What would you do (loud/illegal neighbor)? Need advice.

S

stilez

New member
I need to open the discussion up for this situation that has been irking my girlfriend and I for a bit...





I live in an apartment with my girlfriend and pets. We are the middle unit, with one below, and one above. The previous tenants above had 2 dogs and 4 kids and we never heard them. They ended up buying a home and moved out, unfortunately.



Now, about 3 months ago, we got a noise complaint from the people under us. We ran the washer late at night and our cat had a "wacky" night and was running around and clawing at the carpet. We got the letter from the owner's of the apartment parent company. We apologized deeply to our neighbors below and resolved the situation civilly without a problem since.



Fast forward to three weeks ago, a family moves in. Husband and wife, 2 older kids (17 and 21) and one younger (10ish) and 2 dogs. From day 1, you would think they are having a wrestling match upstairs. They seem like friendly people when outside, but at the same time, very sketchy. Out of his garage, he is running an "under the table" tatoo parlor and on a couple occassions, I have caught him smoking pot with the garage open.



Going a bit further, I hear a lot of yelling and barking from the people and dogs. There are constant arguments as early as 6am and as late as 4:30am. The banging has gotten so bad that our light fixtures shake and you think that a body is going to come through the ceiling.



They have asked us once (2nd day moved in) if we could hear them...Liz and I said yes, nicely. We gave them a week grace period to move in and get situated. Last week, Liz and I were on vacation and came back on Sunday. Since then, non-stop noise.



Yesterday, we called and made an anonymous complaint to the apartment head office. I saw them drop off the letter later that day to the owners and they surely read it. Last night, it sounded like they were sawing and hammering until 3am. We had to be up at 6am. Not cool getting 3 hours of sleep when it could've been much more.



As per terms of our lease, three noise ordinances gets you evicted automatically.



Not that I want to get them kicked out, but for such an ill repsonse to a complaint in the same day has me worried for the future. Also, I don't appreciate explicit drug use in a connecting building. Lastly, after him showing me his tatoo setup, it is "rigged" to say the least. As I laid awake until almost 3am this morning, I began thinking, "What if it went up in flames? Should I feel in danger?"





Sorry for the long-winded text, but I wanted to be thorough. Any and all advice is appreciated.
 
Get another neighbor to call and complain. Call the cops if they are doing something illegal. No reason to protect them, or sidestep them. They sound disrespectful. From your description I'd make sure that my name wasn't on anything thats for sure. :D
 
don't feel bad about complaining (anonymous :) ), as things may just get worse. is it fair to you and the other tenants, no! who knows.... they may even be selling drugs (and illegal strange behavior associated with it) next, if they're not already. some people you just can't control no matter how politely you ask...
 
Across the street from me, we have the same problem - the people dont take care of the property or house, it is a mess....Anyways the kid (21 now) since age 17 has always been so loud, he goes outside to wash his car and blares the music to where I can hear it perfectly down in my basement. We have called the cops numerous times...as well as the other surrounding neighbors. Just the other day when I was leaving for work at mind you...8 in the morning he was once again outside with his music...I stood there for about 2 minutes just looking at what he was doing..he finally looked at me and I shook my head at him and got in my car...as I was pulling out of the driveway his mom came out and yelled at him to turn that **** down :laugh:



I say call the cops or talk to the apartment head office again saying it is unacceptable. Good luck to you.
 
What about his tattoo setup would be prone to catching on fire? Maybe I just don't understand what is in a tattoo parlor. Anyway, neighbors like that are bad news, my friend Jr. may chime in, but her neighbors always had creditors after them, and after they moved out, one collection agency started calling Jr. accusing her of BEING the neighbor and threatening her...she had to call the cops and report it (this agency was out of state, and maybe it was a coincidence, but after that they stopped calling).



I'm going to guess that he has customers for his tattoo "parlor", that it is illegal, that your lease agreement prohibits illegal activity...a tip to the local Detective Bureau or Health Dept. ought to get him popped for the parlor, any incidental illegal substances that are found, and evicted. Sooner rather than later...these things usually get worse rather than better...if he gets strapped for cash he may start looking around at other apartments for income...
 
Definitely call the police and contact the leasing office/management. You may have to call the cops more than once because officers handle noise complaints differently.
 
If it was a couple isolated events...thats apartment life. However, these people just sound flat out disrectful and it doesn't sound like you should expect improvement. There is no reason you should feel guilty or anything like that. Complain, call the cops, take all possible courses of action.
 
Hmm I would go ahead and advise you to call your local police. Call in and let them know the situation, along with the illegal tatoo parlor and weed smoking.



Best time to call would be when you see him going to work on a tatoo or about to light up :D...
 
GSRstilez said:
Not that I want to get them kicked out,
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Forget that, They need to go.



I would contact the police in regards to the drug use, but do it when you witness it. Hopefully the police show up fairly quickly and can catch something in plain view, or smell the marijuana and have probable cause to look around a bit. Not much is going to happen if you call the police and say They use drugs, I see them from time to time, etc. Calling and saying, " My neighbor is smoking pot as I speak in the publics view" will warrant a faster response time.



OR - call your apartment managment and advise them of everything. Drugs, noise, illegal tattoo shop, etc. This option will carry more weight in my opinion. Managment probably won't put up with that.
 
quote:



Not that I want to get them kicked out, but for such an ill repsonse to a complaint in the same day has me worried for the future. Also, I don't appreciate explicit drug use in a connecting building. Lastly, after him showing me his tatoo setup, it is "rigged" to say the least. As I laid awake until almost 3am this morning, I began thinking, "What if it went up in flames? Should I feel in danger?"



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Let them decide their own fate. One question to ask yourself is, how long can I/we endure this constant noise disturbance, that has you already losing sleep.



If your OK with being their Baby sitter, than do nothing say nothing, look the other way. I personally see them moving elsewhere, when :think: who knows. People like that seem be clueless when they are not welcome anymore.



If you are truly worried about your future with these tenants and expect more of their arrogance towards people, law and life, then go with your guts. Leave a paper trail and call (anonymously if you wish) to your apartment head office (2nd complaint). Then in person or anonymously inform your new tenants that others are complaining to you about them. (don't give names, as this could be your girl friend complaining and you would not be lying.) Then remind them of the "3 strikes your out ordinance".



If they still don't comply, then bring out the HD compound and make the 3rd complaint along with your concerns about drug use emanating from a particular location. If you really sense danger of a fire hazard, then call the local Fire Department and law enforcement. There are heath/safety/traffic codes violations that may be in question.



Again, let Them (new tenants) dictate their own fate. :banned:
 
I hate to say this, but it doesn't really get any better when you move into a neighborhood. Not so much the noise thing, but there will always be a homeowner that can't get with the program. I have a family across the street that communicates with each other only via screaming and profanity in the front yard. We call the police all the time, so do the neighbors. I am quite sure he is dealing drugs curbside also, but still thinking of a way to catch this on camera or something. Anyway, we freely call the police on these people and you should do whatever is in your power as well. Three notices gets them evicted? Well, they got one already...keep em coming. Some people, as it sounds like this family has done, act courteous when they see you around but could actually care less if they keep you up all night or not. Good riddance.
 
John Styrnol said:
Tell the apartment manger about this and also call the police.
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Agreed. If they are constantly keeping you up at night and also engaging in illegal activity, they aren't they type of people you want living anywhere near you.



A new family moved in below me about 6 weeks ago. The very first night, they had their stereo on loud enough I could feel and hear it through the floor. At 2 am, I was banging on their door. No answer, their windows were dark-how they could sleep with their music that loud, I don't know. I called the office in the morning and told them about it. The noise continued and reached its peak a few days later-bad timing too, I had the stomach flu and felt like crap. I ended up having to sleep on my couch to escape the worst of the noise. Again, I knocked on their door and no one answered.



I finally go hold of our property manager and she said she was unaware of the problem and promised to address it. I told her that I'd give her the opportunity to handle it but the next time I was kept up at night, I was calling the cops. Anyway, to make a long and beautiful story short and ugly, no more problems since she personally talked to them.



:)
 
They were like mice last night...Maybe they got the picture (for at least a day). I will keep this thread updated with the progress.





From Liz and I, THANK YOU all for your excellent advice.
 
i had 1 neighbour that was loud every night banging and shouting used to knock his door and tell him to tone it down a bit which he did for an hour or so this went on for months heard him beating his wife 1 night at 3 in the morning I f@in lost it pulled my pants on and work boots knocked his door when he answered I landed 1 right on his jaw he was pretty suprised that I did it told him to shut the F up and to try hitting a man left it at that ,never heard a peep from him from day on when I saw him in the hall way he could never look me in the eye
 
This may not be an option in your area, but back when I was renting I discovered that a duplex was much nicer than apartment life. Around here, a decent duplex will go for about the same rent as a nice apartment. Plus you get a yard and a garage (if you're lucky). And only one other person/family to deal with. I got lucky and rented a duplex with a retired couple on the other side several years back.
 
scott_cyan said:
i had 1 neighbour that was loud every night banging and shouting used to knock his door and tell him to tone it down a bit which he did for an hour or so this went on for months heard him beating his wife 1 night at 3 in the morning I f@in lost it pulled my pants on and work boots knocked his door when he answered I landed 1 right on his jaw he was pretty suprised that I did it told him to shut the F up and to try hitting a man left it at that ,never heard a peep from him from day on when I saw him in the hall way he could never look me in the eye
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Hehe I would never do something like that these days. The next time you see him, you gotta watch out about getting stabbed or shot. I guess Canada isn't that bad yet, but still gotta watch out.
 
Quickstrike said:
Hehe I would never do something like that these days. The next time you see him, you gotta watch out about getting stabbed or shot. I guess Canada isn't that bad yet, but still gotta watch out.
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I would agree that is definitely a police matter here in the US; unless something is radically different in your laws, I would say the same thing for Canada.



I'll second the comments about the duplex and that neigbors can suck even if you have your own single-family house.
 
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