NWR: Landlords

okay for those that have read my past post about my upstairs neighbors with the very loud banging onvery thin thin floors....  here is my next gripe:

We live in a 2 family house on the first floor - it was understood that we had the back yard and the upstairs neighbors had the front /side yard (WHICH IS HUGE!!!), so with that said, we have always used the back yard and old neighbors never stepped foot in the back yard. 

New neighbors use the entire PLACE -and i've felt like a prisoner b/c i can't really enjoy my patio or back porch b/c she is there with her friends and kids using our hose and sprinkler.  So i get home today and she is there using the sprinkler and i was bringing back my recycle bins and she said "I know you said there is a side hose, but it doesn't work and that is why we are using this one and besides we like it better back here."  So I said "Oh, thats strange because the side one has always worked even up to this year, so maybe it's turned off down stairs in basement, and I said we are used to using having the backyard and the upstairs using the side yard".

Her:  "Well that is not how we signed our contract".

I am peeved...I just want to save$$ get married and get outta here now, I feel miserable most days b/c I don't feel I have to go to the side yard (I DONT WANT TO!) lolol

So - should I say something to the landlords, as far as, "I just wish you would of advised us that you were including the backyard into their contract"?? or something to that affect?

blehhhh...I'm off to find my contract and see if the wording was there for the yard.

Ya, find your contract. I would talk to your landlord. Also, are utilities included? If not, then it isn't right that the upstairs people are using your water. It would have been the landlord's responsibility to inform you that he was changing the yard arrangement when the new people moved in. Also, does this mean they now are looking right into your house? I figured the side yard gave you a little more privacy and that would be the reasoning behind it......

I would bitch and complain about this, especially because you keep your personal possessions in the yard and you don't want them or their friends stealing or using them or breaking them.   man people suck

geez.  ditto jharkins. 

sorry about this kpnice!

I take it the cookie idea didn't work? lol...I'm sorry you have to deal with people like that. I wouldd definitely say something to your landlord!

thanks Jharkins - I hate complaining bout it - but its just like - right now if i wanted to use my back porch - its cute, we have 2 chairs and a lil table out there, I can't not without staring at them - (how fun is that?). 

I agree with the water - i am checking that out definitely -plus it's MY HOSE! lol...buy yer own - the bad thing is - they are very nice people and I hate to come of petty, but shit - I've been here 3 years and they are the newbies..and already they "own" this place at least that is how I feel!

Also where we live - its a dead end - the side yard is ALL fenced in and runs along the dead end street - which only has 5 houses on it and our house is the only one with a huge, fenced in yard. 

I tend to get very territorial and I dont like people using our stuff without asking etc.  They even use our extra chairs out there- again without asking - I am making FI pack everything away in the basement!

I am paying my rent tomorrow and I am going to drop it off to my landlords since they live 3 miles away and I think I am going to say something, just as far as it makes it awkward for us to enjoy the back porch now and the patio....meanwhile this side yard that is double the size of our back yard is going unused!!!

okay my contract just says use of yard...grrrrr...again - they are extremely nice people, however, a little older than us and have the 2 kids, i am definitely going to speak to landlord when I drop off my check and just say, we feel awkward using the  yard now. (makes me not feel bad if my tv is a lil too loud or music).  and I did tell her we use the back yard occasionally for parties, etc. Seriously, imagine this:

You have a table & 2 chairs in the yard, your grill, your tiki torches and everything and you are cooking dinner and plan on eating outside and imagine them being out there (this hasn't happened yet - but can you imagine?)  I am not about to pick up and move all my shit to the front yard just because they like the back yard.

Ok, your contract says use of yard. That means that YOU have the use of the yard. If it were to be a shared yard, it would part of the shared spaces your contract (probably) lists, like a driveway etc. It does NOT say joint use of yard. ALSO, if it doesn't say that you have use of the side yard, then you are correct in assuming that you only have rights to the back yard.

I would ask you landlord if (A) the new neighbor's contract grants them rights to the back yard. (B) If so, who has priority usage (C) You are not comfortable with them and their children being right outside your windows (D) You will not accept ANY liability for things that happen in the yard (E) If anything of yours is taken from the yard, you will assume it was the neighbors and press charges. (F) also, they are using your water, not cool.

Frankly, I would make him sign something defining your rights to the yard before you leave. I would tell him that you have liked living there for 3 years and that you have been a very good tennant. You are not happy with the current situation and you feel like the arrangement you signed on for with the yard is not being honored. Tell him that you want to be able to share the open space and that them having the side yard and you having the back is the most proper way to do that.

Remember, it is possible that he has no idea they are all up in your space, so don't be mad at him right away.

oooh your good and thanks btw! I do know that they advertising the parking as 4 spots instead of 2 spots, so I think they were just trying to get the most out of their advertising, etc. 

So I took out my garbage...and where I lay out in the "BACK YARD" b/c its private they now have a kiddie pool and the kids bikes out there....wahhhhhh!!!

I love your last paragraph. We've been using that yard as "OUR" yard for 3 years...and now all of a sudden it is shared??? I tried to email the old neighbors but it came back undeliverable...perhaps it was more of a mutual understanding between us and the old neighbors that we used the back and they the front - but doesn't it make sense??? i mean we walk out to the back - they walk out to the front!

If their contract says "use of yard", then i am going to ask the landlord to define it like you said - we in the back, them in the side. i hate being sooo effin petty.

Well, you said they use your chairs, I say go lay out! IN THE KIDDIE POOL!!!!!!! Maybe take a bike for a spin in the yard too :-P

Not petty, it is reasonable that you would divide the open spaces in a logical manner, they are just being greedy from the sounds of it. It isn't their house.

I don't think you're being petty. Your new neighbors really should have talked to you when they moved in to discuss the use of the yards. I would have, if it was me. I'm pretty territorial too and I wouldn't be able to enjoy the yard if I had to share it with someone. Especially if I wanted to lay outside and actually have some privacy.

Them using your hose and chairs really ticks me off. They shouldn't have assumed that those were "shared property." If one of those kids breaks your chair, who's supposed to buy a new one? What kind of liability is there if a kid hurts themself on something that belongs to you? What if you had planted vegetables in the backyard... would the neighbors pick them? If you were having a BBQ, would they just join in? Or send the kids outside to play in their kiddie pool during your BBQ? C'mon! How about some common courtesy!!

jkarkins has given you the right language to use with your landlord. I'd say go for it. The landlord needs to change the wording in both contracts to elaborate on the words "use of yard."

Good luck!