Being neighborly doesn’t mean you have to befriend the entire community. Common sense and respect are usually enough. Still, that’s too much to ask from some.

Last week, Reddit user ChileDoesntExist submitted a post to the platform’s ‘Petty Revenge‘ community, in which he reveals how he got back at the obnoxious man who used to live next door.

The jerk threw huge, loud parties and was openly confrontational to the point where he insisted on settling their differences with fists.

So the Redditor decided to get rid of him, and did so on his own terms, using clever deceit instead of angrily throwing punches.

This man had a neighbor who would throw loud parties and threaten him

Image credits: Maurício Mascaro (not the actual photo)

So he devised a savage revenge plan to use his ‘hobby’ against him

Image credits: Michael Burrows (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Michael Förtsch (not the actual photo)

Image credits: chiledoesntexist

Sadly, this story is a reflection of the broader picture. According to a study by Find Law, a popular legal information website, 42% of Americans say they have had a dispute with their neighbors.

The good thing is that they’re still a minority; the survey found that the remaining respondents – 58 percent – say that they have never had a dispute with a neighbor.

As it was the case in the post, noise was the most common complaint between neighbors, accounting for nearly half of all disputes.

Here are the issues and their prevelence:

• Noise 48%;
• Pets and animals 29%;
• Children’s behavior 21%;
• Visual nuisance, property appearance, trash, etc. 18%;
• Property boundaries 17%;
• Suspected criminal behavior 8%;
• Health or building code violations 4%;
• Parking 1%.

86% of people who had disputes said they took some kind of action, usually in the form of discussing the issue directly with the neighbor or sending them a note or email. Only fourteen percent of people with a dispute took no action at all:

• Discussed issue personally with neighbor 49%;
• Called police 27%;
• Notified neighborhood or owners’ association 15%;
• Sent letter, note, or email 11%;
• Went to court 4%;
• Went to mediation 4%;
• Other actions 4%;
• Took no action 14%.

“Neighborhoods form dynamic communities with unique personalities, since a group of unrelated people must live close together,” said Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney and editor with Find Law. “Most often, neighbors are friendly, but occasionally, disputes will arise.”

The key is to deflate them. Not escalate.

People thought the original poster (OP) handled the situation beautifully

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