‘$40,000 down the drain. Literally’: Entitled neighbor reports an elderly woman's backyard shed, so her son gets revenge by reporting his illegal pool to the city

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Apr 21, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Good moms hold a special place in our hearts. From birth, they care for their kiddos and give them everything, so it only seems fair that once they're older and can no longer fend for themselves, their kids step up and return the favor. This dutiful son adored his mother and was willing to fight to the ends of the earth for her. 

When it came to Mom's snooty, neighborhood-watch-wannabe neighbor, things were complicated from day one. But as we all know, neighborly disputes rarely go well once we start pointing an accusatory finger across the fence. Throwing the first jab, the neighbor reported the woman's 'unsightly'—yet fully permitted—shed to the city, hoping that she'd have to get the structure removed to improve the views in his yard. Alas, once you start hurling stones to the other side of the fence, one is bound to come flying back at you. 

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  • My neighbor in my early 20s was terrible. She would party loudly until all hours of the night, and was unaware that 40 other people lived in our building. Selfishly, she would come stomping home after a night out, yammering at all hours until finally going to sleep at around 4 AM. But for those of us with 9-5 jobs, that was never acceptable. So in my restless sleep, I concocted several plans for revenge, but they never took shape in the real world. To this day, I still wish that I stink-bombed her balcony with a note telling her to quiet down—but I guess I just didn't have as much conviction as the dude in this next tale.

  • Cheezburger Image 10495578112
    via Africa Images

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "Neighbor tried to get my mom fined over our shed. So I got his $40K pool filled in."

    I live with my mom. She's quiet, keeps to herself, never bothers anyone. A few months ago, our new neighbor decided to report her to the city for having an "illegal shed" in the backyard.
    via Mel_Melissaa
  • It was total BS, the shed's been there for years and has full permits. An inspector came out, checked everything, and left without saying a word.
    via Mel_Melissaa
  • But the neighbor? Smug. Proud. Thought he'd scared us. So I did a little digging. Turns out his brand-new pool
    via Mel_Melissaa
  • was way too close to the property line and illegally built over a utility easement. I reported him. Attached photos. Quoted city codes.
    via Mel_Melissaa
  • Two weeks later, the city ordered him to either move it (impossible) or fill it in. He lost the whole thing $40,000 down the drain. Literally.
    via Mel_Melissaa
  • Now he gets to look at our completely legal shed every day... while standing over a pile of dirt where his pool used to be. Mom sleeps great now.
    via Mel_Melissaa
  • Cheezburger Image 10495577856
    via Strange Happenings

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Carebear7087 Put a kiddie pool next to the shed
    via Carebear7087
  • myveryownaccount Your neighbor paid $40k for a pool with no permits, then called the city inspectors to come to your backyard?
    via myveryownaccount
  • Haterofstarbucks $40k for the swimming pool and what maybe $5k in dirt to fill in the pool? Dirt ain't cheap. The labor and equipment to move dirt ain't cheap either.
    via Haterofstarbucks
  • MagisterFlorus We had new neighbors move in. The first fall they threw all the leaves over the fence because they didn't have any trees. The next summer, they put in a pool but it wasn't gated off. I tried to
    via MagisterFlorus
  • be friendly and explain they needed to have one because a kid could wander in from the street and drown. They said, "Well that's their fault for trespassing." I
    via MagisterFlorus
  • called the city, the pool got removed, the huge shed they put up got taken down, and three people they were illegally renting to moved out.
    via MagisterFlorus
  • stevejobs4525 Send him an email saying you're an attorney that specializes in compensation for incorrect code violation rulings and you've represented 5 other people in the
    via stevejobs4525
  • city to get the cost of their pool back plus compensation, it's a slam dunk and you'll take the case for 5% of any compensation beyond the cost of the pool. Then ghost him.
    via stevejobs4525
  • ShhhKeepHidden I hope that your neighbor knows that you were the one that dropped a dime on his stupid petty a, and that they know exactly why.
    via ShhhKeepHidden
  • Visible Security6510 There are Dateline episodes that start like this. I'd invest in security cameras now. Maybe a big dog or 2.
    via Visible_Security6510
  • Swampbassist Go to nearest at school. Find an artist interest in painting amural. Tell them you have a few canvas for them to work on. Let them paint a mural of a pool on the side of the shed facing the neighbor's house.
    via Swampbassist

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filled neighbors neighborhood neigbor reported neighborhood-drama bad neighbors pool Bad Neighbor Reddit karen entitled people
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