Neighbors can be a blessing, but having neighbors who have no regard for property boundaries or how their actions on their property can affect yours can seem more like a curse. 

One Reddit user posted in the r/landscaping subreddit with a uniquely bad neighbor problem. Not only was their neighbor dumping clay and silt all over their property, but their neighbor also sat on the HOA board. 

The poster shared photos of the damage done to their property and wrote, "This individual has placed silt barriers on his property in such a way as to dump all of the runoff silt, clay, dirt, etc. onto my property […] And the icing on the cake is that he sits on the HOA board."

The poster's dilemma is a sticky one, especially considering the troublesome neighbor is on the HOA board. Even neighbors not on HOA boards can create challenges for homeowners, though. 

In this case, the destruction caused to the original poster's yard by the dumping of silt and clay could absolutely destroy the yard. Additionally, the bad neighbor had flooded the poster's yard at least once already. All this havoc can lead to soil erosion and the death of grass and plants in the area, leaving the yard as more of a dirt/mud pit than an actual yard. 

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to know what the best course of action is when encountering a neighbor who destroys your property or makes it harder to incorporate sustainable and climate-friendly solutions into your garden and home.

Luckily, fellow Reddit users had many suggestions for the poster. 

"Typically, there is a legal obligation to not alter the natural flow of water, and he is liable to fix any damages that arise from redirecting water onto your property. I would notify him and also speak to a lawyer," wrote one person. 

Another suggested, "Call your county or state erosion control immediately. […] They will make him fix it."

Those and other suggestions proved helpful, as the original poster updated their post and added, "Thanks all, I think I have a plan forward!"

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