fracas

According to rottenneighbor.com’s blog, there are four kinds of bad neighbors:

The careless dog owner
Lets her pooch out to prowl freely and dig up your lawn, how at the moon, sift through your trash…
The Talker
Drops the kids off at noon and returns at nightfall; borrows the lawn mower and never brings it back.
The racket maker
Blasts music all night; weed-whacks at dawn
The helper
Bakes you muffins, wants to help you in the garden and acts as if you’re closer that you care to be.

I don’t know about you, but I can think of a few more kinds.

Nevertheless, rottenneighbor.com is a site offering you the opportunity to plug in a Zip Code and check if someone has registered a rotten neighbor where you want to live.

The site is billed as a boon for those wanting to purchase a home and wanting to know what the real estate agent might not be telling you about what the neighbors are like.

For example, I typed in a random number for the Zip Code, and got a map for Wisconsin. Up comes the map pictured here (click it for the larger version) and below it a list of entries corresponding to the red markers on the map. Try this link to the Wisconsin page to read the entries for yourself.

A sampling of the entries read:

From an apartment dweller:

“Let me start with the sex offender. he is in #316 (right by me) and sexually molested a child. He is living within 300 feet of two schools. Next, a horny man in 309 thinks he can get any girl in the building, and doesnt take “no” for an answer. he is like 50, and wont leave you alone, and expects you to sleep with him. Then there is the loud guitarist, who sings loudly and very badly, and lives in 206. He also will hit on any girl he sees, and is quite rude if you say “no” to him. Then there is the fat, paranoid man in 111. he is so paranoid, he threatens to call the cops if you walk by his apartment. he also has this mini step-on door alarm on his patio. yet, when he leaves his apartment, he leaves the door wide open.”

From a homeowner:

They let their dogs run loose and never pick up their crap. They’re “training” the dogs and so often blow dog whistles, which contrary to popular belief, PEOPLE CAN HEAR. They illegally burn garbage in town in a charcoal grill. Jerks.

As you click on a review, the text pops up onto the map in a caption balloon connected to the marker.

So what do you think? Is there any merit to this type of site or will the reviews largely be authored by revenge-based vendetta seeking people, or people who get a kick out of the fact that they can actually do this to someone?

Check out your location and see if someone out there thinks you’re a rotten neighbor.

But don’t blame me. I didn’t sign you up… I live in Canada.