We live in springfield, il. in a nice and usually quiet neighborhood. we have had some problems with our neighbors next to us being really just unsavory.we have tried every means from attempting to contact the land owner to law enforcement/public officials to no avail to get rid of them. they have to be breaking some health violation somewhere in a trailer that is unfit for human living due to no utilites along with other things i wont mention about their filthy living conditions. We are constantly being harrassed by them everytime we even open our doors to leave our home, they constantly beg and bother us for a variety if things. the police cannot do anything about it and the health dept and EPA cant either. We arent the only ones in our neighborhood who has filed compliants to everyone known to man about them.We suspect on more than one occasion they have broken into our garage and taken a variety of things, police also wouldnt do anything about it so we bought security cameras. my 8 yr old son cant even go play in his own yard, as a homeowner i thought it was my right to have peace. Is there any way to free us all from this neighborhood menace short of media exposure or a legal battle?

thanks for the input in advance!

I can understand your frustration, but really you probably will need to take legal action. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.

Unless there are children in the picture, the no utilities thing is likely going to be a non-issue for officials. There is no law saying people MUST have electric, running water, etc. (different if children are involved, as they would typically be told to either provide sanitary water and sewer or else the children would likely be removed from the home). If children are involved, contact Child Services in your area, but be aware that even that step cannot FORCE them to acquire utilities. The conditions inside their residence, unless there is trash and rotting food or excrement piled to the ceiling (often an indication of mental illnses), are up to them. If mental illness is suspected, adult protective services might do an evaluation, but overall, people are typically free to live like pigs inside their homes if they so choose. Outside issues (trash, junked property, etc.) would best be addressed by the code enforcement office at the county level. They can threaten them with penalties unless they fix any noted violations, but isn't likely to see any real improvement for months or longer (if they don't comply, it turns into a legal process of the county against the landowner, and those are never quick).

If they are coming onto your property, you can ask police to issue a trespass warning so that if they return, arrest is possible. Short of that or if police are uncooperative, you might consider filing for a restraining order. If you get such an order, and local police are reluctant to act (remember, they've got to PROVE a violation took place), you can always turn to your local sheriff's office, since deputies are literally deputies of the court and they are legally charged with enforcing orders from a court, whereas city police CAN enforce, so there's a difference in the types and levels of response between the two sometimes.

Suspicion isn't enough for police to act on. Hopefully the video cameras will help to provide documentation that items are actually being taken and who is doing the taking. If you've got anything "takable", document it before hand, including taking photos of your items and putting info like the date purchased and serial numbers on the back, staple receipts to the photos, and whenever possible, get one of those cheap engraving pencils and put your social security number or driver's license number on anything that isn't nailed down. Being able to prove that an item in their possession is yours is going to be the crux of any criminal charge against them, so the more you "prep" ahead of time, the higher liklihood police will come across something they can act on.

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