Having an amicable relationship with your neighbour can often be beneficial, especially if you need to borrow something from them, or things need fixing urgently and you need them to cooperate with you. But sometimes, those next door make it abundantly clear that they're not interested in being friendly, and you just get on with your lives separately.
When it comes to awkward conversations about stolen wheelie bins or broken fences, you'd like to think that neighbours wouldn't "play games". Sadly, one parent was left furious when the neighbour was refusing to fix their shared fence - despite breaking it herself.
The parent took to Reddit to complain about the situation, writing: "We rent and have two young kids, one is a three-year-old boy who likes to explore. About five years ago she moved in, she'll be in her 70s. The fence started to lean towards our yard not long after she moved in.
"In 2021 it started to get really bad (about 30°), I popped my head over and could see her garden was out of control and a big steel wheel thing was pushing the fence over. So I went over there and she straight away said 'I'm not fixing that f***ing fence'. This was the very first time I had ever spoken to her. She then blamed my kid for throwing eggs over her fence.
"Anyway fast forward and it's that bad it's falling right over, so we went to the real estate agent and they sent someone out for a quote. That was in January. Four panels have fallen off, leaving nails exposed. This week when we were out in the back yard she came out and yelled about trying to rip her off over the fence. The landlord wants to go halves but she doesn't want to pay.
"I explained that it needs doing and if our kids get hurt because of the fence I'll own everything she has. The landlord has never seen it and has no idea that it's all because of her side and I said I'll send him the photos if she wants to play games.
The Reddit poster desperately asked for advice, as they didn't know what to do for the best, but the fence needed fixing urgently.
In the comments, people insisted that the landlord should do something about it, and they shouldn't "threaten their 70-year-old neighbour."
Someone else wrote: "Maybe also search for advice in your local area for tenant's rights. And stop threatening your elderly neighbour."
Another suggested: "Tenants Vic. They can give you advice for prompting the landlord to act."
What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.
