What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Washington
I reside in a very poorly insulated building, in an apartment directly above a woman who, as well as her boyfriend, is overly sensitive to noise. I have numerous examples of this, but to get to the point, she makes repeated phone calls to the manager, the police, and the owners, who live on the east coast. She has written a letter to the owners and sent a copy to me, the manager, and the local tenants union. In this letter she has accused me of untrue statements such as being a "binge drinker" and a threat to the building "in the form of a fire, flood, or whatever." She also stated that she feels that my drinking could "generate into violence directed toward "myself, my partner, or my pet." This woman has never taken the time to get to know me, and the other neighbors who do have stated that they know me to be a calm, reasonable person. I have even 'housesat' for one of my neighbors when she is away, in the form of checking in on her cat. This involves entering her apartment in the morning and evening of every day to feed the cat, scooping litter every other day, and I usually take a movie to watch while the cat sets on my lap and is given the attention she craves. I thoroughly enjoy doing this for her and am clearly trusted to be around other people's pets. I am a petite 5'3", 105lb woman who has never had a violent altercation in her life. My first question is, is this defamation, and if so, what can I do?
I also have a question about her boyfriend. He is not on the lease, but is a perpetual guest. (6-7 days a week, and I understand that he does pay rent at another building down the street, even though he's rarely there.) I'm fine with him "living" there, but do not feel that I should have to tolerate complaints from her boyfriend, which he has made at 10am, for example when she is not even home. He also at one point screamed through the ceiling/floor to "take of your f*****g shoes B***h." This occured at 8:15am one morning when I walked in the front door, walked to the kitchen (about 20 steps) and back out.
Her complaints come at all hours of the day and night, including a 9:45pm call regarding the volume of stereo (loud, maybe, but not unreasonable according to mgr.) 10:45pm: she didn't like listening to me walking around and opening up my closet doors and closing them over a 10 minute time span while putting my laundry away. 1:30am: I received a phone call from an overseas friend. She called me and said "you need to be quiet." I did not give her my number, and can only imagine that either she is digging through my trash, or the manager gave it to her, as it is an unlisted number. I'm not at all happy about the thought of the manager giving her my number, which I have addressed with the owners, and if she's digging through my trash, well, I'll let that speak for itself. She complains every time I come in after 10pm, because she can hear the door open and close and it wakes her up. I do this as quietly as possible, but the door sticks in the winter, so, what can I do?
I think she has "the squeaky wheel" syndrome and is trying to frustrate me into moving. I will, as a last resort, but am not ready to do so without persuing other options. We've tried (the manager and I) to schedule mediation, (with an unbiased agency) but she won't do it unless her boyfriend is present, and the manager, the owners and I feel that he is not entitled to be present, since he is not on the rental agreement.
I've checked into (a little bit) an anti-harrassment order against her boyfriend. Not sure I'll have much luck there. I just want to be able to live my life without feeling like I'm walking on eggshells. I don't want to have to worry about defending myself to the manager, the owners and police between the hours of 7am and 10pm. Short of having rock star concerts, and keggers (which I have no interest in) can't I make any "normal" noise such as washing my dishes and having a telephone conversation after 10pm without being chastised? I'm doing my best to be overly considerate, and to ignore her when she's hyper-sensitive. Please help!
(Sorry for the length... I'm done. Whew!)
Thank you!
I reside in a very poorly insulated building, in an apartment directly above a woman who, as well as her boyfriend, is overly sensitive to noise. I have numerous examples of this, but to get to the point, she makes repeated phone calls to the manager, the police, and the owners, who live on the east coast. She has written a letter to the owners and sent a copy to me, the manager, and the local tenants union. In this letter she has accused me of untrue statements such as being a "binge drinker" and a threat to the building "in the form of a fire, flood, or whatever." She also stated that she feels that my drinking could "generate into violence directed toward "myself, my partner, or my pet." This woman has never taken the time to get to know me, and the other neighbors who do have stated that they know me to be a calm, reasonable person. I have even 'housesat' for one of my neighbors when she is away, in the form of checking in on her cat. This involves entering her apartment in the morning and evening of every day to feed the cat, scooping litter every other day, and I usually take a movie to watch while the cat sets on my lap and is given the attention she craves. I thoroughly enjoy doing this for her and am clearly trusted to be around other people's pets. I am a petite 5'3", 105lb woman who has never had a violent altercation in her life. My first question is, is this defamation, and if so, what can I do?
I also have a question about her boyfriend. He is not on the lease, but is a perpetual guest. (6-7 days a week, and I understand that he does pay rent at another building down the street, even though he's rarely there.) I'm fine with him "living" there, but do not feel that I should have to tolerate complaints from her boyfriend, which he has made at 10am, for example when she is not even home. He also at one point screamed through the ceiling/floor to "take of your f*****g shoes B***h." This occured at 8:15am one morning when I walked in the front door, walked to the kitchen (about 20 steps) and back out.
Her complaints come at all hours of the day and night, including a 9:45pm call regarding the volume of stereo (loud, maybe, but not unreasonable according to mgr.) 10:45pm: she didn't like listening to me walking around and opening up my closet doors and closing them over a 10 minute time span while putting my laundry away. 1:30am: I received a phone call from an overseas friend. She called me and said "you need to be quiet." I did not give her my number, and can only imagine that either she is digging through my trash, or the manager gave it to her, as it is an unlisted number. I'm not at all happy about the thought of the manager giving her my number, which I have addressed with the owners, and if she's digging through my trash, well, I'll let that speak for itself. She complains every time I come in after 10pm, because she can hear the door open and close and it wakes her up. I do this as quietly as possible, but the door sticks in the winter, so, what can I do?
I think she has "the squeaky wheel" syndrome and is trying to frustrate me into moving. I will, as a last resort, but am not ready to do so without persuing other options. We've tried (the manager and I) to schedule mediation, (with an unbiased agency) but she won't do it unless her boyfriend is present, and the manager, the owners and I feel that he is not entitled to be present, since he is not on the rental agreement.
I've checked into (a little bit) an anti-harrassment order against her boyfriend. Not sure I'll have much luck there. I just want to be able to live my life without feeling like I'm walking on eggshells. I don't want to have to worry about defending myself to the manager, the owners and police between the hours of 7am and 10pm. Short of having rock star concerts, and keggers (which I have no interest in) can't I make any "normal" noise such as washing my dishes and having a telephone conversation after 10pm without being chastised? I'm doing my best to be overly considerate, and to ignore her when she's hyper-sensitive. Please help!
(Sorry for the length... I'm done. Whew!)
Thank you!