Neighbors target new homeowners

Dear Amy: My wife and I recently purchased our first home. The previous residents were an elderly couple who passed away.

When we bought the house we did not know that the couple’s daughter and her husband and two teenage daughters were our neighbors across the street. (Another neighbor told us this.)

We had never seen them outside, and they never introduced themselves.

We made a lot of exterior changes to the house, as it was pretty old and dated. We painted, put in new windows and doors and landscaped.

As we started making changes, we noticed the daughter and her family taking notice. We’d see them standing outside looking at our house, or looking out their windows. I’d wave to them, and they’d never wave back.

A few months ago, we got an anonymous note in our mailbox, saying that the changes were “ugly,” “too modern” and that it looked “cheap.”

My wife was offended. We both assumed it was authored by the daughter or someone else in her family, but decided to ignore it.

Now we’re the victims of more petty harassment. Someone keeps throwing eggs at our windows, our trash cans are almost always tipped over and it’s pretty common to have our mailbox filled with rocks or dirt.

I can’t prove that it’s anyone in this household, but I don’t think anyone else in the neighborhood would do this.

I want to go talk to them, but I don’t know what to say. What do you think? Nervous Neighbor

Dear Nervous: The following is quoted from the U.S. Postal Inspection website (https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/): “Mailboxes are considered federal property, and federal law (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705), makes it a crime to vandalize them (or to injure, deface or destroy any mail deposited in them). Violators can be fined up to $250,000, or imprisoned for up to three years, for each act of vandalism.”

From your account, this does not seem to be petty vandalism, but an escalating course of harassment.

You should install an outdoor security camera in order to try to record any vandalism. Take photos of any property damage, and keep notes.

Ask Amy,

P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. e-mail: askamy@tribune.com