Landlord banned renters’ water slide after it wrecked a neighbor’s garden — then they knocked on the homeowner’s door with a bizarre request
Entitled neighbors can turn even a simple backyard mishap into a situation you never imagined you’d have to deal with. Reddit user u/WillaLane found themselves stunned after a family’s birthday party caused a muddy mess in their yard. It left them stunned when the same neighbors came back with a request that took their entitlement to another level.
According to the post shared by the neighbor in question, the trouble began when the renters behind them held a child’s birthday party with an inflatable water slide. When they drained it that evening, around 400 gallons of water, dirt, and muck rushed downhill into the Reddit user's yard. It washed out part of their flower bed, left mud on the floor, and went into their pool. The renters called it an accident, saying they hadn’t realized the water would flow downhill. The homeowner paid for the repairs but told them they couldn’t have another water slide. Then, when their other child’s birthday came around, the renters showed up at the poster’s door with a surprising request: they wanted to use the poster’s pool for the party.
The user explained that the request was bizarre. They wanted to invite around 35-40 people, possibly up to 50, including about 20 children, and asked to use their pool. They even wanted to remove part of the poster’s fence so guests could move between the two yards, promising they would stay away from the flowers. When the poster said no, the renters argued that they owed them because their earlier water-slide accident had led to the landlord banning another slide. They even said the poster was ruining their child’s birthday, and their lives.
In an update, u/WillaLane said they took extra steps to protect their property. They turned their motion alerts back on, told nearby neighbors that the renters were not allowed in their yard, and informed the homeowner about what happened. The homeowner told the renters to stay away and said they could be arrested for trespassing. He also decided not to renew their lease at the end of September and offered to let them leave early if they found another home. The Reddit user later learned that they were already looking for a new place. Many Reddit users also engaged with the post. u/kmflushing simply said, “Call their landlord again.” u/Ok-Brick6831 pointed out, “They have pools you can rent for parties. Mine ain’t one of them.” And u/Apprehensive_Gap1055 joked, “I would throw a pool party on that date and make a ruckus.”
Sometimes, a small disagreement between neighbors can turn into a full-blown feud when one person refuses to leave the other’s property alone. One person found themself in that situation after a neighbor became obsessed with the leaves in their yard. When the neighbor crossed the fence and moved the leaves himself, the homeowner quietly put every single leaf back, leaving him furious the next morning.