Thanks Gurney. That, and that there has been some lying, are things that have been leaning me against the idea. The lying, however, only occurs in writing, and not in face to face discussions - though he does not like these, and becomes uneasy.

But, on the other hand:
He seems to be keen to stick to regulations which are in his favour, and to interpret regulations as being in his favour while ignoring alternatives. I get the lease waved at me for his "rights".

He is unusually sensitive to unexpected noise. This is the root of our dispute, and I compare the way he deals with my using my floor with the way the previous occupants and I were able to deal with the issue.

He responds to things not fitting with his scenario with sudden and poorly controlled anger.

(This one is the one which made me think this way) - He issued me with an order to carry out work in 60 days or he would call the Environmental Health Officer. After speaking to the EHO, I advised him to do so on day 2. And on several subsequent days. He did not call the EHO, but waited until the expiry of the 60 days to write. It would not appear to be in his interest to have waited, but he stuck to his plan. This has not been the only example of what looks like perseveration.

He has poor eye contact. This has been noticed by other people who do not have a background which would alert them to this as an indicator of anything other than "being shifty".

He is unusually attached to his status and qualifications, becoming angry if he thinks these are not being shown appropriate respect. (I did not know about this one, as a primary school teacher, and was very surprised to come across it in one list, after the behaviour had been noticed.)

I think your idea about the partner may well be true. One of the things I have noticed is that he can "shrink" or be diminished physically - this is really weird to see. He will do it if he has not done something he told the company he would do. The worst case though did not cncern this sort of thing at all. He had parked his car opposite my garage while he worked on it. This was regular, being by his door, but I was monitoring it as it was also part of the harassment, denying me access to my car without asking first, so I saw what happened. On this occasion, he got the car ready for passengers, and then his partner came out of the house with some friends. The three women were expansive and giggly, on a girls' night out. And he shrank visibly. None of them spoke to him, and his body language looked like that of a poorly paid chauffeur - not role playing, I should emphasise, as he did not look happy.

It is because of thinking that his partnership is a problem - and there is other evidence of this - that I would like to deal with him more effectively. I do, on occasions, think he is a poor sod.

As the last three days of my father's life were spent dealing with the guy, and not being with my Dad, it is not often I feel that. (To be fair, no-one knew that death was near.)

Penny