Report Rotten Neighbors at 'RottenNeighbors.com'

From ABClocal.com:

Have a neighbor who drives you nuts? Well now you have a place to vent your complaints in a web site that's attracted a quarter million visitors in its two months of existence, all by word-of-mouth.

New Web Site

Behind these grocery carts, lies a rotten neighbor, at least according to a new web site where people vent about what's bugging them next door.

The site http://www.rottenneighbor.com/ collects complaints about neighbors -- messy, noisy, inconsiderate neighbors- and plots their location on Google maps to warn others to avoid moving in near them.

"I had a rotten neighbor of my own," said Web Site designer Brant Walker.

A San Diego web designer launched the site -- now nationwide with thousands of postings.

Hurt Business?

"Some real estate agents don't want it, they don't like it, think it will hurt their business. People looking to buy homes love it. Some people looking to sell homes think it will bring their values down. Just a huge variety of people," said Walker.

People can praise "good" neighbors too, but complaints outnumber compliments 100 to one. Most common: loud music, neglected yards and suspicions of drug activity.

"It's a very judgemental site," said Nancy Kenyon from the Fair Housing Alliance of Marin.

Troubling?

The site's a bit troubling for fair housing advocates, who say neighbors should communicate, not slam each other anonymously. Plus they worry about discrimination; for example families with children tend to be noisier.

"If someone were to say there are too many people living in this house, well that could easily apply to nationalities that have larger families," said Kenyon.

And the comments, sometimes amusing can also be mean. The person mad about these abandoned shopping carts calls his neighbors "trashy low class bums".

A Mill Valley neighborhood is criticized for having too many barking dogs. "Ridiculous," one comment said, don't move here if you want peace and quiet.

But some residents don't think squealing on the web is the way to go.

"Then they should approach the neighbor, rather than do the 'end around' going on the Iinternet. Communication is a way to solve the problem," said one Mill Valley resident.

The site will soon add photos and video, and comment capability. Apparently rotten neighbors are a growth industry.

For more visit Gothamist here.