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neighbor snooping, looking, watching private back yard - HELP!

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wiz9

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York


We have a fully private back yard. Completely surrounded by 30 feet high bushes and fencing.

The neighbor behind us has been watching our backyard and started screaming at us the other day complaining about our pet food dish in our patio, which is more than 40 feet away from the already obstructed view fence. The only way for him to even see it would be to part the branches and stick half his body into our back yard. And he has been watching our yard continuously to watch what we do in it.

We want to send a cease and desist, to have him immedietly stop watching our private property, as he is invading our privacy.

What would be the exact legal terminology for what he is doing?? To be going out of his way to poke into, and watch our property which is already obstructed from view to begin with.

What wording should I use??
 


justalayman

Senior Member
Aren't you actually in Canada?


From one of your other threads:


wiz9
Junior Member

Join Date
Oct 2008

Posts
10

I clearly indicated I was in Canada, but there are no legal advice boards for Canada, so I am seeking some general advice, since most of the laws are the same.

I would thank anyone for their perspective as it is welcomed.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York


We have a fully private back yard. Completely surrounded by 30 feet high bushes and fencing.

The neighbor behind us has been watching our backyard and started screaming at us the other day complaining about our pet food dish in our patio, which is more than 40 feet away from the already obstructed view fence. The only way for him to even see it would be to part the branches and stick half his body into our back yard. And he has been watching our yard continuously to watch what we do in it.

We want to send a cease and desist, to have him immedietly stop watching our private property, as he is invading our privacy.

What would be the exact legal terminology for what he is doing?? To be going out of his way to poke into, and watch our property which is already obstructed from view to begin with.

What wording should I use??
A cease and desist letter means nothing - and even less if written by you (a layperson)

(In the US - I don't know how it works up there, eh.)
 

wiz9

Junior Member
it does not matter WHERE I am located.

The laws are pretty much the same, and I am looking for help with the legal wording.

Can anyone assist with that?
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
it does not matter WHERE I am located.

The laws are pretty much the same, and I am looking for help with the legal wording.

Can anyone assist with that?
The laws are NOT the same - I'm not sure why you can't get that through your head. Maybe the air is less dense up there? I dunno...
 

NC Aggie

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York


We have a fully private back yard. Completely surrounded by 30 feet high bushes and fencing.
I'm assuming these are exaggerations because nothing is fully private unless it is enclosed all around including overhead. Secondly, when you refer to 30 feet high bushes and fencing, do you mean trees? I don't know of any BUSHES that could naturally grow that tall and if you have a 30 feet tall fence then it would have to be engineered and how exactly could your neighbor see over a 30 foot fence?
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I'm assuming these are exaggerations because nothing is fully private unless it is enclosed all around including overhead. Secondly, when you refer to 30 feet high bushes and fencing, do you mean trees? I don't know of any BUSHES that could naturally grow that tall and if you have a 30 feet tall fence then it would have to be engineered and how exactly could your neighbor see over a 30 foot fence?
Gravity is less up in Canada...
 

justalayman

Senior Member
it does not matter WHERE I am located.

The laws are pretty much the same, and I am looking for help with the legal wording.

Can anyone assist with that?
yes, it absolutely does matter where the incident is taking place. Not only is NY only one of 50 states that all have their own laws dealing with the issue, each of them having at least subtle differences, there are also the court cases defining those laws in each of those 50 states with each of them coming to their own conclusion. Add federal law onto that and we have 51 (and this isn't even counting county or city town ordinances) different jurisdictions, each with their own law and supporting court decisions. Even if the Canadian law was worded exactly like any of those 51 different laws, it would still mean nothing to you because you are not even in the US.

Since we do not use the word: eh, the wording for an action in your country is going to be different than such in our country.

If you want a generic statement, how is this:


knock off the crap. We are tired of you peaking into out yard through the bushes and yelling about things that do not affect you. Should you continue, I will call the police (or whatever you call them in Canada). So, do you understand that? eh?
 

tranquility

Senior Member
it does not matter WHERE I am located.

The laws are pretty much the same, and I am looking for help with the legal wording.

Can anyone assist with that?
Of course it does. The laws are NOT pretty much the same--especially when related to privacy.

http://www.uoltj.ca/articles/vol2.2/2005.2.2.uoltj.Levin.357-395.pdf
Privacy Law in the United States, the EU and Canada: The Allure of the Middle Ground
That says in part:
While it is the conception of privacy as dignity that facilitates government
intervention and regulation as the EU directive requires, it is the conception of
privacy as liberty that prevents Americans from contemplating this sort of
government regulation. We now ask, if Americans understand privacy as the
social and legal construct that protects their liberty and Europeans understand
privacy as the social and legal construct that protects their dignity, then what is
the middle ground occupied by Canadians? We begin to construct this middle
ground with the reiteration that privacy is not based exclusively on liberty for
Americans, nor is it based exclusively on dignity for Europeans. This is a truism
recognized already by Warren and Brandeis.
164
 

Ben T

Member
As a note - people who falsely represent themselves tend not to gain much sympathy from honest folk. Or from the courts.
 

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