Damage to neighbor's lawn

ask them to figure out which car did the damage (check the tire size and pin point it down to which car it was) and nail down the owner of that car.

you don't have to pay the fine until it's been proven which car did the damage, how, and when and most importantly if that car belonged to you

There are too many assumptions in your thread, I would get a hold of the paperwork and talk to the by-law/city officer and get more details thus eliminating any assumptions. The other option would be to talk to your nieghbour and get more details but since your neighbour decided not to talk to you would give me the indication that it's possible their are other issues. I'm also wondering if this so called lawn damage has been done on city property rather then the homeowners. In some cities, the area closest to the street is owned by the city.

Does your landlord know that you're renting out the landlords driveway or is this hearsay? In the meantime take your own photos and get more information.

Replacing the lawn isn't expensive, depending on the damage it could cost maybe $50.00 in material at most. The problem I see is the relationship with said neighbour in that they didn't want to address this issue with anyone living in your home, rather they felt it best to call the city instead over a minor issue, which is making a statement.

This may not be the only issue your neighbour brings up, therefore comunicate with them and find out if there is an underlying problem.

preommr wrote: ↑Does anyone know what happens if the neighbor's lawn is damaged, and he thinks its our fault? Who gets involved and what are the penalties (e.g. police for vandalism).

The full story is that I live in student housing, and my landlord e-mailed me saying that a city officer called him at 9 at night to tell him about our neighbor's damaged lawn. Apparently, we've been renting out the drive way to strangers who drove over the neighbor's lawn leaving tire tracks. Only one person in the house has a car, him and everyone else has said they have done nothing of the sort. Anyways, the landlord says that the city officer has fined us $250, and has pictures of cars parked in our driveway. Although I don't understand how they can pinpoint it to somebody in our house (why not a stranger that did drove in to turn around), or why a "city officer" is involved, or what a city officer is for that matter. Can anyone help?

P.S.

Sorry if this doesn't belong here, I figured this might involve neighborhood law and this seemed like the best place for that

I find it unlikely that your neighbour is making this up or that one of your roommates (or roommates friends) is telling the truth.

It would seem he is wrong about the 'renting out' of the driveway though. If there is damage to his lawn, chances are its someone associated with your home. Get the facts before you go further.

preommr wrote: ↑Does anyone know what happens if the neighbor's lawn is damaged, and he thinks its our fault? Who gets involved and what are the penalties (e.g. police for vandalism).

The full story is that I live in student housing, and my landlord e-mailed me saying that a city officer called him at 9 at night to tell him about our neighbor's damaged lawn. Apparently, we've been renting out the drive way to strangers who drove over the neighbor's lawn leaving tire tracks. Only one person in the house has a car, him and everyone else has said they have done nothing of the sort. Anyways, the landlord says that the city officer has fined us $250, and has pictures of cars parked in our driveway. Although I don't understand how they can pinpoint it to somebody in our house (why not a stranger that did drove in to turn around), or why a "city officer" is involved, or what a city officer is for that matter. Can anyone help?

P.S.

Sorry if this doesn't belong here, I figured this might involve neighborhood law and this seemed like the best place for that

RFD?

[IMG]http://thinknice.com/wp-content/uploads ... Expert.jpg[/IMG]

I'm going to take a guess based on my own experiences living in student housing.

Someone in your house had a guest over. That person's car got blocked in, possibly by another tenant, or guest. To get around that car, they drove on the lawn. I've seen it done dozens of times, and even had to do it myself once (with permission of the landlord, he suggested it when I couldn't find the owner of the other car).

I would also try to confirm that the driveway isn't being rented out. Someone in my triplex house rented out a parking spot (one of two on our property) without telling the landlord. The renter was only using it during school hours, so it was hard to figure out what was going on. Finally one day I went to my car and the owner of the car was there. He said that X person in my building was renting him the spot.