Couple Move Away from Home after 'Scare Campaign'

A couple from Ohio have accused the former owner of a home they bought at auction of driving them away through a campaign of scare tactics.

John and Jamie Petree purchased the house in the suburbs of Columbus for $125,000 after Andrew Zukowski lost it in a bank foreclosure because he could not keep up with the mortgage repayments.

They argue that Mr. Zukowski, 62, would not accept that the home was no longer his, photographed their visitors and also asked people to sign petitions to have the couple evicted.

Although they attempted to have charges of stalking brought against him, courts ruled that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial but that it was not necessary to have him committed to mental health facilities or monitored.

Mr. and Ms. Petree have now moved from the house into a rented home nearby after becoming exhausted by the alleged hate campaign.

"We're letting our house go because it's unsafe. It became challenging. We thought, 'He's not running us from our house,' but over last summer, I just got mentally tired," Mr. Petree said.

Anyone involved in a property dispute is advised to find a lawyer as the law can be complex and demand expertise in interpretation and implementation.