ChrisMiller88
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I have owned my house for one year now and I started having trouble with my next door neighbor about 3 months ago. It started with him claiming that my palm tree was causing damage to our shared wall and he wanted me to cut him a check for the repair and he would handle it. I was suspicious because my mother over heard a contractor on his property stating that the wall was damaged from him over watering his lawn. He and his mother kept insisting to the contractor that it was because of my palm tree, but the contractor stood firm on his assessment of over-watering. I explained to him that the roots of a palm tree are too thin to ever crack a wall, especially when the crack is over 7 feet from the tree. I agreed that the wall was damaged and explained to him that the wall was both our responsibility and we would both need to share the cost. I also told him that I would want to look at at least three estimates. He became furious and insisted that it was my tree that caused the problem and exclaimed, "You people owe me!". I told him that if he disagrees he can take me to court. He wanted to continue arguing with me and i walked away stated that we were not going to come to an agreement and this was a matter for the court. He followed me when i went back to work on my lawn and then stated that "I better watch myself.". I looked at him and asked him to repeat himself and he said, "You better watch yourself and your family because there is going to be some serious gang **** going on at your house". I immediately called the police and told them everything. They sent two officers to my home and the officers told me that I should ignore him. I explained that my wife and my mother were shaking because they were so scared and the police officers told me that I do not live in Redondo Beach anymore where everyone plays nice and I now live in San Pedro where there are many weirdos so i need to get used to it or move back to Redondo Beach. They then assured to me that the incident is on record and they refused to say anything to the neighbor. In fact, they basically acted as though i was over reacting to this threat.
Now I have this neighbor that comes out of his house and stares me down and tries to intimidate me. I suspect that he has come on to my property several times and unplugged my sprinkler system because it made his car wet, although i have never caught him doing this. More recently two of the sprinkler heads were damaged and the wires were all pulled out of the system rather than only the electrical plugs. He parks the car in the same spot in front of my house and gets upset if anyone else parks there. If another neighbor parks in what he believes to be his reserved spot he stands there for 5 minutes looking at their car. Most people know not to park there because they are afraid he will damage their car. He also seems to believe that I am some how obligated to ensure that his car stays clean since it is in front of my home. Two days ago I cut my lawn and accidentally got some grass on his car so he waited for me outside my door and stayed on the side walk and just looked at me breathing heavy and trying to look mean and intimidating. I asked him if I could help him. I knew that the reason he was angry was because I probably got grass or dirt on his car. I pretended as if I didn't understand what the issue was, which was probably a bad idea because it made him more angry and he was expecting an apology and a promise never to do it again. He was breathing very heavy and giving me the "Kubrick stare" so I asked him if he was feeling ok. He just continued on looking crazy and breathing heavy so i decided to ignore him and go about my business. He began following me when I stepped onto the public sidewalk. I live on a corner so he followed me all the way around my house and to my garage. He walked close enough behind me that I could feel his breath on my neck and while he walked he rapped a wooden stick against the sidewalk loudly as to intimidate me. I walked into my garage and asked him again if I could help him with anything and continued to pretend that I did not know why he was upset. He continued the heavy breathing and looked down at his feet, then looked at me, then walked over my property line and into my driveway. He would not say anything to me and just continued with the heavy breathing. Then he took another step closer to me and got right in my face. Then turned around and went back to his car and moved it.
I am really getting tired of this harassment so i called the police and told them it was my second call. The officer on the phone told me that there was never any incident reported and explained to me that the incident number the police gave me the first time was given to me just to shut me up. He then said that my neighbor knows how to stay in the gray area and harass me without getting in trouble with the police. He said that if I do not like my neighbor I should move. I explained that I own the house and i do not think it is right for my neighbor to scare my family into having a financial hardship and losing our home that we just purchased. He told me to try and get a restraining order. I asked him what he meant by "try" and he said that I would probably never get it until I had actual evidence that he hurt me or my family. This is crazy and i want to know what I can do and what kind of legal protection I have. The police to not want to help me but i must have some kind of legal protection. My wife and my mother are afraid to go outside and my wife does not want the kids to play in the yard anymore because of this seemingly psychopathic neighbor.
I have owned my house for one year now and I started having trouble with my next door neighbor about 3 months ago. It started with him claiming that my palm tree was causing damage to our shared wall and he wanted me to cut him a check for the repair and he would handle it. I was suspicious because my mother over heard a contractor on his property stating that the wall was damaged from him over watering his lawn. He and his mother kept insisting to the contractor that it was because of my palm tree, but the contractor stood firm on his assessment of over-watering. I explained to him that the roots of a palm tree are too thin to ever crack a wall, especially when the crack is over 7 feet from the tree. I agreed that the wall was damaged and explained to him that the wall was both our responsibility and we would both need to share the cost. I also told him that I would want to look at at least three estimates. He became furious and insisted that it was my tree that caused the problem and exclaimed, "You people owe me!". I told him that if he disagrees he can take me to court. He wanted to continue arguing with me and i walked away stated that we were not going to come to an agreement and this was a matter for the court. He followed me when i went back to work on my lawn and then stated that "I better watch myself.". I looked at him and asked him to repeat himself and he said, "You better watch yourself and your family because there is going to be some serious gang **** going on at your house". I immediately called the police and told them everything. They sent two officers to my home and the officers told me that I should ignore him. I explained that my wife and my mother were shaking because they were so scared and the police officers told me that I do not live in Redondo Beach anymore where everyone plays nice and I now live in San Pedro where there are many weirdos so i need to get used to it or move back to Redondo Beach. They then assured to me that the incident is on record and they refused to say anything to the neighbor. In fact, they basically acted as though i was over reacting to this threat.
Now I have this neighbor that comes out of his house and stares me down and tries to intimidate me. I suspect that he has come on to my property several times and unplugged my sprinkler system because it made his car wet, although i have never caught him doing this. More recently two of the sprinkler heads were damaged and the wires were all pulled out of the system rather than only the electrical plugs. He parks the car in the same spot in front of my house and gets upset if anyone else parks there. If another neighbor parks in what he believes to be his reserved spot he stands there for 5 minutes looking at their car. Most people know not to park there because they are afraid he will damage their car. He also seems to believe that I am some how obligated to ensure that his car stays clean since it is in front of my home. Two days ago I cut my lawn and accidentally got some grass on his car so he waited for me outside my door and stayed on the side walk and just looked at me breathing heavy and trying to look mean and intimidating. I asked him if I could help him. I knew that the reason he was angry was because I probably got grass or dirt on his car. I pretended as if I didn't understand what the issue was, which was probably a bad idea because it made him more angry and he was expecting an apology and a promise never to do it again. He was breathing very heavy and giving me the "Kubrick stare" so I asked him if he was feeling ok. He just continued on looking crazy and breathing heavy so i decided to ignore him and go about my business. He began following me when I stepped onto the public sidewalk. I live on a corner so he followed me all the way around my house and to my garage. He walked close enough behind me that I could feel his breath on my neck and while he walked he rapped a wooden stick against the sidewalk loudly as to intimidate me. I walked into my garage and asked him again if I could help him with anything and continued to pretend that I did not know why he was upset. He continued the heavy breathing and looked down at his feet, then looked at me, then walked over my property line and into my driveway. He would not say anything to me and just continued with the heavy breathing. Then he took another step closer to me and got right in my face. Then turned around and went back to his car and moved it.
I am really getting tired of this harassment so i called the police and told them it was my second call. The officer on the phone told me that there was never any incident reported and explained to me that the incident number the police gave me the first time was given to me just to shut me up. He then said that my neighbor knows how to stay in the gray area and harass me without getting in trouble with the police. He said that if I do not like my neighbor I should move. I explained that I own the house and i do not think it is right for my neighbor to scare my family into having a financial hardship and losing our home that we just purchased. He told me to try and get a restraining order. I asked him what he meant by "try" and he said that I would probably never get it until I had actual evidence that he hurt me or my family. This is crazy and i want to know what I can do and what kind of legal protection I have. The police to not want to help me but i must have some kind of legal protection. My wife and my mother are afraid to go outside and my wife does not want the kids to play in the yard anymore because of this seemingly psychopathic neighbor.