Noisy Neighbors....What to do?

FutureMrsClayshulte

We own a single family home in a nice, quiet neighborhood. Recently, our next door neighbors moved away due to military obligations and have placed their home for rent while they are away for the next several years. 10 months ago, a family with four boys under the age of 6 moved in to rent the home. They are very nice people and their children are very cute but they are the loudest and most hyper children we have ever seen in our lives. These children SCREAM at the top of lungs ALL. DAY. LONG. They are 100 times louder than any of the other kids in the neighborhood. Beginning at around 7:15 am, they go out side and kick their soccer balls up against our privacy fence or up against the garage door in their back yard....They play with the sprinklers and hose and have They climb the fence and yell at our dog, throw things into our back yard and then scream until we throw them back. The ram their bikes and little tykes cars into their garage door and fence (both of which are now dented). One day we came home to find them throwing rocks and small pieces of concrete at our dog while yelling. HEY! DOGGY! COME HERE!!!! They have a small plastic play slide that they rip apart and bang together that makes a loud hollow bang. You can even hear them a few streets over down at the lake. 

When it first started happening, we would just ask the little boys to get down off the fence because we hadn't met the parents yet..or seen them for that matter.

Most days we just put up with it. We keep our windows up, stay inside, turn up the volume on our tv to drown it out and keep our dog inside. We can still hear it, and it still bothers us, but we put up with it because we don't want to harass them. Occasionally, when we cant handle it anymore, I will go over and speak to the mom and ask her to ask them to be quieter...which doesn't work. She isn't mean about it, shes just kinda like"OK sorry boys will be boys..Oh well" Sometimes we have even heard her yelling at the boys to "Go outside and Scream" instead of screaming inside the house...She really just doesn't care. We understand that she is probably tired and overwhelmed and after talking to her we know that she doesn't see the noise as bothersome but just as her boys being kids and playing. 

We have talked to the home owner but she is powerless. She has complained to the rental company and so have we but the rental company doesn't care. They have a 2 year lease with the option renew which they have every intention of doing.

We aren't sure if calling our HOA will do any good because if they do anything, they will just fine the homeowner and not the renter...

We don't want to make them mad or harass them in anyway but the noise is really ridiculous....We have no problem with them playing reasonably in the back yard we just have a problem with the excessive screaming and climbing our fence.

We can't sit in our own back yard or living room without hearing constant screaming....We have put a lot of money into our back yard so that we can sit outside and enjoy it but all of that is going to waste. 

What do we do. I don't want to insult them by telling them that their kids are unbearable and being polite about it is clearly not doing anything...How do you politely tell someone that their children are out of control?

Sillygirl45

There's not much you can do about what they do in their own yard. 

They do not have a right to damage your property or taunt your dog though. I would tell the parents the next thing they dent or damage of yours they will be paying for and I would not be nice anymore or worry about offending them. They clearly do not care about your feelings. You're not the one who had 4 kids you can't handle. You have a legal right to reasonable enjoyment of your property. It sounds like they need to be living in the woods somewhere without neighbors. 

I would go to the HOA if that doesn't work. I would actually call the police if I had kids hanging off my fence tormenting my dog. 

You could also go running over there in a panic and ask what's wrong...since there is no reason for kids to be screaming like that unless they are being abducted or beaten. 

mimiphin

I agree with Sillygirl45 Call the cops or child protective services and tell them what is happening.

loves2shop4shoes

PP is correct.  You do have a legal right to reasonable enjoyment of your property that they are interfering with.

I would go back over there the next time they are loud.  And tell your neighbor, in no uncertain terms, "Listen.  I've been over here before about the noise.  And I'm not trying to be a difficult neighbor, but you need to respect how the noise is affecting others in the neighborhood.  I have a right to peace and quiet in my home.  If you damage my property, you will pay to fix it.  If you refuse to get your children to play quietly, I will begin calling the police."

And, from that point forward, call the police EVERY time they are being unreasonably loud.  Get a police report.  After you have collected SEVERAL police reports, go to the HOA and see what they can do about potential eviction.

You shouldn't have to live like that.

TarponMonoxide

If they aggravate your dog or it's stuff that is happening to your residence, you need to speak to the parents.

Good luck when you do. It is likely they are doormats for their kids and hence, their kids have free reign of everything.

This is a parent problem, not a kid problem.

This is too bad --- a busy and occupied kid is a happy and quiet kid.:) Too bad there isn't some neighborhood mother whose house they can go to and hang out.:)  That would keep them out of trouble.

Leftie22

I agree with others that what they're doing is unacceptable. Would it help if you gave the neighbour more specific examples of what's going on? She might just shrug it off if you're too general (noise), but she shouldn't brush it off if you tell her exactly what they've been doing to your dog and your property. If you haven't already, tell her those things, and show her the damage. I have a son, and I would never let him torment an animal or damage someone's property. That's just disrespectful and probably punishable by some sort of fine. Do what you have to do to show her you're serious.

PrincessVegan

Sounds like these children aren't being parented but neglected. CPS?

Janessadawn

I find it hard to believe that the rental company is "powerless" when the tenants are damaging the property AND disturbing the neighbors. By all means, complain to the HOA. So what if they fine the owners? Maybe that will get them to actually do something about it! Not sure about where you are, but here property owners are legally allowed to periodically inspect properties that they own, provided they give the occupants proper notice of intent to enter (in my state, it's 48 hours' notice). Perhaps the owners should ask the rental company to do this. Sounds like they'd find a lot of damage (one can only imagine that there would be internal damage to go with the external). Maybe document the issues, as others have suggested, in detail and contact the rental company yourself.

glittergal73

If anyone's brat threw stuff at my dog, they would be eating concrete.  I am so sorry you have these horrible neighbors.

MrsElkins123

I would videotape this. From the noise to the dog to the climbing in the fence, etc. You have the right to video tape while on your own property. Call the non emergency Police # and ask about noise laws. I think it was from X to Y time that noise is okay but from A to B time they will get a noise ticket. Find out if you have such a law in your area. Call the HOA if you have one, the noise may also fall under a bylaw with them. The garage door all dinged up would get you fined in my neighborhood.

Tell the parents the next time the children are outside the noise time, throw things at your dogs, climb the fence or bang anything up against it you are calling the Police, the HOA and the rental company. This is not fair to your family that you have 4 wild children running around making your lives difficult. If they don't like it, they can move or handle the children.

MrsElkins123

Also, most rental agreements state that the renters will be held to pay fines or tickets that are issued by the actions of the renter. The homeowner isn't out of pocket, the renter is charged and if nonpayment of these happens they are evicted. Just an FYI.