Whether you see and speak to them every day or wouldn’t be able to place them while walking down the street, maintaining a good relationship with your neighbors is very important.
As a result, even if they do or say things that might bother you, it might be wise to hold your tongue because stirring the pot could result in a tense living situation.
Of course, should things escalate to the point where they interfere with your life or potentially damage your property, then it’s time to speak up.
Redditor imthekarn wasted no time in politely asking their neighbors to limit their usage of a new addition to their backyard.
An addition that the original poster (OP) wasn’t particularly pleased about, to begin with.
While the OP’s neighbors initially obliged, they later returned to their old ways with a vengeance, resulting in the OP taking more drastic actions.
Worried that they may have gone too far, the OP took to the subReddit “Am I The A**Hole” (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for calling the HOA on the neighbors for installing a 25 foot tall bouncy castle/water slide in their back yard?”
The OP explained that when their neighbors seemed to be indifferent to their complaints, they felt they needed to involve others to help them with their problems.
“I never thought I would be in this position, but I am the one who sought out the 75-year-old members of the HOA board for assistance.”
“Having said that, I feel like I was very patient and accommodating but just got pushed too far.”
“But still, anytime you ‘call the HOA,’ you might be the a**hole.”
“My neighbors started out in February/March with a bouncy castle in their yard.”
“I could not see it, but I could certainly hear it when the kids would start bouncing at 4:30/5 am.”
“It honestly seemed that the kids would wake up really early, and the parents would send them outside so they could sleep.”
“But it was incredibly loud.”
“I had a polite conversation with the parents, and they assured me the bouncy castle was temporary.”
“I put up with it for probably three weeks, nearly every day, until I explained that I work nights and I was being woken up right as I was getting to sleep.”
“To their credit, they stopped jumping early in the morning, and everything was fine until three weeks ago when a huge bouncy castle suddenly appeared in their backyard.”
“It was at least 25 feet tall. It completely blocked my view of the mountains. I could see the kids were able to look right into my bedroom window from the top.”
“Unfortunately, this coincided with a shift change for me, and now the kids were up until 11-12, even 1 am on some nights, and now I had to wake up at 4:30.”
“I didn’t even realize it was also a waterslide until I realized that probably hundreds of gallons of water had run under our shared fence and actually pushed all my dog’s poop up against my back door.”
“I went over and talked to them, and the dad essentially said, ‘we were polite enough to change our schedule for you the first time, and this is our backyard–f**k you.'”
“I decided something had to be done because potentially my house could be damaged, let alone the sleep issue.”
“So I called the HOA, and however the machine works, my neighbor had been called in front of a board meeting, fined about $1,000 dollars for covenant violations as well as been ordered to pay for damages to our joint fence.”
“I thought everything was good except for some dirty looks from the neighbor, but literally EVERY one of my family and friends are saying I’m the a-hole for going to the HOA.”
“While opinions vary, the general gist is I’m now the crabby neighbor ruining kids’ fun.”
“That I should have got some noise canceling headphones and ignored it, and they would have popped the slide at some point anyways, and it would have taken care of itself.”
“The idea I guess, is that I tattled and got my way by unleashing a bunch of busybodies with too much time and too much undeserved power.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation by declaring:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
The Reddit community was in agreement that the OP was not the a**hole for reporting their neighbors to their HOA.
Everyone agreed that the OP did exactly the right thing, as their neighbors were not only disrupting their sleep but also causing damage to their homes. Many also thought this was the wake-up call their neighbors needed to be better parents.
“NTA.”
“Honestly, going to the HOA is the bare minimum here.”
“This is actually proper use of the HOA.”
“These neighbors were putting your quality of life and possibly the quality of your property into jeopardy.”
“I’m honestly really worried for the kids.”
“These are very irregular and ungodly early/late hours for them to be outside seemingly unattended.”
“The parents honestly sound negligent and decided to make them the neighborhood’s ‘problem’ rather than actually parent their kids.”
“Makes me wonder if CPS should be next on your list of calls.”- CrimsonKnight_004
“NTA.”
‘I don’t typically side with snitches, but this is pretty clear.”
“The early hour noise and the damage to property are big no-nos.”- FortuneTellingBoobs
“NTA.”
“Sicking the HOA on the neighbors is rarely the right choice, but that doesn’t mean it’s never the right choice.”
“If it was just the sleep schedule issue — and the gigantic size of that thing — that’d be one thing, especially if it was actually a short-term installation like most people do.”
“But the massive water runoff from an improperly managed waterslide?”
“For weeks?”
“Nope, their disrespect for your property and neighborhood decorum makes them the a**holes here.”- Qalyar
“NTA! “
“Can’t believe I’m saying this about contacting an HOA, but property damage and ability to peep in your windows is ridiculous.”- Scalawags3087
‘What kind of demon children are waking up at 4:30 am to f*cking go bounce?”
“What the actual f*ck!?”- Away-Astronaut7207
“NTA.”
“Former HOA resident here.”
“This is exactly the right situation to call the HOA.”
“Also, your friends and family would be singing a different tune if they lived next to neighbors that were in a giant bouncy castle at odd hours that flooded their yard.”- rkcraig88
“NTA.”
“F*ck that sh*t.”
“Clean up your dog’s poop tho.”
“That’s pretty gross.”- 8512764EA
“NTA whatsoever.”
“You very reasonably tried to talk to them, and despite being totally unreasonable and risking damage to your property, they told you to ‘f*ck off.'”
“Also, they lied to you initially, clearly deliberate because they knew they were in the wrong but wanted to get away with it.”
“You had no choice but to take it further for your quiet enjoyment of your property, to protect it, and for your privacy.”
“HOA’s have a terrible reputation because of how finicky they are, but there are circumstances in which it is justified to pursue things with them.”
“This was one of them.”
“The kids don’t need a bouncy castle to have fun.”
“There are heaps of ways of having fun without one.”
“Also, people need to learn that their ‘fun’ can’t be disruptive and damaging to others.”- msfinch87
“NTA.”
“HOA or not, the rule of living with neighbors is you ignore everything that the average reasonable person can ignore.”
“You cannot reasonably ignore this.”
“They paint their house a garish lime green?”
“You can put up window film, it sucks, but you can ignore it.”
“They have a hot tub party once a month from 4 pm to 8 pm and don’t invite you.”
“Sucks, but you can go to dinner and a movie and ignore it.”
“They keep you up at all hours by installing a 25-foot water slide slash bouncy castle (clearly as revenge for asking them to remove the slightly smaller one)….its hard to ignore, especially given the dog poop fountain portion of the event.”- VirginiaPlatt
“NTA: I just like how the Dad was like f*ck off and instead was issued a $1000 fine.”
“Children could have fun with a cardboard box.”
‘A continuous water slide is excessive.”
“Get an in-ground trampoline.”- Additional_Day949
“NTA.”
“Also, HOA or not, night shift or not, it’s incredibly inconsiderate to have kids outside making a lot of noise that early or that late.”
“Once in a blue moon, special occasions, sure.”
“But every day?”
“No way.”- that-1-chick-u-know
Reporting anything to the HOA should always be something of a last resort, as not only can it disrupt your relationship with your neighbors, but persistent complaining might also result in the HOA not taking your concerns seriously.
In this case, however, when the OP’s neighbors didn’t seem to appreciate the seriousness of the situation, calling the HOA was absolutely the right thing to do.
One imagines the OP won’t lose sleep at not being invited to any barbecues next door.