What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
About 2 weeks ago, somewhere between the hours of 11:00PM and 12:00AM, my girlfriend and I went to bed in our bedroom, which shares a wall with our neighbors. We had just gotten into bed and were sharing a laugh about something that had happened during the day as we were preparing to go to sleep. We weren't yelling, we weren't making a lot of noise, just laughing. Suddenly, we heard someone scream "Pipe Down!", and we paused, trying to figure out who was yelling and who they were yelling at, not even suspecting that anyone would be yelling at us for laughing out loud for a few seconds in our own bed as we were preparing to go to sleep. While we know that the walls are thin (we hear the neighbors all the time), surely nobody would have been upset by a couple laughing for a few seconds??? We assumed that someone must be yelling at our upstairs neighbors who always seem to be hammering on something all all hours or leaving their dog barking all day. We heard the yelling again and realized that it seemed to be directed at us, so I yelled "You Pipe Down!" back at the person as he was the one screaming and causing a disturbance. He then yelled "I'll just report you to management! Hah!" And that was the end of it. I don't even know who this person is other than the fact that we share a wall. To this day, I have no idea who this neighbor is as I have never personally seen him, I've only heard him and a child (or children) through the wall.
My girlfriend and I were really angry about the situation because we don't bother anyone and the neighbor's outburst was unwarranted. It felt like a complete invasion of our privacy, and was upset, that with all the money we pay and as respectful as we are to other tenants, that we couldn't even lay in bed and talk before going to sleep without worrying about a neighbor yelling. But, we decided to leave it alone, figuring that the neighbor had just had a bad day, and we are not the type of people to be confrontational. We never had another issue and had really just dropped it.
I arrived home tonight and found a Notice:
Seven-Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity to Cure (hereafter referred to as the "Notice"). In this notice, you have stated the following:
"You are hereby notified that you have violated Florida Law and / or Lease Agreement for the above premises. You have violated Section 83.56(b), Florida Statutes, in the following way:
D. Improper Conduct. Resident Parties shall not engage in unlawful, improper, unreasonable or prohibited behavior, all of which shall be a breach of this Lease, including the following: (iv) Loud, disorderly, or unlawful conduct, harassment, or nuisances; (v) Disturbing, infringing upon, adversely affecting or threatening the rights, comfort, health, safety, property or convenience of others in near Community; (vii) Engaging in or threatening violence."
This Notice gives us Seven days to Cure and any further "violation" gives management the ability to evict us without opportunity to cure, and force us to pay legal cost associated with the eviction. While not noted, I can't imagine I would see any of my security deposit again either.
Until now, I have been a tenant in good standing. I am a respectful resident. I live only with my girlfriend. We have no children. We have no animals. Since moving into this unit on June 1, 2008, we have not had a single person in the apartment other than Maintenance and Pest Control. We do not have guests. We do not have parties. We do not play loud music. We do not stay up all night. We both work long hours. I work Monday to Friday, 8am-8pm or later. My girlfriend works 5 days a week, often until 9pm. We don't go out at night. We don't know any of our neighbors, though we hear them all from time to time (some more than others).
What can we do to address the situation and protect ourselves? Do we now have to live in fear of the neighbor? I am livid about the situation but I am now afraid of seeing the neighbor, for fear of a perceived dirty look causing them to file another complaint. What is my protection against the neighbor? I feel completely violated by the neighbor and by his actions.
Please help.
About 2 weeks ago, somewhere between the hours of 11:00PM and 12:00AM, my girlfriend and I went to bed in our bedroom, which shares a wall with our neighbors. We had just gotten into bed and were sharing a laugh about something that had happened during the day as we were preparing to go to sleep. We weren't yelling, we weren't making a lot of noise, just laughing. Suddenly, we heard someone scream "Pipe Down!", and we paused, trying to figure out who was yelling and who they were yelling at, not even suspecting that anyone would be yelling at us for laughing out loud for a few seconds in our own bed as we were preparing to go to sleep. While we know that the walls are thin (we hear the neighbors all the time), surely nobody would have been upset by a couple laughing for a few seconds??? We assumed that someone must be yelling at our upstairs neighbors who always seem to be hammering on something all all hours or leaving their dog barking all day. We heard the yelling again and realized that it seemed to be directed at us, so I yelled "You Pipe Down!" back at the person as he was the one screaming and causing a disturbance. He then yelled "I'll just report you to management! Hah!" And that was the end of it. I don't even know who this person is other than the fact that we share a wall. To this day, I have no idea who this neighbor is as I have never personally seen him, I've only heard him and a child (or children) through the wall.
My girlfriend and I were really angry about the situation because we don't bother anyone and the neighbor's outburst was unwarranted. It felt like a complete invasion of our privacy, and was upset, that with all the money we pay and as respectful as we are to other tenants, that we couldn't even lay in bed and talk before going to sleep without worrying about a neighbor yelling. But, we decided to leave it alone, figuring that the neighbor had just had a bad day, and we are not the type of people to be confrontational. We never had another issue and had really just dropped it.
I arrived home tonight and found a Notice:
Seven-Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity to Cure (hereafter referred to as the "Notice"). In this notice, you have stated the following:
"You are hereby notified that you have violated Florida Law and / or Lease Agreement for the above premises. You have violated Section 83.56(b), Florida Statutes, in the following way:
D. Improper Conduct. Resident Parties shall not engage in unlawful, improper, unreasonable or prohibited behavior, all of which shall be a breach of this Lease, including the following: (iv) Loud, disorderly, or unlawful conduct, harassment, or nuisances; (v) Disturbing, infringing upon, adversely affecting or threatening the rights, comfort, health, safety, property or convenience of others in near Community; (vii) Engaging in or threatening violence."
This Notice gives us Seven days to Cure and any further "violation" gives management the ability to evict us without opportunity to cure, and force us to pay legal cost associated with the eviction. While not noted, I can't imagine I would see any of my security deposit again either.
Until now, I have been a tenant in good standing. I am a respectful resident. I live only with my girlfriend. We have no children. We have no animals. Since moving into this unit on June 1, 2008, we have not had a single person in the apartment other than Maintenance and Pest Control. We do not have guests. We do not have parties. We do not play loud music. We do not stay up all night. We both work long hours. I work Monday to Friday, 8am-8pm or later. My girlfriend works 5 days a week, often until 9pm. We don't go out at night. We don't know any of our neighbors, though we hear them all from time to time (some more than others).
What can we do to address the situation and protect ourselves? Do we now have to live in fear of the neighbor? I am livid about the situation but I am now afraid of seeing the neighbor, for fear of a perceived dirty look causing them to file another complaint. What is my protection against the neighbor? I feel completely violated by the neighbor and by his actions.
Please help.