Hello!
My family moved into a new rental at the beginning of July. Less than a week after moving in, a police officer knocked on our door to inform us that our neighbor called the police because she believed we were “cooking drugs” in our unit. The officer stated that he had dealt with this neighbor several times in the past and he knew we were not engaged in any drug use.
Things calmed down for a little, but the other day, my wife said simple “hello” to the neighbor, who was staring at us as we walked by. The neighbor scoffed and was immediately hostile. This morning, I spotted the neighbor taking photos of our cars. I asked her why she was taking pictures, and she said “you know why, you’re druggies.” I mentioned that we are not drug users, and that we have a young daughter and my wife is expecting, to which she responded “yes, and I’m going to call Child Protective Services because of that.”
To be clear, the hardest drugs we have in the house are my wife’s antacids for pregnancy-related heartburn or my half-caf coffee. We do not even drink, let alone do any drugs. My job requires a drug test and background checks, including one from child protective services.
I called the non-emergency line for our local PD and an officer responded. He told me they’ve interacted with this neighbor “dozens of times” and that she has some obvious mental health problems. He went to speak with her, but she somewhat quickly left her place out the back door, which I reported to the officer.
The officer advised us that, if this continues, to file harassment charges at the local magistrate.
I also reached out to our new landlord to ask if there were any incidents with this neighbor in the past. He said no, but that this was a new property they were managing. I provided him with the incident number and the responding officer’s email. He advised us to speak with a lawyer about this matter and would support us with the advice of counsel.
I am curious what we should do to prepare in this situation. We have never had issues with a neighbor before, especially for something that is completely unfounded. It feels like the local PD understands our situation, but I am still deeply uncertain living next to this person. I also do not want our new landlord to be suspicious of us because of what our mentally ill neighbor suspects.
What are recommend next steps from a legal perspective on this matter?
TLDR Likely mentally ill neighbor called the cops on us for unfounded drug use. Police have dealt with her multiple times and even suggested harassment charges. Landlord advised speaking with counsel.
Location: Pennsylvania
Comments
Sorry for all of this, it sounds miserable.
It’s pretty much like the officer told you. So far, nothing you have described is illegal. For example, she can stand on her property (or a public street or sidewalk) and take pictures of your car. If she comes onto your property you can have her trespassed.
If she keeps filing baseless complaints with the police, CPS, etc. at some point it becomes malicious and harassment and you can speak with local law enforcement.
In the meantime you could contact a lawyer. A strongly worded cease-and-desist letter might work. But if she’s totally nuts, who knows?
Sounds like you are going to be dealing with this for the duration. First stop interacting at all with the neighbor. You want to document every interaction with this neighbor. They have already threatened to call CPS on you and you do not yet have children.
Start what is called an FU binder. Document all unwanted contact. Create a log. Note down Date, Time, Location, Who was present, a Factual description of what occurred. Having a neat binder full of unwanted contacts, harassing or threatening behavior can be helpful to obtaining a restraining order or as supporting evidence if they get arrested for other crimes against you.
Save , screenshot, and document all online interaction, Texts, Messaging, Voicemail, Social Media Posts, email, videos. Save these in multiple places and back up to the cloud, you don’t want these lost if you loose your phone or it is stolen/broken. Same for any camera footage, back it up multiple places.
Some people will send a “Cease and Desist” letter stating they wish no contact and that visits to home will be responded to by a call to police and asking she be trespassed from the property. Send it certified mail. you can write it yourself and send it or pay a lawyer to do it for you. Keep copies of the letter and proof of delivery.
Call police every time they come to your door. Never open the door. Only tell them through the closed door they are unwanted, are trespassing and you are calling police. You want to have a police report for these unwanted visits. Over time the repeated unwanted behavior may rise to a level where you can obtain a restraining order.
Cameras to cover the outside of the home, front door approach and area, just inside the front door are a good idea. Have a dash camera in your vehicle that covers both front and rear views.
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