'My entitled neighbour throws parties in my pool when I'm not home - I'm outraged'

A woman has been left fuming after she found out her 'entitled' neighbour had been sneakily throwing parties in their pool while they were away on holiday.

She detailed how she typically heads to her family's lake house for a week during the major holidays - but this year, she skipped Memorial Day due to flooding around the lake. To add to her change of plans, she stayed home on July 4th to care for a family member who had just been discharged from the hospital.

Taking to Reddit, she shared: "Normally, we open the pool in early May and leave it to keep it open until the end of October. But this year our weather was off and we had a very cool and very wet month of May and then June went straight to 100+ temperatures.

"I am currently on a medication that makes it difficult for me to tolerate being in the sun and heat for an extended time. Plus we have been helping two extended family members who are having health issues. So because of this, we haven't had our pool opened yet this year.

"Now several times in June the little girl next door has seen either my husband or myself outside and she has asked when we are opening the pool. We first told her maybe later, but the last time (yesterday) she asked and I said we are probably just not going to open it this year, and she started crying."

The woman was left baffled by the girl's strong reaction, especially since she had never extended an invitation to use her pool. She said: "I didn't understand why she was crying over us not opening our pool."

She later discovered from another neighbour that the family next door had been hosting small parties in her pool every 4th of July when they were away. They always cleaned up afterwards – and due to regular pool maintenance and yard service, any changes in the garden went unnoticed.

The other neighbour had assumed they had given permission for the pool's use, which is why it had never been raised before.

Although she had allowed her neighbours to retrieve balls or toys from her garden, she had never invited them to use their pool. Unsure how to address this issue, she turned to social media for advice.

She continued: "I'm annoyed our neighbours have been using our pool without permission, but my husband is happy I am letting him get more gadgets around the house. Now do we confront the neighbours and let them know we know they have been using our pool, or just wait and see if they say anything about our new security cameras? ".

In a tale of suburban drama, one user recounted: "I had this problem. When I left town I put up a warning sign that stated the pool was being chemically treated and it was dangerous.

"Of course, I did no such thing. All I did was put up a sign. One day I got a call from an ER because someone snuck into the pool and claimed they were injured by the chemicals. I told the doc they were faking it as the only thing I put up was the sign."

Chiming in with legal advice, another user suggested: "Lawyer here, though not yours. You need to put up 'no trespassing' signs, tell your neighbours they are not allowed on your property without explicit permission, and change the lock to the gate. Now that you know, you are on notice and could be held liable if they are injured visiting your pool. Sucks, but it will be much less trouble than a lawsuit."

A third user said: "I don't know what would be more fun - to tell them upfront to not use the pool, or to not say anything and next time you find them on camera using your pool, just calling the police for trespassers on your property to surprise them."