Northern Ontario CTV News A Canadian couple has reportedly won more than $500,000 in damages after years of dealing with the “extreme” behavior of their next-door neighbors. Neither the identities of the plaintiffs nor the defendants have been made public.
According to the court’s ruling, the plaintiffs called police to their Sault Ste. Marie home at least 119 times between 2019 and 2023 for problems with the defendants. After years of trying to address the problems privately, the plaintiffs eventually sued their neighbors in 2022 for “multiple private nuisances, trespass, mental distress, out-of-pocket expenses and punitive damages.”
The neighbors quickly got on the married couple’s bad side after piling up trash, old bicycles and vehicles, and other debris on their lawn. They also had many overnight “guests,” who were actually squatters, according to the ruling. They also allowed animals, including dangerous dogs, to roam the property unattended at all hours of the day and night. At one point, as many as 20 people lived in the defendants’ home, “most of whom had no connection or relationship to the defendant beyond temporary room and board.”
The plaintiffs also believed that the defendants were engaged in “criminal activity” including “fighting, domestic violence, possession of stolen property, assault, battery, drug dealing and use, and discharging firearms.” These suspicions were all but confirmed one night when bullets rained down on the plaintiffs' home. “The bullets exited from two points near the defendant's garage and struck the chimney of the house on the plaintiff's property [sic]”This is confirmed by the police witnesses who testified and the records filed,” the court said.
It was also found that the neighbours “failed to prevent rats, dog droppings and debris from escaping from the defendant's property and entering the plaintiff's property”. [sic].
“Plaintiffs state that the conduct of the defendant and the defendant’s guests was continuous, uninterrupted and continuing for a period of at least five years,” the decision reads. “As a result, plaintiffs and the surrounding community suffered an immeasurable amount of disruption, distress and loss of use and enjoyment of their property.”
When the plaintiffs filed suit, they sought $250,000 each, for a total of $500,000, and an additional $200,000 — $250,000 each for “continued trespassing” and $150,000 in punitive damages. As a result, the court ordered the defendant to pay $210,000 each for “nuisance, trespassing, and mental distress” caused by the pair. They also won $100,000 in punitive damages and $50,000 in court fees, for a total of $570,000.
“If the provisions of this order are not sufficient to ensure that the defendant complies with the spirit and intent of this order,” the judge warned, “the plaintiffs are permitted to seek further instructions from the court by way of a petition served on the defendant.”