shopping, the downside to the "farmhouse" was they usually needed major repairs/upgrades. we're in our place for the long haul. no stairs other than 2 steps to enter the house. my neighbor's houses are about 150ft away on either side. perfect. houses burn down. land is forever.

k

I have a friends who is kept up a few nights a week by barking dogs. The police won't do anything, the owners won't do anything and the final result is they just have to 'deal with it'. They're now thinking of selling their house just to get away from this dog. So in their case, it sure would be nice to have someone take action.

But on the other hand, any set of rules is only as good as the person enforcing them. If I were in your situation, I would try to negotiate with the person. They have rights to quiet, but you have rights to make noise. It seems like a 'curfew' is an obvious solution, perhaps soundproofing your garage would be a good idea too. If it's bugging her, chances are it's bugging other people too who don't speak up.

My neighbors love to ride their quads in the back yard in circles for hours. They also have three new trucks all with loud ass exhausts and they come and go at all hours. The dad is also a truck driver who brings his truck home with him, and then has to warm it up for half an hour at 3:00 am. This is in addition to the two stupid ass dogs that they won't keep quiet. That's all fine. We'll just see what's what when I start my jet engine conversion for the 914.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBXrnES2tqc
Mark D.

Building townhouses in the past we always put in what was called a "party wall". Meaning there was 12" off airspace between the two opposing walls. Plus we put in a sound deadining material.
I think this may not be the case in some Apartment conversions.

HOAs can work both ways. You may like them but when it is your space that is being encroached upon, you like having them.
When it is the other way around, you don't like them so much.
Contact your HOA President and try to work within the CC&R's.

The housing market is in a slump in the PNW currently, so this may be a good time to make that move. Good luck
CCL

you live in a townhome and I hate to say it but you are probably out of line grinding and cutting on a regular basis, as much as it sucks. One weekend here or there you could get away with maaaaayyyybe.

Be repectful of your neighbors and behave as if you are cooking meth. No one knows no one cares. If you break out the paint gun or grinder with the garage door open you will have problems and kinda rightly so.


Just be sure to warm your car properly whenever you drive it. They can't say shit about that.

An attached townhome/condo is certainly not conducive to to having a workshop in your garage. Difficult to fault someone for being bothered by your tinkering in the adjacent unit; did she ever approach you in this regard before enlisting the services of legal counsel? Some people are less tolerant that others, that's for sure.

Retired lady across the street and two doors down from me sometimes complains about my workshop noise, but no one adjacent to me. I have two dogs that I've trained to minimize their barking; they bark if someone approaches but no incessant barking for hours on end like one of my previous neighbors. I still remember asking her kindly only to get the big F-off attitude.

Problem with noise issues is that everyone thinks THEY are right.

Andys

I have a HOA. Amazingly I haven't received a noise warning... but that's only because I try to keep my noise to a minimum. When I'm' making noise it's only occasional.

I noticed when I first bought this place a general contractor was building these million dollar places across the street for almost a full year. I was so pissed because when I bought there were empty lots and a peaceful environment.

What was I going to do, complain?
The city said they had the right to make noise until curfew time. 10PM.
I lived with it but had to get an attitude adjustment in the process.

So now I respect that law and do the same. But with a little more courtesy.

Can't wait till I get my land and high tech farm house and an enormous workshop.

=)

Best of luck to you.

Roger

In my experiences HOAs have been more of a bother than a blessing. The one I currently live in has a rules guy that called the cops on me twice because my parked cart had an expired inspection sticker. The ass didnt even approach me, but the cops said that they had no problem or jurisdiction over the matter.

Okay, you hit my hot button! We have some great neighbors too. NOT

First encounter was about my 'reving my cars up' all the time. This was only after they SAW the 914s sitting in the driveway. Both our cars are quiet (under 92db so we can run Laguna). After the compliant, I had to show them that the engine was out of the car and apart and whatever they were hearing was not me. But afterall, the 914s have numbers on them so they must be loud right? I should have know this was coming after they were very curious when we moved in about 'what kind of trailer is that? Doesn't look like a horse trailer'???

Anyway, this unfounded complaint let me know that for whatever reason they were trying to 'pin something on us'.

Next encounter was 'your dogs bark all the time'. Only problem with that one was, the dates they specified we weren't home and the dogs were at the kennel. So again, if they actually heard something it wasn't us. Plus when we are home the dogs are in the garage at night, not outside.

We've since learned that those neighbors are the self appointed 'lords of the street', watch everybody, and turn anyone in that doesn't 'meet their standards'. Too bad they accuse before they actually know what's going on.

After knowing that, I fixed their Snoop visits by telling them my German Shepherd bites (which he doesn't) so they are afraid to come into my yard anymore... That was after I caught them in my yard, and when confronted they said "we heard your dogs kill cats so we're here to see what's going on". What nosey jerks... If I walked into their yard and started looking around, they'd freak. But it evidently ok for them to do it.

Funniest thing for me is, 1 ) their 16 year old is the wreckless driver of the neighborhood! Always speeding, showing off, etc. Just waiting for someone to turn him in : ) or for him to crash. Won't be me. I staying neutral on this one and will let some non-car person take care of it. and 2) they run leaf blowers all the time which are really obnoxious. Even saw them running a leaf blower down a dirt trail the other day? Don't want any leaves on your dirt road! So I guess making alot of noise is OK for the goose, but isn't OK for the gander. Or something like that.

Did I mention we are on 2 acre lots and this isn't my next door neighbor but the one on the other side of my next door neighbor??? My neighbor 'loves' these people too..

Good luck with your neighbor, I agree with your strategy, let her burn lots of $ and just work around it. She'll run out of $ or interest at some point.

Have you reviewed your CC&Rs? If not, you should. What do they say about the garage?

A lot of times, they say the garage can only be used for parking and storage. Sometimes they go further and SPECIFICALLY say that no automotive repair or maintenance can be done in the garage.

I realize there are too sides to every situation and I do make a little noise from time to time but its never before 10 am or after 6 pm. Her lawyer's saying the CC&Rs say the garage is for parking and storage. My HOA board said I could do what I want but between the above hours. My impression is her lawyer would have to prove the CC&Rs state theres no repair etc in the garage. I think its a mute point because the board will cave in on me because its cheaper. I believe that 99% of any objectionable noise happens when she's not home, because I listen for her and plain accordingly.

Its my understanding she will next go after my wife, ya she says she makes too much noise getting ready for work.. Ya shes a jerk for sure. We have a normal 2 person home, no one plays loud music or anything inside the house. I'm sure there will be a sound study ramping up again pointed to the inside of the house I 'm not going to change anything in the house, let her spend her money on lawyers and studies, when its all said and done I let them diagnose the problem.

I have no plain to stop working on the car, I will just move all the noise makers to the back yard. That way she wont be able to here them..

You should have been there, big time attorney had the hole floor in a big time building. My board and our lawyer were all white. I almost asked the boards lawyer if he wanted her lawyers autograph Ha Ha Ha. My life is good and I could care less about all of this crap, I just let her spend her money and inch along with whatever the board asks me to do....

I know you guys don't have much in the way of privacy laws over there, but SURELY her recording you without permission is something you could use against her???

I was given a real nice basketball goal years ago. Nice rectangular clear plexiglass backboard, etc. I got home and was showing my neighbor and he told me that I couldn't put it up. He wasn't being mean, he was just telling me that the bylaws in the neighborhood association prohibited permanent basketball goals. He said he had been told no and thought he'd save me the trouble. I looked it up and sure enough, its perfectly OK to have the moveable ones that look like crap and are all beat up because the kids knock them down all the time. But you can't have a nice one. When I submitted a request to have an exception, I was given the "If we grant you an exception, then we'd have to do it for everyone else" bullshit cop-out. Geniuses... Still have it, in the box. Waiting for a time and place to put it up.

I remember reading a story about a lady (I think she was in Michigan for whatever reason...) who grew weary of the noise where she lived in the city, so she decided to move somewhere rural. She bought a nice little farm house and all was well. Until a few months later when the farms around her started fertilizing the fields and it smelled like manure. She actually filed a lawsuit against the nearest farms claiming they were infriging on her rights with the smell of manure. I'm pretty sure it was thrown out, but I can't seem to find the story anymore.


Like someone else said, HOA's are only as good as the people enforcing them. The scary thing is that most HOA's are not really governed by local law enforcement. Most local law let them do whatever they want as it takes work off their busy desk. There was that guy a couple years ago, about a year after 9/11 I think that had his house taken from him, by the HOA, because he put up a flag pole in his front yard.

Interesting little read...

HOA's are simply given WAY too much power. Problem is, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and we all know that the squeaky wheels are the ones that work so hard to mess with other peopls' lives via the HOA.

The rest of us who are perfectly happy to live and let live are ignored because we make less noise....so to speak....

There was a case a few years back in San Diego where a woman had some roses growing in a common flower box next to her apartment. Thye had been there for a while when one day the HOA decided to tell her she needed to get rid of them because they were a safety hazard to the local kiddies due to the thorns. As if this wasnt enough, the HOA had boganvilla (sp?) planted as landscaping throughout the property and that plant has 1-2" spikes all over it. So, the lady pleaded to the HOA to let her keep her roses for a little while longer. Did I mention she had terminal cancer? Ya She had been given lees then 1yr to live and said the roses, that she had planted a while ago, gave her some peace and asked if she could just have them there until she passed. HOA said go yourself. The news got involved and they still said no. Rules is rules. The people on teh board were real pieces of work, too. I will never live in a HOA. Too much power to myopic minded people the do only respond to complainers.

I suggest that since you cant work on your car you

"PUT THE BAND BACK TOGEATHER" get your buddys to come over and break out the stack amps and drum kits...

Then again, I am a butthead.

Permanent solution to the problem...
Effective to 700 yards.

found this guys website might help you...

Dont get mad, get even...

http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/irrespon...yyou173940.html

Sounds like you need to give her some different types of noises to worry about. Like how about a couple loud hours of passion in the sack? Every morning at 5am.

My neighbors pissed me off so I installed a dyno cell 50 yards from their house...

Then I added a second one....

Our antics can be heard some 6 miles away clear as a bell, with just one engine being tested. Two engines simultaneously is too much to bear from 300 yards away...

or do like a friend of mine,.. walk out to get your paper in the morning...just boxers. grunt and bellow loudly. stretch. quite a seen.

it worked for him...

CL

Neighbors can be a pain in the ass no matter where you live.

My neighbor is a retired Judge. He thinks he is still more important than the rest
of us. Too many years of having his ass kissed by everyone in town who were afraid
they might end up in front of him someday, and it cooked his brain.

He is some piece of work.

I think a nice quiet condo would be nice, with a garage in an industrial park about a half mile away for hobbies.

When I was renting in a condo the owner got letters for 1) Remove window Xmas light per defined schedule to allow lights 2) Working on car in driveway (both he and I did this) 3) Noise 4) My skateboard ramp with wheels, always stored inside the garage.

HOA are lame. Rent the condo and Get a deal on a house now, with a fat garage. Interest rates just dropped

HOAs are for retired execs and unfulfilled exec wannabes to get their rocks off playing power games. Thanks, but NO for me.

yep that is why I bought my place....1/2 acre in an antique district with cool nieghbors, I try to be respectful in the way of times making noise just the same but I AM A LOUD SOB!! and there aint a damn thing they can do!! (You should hear my 1985 wheelhorse 310-8 with my 5 hp trailer mounted leafsucker!)

I'm definitely out of place here, shi* theres only one auto parts store in the hole city (180K strong). Our parents ages from 78 to 87 live here, so family comes first even before my 914. My plane is to hang around till there gone and move up to Washington State. There I will burn a car on my front lawn once a month just for fun! I've always wanted a steam roller or a tank and there I can play with it..
This woman is a brat and I'll make sure she spends a lot of money trying to corral me..

Man I feel for you! When we had our first house in Tempe, Arizona I got letters from the HOA about once a month. Drove me crazy. They sent me a letter saying that if I was going to work on my cars I could not have the garage door open!!! WTF keep in mind when its like 115 or so working in the garage with the door shut is nuts. I responded by keeping it only half open when working on my car. I guess the thing that made me the most angry was that one of my neighbors called the HOA b/c I was working on my car with the garage door open. Now we have no HOA and loving it

Know any big bearded guys who ride harleys?

Invite a couple over for a beer....when she sticks her nose out the door to investigate, invite her over to meet the new neibours.....tell her your moving and they (the bikers) are her new neibours

.17HMR? 700 yards?

Against prairie dogs I haven't found the .17 to be very effective out past 300 yards. Maybe you should up that to .22-250




Anyway, HOAs and Condo Associations attract petty Nazi wannabes. Best to avoid them all together ... I hope you can get that farm land soon, drive-ability.

Exactly. I bought this shop:



Commercial zone, only neighbor is the jail. Those guys don't complain much.

Have you thought about renting a shop, drive-ability?

(I also bought this, so I don't have to deal with neighbors):

What if your blender makes too much noise, or your clothes dryer? ... got a ping pong table?

You can't walk on eggs for the rest of your life, and be told you can't live a normal life for chrissake!

I'd counter-sue the bitch for harassment and mental anguish.



Yeah, get a ping-pong table and have tournaments every day for a while


O.T. Are you still wanting the flares John? ... it that time

I had some juvenile dreams and awoke in a cold sweat:

1. Cell phone jammer.
2. Wireless telephone jammer.
3. Remote contol for her television.
4. She use wireless internet? Most people leave them unsecured wide open for you to hog their bandwidth with farmsexporn, find their files/credit card# so that you may benefit them by ordering everything they never new they needed. Sounds like shes missing a "full master" butt plug.
5. Bird nest jammed down her sewer pipe vent.
6. Drill hole in side of electric meter, jam wire in to stop gears. Powercompany will find this and will come up settlement offer with her.
7. Shared wall? Bolt a loud grandfather clock to the wall to chime on the hour.
Shut your cupoards ever so not gently.
Make your 4am expresso with the froth set for jet plane screechy.
Compost worms and other criters in a sealed jar, figure out where her electrical outlets are with a stud/metal detector and vent this ungodly stench though her outlets into her space intermittanly.
8. Toss obnoxious weed species into her lawn; blackberry, bamboo, english ivy, pot.
9. Record male-female screaming matches of the tv and set your computer to play these back randomly while your at work.

Of course any badness needs to be done in a random fashion to keep you uncaught.


What sort of sickness comes up with this anyway? Is there a psychiatrist on the board who can cure misanthropy?

Cheers, wilhelm

My neighbors at CAMP 914. Meet the Home Owners Association, and I am the President.
CCL

Careful on moving to the boonies (Washington State farmland dream property) and expecting a serene life on your own terms. My retired Father bought a 10 acre hobby farm in Oregon which my Brother inherited after his death. Shortly after, a motorcross park was built cattyycorner to the property (on the far side from the house). Now, my brother had dirt bikes racing around every weekend in the AM, and summer nights relentlessly (rememder that summertime nightfall in the PNW is about 8:30pm).

Andys

my neighbors were leaning on me until the main complainer's car died (mysteriously) then the noisy neighbor came to the rescue. I had already saved several other neighbors from expensive auto repairs. the other complainer had fish oil permeate the concrete in front of her door. after 4-5 attempts of odor eradication, she had to move. Gee, how did that happen? I now have more allies then enemies and if noise gets too rough, they come over in person. the law 'round here says under 92 db@ x ft from 7am to 10 pm is OK. make her pay but stay within the letter of the law. there are many things that will make her stay there less pleasant without exposing you to legal liability. engaging my compressor at 7:01 every day for a month ($5 timer) was well within the allowed DB range and adjacent to her window

OMG!!! is that a pantera!?

Can I do your laundry or something so I can have a ride?

Please ?



I have a garage in an apartment complex. I know I shouldnt be working on a car in there, but the hell with it!

Starting up a little 4 like this with no exhaust is pretty loud....

We endured 10 months of a monster house construction 6-7 days a week. The contractor said the city allows them to work almost any hour but he was "considerately" stopping at 7PM to end their 12 hour day.

You apparently took extra measures to control the noise, it's unfortunate she is taking the time to do this to you. She may have a lawyer who's doing this for little money so don't count on it financially hurting her. People do this for some type of self satisfaction or to make up for some other issue in their life...

I had the same problem until I moved, 3 1/2 acres and loving it. My only problem now is the neighbor some ways off who throws huge parties and plays that bumpin mariachi music along with the occasional IYIEEEE-IYIEEEE-IYIEEEE! scream. Somtimes they bring out the band with Sombreros and just get wasted. It's times like these where my little brother will just walk up and make his own plate.

Gotta watch out when moving to the country. My first house was in the Santa Cruz mountains, 5.5 acres, 5 miles of dirt road to the house. Rural splendor. And total yahoos for neighbors. The people down the hill from us used to practice shooting their rifles after drinking too much....the bullets used to fly over our house.

Anyways, I talked to them, they denied shooting, even tho the targets were still up. (I noticed the targets were Sheriff outlines). Needless to say, the sheriff just LOVED talking to them. One of them went off in handcuffs.

I do like some of the suggestions given, but always, always work within the law. Cause if you get caught, you might end up in handcuffs, and become Best Friends with Bubba in the jail. Remember the 11th commandment - Don't Get Caught.

Why yes it is...



You can have a ride anytime, however everyone who has ridden in the car can't wait to get out! It's like riding in a tin can w/400+hp strapped to your arse (but the motor is only 12" behind your head, so it's a lot closer than your arse)...

Yes indeed.

Just wait until you start using your new garage to make noise........