{"id":11560284,"date":"2025-07-15T15:32:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11560284"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:32:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:32:36","slug":"neighbor-nightmare-in-westminster-reader-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/15\/neighbor-nightmare-in-westminster-reader-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbor nightmare in Westminster | READER COMMENTARY"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve had constant problems with my neighbor whom I share a wall with in my townhome on Court St. in Westminster.<\/p>\n

I and two other neighbors have sent in complaints to the city over the years. One has been trying to get the city to do something about this issue for over a decade now. The smell in my house is awful, it smells like cat urine, dead animals, mold and whatever else may be over there.<\/p>\n

I’ve spent thousands of dollars on pest control over the years, trying to get rid of the bugs that are crawling over from next door. I haven’t stayed at my house now for a little over three weeks because of bed bugs from there. The neighbor on the other side of the wall just threw out her mattresses and furniture and is spending money to have her place treated for bed bugs now as well.<\/p>\n

I have spoken with many people from the city about this issue and nothing seems to be getting done. The backyard to the place next door is completely overgrown, and underneath all the vegetation is a mixture of various things they’ve hoarded over the years. There are constantly new people coming and going from over there and definitely drugs are involved.<\/p>\n

One of the neighbors is too afraid to keep pushing with this because one of the men assaulted her father. I and the neighbor on the other side of them have had multiple trips to urgent care and doctors for shortness of breath, sinus problems and other medical issues due to breathing in that smell constantly. At this point, I’m not sure what else I can do. I wouldn’t even feel morally right selling my house to someone else with these problems, and I can’t afford to move.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jonathan Cole, Westminster<\/p>\n

Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Carroll County Times content by\u00a0submitting your own letter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A letter writer says he’s faced years of frustrations with a problem neighbor in Westminster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":415017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-15T19:32:39Z","apple_news_api_id":"52c477c4-f77a-4697-b279-79843b946f8f","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-15T19:32:39Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AUsR3xPd6RpeyeXmEO5Rvjw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[75,80,81],"tags":[],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[7778],"class_list":["post-11560284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carroll-county-times","category-cct-latest-headlines","category-cct-opinion"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"81","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"cover","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"","print_slug":"CCT-L-","print_content":"","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. 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