Congratulations!! Enjoy your beautiful garden.

Nevertheless, she persisted! Congrats and enjoy.

That is great news! I am so happy for you. And even better that they have to reimburse you for your attorney. Hope you're doing a happy dance......

I am doing the happy dance for you. Good wins! Right wins! Now if we can just get the rest of the issues in the world to end this way.

Happy happy joy joy! Glad you have a non-food truck place to relax. I hope the atmosphere stays level and there aren’t schemers harboring a grudge nextdoor.

It‘s a strange world we are living in. Everyone always recommends talking to the offender first. That almost never works. You even hear offenders accusations after being caught out ... why didn’t you talk about this problem with me first? But, you tried!

A lot of people are just weird and will not take responsibility when they break the law. They would rather blame the innocent bystander. I really hope you have no other problems.

EDITED:

I bought you a virtual gift for your garden.

The Ornery Onion sculpture hahahaha!

Congratulations! It’s unfortunate that it had to come down to lawyers.

When you are right, you are right. And, that’s the bottom line.

Yay!! Glad it’s gone!

Wow! Good for you. That letter must have really put the fear of God into them! Now you can enjoy your backyard again.

Enjoy your beautiful garden and I am proud of you. It took longer than it should have but in the end the right thing was done.

Jeez, what good is an HOA! I thought they could take care of things like this! Too bad it came to that but glad they finally did the right thing and removed that illegal vent! It is sad that a lawyer has to be hired before something gets done these day!

So glad you were able to find a solution. Nobody said solutions are free unfortunately... Too bad the neighbours just didn't do the right thing in the first place.

Hallelujah!!!

And I agree with everything everyone else said, 1000%.

Let's hope you get your retainer returned.

Interesting while they don't "speak" English well, they were able to understand the cease & desist order.

(and do keep us posted) :-)

Congratulations! You must feel so vindicated and relieved. I know $1K is a chunk of change, but, considering the grief you've been through with this issue, I would consider it money well spent.

Great news! So happy you can enjoy your patio again. ❤️

So happy for you! And the HOA should pay your attorney fee!

Thank you all so much. It is such a relief to look out our windows and see only our garden and the expanse of brick in the background. I truly felt violated each and every time I locked eyes on that ugly smokestack.

We gained a better understanding of our rights to enforce the HOA CCRs, which we all agreed to be contractually bound by when we purchased our homes in this community. I think we were under the misconception that we pretty much only had the HOA management to go to bat for us, but that's not the case. As long as we are willing to incur the attorney's fees initially, we can enforce compliance by others who are contractually bound along with us. Or maybe we knew that to an extent, but the attorney was very informative and imparted a much greater understanding of our rights. Too, we hired a good one. We were impressed by his preparedness and knowledge from our first meeting, and wouldn't hesitate to use him again should a need arise in the future.

That said, I must confess that even though we knew we had no other option in this situation, there was zero joy in any of this. Not really even a sense of being a righteous victor, because it's all been so unfortunate. Oh well.

It IS a shame you cannot without the amount of legal fees from your dues. I am so glad it has been remedied!!!

Oh, and JT? That onion is the stinkin best! Love it! 😹

So happy for you!

Yay - there must be joy in having that thing gone. Sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes.

Congratulations, Ida! I had to threaten legal action against another condo owner once. I'd never had a conflict with the guy, but had seen him in action with others so I went straight to an attorney. Annoying but worth every penny.

It’s so very stressful having to deal with nasty neighbors/ Ugh! You done good, girlfriend. So happy it’s now behind you. I agree that perhaps a camera might be wise, although I believe you’ve put an end to them. Amen!,

Congratulations! Sorry it had to go that far, but if that's what it took, well, they got the message.

Way to go! I am so happy peace has returned to your garden. Now your neighbors can enjoy the smell of their own cooking until they get their cooktop vented properly.

Yay! Now you can thoroughly enjoy your outdoor sanctuary. Well done!

Congratulations, I’m very happy you have your peaceful space returned. Not an easy victory as you point out, but one you should enjoy at any rate. So sad that you had to use this means, and your own funds, to make the point. I hope there is no retaliation, but since the have kept to themselves in the past maybe they will in the future. You did ask nicely once, but people like that don’t seem to get it, do they.

I’m happy for you that you’ll now have your peaceful garden retreat back again and without the noxious smells!

Thanks again, all.

I will say that DH and I were so taken aback with the discussion that took place with the neighbor once the attorney's letter was received, that it truly cemented in our minds that we had absolutely no other choice but to have done exactly as we did. It seems that the "rabble rouser" (for lack of a better term) in the household appears to be a youngish (well, in her 30s, and that's "youngish" in my book) woman who is not the homeowner but who resides in the house, and is pretty much running the show in that family. She first spoke to DH, who allowed her to just rant on while her husband stood by silently. She kept going on about how "un-neighborly" it is to have an attorney send a letter, and how we just need to give them more time, because, you know, "these things take TIME." Um. When DH could finally get a word in edgewise, he reminded her that we had handled to completion the repair of a sprinkler system leak that was sending gallons of water gushing onto their property within THREE HOURS of the time it was discovered. These things do not "take time", and certainly not, with this issue, week after week of non-action but continued usage of the nasty vent.

The woman then tried to say that this was a necessity because she's an asthmatic. I immediately responded with, "SO AM I!" In the entire conversation (mostly her ranting; I had to actually talk over her and ask to be allowed to finish my statements without her interrupting), there was zero concern expressed over the fact that we had been adversely affected by breathing in their noxious exhaust, nor over the fact that the installation was illegal and we should not even be HAVING this issue in the first place. Absolutely no concern, and yet - somehow - in her mind, WE are villainous, unreasonable individuals. I guess there are two sides to every story, but hers is deluded.

So ... there we are. As stated, we intend to continue pursuit of the monetary payment, and it's already apparent that they are not going to be pleased about that. It was clear yesterday that they (the youngish woman, mostly) expected us to be grateful for the removal of the exhaust, and when DH mentioned as they were leaving with their contractor that they had 20-something days remaining in which to reimburse us, she became very rattled. (She asked for his name and address -- actually told him to go inside our house and write it down for her! WTF? We live right next door!)

She videoed all or most of the work done yesterday, then attempted to capture us on video saying that all was "ok" now. We did not. The only thing we said was that the contractor did nice work. Well, he did. But we aren't "ok" yet, because we haven't been made whole. They know this ... or they'll continue to be reminded if they "forget." Also, I'm not going to stand for anyone videoing on my property again. I let it slide yesterday, as the repair work was underway, but if she thinks she's going to begin "documenting" any conversation she has with us on OUR property, she's got another thing coming.

Honestly, this sort of thing makes me want to hunker down inside my home and avoid most of humanity. It's just so disheartening.

Exactly, dee. Exactly.

I’m so sorry you had to go to these extremes. I wonder if the HOA will come to you and say “we were dealing with it”, even though they weren’t really. And good job not giving in while the neighbor was filming, and trying to get you expressing satisfaction with the job.

So, do you know if they rerouted the exhaust through the roof? Or just did something else? I wonder if you’d be able to tell?

The HOA management firm is being terminated effective August 1 and we'll be using a new company from that point on (not because of our issue, but they have been pretty lame in a number of ways for quite some time). I don't expect any further contact with the current HOA firm, although I did advise our local HOA board president that the "smokestack" had been removed. He's been a good guy in all of this, and has really tried to get the property management firm off its rear to DO something in a timely manner, but in all it's been a pretty ineffective process on that end. The HOA president said that we should be prepared for a long, drawn-out process if we continued to lean only on them. We weren't willing to potentially let an entire summer go by with a noxious nuisance in place.

We watched from our patio as the contractor removed the vent before the bricks were laid. At one point, he was trying to pull the metal tube through the opening, and took a hammer and bashed the ever-lovin' you-know-what out of it. I can't tell you how satisfying that was to watch. The only thing that would've made it better would be if I'd been able to have a go at it myself. ;-)

So no, nothing appears to have been rerouted, and what they do at this point from the inside of their house is none of my concern -- as long as nothing is installed where it doesn't belong, and I cannot IMAGINE that happening at this juncture.

So happy you're back to happy in your outdoor space!

Good for you! That must have been some letter the attorney wrote. And I am really glad the bricks match!

Trying to get you to say what she wanted on video is so incredibly aggressive and hostile.

I don’t know about your city’s occupancy laws, but my town has strict ones about multi-family living situations in single-family homes. I’m not suggesting you pursue that, just saying she’s got a lot of nerve acting like the boss of the neighborhood when it’s not even her home.

YEA! So happy it's gone! Can't wait to hear the whole story, when it's the right time LOL

Jinx, when we were "discussing" the issue (if you could even call it that) with the youngish woman on our front porch, we did at one point mention that we had already spoken with the older woman living in the home - and she instantly shot back with an irritated, "She doesn't know ANYTHING!" -- and my response was, "Well, SHE is the HOMEOWNER!" I don't think that set too well with RabbleRouser, and naturally I don't care. ;-)

DH and I have discussed how to go about things moving forward. We do not have to have any further dealings with the RabbleRouser, since her name is not on their deed, so we'll have to weigh how to work that out. It appears there may be some "power struggles" going on in that household, but that's only from the limited observations we have made about how the residents interact with one another, so we could be off the mark. (Although I do like to consider myself fairly intuitive about such things.)

The parking from the few multi-generational households living under one roof has been problematic, but we finally got people to stop parking directly in front of our house or (what's worse), partially blocking our drive with their vehicles. We still have people parking willy-nilly on the street (on the wrong side, facing the wrong direction), and it does bother me and does violate our CCRs, but that's a battle I'm not sure I'm willing to take on at this point. I may look into density usage however, Jinx. I'm glad you brought that up.

Glad it’s resolved!

I hope you are done with the rabblerouser. She’s so aggressive though that that type usually stew. Instead of just coming to terms with the fact that a law was broken ( by them) she hopefully won’t direct any slight she may have experienced in her whole life toward you. She certainly sounds unhinged.

I feel sorry for rabble rouser’s parents. And husband.

We mistakenly assumed that "the man of the house" was the one who would ultimately deal with this issue. Not so. In fact, the more I surmise on the nature of relationships, the more I suspect he's verbally "beat down" on a consistent basis. Might be wrong about that, but body language and, well, actual language, tends to say a great deal.

So I have a friend who had to use an attorney for some very blatant abuses of property law - speaking broadly, of course.

It's now been going on for more than 5 years and has resulted in restraining orders, security cameras and the police activity on many occasions.

This person is not in an HOA, but is in a city that places a value on their historical neighborhoods. My advice is don't make assumptions about who is in charge, and be cautious about the conversations you have. "Give an inch..." you know the rest.

And don't discount the value of security cameras if things should escalate. That's how my friend finally got the proof necessary to take their issue to the next level. And even though the "legal stuff" is resolved, the quality of life is not back to normal and probably never will be.

Obviously I'm sure your attorney has given you really good advice as well.

So happy you now have your peaceable, beautiful yard to eanoy!

Security cameras are inexpensive and pretty subtle. Wouldn't it have been nice to have gotten a beep on your phone when workers came into your yard to install that thing?

It's good you've gotten this fixed. And it's good that you have a particular person singled out of that household to avoid. Hopefully you can at least maintain a friendly wave relationship with the rest of them!

What a relief that must be. I am sorry to had to go the attorney route, but from what you describe you are dealing with a real tool! Little missy needs to grow up and move out.

So happy for your Ida! I hope you have no further problems with these neighbors. Maybe they'll be so mad about you making them relocate the vent that they'll move!

Perhaps the HOA has some responsibility for your legal fees?

Sadly, no. The HOA is entitled to enforce the restrictive covenants, but we are legally entitled to enforce as well. We could have waited while they pussyfooted around with issuing paltry fines or pursue legal remedy to bring about a swift resolution, and we chose the latter.

It is so nice to have the awful vent gone. The neighbor ranted and railed at us about how "unneighborly" we are and how "you just don't DO this", which is rather ironic coming from someone who broke the law and then blew it off even after they were aware of the problem. It's hard not to be bitter, but then again we weren't really ever going to be bosom buddies with those folks anyway.

Ida, hopefully with enough time, things will at least get civil.

i emphasize with you. I have a neighbor issue here in my Florida home.

All HOA related, ugh.

Frosty look with mouth pursed, "No, YOU don't do what you did!".

Doing my happy dance for you!