Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey

Re: Neighbor Harassment

There are two approaches that can be taken in my mind, one is legal and one is practical. On the legal side you can institute civil or criminal complaints against him. You have a right not have a nuisance and there are generally municipal ordinances which regulate these types of situations. Further, you can bring a lawsuit for maintaining a nusiance.

However, there is a potential cost to a civil suit and if he is found not guilty of a criminal infraction, then it will merely serve as an incentive to continue, as retirbution. Further, if he is nasty enough to simply do these things to bother you now, imagine what might be the course if you charge him with something.

A more practical approach may to let it go, and see if he tires of this. The less attention he gets on this, the more likely he will not repeat it. While I do not condone being bullied or allowing this, sometimes the saner approach is to ignore the behaviour. Ultimately you would still have other options available. No question that as long as you make it a big deal and talk to him about it, he will continue to do this. Really a sick response because the rational response to infringing on someone else's rights should be an examination of whether the other's rights can be accomodated reasonably without compromising your own. Here, it is just sort of selfish, childish and perhaps a bit reflective of a disassociative disorder. I would be careful about confronting someone who clearly goes out of his way to antagonize. You msut question as to whether it is worth it.

I would ignore it for a while and see if he goes away. It is not a legal solution, but it may be a practical one. However, if oyu are alarmed, or genuinely fear for your safety, call the police immediately