neighbors with light on all the time

[whycanttheybenormal]

Hi all - first post - We've got some neighbors that keep their back patio light on constantly. It illuminates our entire back yard and back side of the house. They are the only house in this subdivision that do this. Everyone else shows some respect to their neighbors with respect to turing on and off the back lights. I've asked them if they would plese turn it off when not in use, and they now keep it on more than they did. Anyone have some ideas, short of a civil suit for breach and disregard of our HOA rules and guidelines? OH yea, they also have have barking dogs and loud vehicles (Harley) but thats another topic.

Thanks

[Fesser]

Since they are blatantly disregarding your polite request and basically giving you the finger, I have to ask if you've contacted the HOA yet about the NFH's breach of the CC&R's. If you have, did the HOA refuse to do anything? You could definitely sue the HOA for not enforcing the CC&R's and that might spur them into action. I think you'd have to follow the chain progression before you could actually sue the neighbors.

[greenlightbandit]

Sounds like you have issues with your neighbors. Is there anything else that's bugging you about them?

Your only consolation is that they're paying for the electricity.

[Later]

You could definitely sue the HOA for not enforcing the CC&R's

Not necessarily. Our HOA has authority to enforce the rules but no responsibility or liability if they fail to do so. The homeowners also have authority to enforce the rules themselves.

[Carol]

Unless there's a law prohibiting use of electric lights after a certain time, you'll have no entitlement of a civil suit. You can only sue them successfully if they have broken a law/ statute. Maybe they do it for security reasons?
My across the street neighbors leave their post lamp on all night and it used to shine through my pleated blinds. I like it totally dark so I went online and purchased black-out shades. Work like a charm

[Carol]

Maybe Canadian laws are different than USA laws.
Rights and laws are two different arguments anyway.

[Later]

Unless there's a law prohibiting use of electric lights after a certain time, you'll have no entitlement of a civil suit. You can only sue them successfully if they have broken a law/ statute.

Not necessarily. I have the right under my CC&R's to sue my neighbors for violations. That includes a "annoying lighting".

Many areas also have laws against "nuisance lights" or "light trespass" which have nothing to do with a using them "after a certain time".

And that's in the USA

[whycanttheybenormal]

Hey all - thanks. Yes GLB, there are several issues that I mentioned. First and foremost is the light. Second is the dogs, although through my contact with the local county animal dept. there has been some improvement with the barking. Still working with them, I tried to help help the noisy neighbor with the dogs but they're too lazy to even attempt a small amount of energy in training their dogs. It's a shame actually. And the neighbor was parking a very large diesel truck in his side yaed next to the house and then starting it and running it for 30-40 minutes at 4am. It was parked about 50 ft from my bedroom window. Not cool, but I have lived with it for quite a while until I finally called code enforcement and asked them to look at it. Truck is gone now, but will the neighbor start running his loud as hell Harley at 4 am in the near future. If so then the local authorities will be called for sure, and not just by me. In my defense, I have been very patient and civil and have hoped for the best. The wife over there seems to be a total unhappy one. She embellishes everything, makes up her own cock-n-bull story for hubby. And upon meeting her I was not impressed positively with her mannerisms and speech. As well as the way she looked. He is neo-hippy-biker or something I cannot determine. She appears like a little girl that got knocked up and now resents being left home for days alone with the children. She doesn't really do well with the little ones either, as I have observed. My children are all grown with their own lives and I know a thing or two about raising the little devils... LOL. I'm sorry to say these things in a disparaging light.
The outdoor light is not a huge issue, but it is intrusive to our privacy; and we like to go out in the warmern months, and even in colder months to watch the celestial events, stars and planets, etc. Their house is a little lower in elevation so the light stares you in the face when you're sitting there on the patio.
Down in the Dumps- now that's very helpful and is what I have been thinking. The light is intrusive and invades our property. There is such a thing as light pollution and there are things like cut-off devices that can be used, as well as different fixtures. The fixture they have on the house is like an 18th century light post, omni-directional. They could install a fixture that keeps the light on their property adn doesn't disturb the neighbors by direct shining on others property.
Heck it's the builders fault as much as these peoples. I would have no problem with they would just use the light for seeing out there and then turn it off when they go inside. But that isn't what is happening. Now they're using it as a weapon of sorts. To spite us I suppose. And this is not right either. Adn later I think you've got it right too. Thanks all.
We do have an HOA but it is in it's infancy as this is a fairly new subdivision. The current leadership has been reluctant to get involved, and it's possible they don't know what they're doing or supposed to do. I am now an officer on the board and working at it slowly to make the HOA function better, and do it's job without being to interveneing into peoples lives. I have seen and read what and HOA officer postition has doen to otherwise level-headed people. Heck, just take a look at our Congress and you can see what I mean. One of the primary finctions of an HOA is to assist people in keeping property values up by maintaining standards. Thats not a bad thing. Ofcourse there are more things HOA's do. Some are not pleasant. We have some communal infrastructure to maintain and that is where I am currently involved.

Anyways, keep the ideas coming and thanks for the information. You people are great.

[john72ss]

hello and welcome why!! my neighbor behind me has barking dogs, and she does try to keep them in when the bark, after i told her i would call animal control, anyways she has left her outdoor garage lights on for years!i hink she is scared of the dark, they shine right into my bedroom! every night all night so i put up 10 feet tall arborvities! problem solved! but now she dont talk to me which is fine by me, as i am a quiet loving person who keeps to himself! maybe you might be able to plat something of that nature?

[Carol]

<<I have the right under my CC&R's to sue my neighbors for violations. That includes a "annoying lighting".>>

I assume that is a HOA? That is totally different than a non-HOA neighborhood. I was not referring to a HOA. I have a house in a HOA and they handle this stuff w/o it going to any civil litigation.


<<Many areas also have laws against "nuisance lights" or "light trespass" which have nothing to do with a using them "after a certain time".

>> Correct. LAWS. Not a right that can be interpreted subjectively because you don't like it. A written law. If there is a law against shining a light all night that is a totally different scenario.

tall arborvitae and those black-out shades do wonders.

[Later]

I am now an officer on the board and working at it slowly to make the HOA function better

Well I guess that rules out building a website to humiliate the HOA into taking action...

[whycanttheybenormal]

I planted six faster growing "Green Giants" this past fall, but they are only 5 feet tall right now, in the future they will be 30+ feet tall and 15 to 20feet in diameter at the bottom. Painfully I have to wait for them to do their job. Meanwhile I've gleened quite a bit of information on the web regarding "light trespass" and I plan to try to talk to the two sociopaths about their nuisance outdoor fixture. The way I see it is if they intend to leave it on for hours at a time, then it needs to have cut-off aspects to it so it doesn't allow light to trespass on my property. I'm going to have a discussion with the Chief of Police and Code Enforcement people. I'm talking to the COP because some of his officers have made some statements to me that indicate they are totally lacking in knowledge of this subject and/or are insensitive to the issue. To Code Enfocement because they possibly could help or point me to someone who can. And I have to talk to the Pres of the HOA, which could possibly be a useless proposition. I may have to gain HOA pres office/title to get anything done, and that is a doable thing. There are many other issues that need resolving in our HOA that the current top officers are ignoring. The Pres flat out told me once "I'm not enforcing that" refering to one of our covenants.

[Later]

I may have to gain HOA pres office/title to get anything done, and that is a doable thing. There are many other issues that need resolving in our HOA that the current top officers are ignoring. The Pres flat out told me once "I'm not enforcing that" refering to one of our covenants.

Better move quickly. Once precedents are established they can be very difficult to undo!

[tiredofthis]

My last NsFH did this, it drove me nuts. Their porch light was on 24/7 and shined into my kitchen, I never felt I had any privacy as it lit the whole thing up and they also used to hang around outside on their porch night and day. And then also, they left their bathroom light on all night too, for reasons unknown, which also bothered me. They did so many horrible things, I am not even sure if I posted about the lights. Someone else I know, a realtor yet, said her new neighbors also left a light on all night which made it impossible to sleep in one room. First she said she was going to talk to them about it, but when I later asked what happened, she said she felt she had no right to tell them how they could use lights in their own home, so didn't do it. But in the meantime, she is thinking about moving back to her old house, which is sitting vacant, last I heard, because she liked the neighbors so much better and misses them - but she likes her new house better, but not the neighbors. I advised she move back, since bad neighbors can certainly wreck your life.

As to the laws, you'd have to check with a lawyer in your area to find out what they are if your HOA won't help, every area is different with regard to their laws. I think your neighbors do sounds like NsFH though, not just inconsiderate people (as the realtor seems to think her new neighbors are.)

[ScapegoatGal]

I'm sorry, but if nothing is going to get done and you know they are doing it on purpose, it's time to get a flood light out there and point it straight in their direction.

[Foxie]

<grins evily> yanno you could make use of tthe daisy air rifle ya got the grand last yule .. or somethng equally mean ..
a sling shot works to ..

[Later]

And there's also this option:

[ScapegoatGal]

Yanno, the disco ball is a PERFECT idea. I have a very small one if you want to pay the shipping charges from Canada to receive it. It might be too small however.

Hey, what about a STROBE light!

[greenlightbandit]

Problem with the disco ball is that only a few of the mirrors are aiming at your neighbor's house. You need a shallow concave reflector covered in those mirrors so that you can aim it directly at their window.

[tiredofthis]

Well, if you really want to get them, chances are they have some sort of criminal record or it is at least worth looking into and maybe do something legal. Not about the lights, but other stuff. People like this are usually offenders in more than one area. My NsFH - or the worst of them - was arrested plenty of times but nothing directly to do with me. But my local police were very helpful. Especially the time I called stating I could not stand it anymore and one female Lt said she would check to see if there were outstanding warrants on him from other cities and there were, so he got locked up for a long time. So if you can do a criminal background check on their house or otherwise find out about other past offenses or crimes, you might be able to go after them that way. I seem to recall they are renting, but not sure and tired now, so easier to post than check and read the old ones right now. Hope this helps.

[Later]

Problem with the disco ball is that only a few of the mirrors are aiming at your neighbor's house. You need a shallow concave reflector covered in those mirrors so that you can aim it directly at their window.

Might be a problem getting it aimed just right:


Unless you have someone standing in front of the NFH's window telling you when it's right...

[greenlightbandit]

If I didn't know any better I would have assumed that the video was a neighbor trying to do the same thing, but I know better.

[whatdidido]

Are these people owners or renters?

Folks who usually leave lights on all night do so at their front door (to discourage theft). Not in someone's backyard.

I'm surprised that they can afford to have the lights on all night. Wow. Their electricity bill must be huge. Have they not heard of a motion sensor light?

And I thought I had bad neighbors. I couldn't imagine having to inhale diesel fumes for over a half hour a day. All that poison going into my home? Yuck.

I hear you about the 4 a.m. Harley. I've got that issue. Another six or seven weeks, it'll be back (once the snow melts) and it's back to the 4:11 or 4:19 revvings and the Friday and Saturday night 1-3 a.m. returning home revvings.

Many people today are just rude and inconsiderate. It's an epidemic. What happened to civilized behaviour?

[Later]

If I didn't know any better I would have assumed that the video was a neighbor trying to do the same thing, but I know better.

Yeah. He's probably just using a plain mirror, not a "shallow concave reflector covered in those mirrors".

[tandemmom1]

You know we leave our lights on all night because we don't and will never trust NFH. Always afraid that our cameras will miss something. We have caught them throwing crap in our yard only to have the cops come and ask them not to do it any more.

Sam