hillaree21
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California
We moved into our apartment in July of 2007. It is just me and my husband, we live quietly, we are clean, we pay our rent on time every month...I'd say we are pretty good tenants.
Our neighbors below us hate us. They constantly file complaints with our leasing office, for whatever reason they can find. The first complaint was last summer. We had beach towels hanging over the back of some chairs on our balcony to dry and some of the sand blew over on to their balcony. They filed a complaint and our leasing office called us and told us to "take care of it". We went downstairs, apologized and cleaned every speck of dirt off of their balcony. Keep in mind, we live about 5 minutes from the beach, so there is sand everywhere anyways. Our cars are covered in sand. A few weeks later, we recieved a noise violation because the people below us complained that they can hear our toilet flush at all hours of the night. We were reminded by the leasing office that quiet hours are from 10pm-7am. Does this mean I can't flush the toilet if I go to the bathroom because it bothers my neighbors? After that incident, we recieved another violation because our barbeque grill smoke bothered the neighbors below us. Even though, as stated in our lease agreement, we are allowed propane grills. But because the smell bothered our neighbors, we are not allowed to use it anymore. We recieved another noise violation in Decemeber (except this time we weren't even home, my husband was on leave so we went to Texas for 3 weeks for Christmas) because they said they could hear us having sex. We weren't even here!! We even showed them the dates on our plane tickets proving we were out of town. But we still got the violation and it still went on our rental history. Most recently, today in fact, we recieved another violation because of my flower pots that are on my balcony. Our neighbors filed a complaint saying that they are "safety hazards" and if we had an earthquake, it could kill one of them. My husband and I got so fed up with this and went down to the office to talk to the manager. She told us that we had to immediately remove any hanging plants, bird feeders, decorations, or flower pots that are on our balcony because it could hurt someone if it fell. However, in the lease agreement, it says that I can have these things, as long as they don't hang over the balcony below us, which they don't. She got smart and said "are your flowers more important than a human life?" For one thing, if there was an earthquake...why would my neighbors be hanging out on their patio? For another, it would take alot for my flower pots to fall off and over the balcony. My plants have been there for months and we never had a complaint until today. The leasing manager also said "if you had a red pot, and your neighbors didn't like it, you would have to take it down because it is offensive. If you have a cross and they are not Christians, you would have to take it down because it is offensive. If they think your balcony is decorated better than theirs, and they don't like it, you would have to remove the decorations. Our community prides itself on uniformity." I do not pay $1200 a month on a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment to be told what I can and cannot have on my balcony. I adhere to what is in my lease agreement, but none of these things are in there. To top off that nonsense, we have been paying $16/month for renters insurance and I recieved a letter in the mail a few days ago saying our renters insurance was cancelled since November of last year. I called the office and asked where that money was going and they had nothing to say! Am I just picky or do I not have any rights??? I should not have to change the comfort of my lifestyle because one person does not like it. We drove around the entire complex and there are people who have huge plants, tons of pots and decorations, way more than I did (I had five small planters) and they are allowed to keep them up because their neighbors don't complain. Please tell me there is a legal way to get out of this place???
We moved into our apartment in July of 2007. It is just me and my husband, we live quietly, we are clean, we pay our rent on time every month...I'd say we are pretty good tenants.
Our neighbors below us hate us. They constantly file complaints with our leasing office, for whatever reason they can find. The first complaint was last summer. We had beach towels hanging over the back of some chairs on our balcony to dry and some of the sand blew over on to their balcony. They filed a complaint and our leasing office called us and told us to "take care of it". We went downstairs, apologized and cleaned every speck of dirt off of their balcony. Keep in mind, we live about 5 minutes from the beach, so there is sand everywhere anyways. Our cars are covered in sand. A few weeks later, we recieved a noise violation because the people below us complained that they can hear our toilet flush at all hours of the night. We were reminded by the leasing office that quiet hours are from 10pm-7am. Does this mean I can't flush the toilet if I go to the bathroom because it bothers my neighbors? After that incident, we recieved another violation because our barbeque grill smoke bothered the neighbors below us. Even though, as stated in our lease agreement, we are allowed propane grills. But because the smell bothered our neighbors, we are not allowed to use it anymore. We recieved another noise violation in Decemeber (except this time we weren't even home, my husband was on leave so we went to Texas for 3 weeks for Christmas) because they said they could hear us having sex. We weren't even here!! We even showed them the dates on our plane tickets proving we were out of town. But we still got the violation and it still went on our rental history. Most recently, today in fact, we recieved another violation because of my flower pots that are on my balcony. Our neighbors filed a complaint saying that they are "safety hazards" and if we had an earthquake, it could kill one of them. My husband and I got so fed up with this and went down to the office to talk to the manager. She told us that we had to immediately remove any hanging plants, bird feeders, decorations, or flower pots that are on our balcony because it could hurt someone if it fell. However, in the lease agreement, it says that I can have these things, as long as they don't hang over the balcony below us, which they don't. She got smart and said "are your flowers more important than a human life?" For one thing, if there was an earthquake...why would my neighbors be hanging out on their patio? For another, it would take alot for my flower pots to fall off and over the balcony. My plants have been there for months and we never had a complaint until today. The leasing manager also said "if you had a red pot, and your neighbors didn't like it, you would have to take it down because it is offensive. If you have a cross and they are not Christians, you would have to take it down because it is offensive. If they think your balcony is decorated better than theirs, and they don't like it, you would have to remove the decorations. Our community prides itself on uniformity." I do not pay $1200 a month on a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment to be told what I can and cannot have on my balcony. I adhere to what is in my lease agreement, but none of these things are in there. To top off that nonsense, we have been paying $16/month for renters insurance and I recieved a letter in the mail a few days ago saying our renters insurance was cancelled since November of last year. I called the office and asked where that money was going and they had nothing to say! Am I just picky or do I not have any rights??? I should not have to change the comfort of my lifestyle because one person does not like it. We drove around the entire complex and there are people who have huge plants, tons of pots and decorations, way more than I did (I had five small planters) and they are allowed to keep them up because their neighbors don't complain. Please tell me there is a legal way to get out of this place???
