Trouble with the Neighbours, update No2

Once again let me thank everyone for your support and helping me rant and rave on the britboard.

My husband and I sat down and had a chat about everything and we have decided that we are going to stay in the apartment and we are not going to let them win. But we have had a bad time lately!!!

Here it starts... We went back to housing (second time) and they once again were very unhelpful, saying once again that they were not sure on the law and there is nothing that they can do. We went to the lawyer on the American base (he was German) and he was the most rudest man I have ever met. He didn't really listen, he started talking about stuff that we were not asking about i.e. the landlord having a right about asking us to take down the sat dish on the balcony (didn't even mention anything about a dish). The outcome, he said that in a court of law we would most probably be fined and maybe chucked out of the apartment with the dog going to the loo on the balcony. He said that we should just use the back garden, only for the dog playing in and on a lead (not for toilet). regarding the people over the road taking photos, that its is against the law but due to them not being published then we can't do anything about it, I asked if we could get a letter sent to them from him saying that its against the law and that they are invading our privacy, he said that he was unwilling to do that. Basically he was useless, not very helpful,

BUT!!! I went to lunch the other day with the colonels wife and the wife of the head of base (not sure on title) and they said that they are going to help. The colonels wife works in the lawyers office at Mannheim base and said that she will try her best to get us help and will get her husband involved, the head of base wife is telling her husband and he has promised to call housing department. So hopefully with the two most important men working at the base on our side everyone who needs to listen to us will!

I have also put a lovely little wicker fence around the balcony and its has made things a bit better, we can no longer see the people over the road! My husband soon after the chat told me to pack my suitcase and took me on a surprise skiing trip! So at the moment a little bit calmer and more relaxed. Also started looking at houses to buy back in the UK so that has helped me realize that soon it will all be over and we will once again own our own house. Also last week we had to choose our next assignments so that is the beginning of leaving! My husband has to go back to the states for 12 weeks for training to go back to a flying squadron so Maggie (the dog) and I are going to go with. Plus all the wife’s have promised to look after Maggie so that when my husband deploys I can go home every other week, so very happy.

good on yer keep us informed on whats going on..

Wonderful news!

The issue of course is...we have a similar problem with neighbours (not near as bad though), and we bought the flat!

So this make it tougher - good God German neighbours can be anal or?

Best regards, Chris

Good to hear you're going to stick with it & fight em', don't let the buggers get you down!

ANGRY!! ANGRY!! ANGRY!! UPDATE

After writing my update yesterday I felt really positive and a lot more happy then my husband came home from work saying that the housing centre had called him asking for us to go in as they have received a letter of complaint about us.

The letter contents

1. That they are really disappointment with me, saying that I never take Maggie out for walks during the day. Lie number 1, I take Maggie out twice a day maybe for the whole day as she goes everywhere with me and I mean everywhere. When I go round some ones house for lunch she comes with me. When I go shopping she comes with me.
2. That when Mark takes Maggie out he never picks up the remains. Lie number 2, we always pick up everything that Maggie leaves behind.
3. That when Maggie goes in the middle of the night on the balcony that we brush it of on the patio down below, Lie number 3. We always pick it up and flush it down the loo.
So there are the lies. This is the rest of the letter. Due to us refusing to take the dog for a walk when ever she needs the loo (Maggie sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and needs to go) that we have to get rid of the dog (not going to happen) or they will evict us. Ok I don’t know if it’s just me but do they really think it’s appropriate for a female to be walking in the middle of Heidelberg on her own in the middle of the night, I don’t and that is what is going to happen when my husband deploys. They also said that we lied about the size of the dog we were getting and Maggie is a big dog!! Hhhhmm she weighs 25 pounds that is not a big dog!

So at the end of the day I don’t think this is going to be resolved so I think we could be moving so although I am very angry about everything that has happened I am pleased that we won’t be in the apartment anymore.

its easy collect all the poo you can and give it to whoever wrote the letter...

I should bloody post the poo to them!

I would want to fight this one in court first & then go for the compensation for the distress they have caused. Fortunately the onus will be on the people making the complaints to prove what they are saying (which they obviously won't b able to), and surely sending a signed letter full of lies would be classed as slander of some sort? This being Germany, you can sue for pretty much anything, so you must be able to do something about this sort of victimisation.

What breed is Maggie?

Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier,

If housing can't help and the Generals wives can't do anything then take it all the way to the IG. The housing offices have long gotten away with murder when it comes to German landlords. I could tell you some stories about various housing offices here in Germanyand 'backhanders' from Landlords. Make them work for their GS10 salaries.
Couldn't you just move on base for the short time you have left...that leaves you with other problems though...namely Americans!!!

I have actually due to the problems we have had with the german community asked to be moved near Amricans. I know but its got to better then what it is at the moment

This is Maggie. Doesn't she look scary! Oh no run she might eat you!! aaaaahhhhhh

That's not a dog... Its a horse!

Oh wait, I was too close to the screen.

Look at her, you wouldn't think she would stir up so much trouble.

i see what your neighbours mean. Look at all the dirt around her jaw and ears! :-)

Simple - move, write it off as a bad experience and then look forward to the summer. Sticking in to fight it out will lead to you becoming as bitter and anal as your neighbours

I agree with Jonnyboy. In the same position, I'd be tempted to stay and fight but the real question for me is, what do you have at the end? You may win but you'll still have crap neighbours and you'll be miserable. On the other hand, you move out in the next months and have the rest of your life happy. Life's too short to fight, win and then still have the main problem there when you've won.

Think about it, if you'd started the process of moving out when the trouble really started to get on your nerves, you'd nearly be out of there...

I agree jonnyboy. I just spoke with the Colonals wife and she is going to make sure that her husband shouts and throw his weight around at the housing office. When we spoke to the housing office they said that they will find a house for us, we told them that we want to moved out in the next month if we decide to move and they said that would not be a problem, they also said that they will have a word with the Landlord about breach of contract (parking and garden issue) and will see if we can come to some sort of arrangment with the deposite, so hopefully it may end in a happy ending. Lets hope.

Considering that you are paying double the normal rent you'd think that the landlord would be kissing your feet!!!

I suppose you could ask around too see if others have had problems.

Your lawyer was an idoit, the landlord can`t prevent you from having a Sat dish, he can only insist that it is on the balcony.

I know the thing with the dish was strange as we never mentioned it.

Wait a minute. Germans complaining that somebody doesn't pick up after their dog? What kind of bizzarro parallel universe are you living in?

Honestly, these people sound 100% certifiable. If you can't beat them, and you sure as hell don't want to join them, get out of there as quickly as you can.

You can always write a book. Should get a good movie deal.

Sorry to hear you have had so many problems, my old neighbour was a real pain too, any problems it was always our fault, but we moved and now have a lovely lady near us and the rest are nice too. I love the dog, so cute. shame your so far away really, we could have met up for coffee and you could have had a real moan over coffee. take care
sue

are some of the new neighbours Germans? I hope so, because then it would prove again, that the German landlord and German neighbours are hopefully not all idiots in general

So you know for the future: lawyers' fees in Germany are based on the value of the action. If you have a case worth lots os money and not a cat in hell's chance of winning you'll find a lawyer who'll spend your money for you. If you have the most clear case of injustice but there's not much value at stake or it's difficult to put a price on it then most will not touch your case with a bargepole.

Tom

Belle, I can't offer you any advice, but I just wanted to say again how very sorry I am that you're having such an awful time!

I can't believe some of the stuff that you're writing, and as Ami says - Germans complaining about you not picking up the dog poop??? I have yet to see ONE SINGLE PERSON pick up after their dog here!

I was also a bit worried that when we got our dog it was going to cause problems - our building is part of an "estate" of three, and while everyone in ours is super nice, the second and especially third buildings have some real nosy old trouble-makers in them and there have been quite a few differences of opinion on what is and isn't allowed.

However, I'm totally relieved to say that actually everyone has been really positive about the dog, and she's been welcomed into the community by one and all (even the old couple who moan about everything!).

So I'd back up Hannah and say that of course not all German neighbours are like the ones you have - they sound like an especially horrible, nasty lot.
Move, find somewhere else to live and enjoy the rest of your time here.

And I'd def. start collecting the dog poop you pick up to show whoever sent that letter!!!

saw a good one this morning, dog shits, and the fraulein uses her foot to bury it in the snow! GREEEAT! just waiting for the neighbours kids to come home from school and build a snow man in that area!

... but a hell of a lot of them are.

Well so you know about 100 and I don't know any real bad one. Makes 50%?
One of my friends lives with a landlord whos an idiot, but he's italian

Hello

Thank you everyone once again for all your support. It is so nice to have someone other then my husband and my friend Terri (who must get fed up with me) to moan and bitch to, I am going to sound very American (need to hang around with more brits) here but it really means a lot to me.

Well my husband has responded to the letter from the landlord saying that we are really disappointed that there letter contained so many fabrications and the fact that the landlord has changed the rental agreement and if we don't come to some reasonable solution then we will be forced to move out immediately and claim our deposit back.
He spoke to his colonel yesterday who is writing a letter of complaint about the landlord and has come up with other ideas i.e. bombing the house, beating up the owners and so on.
My husband is also getting in touch with the local rental association to see if they can help and give us advice on getting the deposit back and black listing the apartment.

I personally do not feel we are going to come to a reasonable solution and even if we did I would feel totally uncomfortable staying here. So I hope the outcome is that we move if not I have told my husband that I will not stay in the house when he deploys and will go back to England with the dog even if it means me leaving the dog there with my parents while we move and he does his training.

Well if you do move out lets hope a bunch of asylum seekers move in, the neighbours will love them and they won't move out!