Having neighbors is a mixed blessing in many ways. Despite the need to love and work with them, everyone occasionally wants their privacy respected. While brick or wooden walls, or even fences, can probably assist with that, there may still be irritating neighbors that need a reminder on boundaries. Is there a way to stop such people from peeking over my fence?
It is possible to stop your neighbor from peering over your fence by either installing additional fencing, confronting them, contacting the legal authorities, or filing a lawsuit against them. You can also have other impacted persons sign a petition compelling the annoying neighbor to leave.
Living in urban development with neighboring house blocks separated by cedar fences slightly close to 6 inches thick, taught me the real meaning of privacy invasion. So stay tuned for more on my resolutions against such nosy neighbors.
How Do I Deal with My Neighbor Peeking over the Fence?
The inner peace and hope that comes with living in a civilized society where every adult is a literate person give hope for the future. In this way, everyone feels free to carry on with his or her responsibilities without any concern for security risks. However, stumbling upon or finding out about people invading your privacy is certainly a frightening experience. If you’re wondering why the person did something like that, here are a few things you can do to handle the situation.
- Act like You Don’t Care
Having assessed the situation and ensuring someone is indeed peeking over the fence, it is important to find out the reason for their actions. As such, you’ll need to pretend you haven’t noticed the act just to get an idea of how long it’s lasted.
From your pretentiousness that you are careless, you can determine what days and times your neighbor peeks over. Thus, any patterns in their actions would alert you that something going on in your life is triggering their motive, whether it is your visitors periodically visiting the house, or your children playing in the backyard. By doing this, you can get them to go away because then they won’t have anything to look at anymore.
- Talk to the Neighbor
You might want to befriend the neighbor regardless of how much you feel violated because; people tend to be nosy when seeking attention or when they are idle. So should you notice traces of loneliness in the person, it could be a green light of someone in desperate need of connecting with others.
If the neighbor does not seem interested in talking to you, there may be more than you realize, so it would be best to ask them to stop intruding, confront them, and catch them in the act. Flashing lights at them during the night will irritate them and make them leave.
- Block Their View
When you identify the exact spot where your neighbor is peeking through the fence, you can create seclusion using wood slats or a flower wall in conjunction with your current fence to block their view completely.
- Tighten up Your Security
If you travel constantly due to work, you may wish to use this method as your neighbors may be lurking around waiting for the perfect moment to steal from you. Locking the doors, installing security systems, and getting a guard dog can somehow help scare the neighbors away.
Additionally, you might want to stage noises with your family whenever you notice this person. For instance, enforcing family codes that would require everyone to assemble in one area at the same time would scare them off.
- Consider Involving the Authorities
Using a restraining order or contacting the local police may be the best course of action if your neighbor refuses to leave you alone, following your confrontation with them. Any time you feel insecure because of your neighbor’s actions, the law legally permits you to contact the police.
What Can I Do or Not Do When Stopping My Nosy Neighbor?
Should you notice your neighbor does not intend to stop his/her behavior, you can either try one of the following ideas.
- File a Nuisance Lawsuit
In most nations, snooping, which is considered spying, is considered an offense by law. Consequently, it is illegal to spy on anyone no matter how one does it. The laws further define nuisance as an unreasonable interference with a person’s enjoyment of their property. Thus, you can contact an attorney who will help you file a private nuisance lawsuit, and further seek compensation and an injunction against the neighbor.
- Petition Them to Leave
It is likely that if a neighbor is a nuisance to you even after confronting them over their actions, they may also be a nuisance to other neighbors. It is therefore possible to inquire as to whether your neighbors sought police assistance or filed a lawsuit.
With the help of your neighbors who may want the peeking ones removed, you could pile up police reports and circulate a petition that everyone is encouraged to sign. The signatures of the neighbors are enough to compel them to move. Nevertheless, this may not work in some countries, but should this method fail, you can always file a lawsuit.
What Can I Not Do About My Peeking Neighbor?
The peeking neighbors can become quite irritating and despite your efforts to stop them, they may have reached the point of really irritating you. Given the discomfort and anger that such actions cause, you may be tempted to take the law into your hands. However, that would be an offense.
After you have notified the authorities of your experience, it is up to them to decide what to do. What you can do from your side is to follow the progress of the complaint and lawsuit against your neighbor. Whether you were offended or not, you cannot:
- Inflict injury or pain on the neighbor in either way directly or indirectly.
- Destroy their property
- Threaten to kill them.