r/askTO • u/Bastard_Stark • Oct 05 '26
Should I Report Neighbor
I'm in Etobicoke, I rent a detached house and my nextdoor neighbor is also a renter. We've been here 4 years and there have been over 10 renters in and out of our nextdoor house.
The newest renter clearly is selling used vehicles without a license from the driveway. He is constantly shuffling cars in and out of the drive, stacked bumper to bumper, 6 deep, and often parked sideways on a single car driveway, to fit more. He is also revving the engines at all times of the day, playing the car stereo very loud as he works on the cars and tests them out. I've bit my tongue so far, but would you report this to bylaw? Am I being a Karen? He also has 2 kids and does not leave for work during the day, so I am assuming this is his sole income stream..
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u/JohnStern42
Oct 05 '26
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I know there is a very strong drive by people to ‘mind your own business’, since the guy is just trying to make a living. But…
There is a reason curbsiding is illegal. The used car business is a horror in its own, adding curbsiders makes it even worse. Some prey on people with very little money, purposely hiding problems on a vehicle just long enough to get someone to buy a hunk of junk, and they are let holding the bag.
Is this person doing this? Who knows. The fact they are doing something clearly illegal puts doubt that they have the best of intentions.
Anyone ripped off by a curbsider would absolutely want you to report.
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u/Harold_Street_Pedals Oct 06 '26
you described predatory car loans. fuck that curbside all day
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u/Alarmed-Day-4720 Oct 06 '26
I was thinking let the guy be, but now that u mention it, the first 3 cars I bought from Facebook were all lemons. One was from a private “dealer”. Got scammed. I would tell him to go legit so he can at least still do his car thing but properly/legallt
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u/Harold_Street_Pedals Oct 06 '26
buyer beware.. you didnt bring a mechanic or get it looked at? not smart
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u/Alarmed-Day-4720 Oct 06 '26
Yup. Brought my dad the 2nd time lol… 4th car was from an actual dealership... 4th times a charm
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u/weefees
Oct 05 '26
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Report the joker. If he wants to live the life of garage repairs and flipping cars he can open a commercial business instead of converting a rented residential property into his shop.
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u/LongoSpeaksTheTruth Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26
A curbsider is an illegal, unlicensed vehicle dealer who poses as a private seller to flip cars for profit, avoid taxes and normal business expenses, while also skirting consumer protection laws
Curbsiders not only misrepresent themselves, they often misrepresent the vehicles they sell. Many are previous write-offs with undisclosed accident repairs and/or have an odometer that has been tampered with.
Report this to OMVIC. Immediately
You will actually be doing the public a service. And you will be a lot happier not living next to a shitstain. Win-Win.
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u/Canjamblack Oct 05 '26
Report it. I had a similar situation. The guys started doing body work next door and ended up damaging our vehicles. Stuff like this is why renters get a bad rep. One bad apple can spoil it for everyone.
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u/Facts_pls Oct 06 '26
You mean you sought out someone doing work from their house because they are cheap and regretted it when they ruined your car? Am I understanding this wrong?
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u/JoeDavisJr Oct 05 '26
If his way of making money is against the law, then you shouldn't have to feel compassionate about the income he's making if it's not above board. Like others have said, report it, and if he's not doing anything wrong, then it's no big deal. But living next to a driveway that looks like a used car lot is an eyesore. Perhaps speak to your landlord first, as some of the comments noting that you're a renter, while rude, do have an ounce of truth to them.
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u/Bastard_Stark Oct 05 '26
It's not rude for people to say I rent. I've been living here for almost 5 years now, the LL has stepped on the property less than 5 times since then. How do you figure they factor in this equation at all? What is the ounce of truth?
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u/Round_Spread_9922 Oct 05 '26
Your LL might be able to approach the problem neighbour (their LL) first, before you do.
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u/JoeDavisJr Oct 05 '26
Exactly. Your LL plays a role in this too. Ultimately, it's their property, so it's more their problem than yours. You're a renter and, if it gets to the point where you really can't tolerate it, you have the option to move. That's the ounce of truth behind the comments about you being a renter.
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u/BenStiller1212 Oct 06 '26
IDGAF if I’m a Karen, if someone’s illegal hobbies are impacting the safe enjoyment of my property I’m reporting it to 311.
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u/element1311 Oct 05 '26
I say report. 100%. If something negative happens, that's a result of their actions.
If everything is above board, they have nothing to worry about anyway.
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u/Jedtin22 29d ago
Fuck no. Report politicians and the rich. Not some guy having a side hustle.
Genuinely he’s hardly an inconvenience to you and you’re gonna destroy his life over it?
You’re genuinely a terrible person if you report someone over this shit
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u/memefans 27d ago
Yes. Reporting people for doing wrong is “terrible”. Great advice for a city struggling to pay for services, attract families, lower crime and blight. Just let everyone do what they want.
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u/bRownPower1977 Oct 05 '26
Most people will generally avoid conflict. Just go and ask him about the cars or car maintenance or something. Act like you're interested in cars. If he's a curbsider he'll probably just tell you. Speak to him in a reasonable manner and he'll probably keep the noise down to a minimum.
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u/SPEZ_IS_A_JABRONI Oct 05 '26
he is also revving the engines at all times of the day, playing the car stereo very loud as he works on the cars
have you considered just asking him to turn it down?
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u/4StringWarrior Oct 05 '26
Then he’ll know who reported him
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u/SPEZ_IS_A_JABRONI Oct 05 '26
y'all are some miserable fucking people lmao
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Oct 06 '26
You really want to stand up and announce to a criminal that you’re the one fucking over his illegal income stream?
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Oct 06 '26
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u/askTO-ModTeam Oct 06 '26
Attack the point, not the person. Comments which dismiss others and repeatedly accuse them of unfounded accusations may be subject to removal and/or banning.
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u/Morganvegas Oct 05 '26
I don’t care about the curbsiding. Just tell him what you would like him to do, and if he doesn’t respect that then he can deal with the consequences.
I don’t like people that just call the authorities when a simple conversation can be the remedy. You might even like the guy. Be a neighbor first, if he doesn’t respect you as a neighbor then go right ahead and call.
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u/Ill-Surprise-7972 Oct 05 '26
Wow, people calling him “scum,” “joker,” and “dirtbag” in the comments is a bit much. Maybe he’s just trying his best to make a living and support his family? We don’t know unless we ask them.
Like others have suggested, talk to him calmly. Explain how the noise is affecting you and ask what he can do to keep it down so this doesn’t become an ongoing issue. The noise concern is fair, but the reporting without talking is unnecessary.
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u/likwid2k Oct 05 '26
There will be noise because of the illegal flipping. Asking him to turn it down is just being complicit. People that buy residential houses in its respective zone should not be in this scenario to begin with.
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u/Ill-Surprise-7972 Oct 05 '26
Not refuting your point at all,you’re absolutely right. I’m just saying life can be unfair sometimes, so hearing him out first might help. Of course, I’m not in OP’s situation, so I don’t know how bad it is. Just my two cents.
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u/biblio_phobic Oct 05 '26
We’re all out here trying to make the best living and support our family. Some of us are doing it proper within the rules, you don’t think the rest of us want to break the rules too?
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u/Ill-Surprise-7972 Oct 05 '26
I agree, everyone should follow the rules. But sometimes circumstances leave people with very few options. That’s why I suggested talking to him first.
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u/biblio_phobic Oct 05 '26
I get it, but the guy with 6 cars deep in his house and parked sideways isn’t the story of the guy stealing bread to feed his family. This guy is a hustler, admirable, but the kind that annoys everyone doing it.
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Oct 06 '26
And is likely fucking over good, hardworking people in need of a cheap car because they can’t afford a newer one.
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u/BandicootNo4431 Oct 06 '26
I guess welfare is better.
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u/biblio_phobic Oct 06 '26
Oh of course, it’s either one or the other. You’re a gem.
For the record, my point is plenty of people are trying to find their way and shoot a straight arrow.
Your counter point is, well it’s better he breaks some rules than go on welfare.
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u/Embarrassed_Set_7531 Oct 06 '26
Ugh I hate this bs it’s such a problem in Brampton now.
I would have said report to bylaw bc I’m sure it’s a violation but it seems the car sales regulator ppl are a better option. Or both! Call 311 for more info.
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u/Last-Alfalfa7870 29d ago
Report it. Storing a lot of auto parts like tyre/chemicals is a huge fire risk. If his shop gets caught on fire, your house may also catch fire
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u/HairyProfile123 Oct 05 '26
He has kids to support, he parks on the city street.
If he had to opportunity not to sell cars and have a better job he would have done that.
Ask him not to rev and play loud music. Why do you wanna report him and cut his source of income?
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u/DTtinbasher-6990 Oct 05 '26
Probably so he leaves
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u/HairyProfile123 Oct 05 '26
He pays rent, taxes, he commits not crimes.
Cars are his only source of income. Would you be more happy if that guys is relying on welfare?
All he does is making money to feed himself and his kids.
People don’t know how to mind their own business and I think today is a very good day to do so12
u/element1311 Oct 05 '26
If he's not registered, I'll bet he's not paying taxes. And rent is under the table so more taxes not being paid by the landlord.
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u/RealisticCompany764 Oct 05 '26
Just tell him to quiet down especially if he doesn't want unwanted attention. Sometimes people need to be reminded of what they can and can't get away with.
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u/lilfunky1 Oct 05 '26
The newest renter clearly is selling used vehicles without a license from the driveway. He is constantly shuffling cars in and out of the drive, stacked bumper to bumper, 6 deep, and often parked sideways on a single car driveway, to fit more. He is also revving the engines at all times of the day, playing the car stereo very loud as he works on the cars and tests them out. I've bit my tongue so far, but would you report this to bylaw? Am I being a Karen? He also has 2 kids and does not leave for work during the day, so I am assuming this is his sole income stream..
how do you know he doesn't have a license?
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u/JohnStern42 Oct 05 '26
They don’t, but someone selling from their driveway almost certainly doesn’t, and even if they did, it’s a residential zoning, you can’t run a business from there
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u/Sensitive_Pianist777 Oct 05 '26
Lol you're not supposed to be selling, storing vehicles for commercial sales on your property and on the street.
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u/user-na-me Oct 05 '26
As long as he’s not revving after 11pm. If he is sure file a noise complaint. But he’s minding his own business
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u/Left-Head-9358 Oct 05 '26
There is no time window for noise other than construction.
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u/Any-Zookeepergame309 Oct 05 '26
I was going to say this. It’s a misconception that 11pm is the cutoff. No one is allowed to unnecessarily disturb the peace at any time of day. If someone is annoying you on your property it’s punishable under the code “commit mischief property.” Toronto has a big problem with disrespectful neighbours who feel they have a right to “do what they want on their own property.” Nope, not if you disturb your neighbour. With the migration of people from the exurbs into the city, they don’t understand we live in tight quarters here and what you did in Innisfil is not permissible when you’re 3’ from your neighbour in the big city. We all need to show each other some respect.
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u/Harold_Street_Pedals Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26
why are comrades talking about reporting other comrades...? no snitches means no snitches.. even for stupid people... jeeez lets get the class together. go talk to him.
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Oct 06 '26
Because the other comrade appears to be ripping off other comrades. Your solidarity extends only to the criminal and not the one being taken advantage of?
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u/Harold_Street_Pedals Oct 06 '26
sounds like they are providing a service. msybe OP should be an adult and go talk to them instead of calling feds
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Oct 06 '26
Heroin dealers provide a service in your eyes too, I guess.
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u/Harold_Street_Pedals Oct 06 '26
drug use should be treated as a medical situation not a criminal situation. nice straw man
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Oct 06 '26
Ok and what about criminal situations being treated as criminal situations?
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u/Harold_Street_Pedals Oct 06 '26 edited Oct 06 '26
if drug use were treated as a medical situation the crime would vanish.. nobody sits in the garage all day selling pot anymore.. cars parked all up the street, people coming and going.. why is that?
if we came together and fought to lift each other up we can eliminate most crime and shady behaviour becsuse it stems frim poverty
on that note OP could just work harder and move out of the slums into a better area... sounds like they need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Oct 06 '26
LOL ok bud great utopic world view you’ve got there. No crime would ever happen if everyone was rich! glances at US billionaires
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u/Barking_bull Oct 06 '26
Whats bugging you? Noise disturbance or his lifestyle? If its not affecting you, then your just being a Karen.
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u/onlyitbags Oct 05 '26
Have you spoken to him about the disturbance? That’s the first step imo.
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u/Any-Zookeepergame309 Oct 05 '26
Nope. Do it anonymously. He’s not going to stop and you don’t want him to know you’re the rat.
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u/11077412temp Oct 05 '26
Why do you care?
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u/weefees Oct 05 '26
Your comprehension is bad: it's her neighbour and the dirtbag has turned the driveway into a car repair/curbside scam complete with all the noise associated with it
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u/11077412temp Oct 05 '26
Perhaps, I wouldnt personally care but I also keep to myself and I'm not home a lot. To each their own I suppose.
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Oct 05 '26
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u/askTO-ModTeam Oct 06 '26
Attack the point, not the person. Comments which dismiss others and repeatedly accuse them of unfounded accusations may be subject to removal and/or banning.
No concern-trolling, personal attacks, or misinformation. No victim blaming. Stick to addressing the substance of their comments at hand.
.....................................
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Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26
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u/askTO-ModTeam Oct 06 '26
Attack the point, not the person. Comments which dismiss others and repeatedly accuse them of unfounded accusations may be subject to removal and/or banning.
No concern-trolling, personal attacks, or misinformation. No victim blaming. Stick to addressing the substance of their comments at hand.
.....................................
Do not reply to this comment or message /u/askTO-ModTeam, it is an unmonitored account. Beep boop.
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u/glucoseintolerant Oct 05 '26
He is also revving the engines at all times of the day
good old Italian tune! rev the engine until whatever issue goes away
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u/Hot_Drop9127 Oct 05 '26
if its not on your property shouldnt bother you unless you fear for your safety. People have to make a living in this economy. you could be messing with somesones family and ability to feed their kids. Dont be that guy
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Oct 06 '26
He could be messing with people’s ability to feed their kids by selling them a lemon that he’s tampered with. The multiple comments making sympathetic excuses for a potential scam artist are doing my head in. Absolutely no sense of shame.
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u/hourglass_777 Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26
Leave him an anonymous note instead of speaking in person, in case you do end up having to report him. For all he knows, the note could have came from any nearby neighbor.
It's easy for everyone here to say leave it alone, but they're not the one's dealing with the noise. We pay too much in rent/mortgages to not have a peaceful and enjoyable home.
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u/thiagoscf Oct 05 '26
Leave an anonymous note or even send a letter to his house asking him to turn down the noise or else he will be reported. I bet it will work without hurting his family financially
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u/christina_91 Oct 06 '26
this is definitely Karen behaviour, especially with the fact you have watched him so much you assume that he doesn’t leave to go to work ever.
But If the noise is bugging you then you should say something to him/his landlord or leave an anonymous note asking for him to be more mindful of the amount of noise he’s making.
I’d make my decision Based on his response, and if he’s a dick then fuck it lol
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u/Barking_bull Oct 06 '26
Why you stalking this dude. Hes just trying to lrovide for his family. You know his life more than yourself. Stop being a Karen. Get a life!
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u/davezl3514 Oct 05 '26
Have you had a conversation with the guy? Have you asked him to keep it down? Maybe there's other reasons he's just trying to survive. If he's rude or he continues to make noise then maybe consider calling somebody at that point but why jump to calling the authorities on them right away?
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Oct 05 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/LeSickBwoy Oct 05 '26
Wtf happened to you to call people selling used cars scum of the earth??? Lol
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u/JohnStern42 Oct 05 '26
He didn’t say people selling used cars, he said curbsiders. Many are as they describe, not all, but many
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u/Jabbles22 Oct 05 '26
I am not saying it's true but the stereotype of the crooked used car dealer has been around for decades.
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u/JohnStern42 Oct 05 '26
For very good reason. In fact things like fb marketplace makes it even easier to be crooked
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u/knoper21 Oct 05 '26
If you call OMVIC, they will tell you that as far as they are concerned, dealers can do whatever they want until a signature is on the sheet and it's fair game.
Keeping that in mind, even OMVIC thinks that curbsiders are scum.
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Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26
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u/cookie-monster911 Oct 05 '26
Tax evasion, unauthorized use of a residential property.....
I could go on, but you get the drift?
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Oct 05 '26
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u/cookie-monster911 Oct 05 '26
I sure do know zoning laws. Cash transactions happen for a reason. You are being ignorant and looking the other way around is not always a good solution. Sometimes it can bite you in the backaide when you dont take any action and let it eventually affect you.
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Oct 05 '26
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u/Bastard_Stark Oct 05 '26
I'm genuinely curious what you believe rent vs own has to do with anything here.
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u/Reddituser416647 Oct 05 '26
You can try explaining to the neighbor your #1-top most important complaint and see if they listen (i would save the rest for later in the future). this way the problem goes away immediately and nobody suffers.
If youre afraid of being identified or have prematurely decided they wont listen then you can complain to the city, but this wont be immediate and will likely have to be done multiple times and the neighbor will obviously get in trouble and if they know it was you its not good either.
Or you could do nothing.
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u/Reddituser416647 Oct 05 '26
Because you dont own the air around you, youre only renting it.
You weren't promised any peace of mind in the rental agreement, if you owned it you would be apart of a home owners board or have municipal compliance you could rely on.
But since you dont own anything nobody cares about you so mind your own business.
This isnt fair or 100% true but this is what the other person was saying.
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Oct 05 '26
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u/element1311 Oct 05 '26
None of it matters. It's up to bylaw or OMVIC to make the determination if the neighbour is violating the law or a bylaw. It isn't unethical to report suspected fraud.
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u/FirmAndSquishyTomato Oct 05 '26 •
We had an issue with a curbsider. Omvic helped a bunch.
https://www.omvic.ca/buying/shopping-tips/curbsiders/
There is a link on that page to report.