Scary, Unstable Neighbor

[littlefriends]

I am a licensed in home provider who moved into a new home a few months ago. This is my dream house! My boyfriend and I spent forever picking out the PERFECT house. We closed in June and I moved the daycare over here once all my licensing was situated at the end of July. Right away we realized we have a serious problem!

My neighbor on the left of me hates us. She is also either mentally unstable or possibly on some kind of drugs or both, idk. Several times she has come onto our property to scream at us, films and takes pictures of us, rants, etc. She often makes no sense and claps her hands and laughs loudly at us.

Mostly she only has done this when it’s outside of daycare hours and I hadn’t had trouble with her with my dc kids but a few days ago she came up to my backyard fence (sides are 6ft cedar and back strip of fence is black chainlink so we have a nice view of our woods) and just lost it! It was 5pm so pick up time and I had 2 parents out there and she just meandered over and started cussing at me, flipping us off, ranting about us stealing her property (saying the fence is on her side) etc. but also just making absolutely no sense and rambling, muttering.

My boyfriend got a lot of it filmed plus we have security cameras. We called the police to report the trespass and erratic, scary behavior and they made a report and watched the video but said they doubt anything will come of it because she didn’t come inside the fence!! How can that be?! Now I’m afraid to take the kids outside to play. I spend all day watching for her car to leave (she doesn’t work) so I can scramble around getting the kids ready to play outside and pray she stays gone for at least 20 or 30 min. Idk what to do.

[Springvalley]

Call the police if she comes near you or your property. If parents are there when she comes, have them video her and then send it to you so you can show police & contact your licensing consultant so they know whats going on so that in the event you have a parent pull their kid and tries to make a report trying to get your license pulled over this

[e.j.]

I don't have any advice to offer but my heart goes out to you. I can only imagine how upsetting her behavior is to you. You said the police watched the video and said nothing would come of it since she didn't go inside the fence. Would it make a difference if you did catch her trespassing on video? If so, I'd make sure those security cameras were running at all times. It's got to be frustrating not to have any way to stop this harassment from her.

[littlefriends]

Yes, they said if we have her coming inside the fence or into our driveway or coming to the front door then that would be undeniable. I just don’t get how they can say it’s not definitive on the one we showed them. The fence backs up to our woods. She was very much in our backyard, just outside the fence. It’s infuriating that she can literally stand in my backyard while I’m trying to barbecue chicken or let my kiddos have some fresh air and cuss at me.

We are keeping the cameras recording 24/7 and making sure we only let the dog out as long as we are able to watch.

[Michael]

How old is your neighbor? Maybe you should install some water sprinklers along the back fence and water when she decides to visit.

You would think when it comes to children there would be a city ordinance preventing her from attacking you and the children verbally. Have you spoken to the previous owner about this neighbor and if they had similar interactions? Personally, I would record everything and if you lose clients because of her actions, you should sue her in small claims.

I am surprised the police didn't even go over to talk to her. Keep calling them and make sure they are filing a police incident report. It's going to all add up soon on her and a civil court judge is going to have to deal with her. I wouldn't let her intimidate you. Maybe she wants you to think she is crazy.

[littlefriends]

I would guess she’s in her late 50’s. We actually do have a sprinkler system, lol, that didn’t even occur to me!

The first time we called, the police did talk to her and told her we no trespassed her and that if she’s caught coming again she can have a case brought against her. They just said that they don’t think the prosecutor will care unless she actually opens the fence and comes inside (even tho outside of the fence several feet into the woods is also ours it’s just not fenced in) or comes fully into onto our porch or up to the house. Right now she doesn’t go very far. Just a foot or two.

I was wondering about suing her somehow. I have a right to be able to peacefully enjoy my yard and to be be outside without being harassed.

Today she had company over so I took the kids outside and as soon as I saw the visitor leaving I brought them back inside and I had barely shut the backdoor and I saw her peeking around the fence edge into my backyard and she had the nerve to freaking wave at me when she saw I noticed her!!

[GirlMomma]

Holy moly! 😳 What is with people?? 😅

[Cat Herder]

I would hire a surveyor to come and visibly mark the property line. High visibility, obnoxious markings like hot pink spray paint on those pegs should do it.

My reason is two fold. The first is an obvious line she can't dispute. The second is that neighbors like that won't be able to leave the surveyor alone and her chances of being arrested are much higher with them (sorry to tell you that you are "just a girl" so society will often ignore your needs as "silly drama" until someone dies). I'd keep applying heat and bring this on up into a head. Deal with it quick and get your life back. My next move would be a livestock *live* fence just outside of the wooden one. Zap!! Yep, I did.... it worked faster than anything else I have ever done. Also keeps neighbor dogs from digging in. Yes, that happens, too. It's ridiculous.

[Annalee]

put some pigs in the pen; neighbors love that.....lol

[GirlMomma]

I’m not sure if it’s the same for everyone, but my town will come and mark the property lines free of charge for us. With our closing paperwork, we received an aerial view of our lot. There were numbers on each side of the property line. Those numbers are usually the length and width of your lot in feet. Again this may just be something they do in my town, but it never hurts to look into it and possible save some money.

[littlefriends]

We had it professionally surveyed and she tore one of the stakes out of the ground and brought it up to our front porch and left it there! That was when we first were moving in and figuring out where we were going to put the fence.

[e.j.]

I was going to suggest putting up some additional, relatively inexpensive fencing around the actual property line so she can't say she didn't know she was on your property. If you wouldn't be disturbing other neighbors, I'd also try playing music loud enough to drown out anything she's saying to you while the kids are playing.

Also love the sprinkler idea! lol