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Living next to difficult neighbors can make your own home feel like the last place you want to be.

That’s how this woman has felt ever since a new family moved into the apartment next door about a year ago.

At first, it seemed like they just didn’t like her, but things slowly kept getting worse.

Now she says one of the neighbors constantly stares at her and talks about her to other people. Yet, somehow manages to make herself look like the victim every time there’s a problem.

She’s tried reporting everything through the proper channels, but nothing seems to change. Instead, she feels like she’s the one getting blamed while the behavior keeps continuing.

Read on and let us know what you would do if this was your neighbor.

My neighbors are trying to make me look crazy

I live in a small block of flats/apartments owned and run by a housing association. I have been here for seven years (since the building opened).

Whilst I have had some issues with previous tenants, it has never been anything that has caused me this much anxiety and stress. It has usually been something major, like theft or dealing Class A drugs in a building full of young children and vulnerable people.

My new neighbors moved in about a year ago. I was not living here full-time at the time because my grandmother needed a lot of help. When I came back, my new neighbors took an instant dislike to me.

The problems are all stemming from the neighbor’s mother.

There are three people in one flat: the legal tenant, her son, and the tenant’s mother, who has her own home down the road but lives here full-time without informing anyone.

I have informed all of the relevant authorities about this and have been told time and time again that there is nothing they can do.

Anyway, it is the tenant’s mother (I’ll call her Julie) who is causing a lot of upset. She’s annoyed other neighbors too. She’s had her car egged, and people have stood outside the front door (we share a hallway) screaming at her because of her antics.

Even more shocking, the woman’s friends engage in the same behavior.

She’s very manipulative and tries to get everyone wrapped around her finger. I assume she took a dislike to me because I wouldn’t do that. I like to keep myself to myself. I’ll say hi in passing, but I very, very rarely talk to my neighbors.

So she’s taken it upon herself to stare at me whenever she can. She’ll stand in her window and stare at me when I’m going to or coming from my car. She’ll stare at me if she’s at her car (which she is 90% of the day) and I’m leaving the building. She’ll whisper things to her daughter or friends about me, but never loudly enough for me to catch exactly what she’s saying.

She has manipulated her friends so much that any time my partner and I ask, “Why are you staring?” if there is another person with her, they will attempt to attack us.

Unfortunately, no one will help.

We have informed the police and the housing association about all of this. However, she always gets there first, which has led to community safety now being involved with her as the victim.

She went quiet and left us alone for almost a week, and it was so peaceful. But she’s started the staring again, and I honestly feel so exhausted by all of this and by trying to get my side heard, only to be made out to be crazy or the perpetrator.

I try to ignore her, but she often sees that as encouragement to try harder, so she’ll start escalating things. I honestly feel like I’m at the point where, if I can’t beat them, I’ll join them and just start staring back at her. Any advice?

Yikes! It doesn’t seem like she has many options left.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit think she should do.

This is actually a great question.

These are also good questions.

It sounds like she has.

Or make it worse.

Living next to someone like this would wear just about anybody down. Home is supposed to be the one place where you can relax, and she clearly doesn’t have that right now.

At the same time, she can’t let this neighbor pull her into acting the same way. That’s probably exactly what she’s hoping for.

The best thing she can do is keep documenting everything and let the facts speak for themselves.  And while it may not feel very satisfying in the short-term, it’s still the smartest way to handle someone who seems determined to create drama.

Hopefully, the housing association or police eventually start seeing the full picture. Until then, she should protect her own peace as much as she possibly can.