Obsessed neighbor won't stop contacting me

I live in an apartment, and for a number of years everyone got along well. Then, in the spring, a new woman moved in across the hall from me. She is probably 50 - not old enough to blame her bad behavior on senility - and seems to be home all day every day.

She is obsessed with contacting me. When she first moved in she would stare at us out the windows every time we would come or go. Since then she has accused us of locking her out of the building (it locks automatically...it's the exterior door of an apartment building), forcing our dog to pee on her grill cover, slamming the doors, etc. Usually she will listen for our door to open and then open hers to catch us with some of this nonsense.

When she doesn't catch us, she leaves gifts. She'll put oil all over our doormat or just throw it into the front yard and rub mud/her dog's poop into it. Sometimes she'll throw soap all over my door. Sometimes it's a note full of profanity about how she'll have us fined for one thing or another.

My favorite, though, is the mail. She likes to send me newspaper clippings for mental health study participants or drawings of me as a pig. The last one said "Let's hear you squeal!"

I don't know what I can do! My landlord says she is just confused and doesn't know what she can do about it. Can I get some kind of police order so she leaves me alone? I don't think "let's hear you squeal" counts as a specific threat...does it?

I would love it if her lease didn't get renewed but that's up to my landlord. I want to be left alone, at least.

Hello there. What you have described constitutes harassment. The exact procedure would be governed by the laws of your jurisdiction, but yes you certainly do have solid grounds to seek relief here. I would suggest you contact your local law enforcement authorities for assistance in securing a restraining order (sometimes called a protective order, no contact order, etc.). If you need legal assistance, WLD has attorneys all over and you could visit their main page to request a referral. Hope all works out for you. AJ

Your landlord is wrong about the woman being "confused". It's apparent that she suffers from a serious mental disorder.

You need to file a restraining order against this woman. Some States call it a Protection From Harassment order. Once the order is in place, if she pulls anymore stunts (I'd buy a camcorder and start recording her antics), she can be arrested. Perhaps once in jail she will be properly evaluated and she may finally be ordered to start receiving psychiatric care. Being arrested just might get her the help she so desperately needs.