Assaulted by the neighbour from hell .... beyond a landlords call of duty?

I was assaulted yesterday! Quite unexpectedly, although not altogether out of the blue.

This is a flat I bought 3 years ago from a friend, I have to say knowing some of the background. But the person that owns one of the flats in the house has turned out to be someone all of us would prefer not to meet. Racist, misogynist, sociopath ... all of the above. Over the last three years I have had a succession of tenants driven out by harassment, verbal abuse, sometimes actual physical abuse, and constant low level provocation: rubbish tipped out in front of front doors, slammed entrance doors, stamping up & down stairs, weedkiller thrown over flowerbeds, a wheelie bin tipped out if anyone put anything in the bin considered to be his personal space, the list goes on.

What do you do as a landlord? Its both an ethical problem as well as the obvious financial one. Its a question of personal character and integrity. I decided that as I had bought the flat, it was down to me to find a solution. To sell the flat to some other unsuspecting landlord or owner occupier was not an option I felt easy with. I also decided that I could not take in tenants without giving them an account of the pitfalls and offer some kind of discount.

Some tenants have lived at the property with no problem whatsoever. It may be that these just happened to be remarkably tolerant and perhaps on the placid end of the spectrum. As long as tenants stayed out of his way and ignored his foibles it seemed a realtive peace was possible. Others tried to engage and have had real issues, ultimately throwing in the towel & moving on. Understandably, they wanted to live in peace and have not seen the problem as theirs to battle.

The flat has actually been empty for 7 months waiting for an insurance repair following a flood from one of the flats above .... why its taken 7 months is another story, but I happened to be at the flat with the builders when the incident occurred. I guess at this stage I shouldn't say too much as the fellow has been charged and it may well go to court. Thanks to the eyewitnesses though, this time we saw a bit more action from the authorities.

Paperwork!! I thought as someone running my own business I had my unfair share. But full sympathy to the police. I really don't know how they actually get any policing done!

But back to the story ... I must check out what I can actually say, so do watch this space if the account interests you .... well I suppose I have to tell you something .... following a case of mistaken identity I spoke to the fellow quite politely when he called to the back of the flat about the builders rubbish. I actually thought him to be one of these van owners that ask you if you want your rubbish taken away. So it was quite a shock when I walked out and was faced with the neighbour from hell hurling obscenities in my face and thrusting me back against the wall.

No harm done though, no broken bones, a bit of a shake up, but also a little more hope that we might be able to move one more small step to limiting this example of deeply antisocial behaviour.

We all have the chance to improve things around us. Sometimes it costs. But in the end its worth it, and as someone in business I do also care passionately about making a difference. I want to be wealthy. I want others to be wealthy. And part of that wealth is the freedom to live amongst others that freely give respect and value to one another.

If you've any thoughts to share on this, do let me know. Until I get my contact form & comments working you'll have to send an email to my first name at towlson.com