I will try to be as detailed as possible.

I live in Colorado with my husband and child. We are military and recently moved here because of a mandatory move.

We moved into a rental property in a seemingly nice neighborhood with great neighbors and amenities. Well, about a week after we'd been here, a bounty hunter showed up at the door looking for the former tenant. My husband let the gentleman know that the former tenant no longer lived there, and asked what he was involved in (just so we'd know). Apparently the man was on some sort of drugs. My husband gave him our landlord's business card and mentioned that he may want to contact him in the event he'd be willing to give him his forwarding information.

Fast forward a week and a half later. The police now show up, ringing the bell at 7am. My husband answered and told them the same story: that the man didn't live there and he didn't know him.

Last night at 11pm, someone rang our doorbell repeatedly and rapidly. I was immediately afraid. Our family members are all over the country, we also have loved ones in the military, and someone in a panicked state at one's door is never a good thing. My husband answered the door. Lo and behold, it was the police again asking for the man. My husband reiterated that the man no longer lives here, and they asked my husband his name. He told them, they said, "Sorry to bother you", and they left.

Honestly, I am fed up. I have been an insomniac all my life, so it goes without saying that I did not go back to sleep last night. I didn't mind at first, but now I feel as though the police are harassing us. We are honest citizens who just happened to move into a home where someone unsavory lived, and we don't feel we should continue to be inconvenienced because the police have no other leads. Is this behavior illegal? What can we do?

1. A bounty hunter does not work for the police and has no connection to the police. So he does not count in this.
He works for a bail bondsmen. This means that the man was out on bail and has not showed up for his court.

2. The police coming to the door means there is a warrant for his arrest also, this could be for not appearing in court, or for a new crime, we do not know that.

3. The police have come twice to your door. And appear to have been polite when they came, this is not harassment at any level.

Note. Did you get the name of the bail bond agency where the bounty hunter ( actually they are not bounty hunters but are bail enforcement agents) work. You may want to contact that bail bondsment and perhaps even send a copy of your new lease to show them the other person has moved.

Your address is most likely shown as the last known address of this wanted man, so honestly I would actually expect a couple more visits just double checking by the police.

I am surprised the "bounty hunter" or even the police did not ask to look around in the home,

But as noted, no this is not harassment, it is proper police procedure.

I would go to the Police Station, speak to the Chief of Police, show your rental documents to prove you are not the former tenant, explain that the visits are frazzling your nerves and ask what you can do at this point. I don't know if he can call off the bondsman's people but he CAN call off the Police. The next time the bondsman's people show up you give them the Police Commissioner's card and ask them to call him.

- very similar thing happened to my sister. They weren't looking for anyone in her family, and this is how she stopped the visits from the Police, the bondsman's people, anyone else.

Update: I called the police (the non-emergency number, of course) and explained my story. The woman on the phone was very polite, attentive, and understanding. She was upset about them coming at 11pm and even asked me if I was sure what time they came to make sure. Then she put me on hold.

When she came back on the line, she explained that the reason the police kept coming it because there was an active warrant for the individual tied to our address; she verified that they'd tried to serve the warrant on him at our home unsuccessfully so she removed the warrant. I was very glad, but only time will tell if it holds true.

Fr_Chuck, ringing someone's bell as one is soaked in gasoline and being chased with a lighter is by no means polite. There is a child in my home. Also, if the bounty hunter had asked to look around my home he would have been told "No". If the police had asked (and had only an arrest warrant and not a search warrant), they would have been told "No" as well. I appreciate the police and what they do, but I am tired of this. My daughter is a teenager but she was terrified and somehow is under the impression that the police are going to "remove" us from our home. I'm sick of it.