Woman watches neighbor over security camera, 'GET OFF MY PROPERTY.' AITA? 'She chewed us out.'

"AITA for asking my neighbor to get off my property when we weren’t home over a security camera?"

My bf (M31) and I’s (F30) house is on a corner lot with a large disconnected garage in the back with a driveway. We have a road and sidewalk to the front and left side of us, a neighbor with a fence to the right and an alleyway in the back.

While my bf and I were at work the other day we each separately got a notification from our security system that there was someone in our driveway. When I pulled the live feed up I saw what I thought might be a neighbor who lives down the road (I’ve never actually talked to him or seen him up close so I wasn’t 100%) and his large, unleashed dog.

My first assumption was that the dog had gotten out and he was trying to get it back. However, I watched him just mosey around the side of the house with his hands in his pockets. He was letting the dog sniff along the side of the house and then followed it all the way up our driveway to the garage.

We have a fenced area between the garage and the house and the guy watched the dog wander through the ajar fence and into the backyard while standing by our garage. He stood there for a good couple of minutes just looking into our garage and then into our covered porch.

I finally said “hello” over the speaker on the security system, and he didn’t reply. Then I asked “Is that your dog?” thinking maybe he was trying to help a loose dog and didn’t want to spook it? He answered “yes” to that. He then just kept hanging around while his dog was doing whatever in our backyard.

My boyfriend then got on the speaker and said, “Can you please get off my property?” The neighbor then went into our backyard and grabbed the dog by the collar to walk it home. That evening, I got a Facebook message from a random lady who I guess is this man’s wife.

She basically chewed both of us out for “treating her husband like a criminal,” “thinking we’re better than them because we have more money,” “treating them like trash,” and "embarrassing him in front of the neighborhood.” My boyfriend and I were really taken aback by this. We’ve never even had any sort of direct contact with these people.

I’ll admit, we’ve both been a little on-edge due to some car break-ins in our neighborhood within the last couple of weeks and my boyfriend being bitten by a dog while on a walk. We’ve actually been looking to move because of this. Maybe we jumped the gun on “judging” this guy.

However, I feel like it’s a normal reaction to ask someone to leave when they’re just loitering around your house? Also, who just lets their dog wander around someone’s house and go into their fenced backyard? AITA?

Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:

OkSeaworthiness5072 said:

NTA. I don’t see how you “treated them like trash." All you did was ask someone randomly wandering inside your property to please leave. Nobody is okay with people just walking around their homes and with their dog, at that. Not sure how much nicer you could have handled that.

BulbasaurRanch said:

“Thank you for confirming the identity of the man on our property this afternoon. Please let him know we don’t appreciate trespassers and will forward your communications along with footage to the authorities the next time he forgets where private property begins." Send and wait for her next outburst. NTA.

TeachOfTheYear said:

The dog is the excuse if someone was home." Oh, my dog ran up here so I was trying to get him!" and "I'm sorry I was in your backyard, Ralphie here got off his leash and ran into the back yard!" NTA.

maybe-an-ai said:

NTA. "Understood. Next time I catch your husband peeping in my windows I'll call the police instead."

Impossible-Cattle504 said:

Lady, I caught your husband wandering onto my property, looking all around, in my windows, etc, in a neighborhood that has seen breaking recently. I did not embarrass him in front of anyone, just told him to move on.

If he is embarrassed, it's because he knows his behavior and actions were at best ill advised given the current state of the area and sketchy beyond a doubt. Grow up, use better judgment, and don't bother us again, especially when you are in the wrong. NTA.

Srvntgrrl_789 said:

NTA. The guy was casing your home. End of story.

vortish said:

NTA. People need to respect others and their property. Him just letting his dog on your property and just hanging around gives me bad vibes. His significant other should never dressed down either one of you. My guess is she is a KAREN.

First-Stress-9893 said:

NTA, they were trespassing and shouldn’t be on your property without permission. Now they know you are actively watching maybe they will go case somewhere else instead.