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My villa neighbors hate me and there's nothing I can do about it

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  1. #1

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    My villa neighbors hate me and there's nothing I can do about it

    I live in a village house in NT, next to the village councilman. In between our elevated houses, there's a slope that leads to a small parking area, which is ours as one of two contractually promised parking spots. The problem is that the slope is uneven and goes up at a steep angle halfway up. So any vehicle that doesn't have high ground clearance cannot make it up the slope without scratching the bottom of the car and possibly destroying the chassis in the process.

    The councilman knows this as well, as he was the one who was in charge of constructing the slope, and he happens to drive a SUV with high ground clearance.

    Luckily we found out before we tried parking up there, and the councilman was nice enough to give one of his own parking spots in front of his house to us. He verbally agreed to let us park there until new land was paved to make way for more parking, after which he would take back the spot. However, we are only getting one parking spot in the new area, not two, and we are still missing one parking spot as promised in our contract

    So I reasoned with him - he has a car capable of driving up the uneven and narrow slope, and since I am still missing a parking space as part of our contract, I asked him to let us park there longer until we found a permanent solution.

    Keep in mind that this village councilman is a very polite, civil, and educated person - we were discussing the issue when all of a sudden, his wife appears on their balcony, completely loses her mind and yells out in Chinese, "ONLY MY HUSBAND IS CAPABLE OF PARKING UP HERE, I BROKE A SIDE MIRROR ONCE TRYING TO DRIVE UP HERE".

    This is the lady who, when I broke my leg and had to walk in crutches - was outside when she noticed me and started smirking.

    Today I noticed large water stains on my roof and on my windshield - which was odd because it hadn't rained over the weekend and I just had my car washed in Kennedy Town, and I determined that she was the one watering my car. These stains leave minerals on the car when dried, and can strip the clearcoat.

    I will ask the councilman the next time I see him to be more careful when watering the flowers, but I don't think that's going to help the situation, because the situation is more than just the watering problem.

    My neighbors, or at least, my neighbor's wife hates me, and there's nothing I can do about it. I live in their village, and they make the rules there.

    Has anyone had any problem with the villagers, and what became of the situation? Or what would you do in my situation?

    tl;dr
    - Village councilman neighbor let us park in his parking spot until new parking lots were paved
    - Wife didn't like me taking up their spot
    - I suggested he let us park in the spot longer until we found our second contractually obligated parking spot.
    - Wife blew up

    Last edited by rickyross; 24-03-2015 at 05:05 PM.

  2. #2

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    Re the slope - I understand they may be reluctant...end of the day it means more hassle to them.

    Few options:
    - either you get a parking space somewhere else - doable?
    - either you get a new car - doable?
    - either you reason with him (not his wife) - doable?
    - you call @wtbhotia

    jimbo and Titus like this.

  3. #3

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    What's the doable on you moving? Seriously, you don't need the hassle and if you don't feel your car is going to be left in peace, time to say goodbye. Then let the landlord and wife have their domestic fight because they lost a good tenant because of her bi-polarism!


  4. #4

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    actually just drop it and move on with your life. is one parking spot seriously your most important problem?

    if your councilman neighbor starts hating you, you are in real trouble - where the current spat looks like child's' play

    Mat likes this.

  5. #5

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    Do not: I repeat DO NOT get involved in a dispute with villagers. By "councilman" do you mean village head?

    These people have the ability to make life incredibly miserable and the police will look the other way.

    It sounds to me like he's already being quite reasonable - either swallow it or move to Caribbean Coast is my advice.

    Mat, emx, chingleutsch and 1 others like this.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mat:
    Re the slope - I understand they may be reluctant...end of the day it means more hassle to them.

    Few options:
    - either you get a parking space somewhere else - doable?
    - either you get a new car - doable?
    - either you reason with him (not his wife) - doable?
    - you call @wtbhotia
    More hassle for them if they have to drive up the slope for sure:

    - I'm speaking with the landlady about the second spot, she'll have to find me one, but it won't be close to my house at all.
    - I've owned the car for just over a year, it's far too early to get another car. However I did look into crossovers, (Q3, X1, GLA, Evoque, Countryman, Qashqai, CX3) but none of them fit my budget or liking for that matter.
    - The councilman is a very diplomatic person, and when I reasoned with him he just smiled and didn't accept nor reject.
    - Maybe I can summon him if I chant his name thrice: wtbhotia wtbhotia wtbhotia!

    Quote Originally Posted by ray98:
    What's the doable on you moving? Seriously, you don't need the hassle and if you don't feel your car is going to be left in peace, time to say goodbye. Then let the landlord and wife have their domestic fight because they lost a good tenant because of her bi-polarism!
    Good suggestion...I always pay my rent on time

    I moved here in January with a two year lease, so moving out's going have to wait.

    Quote Originally Posted by ummbongo:
    Do not: I repeat DO NOT get involved in a dispute with villagers. By "councilman" do you mean village head?

    These people have the ability to make life incredibly miserable and the police will look the other way.

    It sounds to me like he's already being quite reasonable - either swallow it or move to Caribbean Coast is my advice.
    Nope! From my understanding, he is *the* representative of the village, but not the village head. He's a little young to be the head, and I've seen who the head is - the councilman doesn't have the same last name like the rest of the villagers do.

    But I'm taking your advice for sure, they've made my life somewhat miserable already and they didn't really have to try

    Anyway, I might just have to give up on my dream of owning a house in Hong Kong if living with villagers is my only choice...

  7. #7

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    Pretty much suck it up.
    Do you actually need two spaces?
    Move your car elsewhere

    The village head can cause you all manner of trouble if Annoyed as they're ' connected '

    Ps loved you in Deacon Blue

    Last edited by jimbo; 24-03-2015 at 10:30 PM.
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  8. #8

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    Your life is miserable over a parking space?




    .......

    Titus likes this.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by jimbo:
    Pretty much suck it up.
    Do you actually need two spaces?
    Move your car elsewhere

    The village head can cause you all manner of trouble if Annoyed as they're ' connected '

    Ps loved you in Deacon Blue
    Why thank you! Maybe I should just sell my cars...and buy a boat...just a little dingy, and call it "dignity"

    But in all seriousness, yes I do need two spaces. We actually have three cars

    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiaque:
    Your life is miserable over a parking space?




    .......
    Actually, I have quite a few other problems, like where am I going to live after my contract is up, oh because you know, rent in HK and all...

    But between having no internet, no phone, no TV, inadequate parking spaces, noisey, impatient & rude neighbors, and of course the mosquitos, let's just say I've lived in better places in Hong Kong...
    jimbo likes this.

  10. #10

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    Well, I assume you're on the standard tenancy terms which means you're not stuck, just a one month rent penalty for terminating within 12 months. One month's rent to avoid 9 more months worry - may be worth thinking about


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