Problem neighbors

[tulsa1603]

I live in a great midtown neighborhood called Florence Park.  The houses are a little small, but I'm used to it.  One thing I can't get used to is a problem neighbor.  There is a house near me that has always been a little worse for wear, but it was maintained to the best of the owner's capabilities, so it wasn't really a problem.  The older couple that lived there was sweet enough, so things were fine for 8 years or so.  Well, they have both passed away in the last three years, and now their scumbag grandson has control over the house, though it's still in the name of the deceased grandparents and getting senior valuation limitations on property taxes!  Things I deal with on a daily basis:  a constant stream of strange cars and people coming and going (you almost never see the same car twice), which suggests drug activity.  When he gets drunk or high, he sits in the driveway, one foot on the brake, one foot on the gas, doing burnouts.  Nice.  They spilled a can of red paint on the driveway last week.  Between that and the skid marks, I'm sure you can imagine how nice it looks.  Sometimes he peels out down the street leaving skid marks.  One morning he wrapped his car around a utility pole a block away, but it happened at 5am and no one who saw it called the police.  I would have if I had been awake.  There are fights almost daily between him and his assorted girlfriends.  These same girlfriends regularly come to my house asking to use my phone or borrow various items from my kitchen - I won't even open the door for the skanks.  I have called code enforcement about their broken out windows, high grass, and multiple tenants living in one house, I have called the police on NUMEROUS occassions about the noise and fights - they show up, nothing happens because the fight is usually over by that point.  I've contacted the sheriff's office and the police about the suspicious activity with all the traffic - I know they're suspicious, but just don't have a way to prove anything.  A police officer told one of my other neighbors that one of the tenants in the house is a known car thief - nice.  I am at my wit's end with these people.  Yesterday I saw one of the women walking down the street with a QuikTrip cup - and I guess she got tired of it because she just threw it down on the street and kept on walking in a stupor down the middle of the street.  Just now a group of them walked up with a bunch of beer at 10:30am on a Wednesday, so I guess I better get ready for a party.  The sad part is there is a child living there.  I feel so bad for the kid, because he is NOT being raised right, and since his mother is dead he really has nowhere else to go.  I guess I don't  really need advice since I think I'm doing all I can do, I just feel the need to vent.  Anyone else have problem neighbors like this?  Aaargh!  I assume he got some kind of inheritance that pays the bills because he definitely doesn't have a job, and I keep hoping it will run out soon.  Anyone got any ideas or advice for me?  I'd mind my own business if it wasn't this obnoxious and didn't affect my property value, but when I start thinking that I need to move, I know we have a problem.

[Conan71]

A molotov cocktail might take care of the problem.

[Teatownclown]

Yech. i thought I had problems with neighbors who are elitist bullies. Good luck.

[carltonplace]

When I moved into my neighborhood I had a drug house on my left and a falling down $#!+hole on my right.

Now I just have the piece of smile on my right (thank you mayor's inaction hotline) but the drug house is cleaned up and has nice people living in it.

If diplomacy is not an option keep calling the cops, either he will mature, go to jail, or run out of money and sell.

[patric]

Sometimes it takes a local TV crew to jumpstart the process.

try  news@fox23.com    as well as   mac@cityoftulsa.org 

[AquaMan]

Yeah, I think we've all been through a similar situation at one time or another. Time usually takes care of it. Dang sure the police or code enforcement will not solve it for you, although they are a good beginning. Have you spoken to them? We once had a neighbor whose son was into blunts and bottles of wine on the front porch after school let out. I chatted with him one day and mentioned that one of his neighbors, a Federal DA,  lived a few houses up the street and often had patrol cars visiting. That pushed him to the back yard!

Too bad, Florence Park is a good neighborhood. Smile, nod, take pictures of the cars and their tags, and be neighborly. Invite them to join the neighborhood crime watch. Pretty soon you'll be able to buy the dump cheap!

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

And I thought my neighbor was bad for throwing his cigarettes in my yard.  This guy sounds like he will be dead or in jail soon enough.  DHS should take the kid away.

[sauerkraut]

The one good thing about renting is that when neighors are torublesome it's easy to just pack up split, even more so if your not on a lease and rent month to month. But when your a homeowner you have roots and like a tree you can't just pack it all in and leave the scene. It's ruff when you have bad neighbors. I really have no answers but just keep calling and reporting.

[Townsend]

The one good thing about renting is that when neighors are torublesome it's easy to just pack up split, even more so if your not on a lease and rent month to month. But when your a homeowner you have roots and like a tree you can't just pack it all in and leave the scene. It's ruff when you have bad neighbors. I really have no answers but just keep calling and reporting.

How pissed were you when they took your red stapler?

[Townsend]

Tulsa1603,

Anything new to report today?

I'm interested in the day to day activities.

You could start a pretty good blog with this.  Video, show emails and record calls you make to all entities reporting the issues.

Post pics or video of all comers and goers.

If it's good enough...you may get the issue fixed.

[Conan71]

How pissed were you when they took your red stapler?

I just simultaneously pissed my pants and spewed soda all over my computer.

[YoungTulsan]

You could start a pretty good blog with this.  Video, show emails and record calls you make to all entities reporting the issues.

Post pics or video of all comers and goers.

Reminds me of this site:

http://www.joespc.com/carlos/redneck.htm

(Oldie but goodie)

Also, if you know the deadbeat's proper name, do a little research on OSCN to see what his usual criminal activity happens to be: http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/casesearch.asp

[DolfanBob]

I know of a 24 year old who Inherited 24 houses in the Collinsville area from his deceased Grandfather.
This was about 4 years ago. Most of the homes had tenents who rented from the Grandfather and life was good until he passed away.
This young man has never earned anything in his whole life. His parents were killed in a auto accident when he was a child and the Grandfather raised him until his passing. At 18 he recieved the insurance money from the deaths of his parents. Upwards of 250 thousand. He blew through that before his Grandfather passed away.
In less than 3 years because of him collecting rent and not paying property taxes, he no longer owns any of the homes.
But wait. Why should he care. He collects close to 3 thousand dollars a Month because of his Indian heritage and his Grandfathers insurance money.
Your neighbor may be enjoying the fruits of others labor also. From what I have seen of this lad. It wont last long and he will move on to the next easy touch. Sad really.

[nathanm]

Poop, bag, match. I think you know where it goes from there.

[tulsa1603]

Reminds me of this site:

http://www.joespc.com/carlos/redneck.htm

(Oldie but goodie)

Also, if you know the deadbeat's proper name, do a little research on OSCN to see what his usual criminal activity happens to be: http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/casesearch.asp

Haha, don't think I haven't thought of a blog, but I generally find that the less I think about it, the less it bothers me.  Yesterday he was walking around the yard with his pants sagging so low you could see his entire rear end - with no underwear on.  This morning I was doing some watering in the yard and one of the girlfriends sneaked up on me and asked to borrow jumper cables so she could get the low-rider van started.  Ha!

I know his name and have done the OSCN search in the past.  He's been in trouble many many many times.  He was in jail from early 2008- late 2009 for assault with a dangerous weapon, he's had restraining orders, and several other criminal complaints in the past. 

Some friends and I have discussed offering to buy the house from him, because what white trash would resist the lure of easy cash, but after doing a bit more research at the courthouse, I found out that the grandmother took out a mortgage back in 2005 for $89,000, and I can't imagine paying a whole lot more than that in the state the house is in, so he wouldn't walk away with much.