My Neighbor Called Cps Because My Kids Played Outside. She’s The One Who Got Arrested Instead.

The complaints were all about barking during normal daytime hours. He showed the emails to Valerie and she passed them around. The Animal Control officer had eventually told Sebastian they were closing all future complaints from Diane’s address.

They said it was harassment because the dog was completely normal and just barked sometimes like dogs do. Diane crossed her arms and stared at the wall. She wouldn’t look at Sebastian or anyone else.

Mark and Cathy Fowler went next. Cathy pulled out her phone and started showing photos of their garden gnomes. They’ve had those gnomes for like 15 years.

Diane had claimed the gnomes broke neighborhood rules about ugly decorations. The Fowlers had certified letters that Diane sent them demanding they remove the gnomes from their own property. Mark explained that the HOA had already told Diane there were no restrictions on lawn decorations, but she kept complaining anyway and sent three more letters after the HOA said no.

Cathy’s hands were shaking a little as she held up her phone. You could tell this whole thing had really stressed them out. Three more families stood up after that.

Each one had similar stories about Diane’s harassment over totally normal activities. One family showed photos of their kids riding bikes in their own driveway. Diane had complained that the bikes were too loud and left tire marks.

Another family had documentation about a backyard barbecue they hosted. Diane called the police saying the smoke was a health hazard even though they were just grilling burgers. Someone else had printed text messages where Diane complained about how they parked their car on their own driveway.

She said the angle was ugly and made the street look bad. Valerie was taking notes on everything while Diane just sat there with her arms crossed. She refused to speak or defend herself.

Her face was still red and she kept looking at the exit like she wanted to run out. Valerie put down her pen and looked directly at Diane. She announced that based on all the evidence presented, the HOA would not be implementing any special quiet hours.

Furthermore, they were documenting this whole pattern of harassment for potential legal action if it continued. Diane suddenly stood up so fast her chair scraped across the floor. She called everyone,

“Terrible neighbors who didn’t understand proper community standards.”

Then she grabbed her laptop and her presentation materials and stormed toward the door. People actually started clapping as she left. It was not like mean clapping but more like relieved clapping.

The door slammed behind her and everyone kind of exhaled at the same time. After the meeting ended, Rich came over and pulled me aside. Sebastian and the Fowlers joined us near the back of the room.

Rich explained that as Diane’s landlord, he now had documented evidence of her harassing multiple neighbors. This violated her lease terms about being what he called a nuisance tenant. He said the lease had specific language about not disturbing other residents or creating problems in the neighborhood.

With everything from tonight plus all his previous documentation, he had grounds to take action. Sebastian asked,

“What that meant exactly.”

Rich said,

“He was going to talk to his real estate attorney about starting the process to get her out.”

Rich scheduled a meeting with his lawyer for the next morning. I went home that night feeling hopeful for the first time in months. My kids were already asleep when I got back.

I checked on them and they looked so peaceful.

The next afternoon, Rich texted me while I was at work. His lawyer had confirmed that all the harassment documentation gave him solid grounds to end Diane’s lease early. The attorney was already working on drafting a 30-day notice to vacate.

Rich said the paperwork would be ready by the end of the week. A process server would deliver it to make sure everything was legal and official. I showed the text to my coworker and she actually hugged me.

She’d been hearing about this whole mess for months. Two days later, I was home making lunch when I saw a car pull up to Diane’s house. A guy in business clothes got out holding an envelope.

I moved to my kitchen window where I could see better. Diane was working on her patio like she always did. The process server walked up and handed her the envelope.

She took it and he said something to her. She opened it right there and started reading. Her face went from confused to angry in about five seconds.

She started yelling at the server guy, but he just walked back to his car. She was still yelling as he drove away. That evening, I found a note taped to my front door.

It was from Diane. The note said,

“This was all my fault and I had ruined her life.”

She called me a bad mother and said,

“My kids were brats.”

I didn’t even get upset. I just took photos of the note from every angle with my phone. Then I texted the photos to Rich and to the CPS caseworker.

The case worker responded within an hour saying she was adding this to her file. Diane’s harassment actually got worse during her notice period. She called the police twice in one week claiming my kids were on her property.

Both times my kids were clearly playing in our own yard. I was right there watching them. The responding officers were the same ones who had come before for her other calls.

They recognized me and looked tired when they got out of their car. One of them told Diane that filing false reports was illegal. He said,

“They wouldn’t respond to future calls from her address unless there was an actual emergency.”

Diane argued with them but they just got back in their car and left. She stood on her patio glaring at my house for like an hour after that. One week into the 30-day notice period, I was inside making dinner.

The kids were playing outside on their swing set in the backyard. I had the window open so I could hear them. Suddenly I heard screaming.

Not kids screaming, but adult screaming. I dropped the spoon I was holding and ran to the back door. Diane was in our backyard standing right next to the swing set.

My daughter was crying and my son looked scared. Diane was shouting that they were making too much noise. She said,

“She was going to make sure we got kicked out of our house too.”

Her face was red and she was pointing her finger at my kids. I pushed open the door and ran outside. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and hit the emergency call button while keeping my eyes on Diane.

My hands were shaking but I managed to start recording video at the same time. I pointed the camera right at her standing there in our backyard next to the swing set. My daughter was still crying and my son looked frozen in place.

I told them to go inside the house right now and my voice came out louder than I meant it to. They both ran toward the back door and had to go around Diane to get there. She didn’t move out of their way.