Should You Know Your Neighbor's Background Before Moving In?

INSIDE EDITION looks at some people who have problems with their neighbors.

Do you have the right to know your neighbor's background when you buy a new home?

That's the question one New Jersey woman is asking after moving into her house and finding herself living across the street from the man she calls “The neighbor from hell.”

INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander asked Sydney Phoenix, "You are fearful of leaving your home?"

Phoenix said, "I am fearful of leaving my house everyday, but, I have to."

When Phoenix and her family closed on their house in late October, they thought they found the perfect home in a picturesque neighborhood just outside Atlantic City. But, she says she soon realized she moved across the street from the neighbor from hell.

We've seen it before, allegedly out of control neighbors whose behavior seems to be problematic.

One guy in suburban Maryland threw a bag of dog poop on his neighbor’s porch.  Jim and Alyssa Essig were stunned when they viewed tape from a surveillance camera to see what their neighbor had done.
 
One neighbor was caught on tape dancing in the driveway of her Minnesota home and making life miserable for her neighbors she was feuding with for five long years. A judge ordered her to sell her house and move.

Another incident was when a neighbor in Cartersville, Georgia allegedly burned down his neighbor’s house because the lawn had grown too long. He has pled not guilty.

Regarding the latest case in Mays Landing, New Jersey, Phoenix has now filed a lawsuit—not against the neighbor, but against the company that built her house. She alleges that they knew the neighbor was difficult, but never told her.

She said, “I definitely feel I should have been warned about this neighbor."

Her feud with the neighbor started when she says he refused to move his cars parked in front of her house. It's escalated from there.   

Real estate expert Brian Lewis told INSIDE EDITION, “Neighbors are like a box of chocolates. Some are sweet and some are full of nuts and liquor.”

The lesson from Lewis is, if you're looking for a new house, before signing on the dotted line, check out the guy who lives next door.

The builders of the house would not comment because of the pending litigation.