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Neighbor complained about my cooking smell

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dave8338

Junior Member
I am in CT.

I live in a condo building. My neighbor has been complaining about my cooking smell. He claims that the cooking smell is disruptive and prevent him from his peaceful enjoyment of his unit. He has knocked on my door 5 times over the last two months to complain. On two occasions, I was not even cooking. He claimed that the smell remained in the hallway overnight. I think he is an racist and is simply trying to harrass me. Another one of my neighbor would cook and creat so much smoke in the hallway. Yet he didn't compain about her. Is this because she has blonde hair and blue eyes? Also I smell my neighbors cooking too. It wasn't like their cooking is odorless. I am a Chinese American and love to make beef with broccoli.

I tried to verify by asking a security guard to smell my cooking. He didn't smell anything bad or horrendous. I think my neighbor has a dog like sense of smell. He is now complaining to the condo board. How do I defend myself? Who gets to decide what smell is disruptive? How do I protect myself from a ethnically biased decision? e.g. Pizza sauce smells good while beef and broccoli is disruptive. Or French onion soup is OK but low mein is disruptive. Can I ask the condo board to investigate my neighbor unusually keen sense of smell? (As I said, he claimed to smell something twice when I was not cooking)

Do I have legal ground to call cop on him next time he knocks on my door? I believe my cooking stir fry is my right as much as him baking pizza or meatloaf. I smell my neighbors pumpkin pie, pasta and whatever. They cannot eliminate their cooking smell completely either. I just want to be treated equally.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


Isis1

Senior Member
personally, i LOVE the smell of beef and broccoli. now i'm hungry.

send your neighbor some clothes pins around dinner time.

then cook some indian curry. ;)

if he knocks, open the door, nod your head, when he is done ranting, say "okay". and then close the door.

unless the HOA has an issue with it, it's just his issue.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
unless the smells/odors are offensive to the point the courts would step in (generally food isn't going to rise to that level), your problem is controlled by the rules of the condo association.

this is not a police matter unless somebody threatens, harasses, or takes some action not allowed by law.
 

Antigone*

Senior Member
Hand him a to-go plate of your delicious beef with broccoli as you tell him to pound sand the next time he pounds on your door:cool:
 

chuck126

Member
got chicken/rice/broccoli?

I like chicken, rice and broccoli. How do you make that brown sauce? Yumm-O! Got a recipe? Post up.
Maybe the guy is just hungry and wants some of your chow?
Next time he knocks on your, better yet, next time you cook beef & broccoli, make him a small bowl and go knock on his door and axe him if he wants a taste?
Then next time you cook beef & broccoli, and he comes a knockin, tell him you will have to charge him for takeout...Ahh....Wahhhhhh!

Everyone that responds to this thread gets a free courtesy beef/broccoli/rice dish, compliments of Dave in Conn.

I would cook some of that beef/broccoli/rice and give samples to the board members, see wotz up then?

But just curious at what time/hour do you cook this beef/broccoli/rice dish? If you did it like 1-3 am then I could understand the yummo smell might wake me up and I would want to knock on your door and eat your food!! Feed Me!
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Yes agreed offer him some, if he declines then politely suggest he call the police, Im sure they could use a good laugh every now and then.
 

dave8338

Junior Member
I caught him "red nosed" two weeks ago

One Monday two weeks ago, my "ultra nasal ****" neighbor left me a letter and a bottle of de-odor spray in front of my door. He accused me of making cooking smell. He complained of me making the hallway and his apartment reek of pungent smell on Saturday. He wrote that "You would not wish to have your neighbor run out of patience." He instructed me to take further action to reduce the smell. He is a native English speaker who speaks and writes very well. I was reading his letter thinking that his writing was very persuasive and convincing. He told me he was keeping a log as to when there was cooking smell. Presumably his log will eventually look like todays specials from restaurants.

The only problem was that my family did not cook dinner on Saturday. We went out for dinner from 7:30 to 9: 30 pm or so. I talked to the security desk and found that they have video footage of me driving into the garage that night. I then wrote the property manager/condo board a letter complaining about him using cooking smell as a pretext to harass me.

You know what? The property manager/condo board hasn't taken any action.

I think another one(or however many) of my neighbors was cooking, this nasal **** thought it was me. Let me speak for my other neighbors for a second. I smelled some slight cooking when I came home that night. It was almost imperceptible. Yet this guy found it to be pungent!
I am going to write to mayor's office, attorney general and local police. I am not going to take his craps.

Dave
 

Antigone*

Senior Member
One Monday two weeks ago, my "ultra nasal ****" neighbor left me a letter and a bottle of de-odor spray in front of my door. He accused me of making cooking smell. He complained of me making the hallway and his apartment reek of pungent smell on Saturday. He wrote that "You would not wish to have your neighbor run out of patience." He instructed me to take further action to reduce the smell. He is a native English speaker who speaks and writes very well. I was reading his letter thinking that his writing was very persuasive and convincing. He told me he was keeping a log as to when there was cooking smell. Presumably his log will eventually look like todays specials from restaurants.

The only problem was that my family did not cook dinner on Saturday. We went out for dinner from 7:30 to 9: 30 pm or so. I talked to the security desk and found that they have video footage of me driving into the garage that night. I then wrote the property manager/condo board a letter complaining about him using cooking smell as a pretext to harass me.

You know what? The property manager/condo board hasn't taken any action.

I think another one(or however many) of my neighbors was cooking, this nasal **** thought it was me. Let me speak for my other neighbors for a second. I smelled some slight cooking when I came home that night. It was almost imperceptible. Yet this guy found it to be pungent!
I am going to write to mayor's office, attorney general and local police. I am not going to take his craps.

Dave
Ok Dave, like the mayor, AG and local police are really going to care about your smelling hallway:rolleyes:
 
You would not wish to have your neighbor run out of patience."
That letter sounds like a veiled threat. You need to call the police. Even if the police say there is nothing they can do, you should none-the-less file a police report. They have to take your statement! Every time this guy interacts with you on this topic, report it to the police. Once your reports establish a history and show escalation in the confrontation, you can get a restraining order against him. Harassment is a crime. Threatening (Intimidation) is one too.

Having a record of this problem is the most important thing you can do right now.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Personally, I would ignore him completely. If he knocks on the door, don't answer. Put on headphones while you are in the hallways so if he sees you, you can pretend you can't hear him. If he sends you any more letters, don't open them. Don't give him the satisfaction of the attention he wants.
 

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