You can choose the perfect house for yourself, one that ticks all the boxes — maybe it has a beautiful space for a garden or great natural light. Yet, the one thing you can't choose is your neighbors.

A homeowner on Reddit shared their neighbor horror story to the r/neighborsfromhell subreddit.

"I've been dealing with some bad neighbors for three years now," the original poster wrote. "I thought I'd share my story both for entertainment value but also ask - what would you do differently in my situation?" 

The OP lives in a house situated a little further back from their neighbor's house. The neighbor is a recently widowered older man. After the man's wife passed, some younger people moved in with him rent-free to deal drugs, a practice known in the U.K. as cuckooing. 

The homeowner's first encounter with the old man was when he drove through their yard to unload his groceries, destroying their grass. 

"After the fourth time it happened I went to the police, and the police told him to stop and he did," the OP said. "To this day he hasn't driven in my yard, thank goodness. But the story doesn't end here."

On their Ring camera, the Reddit poster saw the neighbor drive his lawnmower through the OP's yard to the woods behind their house and dump a large box TV on their property. "Rather than leave it by the curb for the garbage company to recycle for free, he had to get rid of it on my property."

The OP reported the incident to the police, who fined the man and forced him to remove the TV. The poster also shared their thoughts on the older man's condition. 

"I really just need to move. It's [a shame] because I live in such a nice neighborhood. It's the reason I even picked the house, the location … he almost seems like he has dementia and is being taken advantage of by some bad people," they wrote.

Overstepping neighbors can be a pain, especially if they destroy personal property or your landscaping. In this case, the neighbor can be causing significant damage to the space around the neighbor's property, especially with the TV in the woods. Electronics that are improperly disposed of can be toxic to wildlife, pollute soil, and even start wildfires.

Do you worry about the quality of the air inside your home? Yes — often 😬 Yes — but only sometimes 😕 Only when it's bad outside 😮‍💨 No — I never do 😌 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Other homeowners have shared similar instances of their neighbors destroying their property. One was shocked when their neighbor cut down their fully grown trees. Another was distraught when their neighbor kept driving into their garden bed.

Having open conversations with your neighbors can help prevent problems like these and keep the police from getting involved.

Commenters shared the OP's frustration and shared advice to help the old man.

"Call adult protective services and have them check on the old man," one wrote. "If he has dementia or cognitive difficulties this could result in him getting the help he needs and the kids living with him evicted."

"With all that driving, you will need to use strong tools to fix up your yard," another shared. "Get something like this."

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices — and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD's exclusive Rewards Club.