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Mad As Hell!

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Mad As Hell!

Postby madinpa » Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:39 pm

I have been living in my Pennsylvania apartment for over a year and a half now- Long enough to realise that normal living noises from the tenant above can easily be overheard- any reasonable person like myself is willing to forgo this knowing that no place is perfect- however, in the past few months the tenant above us- a woman in her twenties who moved in her unit around a year ago has begun to get out of hand with late night noise not limited to the weekend. The noise stems from the many people she now feels she is entitled to share her apartment with- this includes, herself, her college aged sister, a boyfriend, an unemployed cousin, and another female. These are the semipermenant residents who are regularly staying with her in her two bedroom second floor apartment with one bathroom We share a common building entrance which we unfortunately share with her through a common hallway. The walls in this building are very thin- the frontdoor of my unit is just as substandard. The building as a whole is occupied by two other women bringing the total of apartments in the vicinity to four. The other two units are only occupied one each by mid-fourties career woman. From the beginning of all this, the tenant moved her belongings in at the most absurd hours in the evening- we excused this since we assumed this was the only time that these activities could be carried out, and this would soon end once she was settled in. Unfortunately this was not the end of it. I endured several weeks of furniture being dragged around and then dropped at all hours of the evening. A potted palm was thrown down the stairs into the hallway once at midnight. Often I was awakened in the evening by the sound of several individuals carelessly entering the building in the middle of the night- slamming the front door(the sound of which reverberates through the building) proceeding to stomp about in her apartment until I literally got into the habit of pounding on the walls to shut them up. Many a sleepless night over the ensuing weeks and months had occurred until one late evening in March I was suddenly awakened by heavy pounding and the sound of her screaming. Ringing her doorbell I clearly heard her yell " I don't care cause he's a faggot." After already consulting your website as to the procedure to calm down and prevent this tenant's regular disruptions- I yelled back at her that "she will care because I intend on consulting the landlord, police and my attorney about this matter" the next day a letter apologizing for her "Domestic Disturbances" was slipped under my front door. I might add that many of her late night visitors appear to be consumming alcohol underage. The next morning I consulted the police after many attempts to contact the landlord. A Hallmark card appeared through my door stating that "Sometimes I say things I don't mean, sometimes I mean things I don't say"- as if this was supposed to soothe the wounds. When I finally reached the landlord- I was abruptly dismissed by him by being told that if there were any further problems between us- he would ask us both to leave. He wasn't even aware of who he had rented the unit to, and her age or whether she was employed or not. It is unclear whether or not he spoke with her. It has been a non stop nerve center for questionable activity ever since, as many cars and individuals are descending on a normally and expectedly quiet neighborhood at all hours. As the weeks ensued we have been having a noise war with her, I have hesitated to call the police because of the stance that the landlord- who we thought was a reasonable individual at the time of signing the lease had taken. As the weeks ensued through the summer, she has taken on more people who I can now say are permanant residents- first her college aged sister moved in her belongings, and has treated the place as a sort of all night hang out for her and her friends- three more male friends and a female- the sister slipped a note under the front door stating that we were to keep our "heads up" because these guests were staying through the weekend. As if I was to forego another week night of sleep because I was given prior notice now of possible disturbance. That was the week of hell for me, as not only the leasee of the apartment, her boyfriend, her sister, a cousin, the cousin's girlfriend, three college age males,and another female came and went at all hours, lingering outside my windows at 2:30 am on a Wednesday evening smoking cigarettes amongst other things that wafted in my windows during one of the hottest weeks this season. Their debating conversations could also be clearly overheard until I finally got up and pounded on the adjacent wall- which did manage to force them upstairs to stomp around some more as more than seven people in a unit only capable of handling four at max. proceeded to use one single bathroom. No note the following morning, just cars, and cigarette butts scattered throughout the property, and a trash bin full of spent beer cans. A vehicle with no license plate and a For Sale sign in the window also appeared and still remains in the backyard since that weekend which now puzzles our clueless maintenance man. My partner who is a cosigner of the lease finally approached the landlord while he was surveying the vehicle out back and was questioned by the landlord as to who all the vehicles on the property belonged to to which he was answered correctly that they belonged to the ten late nighters currently sleeping in the neighboring unit- As the report back to me concludes- the landlord is now concerned that too many people in one apartment is wear and tear on his building- he wasn't even aware that the tenant's sister was even living in the unit full time as is the cousin, and his girlfriend who claims she's only living there on the weekend- Today is Tuesday and she and the tenant's cousin have remained locked up there since last Friday obviously with out the leased tenant or her sister on the premises. We approached the tenant, her sister, and cousin and now the cousin's girlfriend (I assume she's that or else it's a closer knit family than we realise}. We clearly stated to them verbally that if this chronic behavior continues we will no longer warn them of it and that we will call the police, and the landlord, and my attorney to sort out the difficulties. I have several questions I hope can be made clear here. First, does the landlord have the right to evict me because I am concerned about the activities on the property, How many adult persons whether related or not can legally occupy a two bedroom second floor walk up flat approximately 500 sq. feet with one staired entrance and one bathroom in Plymouth Whitemarsh Township-Montgomery County State of Pennsylvania? What are my options other than the obvious of moving as I am not in the financial circumstances to do this at this moment? What are considered the "quiet hours" in an apartment? What authority would be best in dealing with both the offending tenant and the landlord? Someone mentioned small claims court in dealing with this situation- on what grounds would I enter a plea?
madinpa
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2003 1:01 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Mad As Hell!

Postby Iddabiddy35 » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:59 am

I wouldn't waste another minute writing your diary about your horrible experiences - I would MOVE OUT NOW.
With all the information you have given to your LL I am amazed that he has not contacted his lawyer and started eviction procedings...especially with the fact that you have supplied him with a continual written and verbal saga of the situation...
Move out now!!! And you might want to suggest to the LL that he install a camera to capture all the comings and goings....
Iddabiddy35
 
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Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2004 1:01 am

Re: Mad As Hell!

Postby Emeraldstar » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:10 pm

Iddy, agreed. :roll:
Emeraldstar
 
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Re: Mad As Hell!

Postby HardKnocks » Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:18 am

Folks, why are we resurrecting three-year-old threads?
HardKnocks
 
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Joined: Sun May 04, 2003 1:01 am


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