Proper Neighbor Etiquette for Courtyard Villas
 

As everyone probably knows, in a courtyard villa the only way for my neighbor to check on the side of his house is to come onto my property. I have a neighbor that does this without asking me first, and I am occasionally startled to look out my window and see someone in my side yard. How do others handle this. I never go into my neighbors yard to check without emailing them or knocking on their door to ask permission. I am thinking of putting a lock on the gate. He also trimmed back some of my plants because the leaves were touching his house.

You can lock your gate and if your neighbor needs access to power wash or address an issue on their house, they need to give you 72 hour notice. I had a question about locks on gates in courtyard villas, so when I saw your post, I called the VCDD and got the correct information. My neighbor has a lock and I wondered what the rule was. Hopefully in an emergency, they will or you will, let them in sooner!

I actually just went and looked at my docs on line. For district 8 it says the following: The owner of the servient tenement will have the right at all reasonable times to enter upon the easement area including the right to cross over the dominant tenement for such entry, in order to perform work related to the use and maintenance of the servient tenement. In exercising the right of entry upon the easement area the owner of the servient tenement agrees to take reasonable care to not damage any landscaping, etc.

They should get permission before entering your yard. As to the cutting of plants touching their house they need permission to use your yard, but your plants should not touch their house if they don't want them to.

I wasn't aware of this limitation. Normally local ordinances insist that common ground exist between dwelling to allow non-interference when maintaining property.

This in my view is lousy planning

Sorry, but anyone who wakes my dog in my courtyard villa may be shot and I am aware of going to jail; I meditate well and I am a big person.

I need elbow room.....Glad I don't live in a Courtyard Villa.

I need elbow room too and didn't have a desire for 'kissing lanais'. I like privacy and elbow room!

Elbow room
 

I have more elbow room in my courtyard villa than I did in my big house. Much more privacy:wave: as well.

Dont understand all these posts about the need for privacy or concerns about trespassing. If you were worried about that you shouldnt have bought in the Villages.

Its your neighbor just taking care of his house...not exactly a stranger walking on your proprty.

Amazes me all the time what people here worry about!!

I agree. This is NOT a feeling I was raised with. People didn't take advantage, but sometimes kids and neighbors cut through yards growing up and even as recently as the last house we owned. Not a high crime area very similar to The Villages in that.

If we were all alike they would only sell vanilla ice cream. It is interesting to see how we bring these feelings from where we used to live and how we were raised. They aren't right or wrong, it is how we were taught to feel about our territory.

Talk?
 

Here's a crazy idea - how about inviting your neighbor over for a cup of coffee/beer/conversation about how you'd appreciate a little phone call/knock on the door if they need to open the gate and walk into your yard? Why not mitigate the issue before it escalates?

Here is what happened to us and we live at Sharon Villas. We were very surprised to see a boy jump into our yard, because he was walking the wall in our villas. My husband confronted him and he said well my mom said it was ok to walk the wall. This was Last Sat. around 6pm. He ended up jumping the fence next to the golf course and ran. I do not feel safe because of this and plus the parents where the fu where they?

Just tell him you sunbath naked in your yard and would like him to contact you prior to entering.

Common sense on the person who has the urgent need to see the side of the house that needs your properties access would be a polite request before each time the need occurred. There is no way that you would feel enabled to go into someone else's yard unannounced in NJ. I guess it is either courtesy to ask or common sense to not get hurt. It would be terrible if someone was having a bad day and misunderstood why someone was in their yard when the bought the Courtyard Villa for safety and Security.