Neighbour broke into my house

[tenredthings]

My neighbour and her son sold us their house. They never lived in it and it was practically a ruin. She built a new build on land next door and they sold us the old ruin. We invested loads of time , money and energy and completely rebuilt it and now rent it out.
Since then we have suffered low level harassment from her son. He reported us to the council for our washing line and painting the house a slightly different colour beige than before ! He then broke our rain water storage and cut a hose pipe.

I caught him approaching our house another time with a metal bar and I confronted him , he behaved very aggressively poking the bar in my face. I tried to keep calm and just asked him what his problem was at which point he ran off with his fingers in his ears , dancing up and down like a young kid and behaving very strangely. He's 45 and holds down a job !
I reported it to the police but nothing was done.

I went into the house today to water the plants and noticed that a window was open. This window has no handle as it's a door length window with a drop outside and not safe so I never put a handle on it. Someone has climbed up from the outside, brought a handle with them ( the bar of which they have left in the door ) and entered the house. They couldn't shut the window from the outside so left it open. Nothing looks disturbed but I won't know if anything is missing till the tenants return. I am contacting the police but I have no proof it is him , though I am convinced it is. I contacted my tenants who say they have never opened that window and I have a photo taken a few weeks ago where I can clearly see that at that time the window had no handle bar.

WIBU to post him the handle anonymously so that he knows I know , and then if it wasn't him he will just think its weird and not connect it to me ? Given that his behaviour has been a bit unhinged in the past is it best to not get involved with him on any level ? How can I make him back off when I have no definite proof.

[tenredthings]

I could write Multiple threads Shabby about living next door ( semi detached ) to psycho neighbour, son and dogs !
We have ( me and tenants) looked and found no hidden cameras. of course they will have access to and full information about any wildlife camera we put in place. The window now has a lock.
The police don't care. I'm not sure what to do about Neighbour's son. It's really creepy to think of him snooping about. I want to stop him but also avoid things escalating as he seems a bit unhinged and of course I have no proof, though we have photographic evidence that there was no handle in the window before I found it open with one in, so I am 99% sure it was him.

[tenredthings]

I could write Multiple threads Shabby about living next door ( semi detached ) to psycho neighbour, son and dogs !
We have ( me and tenants) looked and found no hidden cameras. If course they will have access to and full information about any wildlife camera we put in place .

[shabbyshibby]

OP I really want you to start a thread about the psychopathic previous tenant. Was it just him, his son & dogs?

[manicmij]

Would certainly go with Lipsticks idea about the hidden camera.. If the person does have MH issues it's the sort of thing he could do, spying on your tenants. CCtv and alarm would probably make tenants feel safer too. You and your tenants should definitely record anything involving the neighbour who then report to Police.

[bertielab]

CCTV with tenants having total say and access. Bolt window from inside. Any keys missing -change locks for £20 a lock?

[SirVixofVixHall]

Wildlife cameras are very clear we have one, it is great. I also wonder why he went in, could he have put in a spy camera somewhere ? He sounds creepy enough.

[SusieOwl4]

If the cctv is just covering the boundaries of the property I would not make it obvious because then he will probably just cover his face . Keep it subtle .

[Angiemum23]

Sound like this guy is jealous of the good job you did and misses ‘his’ houses.
Just be cautious though as neighbors can be totally bonkers. Fit cctv and do everything by the book.

[DisgraceToTheYChromosome]

It would be better if it were the tenants who installed the cameras, as this would mean the domestic exemption to the Data Protection Act applies. They would be the ones who review the footage, which also means you're not interfering with "quiet enjoyment". They could allow you to keep an eye while they're away as a favour. Otherwise, it's the whole dismal privacy circus: data control policy, GDPR, buggering up the terms of the lease.

[Saracen]

If you think CCTV is a good solution, but you hesitate to invade your tenants' privacy, how about if you pay for it but the tenants control it? If they order the system and are the only ones who have access to the footage, they would feel secure in the knowledge that you couldn't use it to spy on them.

Just ask them to inform you of any incidents involving the deranged neighbour. I'm sure the tenants would share any relevant footage with you and/or the police. I should think they are at least as freaked out by his behaviour as you are and will be eager to put a stop to it. It's their home with which he's obsessed, after all!

[Tistheseason17]

We use Netatmo Presence. App on the mobile means I can watch anytime anywhere. Awesome. Caught a few kiddies skulking around and they were put off by the blinding light recording them.

And get an alarm .

[CSIblonde]

I'd also get window locks and a chain for the door for tenants safety.

[CSIblonde]

Amazon: £5 Fake CC TV camera: round white edge, domed, black 'camera' middle. Battery powered red dot 'camera light'. Then £1.50 'cctv in operation' window stickers. Camera looks identical to next doors £200 one.

Log with photo, date & time any incidents. Blinds/net on windows for privacy so he can't tell if anyone in.

[ToadOfSadness]

Ring is not as reliable as you might like, there is a time delay which can be long enough for a person to vanish from view. Support for this is not great.

It is reliant on good internet speed but for some reason although we have the best broadband available Ring was not great. Do read reviews thoroughly if you consider it, I read them after we had returned it for a refund. Perhaps we had a dodgy one (twice).

I now have a wildlife camera which is in the process of being set up and it is a lot cheaper.

[DesignStatement]

What you describe as 'low level harassment' is not 'low level'. It's criminal damage, and if you had proof of it you should have reported it.
Do you really mean there is a 'psychopathic tenant'?
If so, you need to get the police to act.

[Tippytappytoes]

NotAs

Maybe the tenants asked her to water their plants because they are away?

[screenscream]

The 'low level aggression' from the people who sold you the place might come from the fact that they realise they could have done the place up themselves and got tenants like you have or better money for it. Some people can get very pissed off at others' success. They are not going to wise up and play nice any time soon I'm afraid.

CCTV recordings with evidence and a warning from the police is your better bet.

[NotAsGreenAsCabbageLooking]

Definitely get a bit more security. Your tenants deserve a secure home.

I’m a little confused why you are letting yourself into your tenants home while they are away and refer to the wildlife as digging up ‘your’ bulbs though..

[Bellyscreen]

Have you considered the possibility that the tenants are lying? That they’ve done it but not wanted to own up in case you were annoyed - you do seem to be quite ‘hands on’ about the property. It’s just that sometimes the simplest answer is more likely. Is there any reason they’d want a handle on?

[Saffy60]

Night pics, this is interesting as there was a web over the lens!

[Saffy60]

They need to be fairly firm or they will move to the wrong angle. Yes you could chain to a tree, or you could angle another one to "cover" the one you need to see your window. Try to put them where they won't show too much, if there are leaves, branches directly in front you will get 3000 shots of them when the wind blows... It takes a few tries to get perfect. Good luck, let us know the results.

[tenredthings]

You are right sick mama , it's a terrible invasion of privacy. I will definitely talk to the tenants about it and It would be round the side passage where our land borders with neighbours which is not the main entry and is an area rarely used.

[tenredthings]

Thanks Saffy60, I like the idea of a secret hidden wildlife camera and I might discover whats been digging up my bulbs ! Do you think I could chain one to a tree just in case someone notices it and tries to steal it ?

[sickmumma]

We have installed Arlo cameras after our car was broken into on the driveway! We have three cameras that cover each side of the driveway and one on the garage which covers the back of the house and access down the drive! I think it came to just under £300 for the three cameras and base unit, when the camera senses movement it triggers the camera to record and it sends an alert to your mobile app. It's given us such peace of mind and even simple things such as seeing deliveries can all be seen through the app. The only worry I would have is who has access to the footage as a tenant myself I am not sure I would want my landlord being able to see us coming in/out the house etc, not that we are doing anything wrong but it's quite an invasion on privacy seeing the comings and goings of the house!

[Saffy60]

Day and night shots, day shots are clearer and are in colour, night shots are in black and white.