Cracked windshield

[Analyss14]

Hey guys, just wanted to get some opinions. I woke up yesterday to find a circular crack in my windshield. My next-door neighbor's backyard faces the side of mine and there is a walkway in between the two where (mostly) school students use as a shortcut. It is a legit throughway. Well he rents and since he (by virtue of the placement of his house) only has on street parking, he fenced in the front half of his backyard and used landscape gravel on the back half to create a parking pad for his tenants. Well kids have a tendency, when passing by his house, to pick up stones and throw them at one another or at parking signs. I used to have landscape gravel as a border for my flower beds and have had problems with kids actually walking all the way onto my property to pick up stones and throw them. I immediately removed all the stones and switched to mulch.

Everyday I wake up and see red stones littered everywhere on our streets. I've even had stones hit my side windows but never hard enough to break/crack a window. Even when the tenants are home in their backyard, they see the kids misbehaving and don't say anything, I have to go out and the minute the kids see me they stop or run. I've mentioned it to the tenants and left messages for the landlord but to no avail. I've actually taken to video taping the kids when they get particularly rambunctious. It's even worse in the summer when school is out.

Now I have a cracked windshield and scratches on the hood of my car. I wasn't there when it was damaged and I couldn't tell which one of the kids did it obviously but I want the landlord to pay since the stones represent an attractive nuisance and he never did anything to fix it. Not even erect a fence (which I know is inconvenient for parking) and push the stone further into his property. I had to re-tar and lay new cement for my driveway so I know it's expensive but he should have done that after I approached him with the problem. I haven't asked him for anything yet, I am waiting to get in touch with him on Monday but I still have all the video of the kids throwing stones. How do you guys think I should approach him?

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Politely and calmly. With a request, not a demand.

 

[Analyss14]

Politely and calmly. With a request, not a demand.

Yeah, I mean, I plan on being polite but also clear with the situation. It's not really expensive to replace a windshield (I have a 2012 Rav4) so that shouldn't be a problem but more than anything I want him to replace those rocks and just cement or tar the whole thing. So I'm expecting some resistance since in the end it might cost him more than just the cost to repair/fix my windshield. I don't want to have to call the city so I want our discussions to be amicable.

In all the years I've lived here every time I contact him with a problem I always get a response from his property managers (never even seen him in person) so I want to make to make I approach this correctly. Do you think I should get an estimate before attempting to contact him?

 

[Mooncatt]

Since you can't prove the windshield damage was from the rocks in his yard, you may want to see if your car insurance will easily cover it. I think many allow a replacement now and then without affecting your rates .

The bigger problem of the rocks in general may require escalation. Don't just talk in person, but send a letter to him/his office (preferably with a tracking number or signature required for delivery) to get a paper trail going. Let him know about the video you have and that his rocks at contributing to a nuisance and request he take steps to remedy the situation. If not, you may have no choice but to go to the city about the problem.

Depending on what kind of footage you have, would it be possible to go to the police and report the kids for vandalism? They are the real problem I think in this situation and just getting them to stop would be the ideal solution.

 

[Analyss14]

Actually got a chance to talk to him today. Said he isn't doing squat. I told him I would pay for my windshield but asked that he take more preventative measures. He replied that he wasn't at fault for trying to beautify his property and that I should go after the delinquent kids. When I asked him which one of the near 30 different kids we've caught throwing stones I should go after, he said he just thought it was ***-backwards that I though he was at fault. This isn't like kids picking up stones off the street and throwing them at cars, he has a driveway filled with bright colorful red stones. The kids literally stand in his driveway and throw the stones. I asked him what he would do if the kids throwing stones at each other hit one in the eye or if, while standing on his property throwing stones, they hit a passerby or crack the window of someone driving by and caused an accident. I asked if he would at least clear it with his homeowners to see what his liability would be then. He refused to accept any responsibility.

Should I contact the city next? If I contact the police and give them my videos do you think they could confront the parents of the some the children? I tried talking to the children themselves but there are a few who retaliate by throwing stones directly at my house and then running when they think no one is home.

My brother is in high school, and after several business complained about students littering, loitering and disrespecting patrons, the school administration told them any student, wearing their school uniform, who is caught misbehaving even off school property would get detention and then suspension. My brother attends catholic school though and these students all attend a nearby public school where there is no enforced dress code. I don't know if would help but do you think talking to the school would make any difference?

 

[Little Darwin]

In my uninformed opinion:

The city (and their police) will probably do nothing with an "attractive nuisance" since the concept is not one usually handled via regulations, but is used in civil suits. They would probably have you identify the individual(s) involved in the specific act (which you said you can't do), and then take action if the act was criminal... You could also try to get the city to pass an ordinance to disallow the use of gravel, but they would be unlikely to enact an ordinance like that without grandfathering in those who already have gravel (bad for re-election to cost people money to comply with new laws).

You could do small claims court, but they would probably only have to pay for what you could prove they were responsible for. It would probably make no difference on whether the gravel is removed or not.

If you really want to fight the battle, you may have to hire a lawyer and sue the owner of the property.

 

[Jennifer Stough]

I agree that the only recourse of action that will benefit you in the least is probably small claims court for the cost of repair, but even then it would have to be the parents of the child responsible.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Android Central Forums