10 years ago we moved into our house. We live between an older man and his divorced son, and an older married couple. We were friends with everyone until the older man retired. Then he got very odd. He began to fixate on his lawn. He mows his lawn every day, sometimes twice, to put straight lines on it. He crawls around on his hands and knees picking up little scraps off his lawn. He also began a campaign in our neighborhood to have all the other neighbors cut down their trees so leaves don’t fall on his precious lawn. All the other neighbors caved in and cut down their beautiful trees. My husband and I refused to cut ours down. That seemed to trigger something in this man, (who is a former Marine and very manipulative; he HAS to have the last word in an argument or win every battle he wages). Since then, he has been gossiping around town about us to everyone. He told people when we ran into financial trouble, he called Children’s Services on me two years ago when my two daughters were sick over one winter several times, he said my home wasn’t clean and that’s why they were sick. (This of course wasn’t true.) Then last year he called the health department on us and said our house smelled so bad he couldn’t sit outside at night, even though we had pictures of him sitting on his front porch, and even entertaining guests on his lawn. When the health inspector showed up and found nothing wrong, this man then pressured the neighbor who lives on the other side of us to call his father-in-law, who is our cities financial director, and lodge another complaint, which he did. The health inspector told the city financial director that there was nothing wrong with out house, but the financial director pressured the mayor into refusing to close the case down, so the health inspector has shown up at my house 6 times this summer, never finding anything wrong, but he has to show up when the neighbor complains. It’s hideously humiliating to have the health department keep showing up at our house, though. My husband tried reasoning with him, but got nowhere. Several months ago, my husband died in a car crash. I thought this would make the neighbors leave me alone, but the problem seems to have escalated. I have a lawn service cutting my grass, and today when the man showed up to cut it, he said that the last time he was here, the neighbor came over and talked to him for around a half an hour and told him all kinds of things about us, and to quote, And none of them were very nice at all. I am so upset about this. I talked to my attorney, who told me that the only way I can take action against this man is to find enough people to bring into court who would testify that this man is saying things about us, but everyone is too afraid of him to do this. I can’t afford to move, I’m having enough problems in my life as it is. And now I have to deal with this man who won’t leave us alone who is always looking into my business, and who is causing me so much trouble. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would so appreciate some.
Thanks so much…real helpful.