Sometimes a ghost just simply will not leave a person or place alone.  While some might enjoy the company or try to market a house as a “haunted house,” others just want the ghosts to leave them alone.  So what can you do? 

Filing A Harassment Claim

There are a few different options to stop a harassing ghost.  First, you should contact the police that you are being harassed by a ghost.  Make sure they take proper notes, they may even need to come out to the scene.  Generally, if the ghost continues to harass you and you are able to show that you are in some form of immediate danger of being harmed, you can file for a Temporary Restraining Order (also known as a TRO).  A TRO will prevent a person (or in this case a ghost) from harassing you.  If the ghost (or person) violates the TRO or comes onto your premises, you can call the police and have them arrested (this is how ghosts obtain so many chains to drag around). 

Could A Ghost Countersue If You Have A Haunted House?

You could be shocked to find out that a ghost could actually sue you for failing to pay the ghost for making your house a haunted house.  When someone performs services for you (such as fixing your stove, entertaining your children in a clown costume or, as in this case, haunting your house) you generally have to pay them for their services.  If there is no contract in place, a court will generally award the party who performed the services the fair market value of the services.  Here, the haunting of a house could be worth quite a bit.  The ghost could bring this claim in small claims so long as it is not for an amount that is over the state threshold (this varies greatly from state to state). 

The ghost could also sue for using its likeness in promotional material.  Whenever you put out an advertisement with a person’s image, you must obtain some type of consent from them.  Here, if you were to pass out fliers with the ghost’s image on it without its permission, the ghost could sue you for wrongfully using its likeness in the advertisements.  Depending on the extent of the advertisement, this could end up being quite a large fortune for the ghost.

*This is an incredibly hypothetical case.  It is not advisable that you call the police to report a ghost haunting unless you have no other way to alert someone about a ghost.  It is unclear whether a ghost can actually bring any type of suit against a living or dead individual.  Have a happy halloween!