Worth Contacting A Lawyer? Mentally Ill Neighbor With No Help From Condo Hoa Or Police

Hi all, thank you so much for taking time to read my post and offering any advice

Location: OHIO

this post is related to my elderly aunts condo. She has no children and my dad primarily helped her with any of her needs, but he passed away unexpectedly last year and I am now taking over to help her

She lives in a condo that involves 4 units that make a square. Her neighbor, whom she shares a driveway with, has exhibited increasingly problematic behavior over the past two years which I’m just recently being made aware of and am concerned for her safety.

It began with the neighbor becoming agitated and withdrawn, and the progressed to bizarre behaviors including having all the electricity removed from his home, not running any heat/AC, removing flooring from his home and replacing it with wood palettes, compiling trash in his lawn. The HOA seemingly caught wind of this and made him get electricity “reinstalled” but he still does not use it and only uses candles or his fireplace for light. There has been issues with rodents in his garage which has now impacted all of the adjacent units. After a few months he began sleeping in his car parked diagonally in the driveway with it running all night long, lights shining into her window. Eventually his behavior became more concerning, such as him holding signs on the curb of their unit saying “Jesus will rise soon” and him pacing on the sidewalk while praying or muttering to himself. He has been in and out of the hospital for what I suspect to be psychiatric admissions but he continues to be released home. She has contacted the police multiple times who are very familiar with him and his behavior. It appears the police are there at least 1-2x weekly.

Yesterday my aunt called me terrified, saying her neighbor was sitting outside of her bedroom window and staring inside. She sent me a photo and I immediately called the police. They gave me a hard time for calling and when they responded, they basically said there wasn’t much they could do because condos have “common grounds” and he’s mentally ill. They did walk him back to his condo.

My aunt is terrified. She has a ring doorbell camera but we are putting up additional cameras this week. He’s becoming more erratic and is now sleeping in his garage illuminated by flashlights and he has rummaged through things on her patio. Despite multiple emails detailing these events to the condo association/mgmt company over the past 2 years and calls to the police, nothing is being done. I also have called APS given the concern for his own safety, as he’s recently told neighbors he has no refrigerator or food in his home and looks increasingly disheveled.

The problem is that my aunt doesn’t really have financial means to move, and honestly even if she listed it I’m very sure that the sale would be hindered by the neighbors behavior.

I did find last night through searching court records that the condo association has filed a civil suit against him. There also was a restraining order that I believe was related to him sleeping in the community club house (he defecated all over the floor there and ate their bingo snacks) and assume it was just prohibiting him from entering the club house as he’s been allowed to remain in his unit. However, it looks like there’s been no progress in the case as they have been unable to serve him through mail or in person. The latest motion was that the judge gave it 1 more month for him to be served before he closed the case due to inactivity.

I’m just at a loss. I worry for my aunts safety and don’t know if it’s worth contacting an attorney as the condo association clearly is not withholding their end of bylaws by allowing this resident to continue to be disruptive and follow the regulations. I completely understand that he is mentally ill, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t pose a safety risk to himself and others. It’s shocking to me being in medicine that he has been deemed competent and the courts haven’t gotten involved and required him to have a guardian to ensure his safety.

I appreciate any advice - I am more than willing to help her pay for an attorney I just don’t know if there’s any benefit to doing so or what can be done legally.

Thanks again!