Unruly Neighbours Help Required

[Hosemaster]

We moved out here to the Limousin in July of this year unfortunatley we have been plagued almost since we got here by a very unruly family and there associates 75 metres up the road in our village. They are a family of 3 teenagers (15-17) 2 smaller children and their single mother plus various hangers on, the teenagers do not attend college and the young ones sometimes attendschool. The mother has been in prison for drug supply and they are reguarly drunk and unruly. They have terrorised this village, which mostly consists of over 65 yr old residents, by being abusive, driving vehicles and motorbikes (some without exhausts) round the village at 3am, and stealing and vandalising etc. Most of the villagers we speak to say they want them out of the village but are too frightened of retaliation to do anything. Most recently an associate of these people who claims to live at the house, stormed down the road and threw our flower tubs that where at the side of the road opposite our house into the stream shouting that we where English scum and that he wanted this area to park his 4 cars on. Although this is public land there is plenty of space further down the road and the Marie had seen these flowers and said how nice they looked. If this person had asked we could have made some space if required.

We have sent a letter of complaint, as have 2 other residents, to the Marie and incidents have been reported to the Gendarmes but very little action has been taken.

Can anyone help with any advise regarding legal action that could be taken to remove these people bearing in mind they seem to own they house they live in albeit payed for by social services (who also dont listen or act on to our complaints) Any help appreciated.

Thanks Phil

[Val_2]

I think you will find that the maire is obligated to sort this out. I know for a fact and having access to such info that should a family renting an HLM property and be causing nuisances like this,they would be evicted very quickly and we have actually carried this out twice here in the last five years. One was a single mother with a teenage daughter who was always drunk in public and the mother insulted and abused her neighbours and the other was another single mother who let her very large and classed as dangerous dogs loose on the small estate.As you say they might possibly own the property but there again it could be a private rental,the mairie would know this anyway. Why not get a delegation to go and see him and get this sorted,these people cannot be allowed to rule the roost this way and be supported by social services. I can also tell you that all mairies have details on all their inhabitants including lists of the unemployed and those in financial trouble.

[Elsie2]

I do sympathise with you. We had exactly the same problem, and couldn't escape from the night-time noise - again, youths who had been chucked out of school, nothing to do, would sleep till noon and then party in the street all night, drive their noisy motos up and down and rev them outside the house, etc. I got so tired we eventually quit and came back to our (quiet) house in England. Over a period of several months made numerous representations to the mayor and other leading lights, and some efforts were made to get them to behave in a more considerate way, but the mayor said he couldn't evict them. It was a private let, rent presumably paid by social services. The main offender seems to have moved on now, but occasionally shows up, so we're not out of the woods yet.

Like you I am desperately sorry for the older folk - they're too scared to complain, but they tell us that their lives are being made hell by these people.

Good luck.

[Jc]

Find out who is likely to stand against the mayor next election and speak to him.

[0zeb100ddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue]

Hello

Why not be nice to your neighbours. Invite them round for afternoon tea or aperitifs and a nice chat. If they are unfortunate enough to have to exist on welfare payments then you should try to help them financially.

[derf]

If they are unfortunate enough to have to exist on welfare payments then you should try to help them financially.

WHY?

[curlyp]

[quote]Hello Why not be nice to your neighbours. Invite them round for afternoon tea or aperitifs and a nice chat. If they are unfortunate enough to have to exist on welfare payments then you should try to ...[/quote]

What an idiotic reply to such a sensative topic

[jamesg]

Well zeb100 i was not surprised to find no information in your profile. No wonder anti social behaviour is so common with such a politically correct solution such as yours.

You surely are joking.

[Viv]

Yes I think he was 'joking' but you need to read his other posts to get an angle on his 'humour'.

[hoverfrog]

I don't think it was such an idiotic post, but perhaps a bit naive.

If relationships are a bit strained then it can help to do something out of the ordinary and try to break the ice. There are situations, however, when this would be too little too late, and the people concerned have set ideas that won't be changed by anything other than an atom bomb

We had something of a feud going on with our neighbours (albeit a quieter one!) which dissolved into nothing when I hovered at the fence one day when he was cutting wood. He reluctantly stopped his machine and turned to face me, and I smiled very sweetly and asked him if he would like some eggs as we had loads. He was so gobsmacked that it took him all of 30 secs to accept and invite us round for aperitif...

There are, however, people who will never accept whatever it is that they think that you stand for - with the emphasis on the 'think' (even assuming that some of them are capable of independant thought!), and sometimes one has to take a deep breath and realise that not everyone has the same standards or beliefs that you do and to act accordingly.

From reading the original post I think that the people involved have gone past the polite stage, and as they are looking for a legal solution then it must indeed be bad - everyone living here has come across the french legal system (I can't spell beaurocracy so I'm improvising!) so it can't ever be the 1st port of call.

There was a family with 7 children evicted by the police in our (very small) village a couple of weeks ago, because the owner decided he wanted to sell the property. Village gossip says they were dirty and ran the place down. I know nothing else, except that you can't evict over winter and you have to have a good reason...

All this rambling (sorry!) just goes to reinforce that you have to speak to the mairie. They know who owns what and why, and all the relevant info - even if they can't do anything themselves.

Asbestos knickers on - I've opened my mouth more than usual!

hoverfrog

[Hosemaster]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply to my original post. We appreciate your time and comments. To answer a few querys we have tried to be sociable to these people on several occasions, out of the teenagers one or two of them seemed to be fairly amenable but they still continued to terrorise usually when they had had too much to drink. I have also used the more brutal method of holding them 3 foot off the ground and telling them to stop it politley. Not my usual way of doing things but my patience is streched. The mother will not even say bonjour never mind negotiate and her so called freind and associates are as bad and even abusive.

We have now found out that the house is owned by the children after the father died, so eviction looks impossible. We are considereing selling and moving on If we can!!!!

Thanks again please keep the advise and comments coming

Phil

[mark]

you help them.......

[nectarine]

Hosemaster, I have no useful advice to add to the many suggestions you have ... just wanted to send you good wishes to get this sorted out.  It infuriates me that a few antisocial people in a small hamlet can virtually rule the roost and send the quiet peaceful majority to an early grave.  Someone suggested speaking to whoever will run against the mayor ... probably worth a try since they will want to get your vote.  A delegation to the mayor, or for the mayor to visit your hamlet and speak also to the older neighbours, will certainly convey how strongly you want to get this sorted.

However, why should YOU move?  You found a pleasant place (you thought) and want to stay.  Your older neighbours have no choice but to stay.  There must be antisocial laws and various means to make this family's life miserable by visiting gendarmes who make regular inspections of their cars (tyre depth, etc. ..... just think of whatever you can do to hassle them) and school attendance records, etc. 

Well good luck, I'm sure there are plenty of people on this board wishing you luck and fantasising about vigilante groups ....

[Clair]

Please note: this is a very old thread which has been resurrected by a new forum member.

[Russethouse]

Nectarine, the original post was made 2 years ago...I'm not sure that Hosemaster still posts here.