Legal action I can take against a neighbour who’s been harassing my house hold?
I live in a co-op in Ontario and my household has been dealing with ongoing issues with a neighbour for quite a while now.
Over time she has repeatedly accused different members of my family of things without proof. She accused my aunt (who had stage 4 lung cancer before passing) of spying through her bedroom window. She has accused my mother of “watching her” anytime she is outside. She also accused my mother of stealing her patio furniture after my mother did a unit inspection in her role as a member of the co-op board.
Recently, there was another incident where she was yelling at my mother outside while I was also outside near our front door. I recorded the interaction for documentation purposes. The video only shows me and my mother standing at our own front door and does not show her child or anyone else.
I later showed the video to office/property management staff because of the ongoing harassment. After that, someone told the neighbour that a video existed. The neighbour then contacted police and accused me of filming her naked child, even though the video does not contain her child at all.
I believe property management improperly disclosed information about my complaint/video to another resident which escalated the situation.
I also have screenshots of Facebook comments from her publicly accusing neighbours and making comments about people “having a world of hurt coming their way” if she finds out who did something.
At this point I’m wondering:
-what type of lawyer I should speak to
-whether this could legally qualify as harassment
-whether the co-op/property management had any responsibility to keep my complaint confidential
-whether there are legal options if a neighbour repeatedly makes false accusations against your household
I have been documenting incidents and saving screenshots/videos. I’m mainly looking for advice on what area of law this falls under and what my next steps should be in Ontario.