IT TAKES A VILLAGE!
Educating Realtors
Realtors need to be informed and educated. When purchasing a home there is a plethora of due diligence that takes place and often with clients being emotionally attached to the property and the realtor wanting to make a sale, good judgement does not come into play. With regard to easements, realtors need to be educated and understand all the facts and history associated with the easement. Realtors should ensure property lines are delineated and neighbors agree with those lines to avoid confusion or disputes after the purchase and if there is any question the seller should be responsible for a survey. Let's educate the realtors of San Diego, let them know the situations we have encountered so they can look beyond the physical property they are selling/buying and feel confident their clients will not have any issues. Perhaps a good neighbor certification could come into play.
Local City Government
Often and in my experience 99.9% of the time the city does not assist in any neighbor dispute. The city spends a lot of time and resources to put together codes. Building, planning etc. Many neighbor disputes are regarding easements, trees, boundaries, noise and pets and there are many codes that the city has in place that we are supposed to follow. If your neighbor does not adhere to these codes and you complain the answer you will likely get is "it is a neighbor dispute, we can't do anything". So what's the point? The city of Carlsbad offers a free mediation service which sounds like a great resource, if it actually helped. In our case I spoke with a mediator who told me to speak to the ordinance department and here we start to go in circles. We need the city to help, not shirk responsibility. Good and thoughtful neighbors make a thriving community and the city is letting us down.
Seek Information
Going through a neighbor dispute is one of the most lonely feelings in the world, especially if you are new to the neighborhood. If you live next to a bully it's likely you are not the only one that has been targeted. Typically a bully/narcissist will focus on one person/family at a time and you unfortunately are their latest victim. This is where conversation is important, do not engage with the bully but reach out to other neighbors. Likely, they will happily tell you their stories and encounters to at least paint a full picture.
Speak up for your neighbor
As a neighbor we need to be more vocal, that does not mean harassing or targeting your bad neighbor. If we did that, we would be as nasty as them. Perhaps a letter from supporting neighbors addressed to the bully explaining how we feel, that we stand together and enough is enough. It sounds simple but who knows perhaps it could work? Let's build a network and support each other, we can absolutely make our neighborhood a better place.
The Legal Route
No-one should feel that their only option is a lawsuit. When all other resources have been exhausted this is sadly what we feel we are left with. If you decide to go down this path .. educate yourself. Judges are required to be un-biased, our Judge was biased from the beginning of our trial . We won unequivocally by the Jury. The judge promptly delayed the trial for three months and then awarded judgement to the defendants. In boundary disputes Judges are allowed at their discretion to make a ruling even against a Jury decision and case law, our Judge used evidence that had already been discounted by the Jury. Do not expect a fair trial.
Contact Me
If you have any questions or would like to collaborate please contact me. If anyone is willing to volunteer their time to help with content or web design, please reach out. My work as a Professional Organizer to becoming a vigilante is a steep learning curve!