*terrified*
 

I sure hope you guys can give me some good vibes or great advice.

We have an old fogey of a neighbor who likes to stir the pot. Before I lived here 11+ years ago SO had a K9 dog on the property-as a K9 officer you need one of those, you know, and another small dog that was a pet. While I don't know the details, I do know SO put up a privacy fence because this neighbor complained about these dogs. SO went so far as to have thier vocal cords stripped (?) to make their barking less loud. The neighbor didn't come to SO-the neighbor went to Animal Control. (all these dogs are long gone) This is a bit off topic but still makes me livid: He told a guy who came to paint the house earlier this summer that we have orgies in the backyard pool every week. :hand: We don't even have FRIENDS! Much less friends we'd have to the house for stuff like that! :flame:

Three weeks ago when I brought home those 3 new goats I knew almost immediately I had too many. I mentioned the 2 that were foundered were *very* vocal and this is one of the reason I sold them to a friend. I didn't even want to listen to them and I really didn't want to annoy the neighbors.

As I'm coming home from work tonight the neighbor is coming down the drive. He backs up to let me know that he has a right not to hear my goats "bellar" and he has someone who will be coming to talk to us about how we are violating deed restrictions. He said he didn't want any hard feelings and he wouldn't be going after my chickens or rabbits but he didn't have to listen to my goats. I nodded and smiled, told him the offending goats got a new home Tuesday and that we do have a permit from animal control for our goats. He then tells me that deed restrictions trump animal control.

We live in a neighborhood, yes. But we have no HOA, and this "community" was established in the early 70's. I don't know much about deed restrictions, but my mom is a realtor in FL and says that there a deed restriction for a community expires in 30 years.

I cannot lose these goats. I was out there with them tonight bawling my eyes out. :( We have had goats here on this property since April 2010 and he has not made a peep about them until now. And I had the sense to know to get rid of the loud ones; tonight when I was out there they didn't make a peep! The remaining goats don't make noise! This is coming from a guy who told me he loves the sound of the roosters (which honestly sorta bug me), and who sprays the fence line with ChemLawn every other week and my blueberry bushes won't grow because of it! My goats make less noise than the neighbor on the other side's 2 huge Golden Retrievers-who bark constantly!

What am I going to do? I cannot lose my goats. SO and I have been talking about moving more now than before but I'm scared we can't sell this house fast enough. We owe so very little on it, have tons of equity but I don't think we can have 2 mortgages. I swear if we could just find about 10 acres I'd live in a tent with my goats til this place sold. The house down the street was on the market over 1.5 years and just sold. The house across the street has been on the market forever!

I'm so scared!

The first thing I'd do is get a copy of the deed restrictions and see exactly what they say and whether there is an expressed time limit. Find out what you are dealing with before you make any decisions.

I had a neighbor threaten deed restriction violations on me. It was a guy building a house next door on a previous empty lot and he was going to sell it. So I felt no obligation to be nice with him since he wasn't going to be a real neighbor. Anyway, I have a high powered lawyer friend who I gave eggs and honey to so he wanted to help get this guy off my back. He said it didn't even matter if I was violated deed restrictions (there's a setback for livestock enclosures and it truly was unclear if I was in violation). Turns out, it's only a court that can determine whether or not it's a violation. The neighbor will literally have to sue you. It's a lot of trouble over what sounds like an issue you've already solved.

Oh, and my deed restrictions had that same clause about how they will expire/need to be renewed in 30 yrs (this place was built in 1968). My understanding is that the restrictions are renewed as is unless someone wants to file a change at the time of 'expiring'. So it's not that they go away, it's that they COULD change after 30 yrs. But we didn't have to get into all of that since the neighbor who threatened me got scared off when I responded to his letter with a certified mail letter from my lawyer!

So, deep breaths. Find out what your deed restrictions are and see who comes to talk to you. This might all turn out to be him blowing a bunch of smoke. He's probably proud of himself for "making" you get rid of the noisy goats you already gott rid of! :p

I would let him sue me, but if he complains enough animal control could take away our permit. Luckily SO is a cop (and has been for 25+ years) so all of those public servants stick together so I'm trying not to break down before it's time.

I hope he does sue me. This guy is so old and mean - he digs through our trash -and when he mentioned he was looking at a retirement home I almost wet my pants in excitement. I shouldn't wish these things but if he would just mooooove I'd be fine.

I need to start digging around and see if I can find me a high power lawyer friend. ;)

I would move. He sounds freaking crazy. Who goes through someone trash?

I'm sure it will turn out okay. He is just enjoying the power trip he gets from threatening you.

My understanding with deed restrictions is that if they are broken in any way, by anyone, they are no longer enforceable. All violations have to be treated the same. If you look around the neighborhood you can probably find lots of things that break the restrictions. If he does bother you check with a lawyer, find out exactly what your laws are.

leave banana peels around the trash can. Maybe he will end up in the nursing home sooner rather than later.

Banana peels-shoot! Find a dead roadkill skunk on the highway, wrap it in an important-looking bag. Voila!

Where is that blasted like button!?

Get a copy of the deed restrictions before you do anything, and btw when is the next pool party ;)

Don't panic before you have solid information, not the rantings of a man who may have dementia. Don't over-react as HE does.

Oh, that's a good one Alice.

You can start the "I feel so sorry for so and so, I think he's having trouble maintaining himself, I wonder if he has Altimers" all over town until someone checks up on HIM.

Ooooooh-you're so smart! :D I'll hang tight and see what he has planned next then I'll see if there is a way to have his welfare checked, since he and his wife are alone and so very old ... they may need some assistance. :thumb:

Good luck...I hope you can figure it all out.

Depending on how old this guy is and how long you think he might be around I'd consider moving unless he's old.

#1 priority when we got our place was that we not have anybody near us.

If you move be sure to sell it to somebody from South America who enjoys cockfighting since the dude likes that sound.:happy2:

He's pushing 80. His days are surely numbered.

So I went down to the Clerk of the Circuit Court and found out that the deed restricts cattle, sheep, horses and pigs. We have a permit for up to 4 goats. Looks like one will have to go but that decision is an easy one-the last one we got will be the first one to go back.

SO told me that "we have a fight on our hands" with this guy because he can try to say the goats are too noisy. I think it's just the opposite. He has a reputation of being a bit of a bully around here but now that I know I am not only not breaking any laws, I'm also not violating any deed restrictions, the neighbor has a fight on *his* hands. When I'm right I do not back down. Animal Control can monitor my goats for the noise for all I care. They are not any more disruptive than an average dog. And I hope he does try to sue me.

Tonight is trash night and this morning while changing the baby's diaper I considered saving it. I have some stuff to throw out that he loves to dig around in (discontinued stuff from my work that he likes to give to his church) and I planned to plant the diaper in the box and set it out nice and early tonight to give him plenty of daylight to dig through it. ;) I did consider it ... didn't say I did it.

Meanwhile I have a call in to the realtor who we were working with about 2 years ago when we considered moving. I was too concerned about the market to sell then but it seems now is a really good time. :)

Get him, girl!
I'd have popped the diaper in there. It's your trash, afterall!

Put some food in your trash can (a bunch of bananas and a head of lettuce etc) and snap some pictures of him moving the food to get to the discontinued stuff. Send the pics of him with the food in his hands to Aging and Adult Services and mention that he eats out of your trash all of the time. That gets their attention quick.

OM gosh y'all are a hoot! :clap:

or maybe some chicken feet and a pin cushion doll that looks like him somewhat with needle in it. Heck, if he believes you have orgies in your hot tub, maybe he'll believe you practice voodoo and he'll back off a bit.:lookout:

Has he actually filed a complaint, or is he just still running his mouth?

Save your energy for real situations, not imagined ones.

There was a thread on another board about a woman who had a very noisy Nubian. She used a dog no-bark shock collar on the goat to teach it to not holler so much. She said it worked very well. That might be worth a try.

We actually go as far as having a neighbor pay an attorney to send us a letter to say that we were breaking the covenants in our little development.....
And that was all we ever heard of that....
If there is no HOA there is no way for him to enforce covenants short of taking you to court...all attorney fees for his side will be straight out of his pocket. So does he have the resources to follow up on his threat?

Never mind: I see that you have ALREADY read your deed!

My vote is to break open about 2-4 eggs into the trash WITH the diaper. Raw eggs are terrible to touch in the trash and the smell of the diaper will give him a double whammy and hopefully teach him a lesson. I would also do several hours of video taping of your farm and animals to prove that noise if not an issue as well as perhaps beat him to the punch and call animal control first stating that you have a neighbor that is threatening you for noisy animals, but they are not and perhaps invite them over to your property prove it.

You do have a dog? I would be sure to protect the goats somehow, motion sensor lights, dogs, some alarm or something. If he is this looney, no telling how far his looniness extends.

I like the way you think ;)

The gate stays locked. He would have to climb a 6ft fence to get in, or have one of his grandkids do it.

We went back to the place that houses the deeds and flipped through huge books and still found nothing saying we couldn't keep goats.

When he made his statement to me this weekend his words were, "I've got some people who are going to come talk to you about violating deed restrictions. I have a right not to hear your goats bellar. I won't say anything about your chickens or your rabbits but I have a right not to hear your goats bellar all night." I just nodded my head and smiled then told him that the goats we had that made so much noise were gone now and he ignored me. As he continued to repeat I was violating deed restrictions I told him we had a permit from Animal Control and he said that was it didn't matter what AC said if I was violating deed restrictions.

No one has come to talk to me (but that's one of the reasons I put a lock on the gate) and I've not gotten anything in the mail. He does have the money to fight me, I do not have the money to fight him, but he has the burden of proof-and since the goats do not make noise I'm not sure how he could prove it. I'm just hanging out now waiting to see what happens-but not as worried as I once was. Not by far.

Stand your ground....unless it is a mandate from county/city codes there is not much he can do short of taking you to court on his own dime.

I don't know about your goats but ours bed down at night and don't make any noise. The only time ours makes noise is when they see us. That's because we've spoiled them by giving them a crepe myrtle limbs.

My 2 cents- If someone does come and talk to you (animal control or police officer), just keep your cool. Coming from a law enforcement officer, they have to respond to the calls that are dispatched to them. Just explain your side in a cool and calm manner (if you choose to make a statement). Just because they come and talk to you does not mean they are on your neighbors side.

Another idea. Have you thought about buying some vacant farm land nearby. Maybe 2-3 acres. Put up a barn or shed and some fence. You could have all the critters you want and since it's close by, you can be there as much as you want.

I feel for you. Find out what your ordinances are on noise from animals. Sometimes your animals need only be quiet during certain hours - say from 10 pm to 7 am.