Mods, please move to chat if needed. I posted here for hopefully more sound discussion.
Looking for some advice on how to handle an issue I'm dealing with. My wife and I recently purchased about 13 acres that adjoins our land from a neighbor. Said neighbor has an adult daughter, mid 30's that suffers from bi-polar disorder. A portion of this property has a creek that the daughter is apparently very attached to. While we were under contract, the daughter went around removing all the survey flagging, posing for one of my trail cameras in a threatening manner with the stakes and flagging. We decided to withdraw from the contract and after a few weeks of begging and reassurance from the landowner, which are in writing, we decided to proceed with the purchase.
In a nutshell, she is refusing to accept that her family no longer owns the property and she spends hours each day on a sandbar digging for gems, rocks whatever. She also carries around a machete and has hacked up numerous trees, building fires etc. We knew this before we bought the property but were assured that once we owned it, all this behavior would stop and we were adamant that it would have to. It was one of the reasons we wanted the property as quite honestly, we didn't want her near our house. We closed on the property a couple weeks ago. It was obviously a sizeable investment on our part for our privacy. Sunday I received a text from the landowner saying her daughter had gone back to my creek but to please leave her alone and it would be the last time, she promised. Trying to be a good neighbor, we complied. Tuesday, I came home from work and saw her vehicle on our property and located her in the creek. I observed from a distance and decided to call her Mother. They came back to get her, had an argument with her and she left the property in a tantrum, screaming etc. I found where she had repaired a section of my fence I had lowered to access the new property we had purchased as well as hacked down about 10 saplings about chest high. I picture her doing this in a rage and as a warning to us to stay off "her" property. Wednesday I came home from work to find her vehicle once again parked on our property. I was unable to locate her, and wanted to find her before calling the sheriffs office to remove her. I really don't want want to involve law enforcement, as her parents are good people and we are neighbors after all. However, I am at my wits end trying to be the nice guy here. Her mother told me afterwards I would just have to call the sheriff next time. She is technically entering my property through her mothers property. Shouldn't she have some legal obligation to take actions to prevent that?
I'm looking for what my options are from a legal standpoint as well as general advice. I do not have alot of experience dealing with someone with a mental disorder, and honestly am more than a little concerned about retaliation from the bipolar daughter. I am trying to prepare myself to deal with this in the event she reacts violently. Honestly, I could see her trying to inflict harm on my family either through direct violence or some other action. After seeing how she has reacted in the past, I wouldn't be surprised if she reacted violently if I confronted her. I do not condone violence and always try to be the peacemaker, but I am reaching a tipping point in all of this.
Thoughts?
Looking for some advice on how to handle an issue I'm dealing with. My wife and I recently purchased about 13 acres that adjoins our land from a neighbor. Said neighbor has an adult daughter, mid 30's that suffers from bi-polar disorder. A portion of this property has a creek that the daughter is apparently very attached to. While we were under contract, the daughter went around removing all the survey flagging, posing for one of my trail cameras in a threatening manner with the stakes and flagging. We decided to withdraw from the contract and after a few weeks of begging and reassurance from the landowner, which are in writing, we decided to proceed with the purchase.
In a nutshell, she is refusing to accept that her family no longer owns the property and she spends hours each day on a sandbar digging for gems, rocks whatever. She also carries around a machete and has hacked up numerous trees, building fires etc. We knew this before we bought the property but were assured that once we owned it, all this behavior would stop and we were adamant that it would have to. It was one of the reasons we wanted the property as quite honestly, we didn't want her near our house. We closed on the property a couple weeks ago. It was obviously a sizeable investment on our part for our privacy. Sunday I received a text from the landowner saying her daughter had gone back to my creek but to please leave her alone and it would be the last time, she promised. Trying to be a good neighbor, we complied. Tuesday, I came home from work and saw her vehicle on our property and located her in the creek. I observed from a distance and decided to call her Mother. They came back to get her, had an argument with her and she left the property in a tantrum, screaming etc. I found where she had repaired a section of my fence I had lowered to access the new property we had purchased as well as hacked down about 10 saplings about chest high. I picture her doing this in a rage and as a warning to us to stay off "her" property. Wednesday I came home from work to find her vehicle once again parked on our property. I was unable to locate her, and wanted to find her before calling the sheriffs office to remove her. I really don't want want to involve law enforcement, as her parents are good people and we are neighbors after all. However, I am at my wits end trying to be the nice guy here. Her mother told me afterwards I would just have to call the sheriff next time. She is technically entering my property through her mothers property. Shouldn't she have some legal obligation to take actions to prevent that?
I'm looking for what my options are from a legal standpoint as well as general advice. I do not have alot of experience dealing with someone with a mental disorder, and honestly am more than a little concerned about retaliation from the bipolar daughter. I am trying to prepare myself to deal with this in the event she reacts violently. Honestly, I could see her trying to inflict harm on my family either through direct violence or some other action. After seeing how she has reacted in the past, I wouldn't be surprised if she reacted violently if I confronted her. I do not condone violence and always try to be the peacemaker, but I am reaching a tipping point in all of this.
Thoughts?
