Ever sue a neighbor for harassment?

I'd trim the tree and move on. The people next door have a tree that grazes my garage, original owner died and the son refused to fix it. New owner trimmed it but by then there were already shingles missing. He's renting it now and I told the tenants to let him know we need it trimmed again before more damage occurs. I could go up and try it myself but I don't want to do any damage to his tree or our fence.

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I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want. Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave. Jareth, Labyrinth

I think people get confused about what suing actually is. When you sue someone you have to have damages. What damages do you have? You have health problems because of this? Have you been out any financial resources? He's just a pain in the butt right? Well that's hardly actionable.

I used to be a real estate agent.... and yes neighbors like this clown can indeed stop the sale of a property! Namely show up doing one of two things.... either telling the prospective buyer all sorts of horror stories about the property itself, or just be a total jerk to them personally. Nobody wants to buy a property next door to a wacko.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

Make him cut the limb. Sell that house as fast as you can. Your renters wouldn't stay next door to an impossible neighbor.

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I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

[QUOTE=lazyBum;7147216]I know i let him get to me. I can only ignore so much before the anger builds up. He doesn't like me. I moved away, he should be happy.

He is a miserable old jerk. After the harassing started i called the police for his trespassing. The officer said the guy has issues and not to talk to him.

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Stay away from this guy.
I am happy that my Aunt finally moved out of the small town in Missouri that she lived in for years. Next door to her there used to be an ornery old guy that lived in a shack of a house. There had been two of those ornery guys in that town but they got arguing in the bar and her neighbor went home. The next morning the second guy was just stepping onto the neighbor's property with a shot gun so the neighbor with a rifle put a round between his feet from an open window and told the guy the next one would be between his eyes. Guy 2 left. A week later the neighbor with his pickup "accidentally" drove right over guy 2 and killed him. No charges were filed for the "accident" even though guy 2 was on the sidewalk when he was killed.
BTW, The town cop and the local county cops are only there to make sure nobody bothers the crack houses so the cops still get paid.
Like I wrote above. Even though that neighbor finally died the cops and crack houses are still there.

Whether i could sue or not it's still harassment. I don't even know what i did to make him angry, originally. After the harassment started i just did what i wanted even if it made him mad. I already put up a fence on part of the property line. He didn't like that because people can see how little property he has with his giant house.

The last nice interaction i had with the neighbors is when they invited me over to smoke pot. I declined and told them i don't smoke. Maybe that offended them.

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How can I be lost, if I've got no where to go?

Question: Why don't you want to simplify your life, let go of the drama, sell the house, and move on to something...anything that will be more productive both financially and emotionally?

Im still working on the house. I just got the second bedroom finished last night. Next on the list is the bathroom.

And I'm stubborn.

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How can I be lost, if I've got no where to go?

Then that is your fault.

My neighbors make pancakes for my dogs and I whenever they come up for the weekend.

I've heard some real horror stories of nutty neighbors. One goof shot the husband and little boy on the dock and then went into their house and shot the little girl and the mother. Then he went home and shot himself. I think that was over a property line dispute.

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

Have you ever seen that TV show, "Neighbors from Hell"? Those horrible altercations can ALWAYS be avoided if 1 of the parties involved simply nuts up and shuts up.

Can you get to this guy? Maybe. Is it worth your sanity and possibly life? Probably not.

Not true. I've had my share of nut case neighbors. Some lunatics need no other reason than proximity.

And if you react to them you feed into them. You can hate them in private but antagonizing them isn't the way to calm a conflict. Just remove yourself emotionally and if possible, physically. They can't annoy you if you refuse to be annoyed.

Really? So all I have to do to not have problems with my nutcase neighbors is to remove myself from the situation. So where would I live?

It's one thing to antagonize a neighbor but there are those who go out of their way to irritate other people. You have no concept of a nutcase neighbor until you get cussed for being on their property when you walk out your back door onto your own property or have to listen to window rattling music at 3 am. (I still don't know how those people could hear anything) I had the sheriff dept on speed dial.

Well I do work for a criminal defense lawyer. I've seen some things come through here that were all pride and stupidity. Bet it felt good to tell that guy to F off until that guy whacked you in the head with a car axle and killed ya. That's the kind of thing I'd be avoiding with my neighbors. I tend to value my head and my freedom.

I can admit we have "red neck" neighbors, as we call them. They don't pen up their livestock and when I'm going over "suicide hill" and almost run into a cow in my tiny little KIA Rio I get a bit steamed. I suppose I could go up to them and tell them where to shove that cow, and llama, and goat and on and on. But what would it get me but a fued? So I call the Sheriff, report it and go on my way.

The moral of the story is - don't have any neighbors - even those who now have nice neighbors - that could change if they move and some nutcase moves in - live somewhere out in a rural area where your nearest neighbor is a mile away - buy enough land so that no one will build near you - I would much rather have land than a nice big house anytime - I drive past some of these developments where the houses are on top of one another - man I'd go nuts living there - you can't leave a good healthy ---- without having several neighbors know what you did -

There is an old Italian saying that goes something like...

Friends may come and go, but an enemy can be the joy of a lifetime.

Perhaps the OP would rather keep the battle going in the hopes of a "win" rather than extract himself from the situation ASAP. My psychology degree is from a box of Cracker Jacks, so maybe I'm wrong. Maybe.

I think my personality is different than yours, so I have a hard time understanding your line of thinking. I suggested ignoring him, a strategy I have employed with great success to my neighbors, and you say eventually the anger builds. However from what you've written, it appears the outcome of your anger is to do what the neighbor wants. I personally would do everything possible to antagonize this person. Not just to be mean mind you, it's called desensitization. A couple piles of construction debris, unkempt lawn, and any other aggravation you can think of, and he'll forget all about those tree limbs. You will never make this person happy, you may as we'll have fun sharing the misery.

crazyfarm, I think you've got me confused with someone else. The ones I had problems with moved in with an attitude. Thank God they weren't here very long.

I'm not sure why you think I'm confused? You responded that some neighbors are just bad and there is nothing to do to avoid it right? Well, do you want one of those bad neighbors to whack you in the head with a car axle and kill you? That's my point. Sure, they're nuts and you can think they're nuts and hate their guts but it's best not to antagonize the mentally unstable unless you don't like your head attached to your body.