It’s a long story about a year of hell, I may post that story another time after I’m able to find a new place (not a lot of rentals in our area, we are looking). I just don’t want him to somehow find this and escalate stuff even more. We have literally done nothing to him despite all these attacks. I know some people are going to say we should just be more quiet or something. We have soundproofed our place. We’ve tested the noise even. Most of his false reports occurred when we have been provably not in the unit (out of the country, prefecture, etc).
Long story short, my neighbor has been on a severe harassment campaign against us for almost a year. He has made numerous false reports to the police and child services about us. Everytime they come out they apologize to us and agree he’s just a psycho. We also strongly believe he has keyed our vehicles. The cars now have cameras after that. My building’s management company has had issues with him before us because he’s a hoarder and would like leave bags of trash and belongings in the fire exit etc.
A bad incident with him making a provably false report to the police about us happened last week and the manager informed my husband they would be moving to evict him this coming week.
How long does such a process take and what can we expect? We are unfortunately very aware that he will almost certainly escalate. The police have not been very helpful. Despite telling us we should move (as if we can just do that tomorrow) because he is likely to resort to violence given the history, they’ve told me I cannot get any kind of restraining order or even make a police report to say “an unknown person has been harassing us for almost a year”.
If you have any other safety suggestions in the meantime it would be appreciated.
10 comments
You should follow the police advice
You could mention to the police that you’d rather avoid a similar incident with a deranged neighbour as to what happened last Christmas day:
> https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/14815543
>The police have not been very helpful. Despite telling us we should move (as if we can just do that tomorrow) because he is likely to resort to violence given the history
I know some people here seem to be knowledgeable about labor laws but does anyone know if this would fall under harassment? The police telling someone to move instead of doing something is really extreme.
Damn, wish you all the best.
I really really dislike how in many cases the police take the easiest option and instead of dealing with the person causing the issue, they go to the victim and tell them to leave because it’s the ‘easier’ thing to do.
I was out in Tokyo last year and there was this dude randomly picking fights with people with the police a few feet away. It would escalate a bit, the police would come and then they’d tell the people being attacked to just leave the area. It continued a few times.
Just last week a friend of mine was being harassed by his ex/stalker. She climbed in through his balcony and started banging on his windows. He called the police and they took her away (after confirming my friend hadn’t beaten her up, of course). They called him at like 3am that night asking him to stay at a hotel for the next few days because she told them she was going to go back to his house the next night….
/end rant
If someone tells me to move I tell them is so nice for them pay for it and when can they get their stuff out of their house?
It’s costs me like 1/4 a years salary to move.
If it was me I would be patient with the eviction case first. Take precautions with your family like not letting the kids out without someone. Keep your distance when he is near and get ready to record a violent incident and call the police emergency number, thats not illegal. Wont look too good in the media if a father or mother get arrested / fined for protecting their own and minding their business.
Get ready to put yourself in between fukwit and the family if you have to. If the management company still hasnt done shit, get ready to go into their head office with your whole family and sit there until you can talk firmly with a higher up and demand an answer, a lawyer wouldent cost as much as moving too so thats an option as well.
That being said. Easy way out is to follow the police advice and leave if you prefer. My guess is this guy, being a horder is probably too much of a pussy to cause a real issue anyway.
Get a camera in front of your door too.
I would follow the police’s advice on moving out. The building’s manager can evict him, but he knows where you live and can always come back regardless of restraining order. Also, maybe you could consult with a bigger police unit. Prepare written down history of all incidents of harassment to persuade them that this is not a light 入居者トラブル. Be very persistent.
I read, probably on this sun, that you need to speak with an actual detective, not just a regular low-level cop. If you haven’t done that already, might try that.
You didn’t mention kids , if you don’t have kids you can wait for the eviction, but if you do have kids , for the safety of my kids I would run away from that guy. (I can defend myself if something happens but a kid wouldn’t be able to) .
All the best and do the best for you but I assume you have made the call of staying and wait for the eviction of the guy .
Super slow if you’re waiting on police through court enforced order to finally evict him. You’d have better luck finding a new place