Apartment problems- so stressful!!

nekomania · Oct 15, 2010

It's times like these when I really wish I owned my own home, but even though you take the landlord out of the equation, you still run the risk of having crappy neighbors!!!

I was hoping someone here might have some experience dealing with unruly neighbors in your apartment complex.

My neighbors are CRAZY. They let their kids play out in the middle of the complex parking lot, being all levels of loud, and sometimes running into peoples cars with their toys or hitting them with balls.

We keep coming outside and finding new dents on the passenger side of our car.

I tried to go down to the management company that rented to us and all they did was give me some lady's email and said I had to send all complaints to her.

So I wrote a detailed letter a week ago and sent along a video attachment of these kids (and their parents!!) playing in the middle of the parking lot, which also shows them running into several cars and mine, as well as being in the way of a few people who are trying to pull their cars out to leave.

No response. I just sent a second letter along with a NEW video from this afternoon of the same kind of horseplay.

Whats worse is that all of the things they are doing are against our lease agreement, its all written down in the contract that everyone has to sign before moving in here.

Its annoying AND its a big safety issue. Some of these kids are barely three feet tall and as much as I have evil thoughts about how good of a lesson it would teach their parents if someone smooshed one, I still don't want to see anything like that happen to some poor kid.

It's not like THEY know any better, its their parents condoning the act.

You wanna know what the best part is? There's a really nice big lovely park less than 2 blocks away from our complex. How's that for some lazy parenting?

stephanietx · Oct 15, 2010

Call the police and complain that there are unattended children in the parking lot and they are damaging your property.

nekomania · Oct 15, 2010

I have thought of that but I don't want to be "the neighbor who calls the cops".

I am not sure how much the police would do

whisky'sdad · Oct 15, 2010

Keep all copies of your things and file a complaint with the city. The city should do something about your management problem. If not, take management to court along with the lease agreement.

northernglow · Oct 15, 2010

First thing that came to my mind was to write a note which sounds like it's written by a landlord, but with some euphemism which reveals it may not be from them. Yeah, I'm not good at things like this..
"Dear resident X,
There have been several complaints about X, and this note is to inform you that if these problems stated above are not corrected, we will need to file an official complaint, as X is against our leasing agreement rules.
-add the name of the apartment complex-"

nekomania · Oct 15, 2010

I can't talk to them they all speak spanish.

Communication barriers REALLY frustrate me so thats why I was hoping that the people who own the building would just fix it.

starryeyedtiger · Oct 15, 2010

Originally Posted by NorthernGlow

First thing that came to my mind was to write a note which sounds like it's written by a landlord, but with some euphemism which reveals it may not be from them. Yeah, I'm not good at things like this..
"Dear resident X,
There have been several complaints about X, and this note is to inform you that if these problems stated above are not corrected, we will need to file an official complaint, as X is against our leasing agreement rules.
-add the name of the apartment complex-"

Oh my goodness, I LOVE that idea!!!

Originally Posted by Nekomania

I can't talk to them they all speak spanish.

Communication barriers REALLY frustrate me so thats why I was hoping that the people who own the building would just fix it.

Write up what you want to say and pm it to me. I'd be happy to translate it for you

3catsn1dog · Oct 16, 2010

I personally would call the cops if the 'complaint dept' isnt responding and make sure you show the police that you have taken the proper steps to get ahold of your complaint person and that not only is it because of damage to personal property that will end up coming out of your pocket to fix especially if something worse happens like a broken window but also the safety of the kids AND parents for playing in a parking lot also show the police the copy of your lease where it states that what they are doing is against the agreement.

I wish I had more advice for you. We have our own issues with our house, we basically can do whatever we want to the house but because we saved the landlords from tearing down the trailor and after we leave they will probably tear it down they wont replace anything in here like they did to the big farm house and their other trailer. It sucks but hopefully next summer we lose our neighbors and can move to the big house.

catlover19 · Oct 16, 2010

I had neighbours like that in my old apartment. It was a single mom with 3 kids (who all had different fathers that were offshore workers) and she couldn't control them. They drove everyone crazy and eventually they decided to move out. 2 weeks before they were scheduled to move out, they got kicked out of the building by the landlord.

If they are damaging your stuff, I would call the cops.

cheylink · Oct 16, 2010

At this point the best thing to do is protect yourself legally. Keep doing what you are doing, send letters, emails, call over and over, keep copies of everything. If you can set up video record of when your car is parked, this way you have evidence of any damage done......
Believe me, I have been there, and the worst thing you can do is let it go, expect things to change, and not protect yourself.

larussa · Oct 16, 2010

I used to have many problems with loud neighbors when I lived in apartments. I now live in a mobile home and the owners of this mobile park keep things under control. Luckily tho I have no kids living anywhere near me so I am happy about that.

Owning your own home doesn't make loud neighbors disappear. My sister has her own home and her neighbors are as obnoxious as heck, they play loud music and have noisy bratty children. Just because you own your home doesn't mean you have to annoy the neighbors by loud music or unattended kids. The police should be called on them but my sister never did call them. I just wish some people would act like human beings and not like jungle animals, ok I'll get off the soapbox.

butzie · Oct 16, 2010

Originally Posted by Nekomania

It's times like these when I really wish I owned my own home, but even though you take the landlord out of the equation, you still run the risk of having crappy neighbors!!!

I was hoping someone here might have some experience dealing with unruly neighbors in your apartment complex.

My neighbors are CRAZY. They let their kids play out in the middle of the complex parking lot, being all levels of loud, and sometimes running into peoples cars with their toys or hitting them with balls.

We keep coming outside and finding new dents on the passenger side of our car.

I tried to go down to the management company that rented to us and all they did was give me some lady's email and said I had to send all complaints to her.

So I wrote a detailed letter a week ago and sent along a video attachment of these kids (and their parents!!) playing in the middle of the parking lot, which also shows them running into several cars and mine, as well as being in the way of a few people who are trying to pull their cars out to leave.

No response. I just sent a second letter along with a NEW video from this afternoon of the same kind of horseplay.

Whats worse is that all of the things they are doing are against our lease agreement, its all written down in the contract that everyone has to sign before moving in here.

Its annoying AND its a big safety issue. Some of these kids are barely three feet tall and as much as I have evil thoughts about how good of a lesson it would teach their parents if someone smooshed one, I still don't want to see anything like that happen to some poor kid.

It's not like THEY know any better, its their parents condoning the act.

You wanna know what the best part is? There's a really nice big lovely park less than 2 blocks away from our complex. How's that for some lazy parenting?

Call your insurance company about the dents and show them the video. They may send out an agent to talk to them about this illegal behavior and state that they are liable. Don't worry. They are sure to have someone who speaks Spanish. And you may get reimbursed for the dents. No police and the neighbors certainly can't complain about your calling your insurance agent.

nekomania · Oct 17, 2010

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Oh my goodness, I LOVE that idea!!!

Write up what you want to say and pm it to me. I'd be happy to translate it for you

Thank you so much for this offer!! It would help out a LOT if I decide to take the letter to the neighbors approach!

Thank you for all of the responses guys. I feel a bit better about calling the police now and its definitely on my priority list. I want Cody to be here if that's what we end up doing and he doesn't get off of work until the third.

For now I will give the complaints department another week, send a third letter (three strikes) and if I still don't hear anything then I will turn to the police.

I don't know if it makes me a crappy neighbor but I plan on pulling out the cam every time they are out there horsing around, this way I have plenty of evidence to back up my claims!

In my third letter I will be sure to let them know that if I do not hear back on a resolution within a week I will be contacting the police department the next time that they are out there. I think giving them three weeks to rectify the situation is plenty more than enough.

I'll let you guys know if anything happens.

Until then, I'll be trying not to pull my hair out!

lauren_miller · Oct 18, 2010

I had the worst neighbors ever, I totally feel your pain.

My neighbors were tweakers. They would be up at all hours of the night screaming and yelling and running outside attacking each other physically, they had 3 small children and I had to call the cops almost every day. This went on for 6 months before the landlord finally did something. The neighbors threatened to kill me because I called the cops on them, they keyed my car (huge cuss word across my hood), their friend tried to steal my husband's tires off his jeep and was caught in the act. We lived for 6 months in total fear. I couldn't go outside by myself and I was afraid to be home alone. At one point, their fighting got so bad that they busted out one of the windows in their unit.

We ended up having to threaten the complex with a lawsuit. I took tons of videos of them physically fighting and beating on their kids. I called CPS and their kids were taken from them. They were finally kicked out but it took a long time to make it happen. We moved out of that complex to a better one that does criminal background checks on all the tenants.

Primula · Oct 18, 2010

Originally Posted by Nekomania

My neighbors are CRAZY. They let their kids play out in the middle of the complex parking lot, being all levels of loud, and sometimes running into peoples cars with their toys or hitting them with balls.

My next door neighbors had this problem with kids from the projects on the street at the rear of our houses. The kids were jumping on dumped furniture in the alleys of the projects and then throwing rocks at my neighbors' cars trying to break their windshields.

My neighbors were new to Hartford and were horrified. They tried to talk to the kids and reason with them, but that is useless in Hartford. I told my neighbors that they had to take control of their rear fence. Then we called the police. The next thing I did was call the City of Hartford and they got the projects' manager to remove all the dumped furniture.

After one police visit and the removal of the dumped furniture, we didn't have a single problem all summer. These people were also Spanish. They could not understand English, but they understood a visit from the police.

Apartment problems- so stressful!!

nekomania

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stephanietx

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nekomania

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whisky'sdad

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northernglow

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nekomania

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starryeyedtiger

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3catsn1dog

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catlover19

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cheylink

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larussa

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butzie

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nekomania

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lauren_miller

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Primula

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