Minxi

Basically I have an apartment on a lovely quiet complex, I am not there all the time, I have been out here over 4 weeks and go home this Friday. A neighbour has a Ferarri and all hours of the night he comes and goes revving his engine for 15 mins before he roars out of the underground garage. anyway last Monday night at gone midnight my 2 year old woke and so did I to this noise and I had had enough. I raced downstairs and asked him what on earth he was doing..anyway told him it was unreasonable and if he didnt stop may have to scratch his car ( I would never do anything like that really I was just upset tired and fed up with his car) anyway he said he would kill me bit odd to say and I then apologised etc... Anyway last Thurdsy the police arrived with notice for me to Attend court this Wednesday with the notice saying I was threatening to damage his car...I can't believe it am shocked and upset. I do have a good lawyer who I will see on wednesday but in the meantime what does this mean? I am a very quiet person and am here with my husband and 3 children and can't understand how this has got to this.... Please help with any advice. Thank you.

amideislas

How much is he asking for in damages for your alleged threat? Did anyone else hear it? You'd think a guy with a Ferrari wouldn't need it, but some people are just determined to make a few hundred euros wherever they can. Is he German by chance?

Your lawyer should be able to get the damage claims greatly reduced or eliminated.. Especially if it's his word against yours...

But just for fun, start making a list of how much he has damaged you with noise, toxic fumes, the "constant verbal threats" he makes (surely your husband and kids heard them :-), and perhaps the rocks he throws through your windows (get a backdated receipt for the repairs).

bil

This is a useful lesson in how careful you have to be when you say things in the heat of the moment.

I don't think you saying 'If you are not careful someone might come along and scratch your car' (Because I'm sure that was what you said) is any where near as bad as him threatening to kill you if you so much as touched his car.

With no proof of what was actually said......

Minxi

there is no mention of amount to claim... I have no idea what he is expecting to gain from this. there were no witnesses as it was middle of the night in a dark garage!! I'm not sure what to expect and just feel quite stressed about ti all... But yes a lesson learned will pas it to community president in future to deal with!!!

Chiclanagir

You poor thing, how worrying. Excess noise is one of the worst neighbour disputes there are. I know I was screaming like a banshee at my Spanish neighbour the other night as his music was so loud it hurt your ears. I am quite sure he couldn´t have heard me over the racket but strangely enough it did stop. Looks like they have left now - the end of summer does bring its benefits!

Personally I would deny everything - has he stopped revving the car now?

Chiclanagir

Or file a denuncia against him for threatening to kill you.

lynnxa

if this only happened last week it's probably just a preliminary hearing to see if there is a case

don't worry about it, and make sure you tell them everything that led up to the incident

amideislas

He's just fishing.... hoping you'll be afraid. To even take this to court at all would cost him a fortune, and his lawyer has a responsibility to make him aware of that.. and also his million-to-one chances of losing.

IMPORTANT: Better to bring the guy a bottle of good wine, say you're sorry, and don't expect the same from him. Otherwise he'll be always trying to find something else to make your life miserable.

If any harassment persists after that - then you have no choice but to turn the tables - document everything this guy does - collect as much evidence (photos, recordings, etc) and have your lawyer start sending him official threats to take him to court - but put a damages number in it. Then you can expect an apology and a nice bottle of wine

Minxi

thank you all for your replies, I am certain it is nothing to worry about as it's his word against mine. I'm just surprised it went to court like that, the police when they came and gave me notice also were surprised and very nice to me they sort of said it was some kind of joke but they had to do their job..

He has since parked his car in the middle of complex in the shared car park, I guess also so he can see it. Shame really my boys used to be super excited to see his car there, and the sad thing is I'm not fussed really about the noise he just annoyed me that one night and I thought I would pop down and see what kind of guy he was!! Clearly not a nice one!!

Minxi

Amidieslas... It is going to court on Wednesday in mArbella... Eeek

amideislas

Unbelievable!

Good luck with this... I hope your abogado is in a confident mood . If he's really good, the twerp may end up paying you.

He who laughs last....

Jur

That´s incredibly stupid to write, why would you assume it´s a person of German nationality?

Jur

That´s sound advice, a counter denuncia could help clearing things up wouldn´t it? After all it´s just a small dispute over excess noise.

cricketman

He he

Its the British people around here who cause all the problems

amideislas

LOL....

Well, the propensity for pettiness in German society isn't exactly a secret. I've lived all over the world - England, USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina, Holland, France, Spain, and yes, Germany.

My German experiences support the popular stereotypes - The neighbours watching everything you do, calling the police for the silliest of things.. but scoffing any responsibility if they are accused of anything similar...

Of the many silly and petty things I experienced in Germany, I'm reminded of one particular incident in this context - an incident when my wife and I were driving down the autobahn in a new BMW.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and hardly another car was on the road. We were cruising along at about 150km/h (perfectly legal under German law, and on an empty, straight motorway, not at all unsafe).

In the distance, I saw a car driving in the right-hand lane. As I approached - perhaps 300meters behind him , he abruptly pulled into the left lane for no obvious reason, apparently in an attempt to block me from passing? I don't know what he was thinking, but since he was only driving about 80km/h, it caused me to slam on my brakes, slowing in only enough time to end up about 10m behind him.

It's illegal in Germany to pass on the right, so I flashed my headlights to let him know I wanted to pass. He refused. I flashed again. He refused. So I pulled up within about 5m and tooted my horn. He refused.

At this time, his passenger (presumably his wife or girlfriend) proceeded to write my licence number down, making obvious gestures to let me know that she was doing so. By now they had slowed to about 50km/h.

Fed up, I decided to just pass the guy on the right to avoid any further conflict. As we passed by, my irritated wife gave them the finger.

Well, not two weeks later we received a very official paper from their lawyer, demanding €500 for the "pain and suffering" caused by my wife giving them the finger. Typical. It turns out it's illegal in Germany to give anyone the finger for any reason.

My solicitor laughed when I showed it to him, "typisch Deutsch neidigkeit" he said. Picked up the phone and called the solicitor who issued the demand, and following the appropriate professional greetings and respects, proceeded to explain in somewhat metaphorical terms that his client had chosen the "wrong people" to threaten on this occasion, and that if the client wished to proceed, then his client will be facing a number of serious charges, and likely massive fines for their irresponsible behaviour.

Suffice it to say, We never heard from them again. But we did pay plenty of fines resulting from neighbours calling the police for the likes of washing our car on a Sunday, not sorting our rubbish properly, kid bouncing a ball at 2:00pm, and having people over for dinner on our terrace after 10:00pm.

Are Germans bad? No, it's just the culture. They are famously rigid and arguably, self-centered, and that's just how they are. This particular thread sounded eerily similar, which is why I asked.

Stupid? Well, the stereotype is not exactly a secret, or a lie...