WWYD: Neighbor kids walking on top of 7ft fence

[Anonymous]

I have a wood fence around my property, it is 7-7.5ft tall.

My next door neighbors have at least 4 kids and often a ton of little cousins around. The oldest is 7-8.

The kids walk along the top of the fence. At first it was just the coldest, now the young ones are doing it too (walking or crawling).

I'm nervous they will fall in general, but also nervous they will fall into my yard and get trapped in there, fall into my yard and smash the bsmt window right there, fall into my yard and land on the steel frame of the trampoline.

So today I told them to come down and they weren't allowed to climb up there. But I imagine they will keep doing it. wwyd? Bother talking to the parents? Keep telling them not to climb up there?

If they had to go to the hospital for a broken bone or something, would the doctors care if this was the cause? I know kids can survive a lot of crash landings but they also can get bad breaks. There is rarely an adult outside with them. Once before I had to peel a screaming three year old off the front street who had fallen off their bike.

[Anonymous]

Of course tell their parents. How is this a question?

[Anonymous]

Tell them to get off the fence and that you’ll have to tell their parents. Agree that this shouldn’t be a question!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course tell their parents. How is this a question?

They do it all the time, and their kitchen window overlooks the backyard so I'm sure the parents know, the kids walk the whole perimeter often.

When I say talk to the parents, I mean do I tell them the kids can't do this anymore on my side. I'm not comfortable with it but imagine they are.

[Anonymous]

You told them once. If you have to tell them again, tell their parents too.

[Anonymous]

If they do it often and haven’t fallen, I guess it’s safe enough. Still, though, you have a right to keep neighbors off your fence. (It’s your fence, right?) I’d tell the parents again and I would tell th kids to get down every tine I saw it. If it’s their fence, then I wouldn’t worry about it. If they damage the property, they should pay, and if a kid falls, well, that happens in parks all the time.

[Anonymous]

So, when the kids fall off your fence and through your basement window, know that you will 100% get sued...if not the parents suing you, their health insurance company will sue your homeowner’s insurance company.

I can’t believe you just sit and watch this, I’d scream at them to get off my fence and I’d be so loud, I wouldn’t have to tell the parents because they’d know.

[Anonymous]

Definitely tell the parents and start documenting your conversations and so on NOW. The problem with parents that are this irresponsible is that they will also be the first to want compensation and sue you if one of their little darlings gets hurt.

[Anonymous]

Shoot them with water guns so they fall on the other side.

[Anonymous]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/sonic-youth-the-high-pitched-sound-alarm-for-under-25s-8665652.html

Try this! It is an annoying sound that only kids and young people can hear and it is supposed to keep them away from your property.

[Anonymous]

Off the fence, kids!

Say it anytime you see them on there.

[Anonymous]

Put spikes on top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely tell the parents and start documenting your conversations and so on NOW. The problem with parents that are this irresponsible is that they will also be the first to want compensation and sue you if one of their little darlings gets hurt.

This. If someone gets hurt on your property you can be held liable, OP, even if you did not permit or invite that person to be on your property. That includes the scenario with a kid falling through your basement window after walking on the fence.

You refer to "I have a fence" so the fence belongs to you and not the neighbors, correct? That is an even bigger potential liability.

In your shoes I would tell the parents verbally ASAP, pointing out clearly that there is a window positioned where a child could fall through it from the fence and a metal trampoline frame onto which they could fall (they may have no idea that there's a window in the path of a kid who falls off a fence--can they see that hazard from their side?).

Then I'd put it in writing so you have a paper trail in case something happens. I'd also consider doing something to the top of the fence so it cannot be walked on at all; a fencing company likely could give you solutions. Maybe attach a triangular top so that instead of being flat-topped, the fence has a pointed top all the way around. I would be concerned enough, myself, that I'd find the expense of a fix like that to be worthwhile, both to protect kids and possibly to avoid liability.

Oh, and I think the parents are very lax if they know this is going on and are fine with it. That's why I wouldn't rely on their stopping it even after being told.

[Anonymous]

Spikes for pigeons.

[Anonymous]

OP again - they also have a fully wood fenced yard, neither of us built these properties, not sure technically who owns the shared part of the fence, this was part of my wondering. It is my fence, but it is theirs as well.