Noise

[jamesstock]

We reside in the state of California.

We live in townhouses in a HOA community. It's been almost (if not more) 1 year since our neighbor constantly making noise especially in the middle of the night. That person is a male, probably around 17-25, should have some kind of mental disorder. Many times cops would stop by but they said there's nothing they could do. Police said all they could do is stop by and check out the situation, but that's about it. Everything that person screams, yell, would say very strong racist (on top of those 'f' and 's' words) words out loud. And about 30 seconds of so, he would quiet down. But the issue is that we get waken up everytime this person started screaming and yelling in the middle of the night and it's very stressful, and fear and we've been loosing sleep ever since. It's been very tired. Maybe this community is not suitable for this type of person to live. By the way, according to police, almost everytime they police received a complaint and stopped by this person's home, he's usually alone w/ a caretaker. His parents would have left the scene. Turned out that everytime this person goes insane, his parents will leave the home (most of the time separately!). I do know that they are not renters, they own that house. (forgot to mention that we don't understand why they [the parents / caretakers] would allow the mentally ill person to get outside the house and start screaming / yelling in the middle of the night [ most of the time]!!!)

We live in the community and I believe we all have our rights and duty to keep this place safe and quiet. What can we do to keep this person either 'quiet' or even pressure them to leave...? Is there something we can do?

 

[Zigner]

You can move...

 

[STEPHAN]

Are you the owner or a tenant?

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

Have you just continued to call the cops, or have you attempted to speak with someone in charge there?

 

[OK-LL]

We reside in the state of California.

We live in townhouses in a HOA community. It's been almost (if not more) 1 year since our neighbor constantly making noise especially in the middle of the night. That person is a male, probably around 17-25, should have some kind of mental disorder. Many times cops would stop by but they said there's nothing they could do. Police said all they could do is stop by and check out the situation, but that's about it. Everything that person screams, yell, would say very strong racist (on top of those 'f' and 's' words) words out loud. And about 30 seconds of so, he would quiet down. But the issue is that we get waken up everytime this person started screaming and yelling in the middle of the night and it's very stressful, and fear and we've been loosing sleep ever since. It's been very tired. Maybe this community is not suitable for this type of person to live. By the way, according to police, almost everytime they police received a complaint and stopped by this person's home, he's usually alone w/ a caretaker. His parents would have left the scene. Turned out that everytime this person goes insane, his parents will leave the home (most of the time separately!). I do know that they are not renters, they own that house. (forgot to mention that we don't understand why they [the parents / caretakers] would allow the mentally ill person to get outside the house and start screaming / yelling in the middle of the night [ most of the time]!!!)

We live in the community and I believe we all have our rights and duty to keep this place safe and quiet. What can we do to keep this person either 'quiet' or even pressure them to leave...? Is there something we can do?

Most areas allow a police officer to have an individual involuntarily committed for a 72-hour evaluation if they appear mentally altered and/or pose a threat the the peace or safety of others. Check into your city's laws and see if this applies in your situation, then request it when you have the police out at the next incident. Usually these folks have medicine that will keep these types of symptoms under control and when they are "off their meds" the symptoms reappear. I would have a discussion with this man's caretaker(s) to make it clear this situation is unsatisfactory. Also, if you have an HOA, they may be able to bring some pressure to bear in the form of fines or fees for disturbances.

 

[Zigner]

Most areas allow a police officer to have an individual involuntarily committed for a 72-hour evaluation if they appear mentally altered and/or pose a threat the the peace or safety of others. Check into your city's laws and see if this applies in your situation, then request it when you have the police out at the next incident. Usually these folks have medicine that will keep these types of symptoms under control and when they are "off their meds" the symptoms reappear. I would have a discussion with this man's caretaker(s) to make it clear this situation is unsatisfactory. Also, if you have an HOA, they may be able to bring some pressure to bear in the form of fines or fees for disturbances.

Being "mentally altered" does not lead to a 5150 (72 hour hold, per WIC Section 5150). One must, "...as a result of a mental health disorder, be a danger to others or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled." (See http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=wic&group=05001-06000&file=5150-5155 for more info).


ETA: Additionally, in my area of CA, things have to be pretty severe in order for a person to be placed on a 5150 hold. Simply standing outside exercising one's right to free speech is not going to rise to that level.

ETA Again: This is not a "city laws" matter - it's state law.

 

[jamesstock]

For the record, we own our home. If we are renters it'll be alot easier.

Many times when that person went insane and started yelling, besides the racial slang and the 'f' and 's' words, he would said things like 'I hate myself..I want to die'. But most of the times he would just tell a person (likely the caretaker) to 'get the f* out of here you piece of s*'. We have young children and it's very hard to explain what those words mean at such young age. We do feel because of his aggressive behavior, our lives are being threatened and that everything we pull our car into our garage, we had to close it immediately. We no longer feel safe taking a walk in our community not known when that person would come out insane.

If we call the police (which we did a few times already), it would take the police 5-10 min before showing up, by the time the police arrive, that person would have been 'quiet' down and back into this home. So it's quite useless IMO.

We feel sorry for that family, but we feel that that mentally ill person should be in a 'more suitable' location and that his parents should keep him under control at all times. Having a good night sleep is very important (health and mental wise), and that being waken up almost every night (probably 1-2am) is making us very stressful.

 

[TheGeekess]

Your choices are:

Buy out the homeowners next door.

Move.

 

[STEPHAN]

I understand that the police takes 5 - 10 Minutes and that is to late.

Have you documente this with you phones?

Have you shown this to the homeowners?

 

[Ladyback1]

For the record, we own our home. If we are renters it'll be alot easier.

Many times when that person went insane and started yelling, besides the racial slang and the 'f' and 's' words, he would said things like 'I hate myself..I want to die'. But most of the times he would just tell a person (likely the caretaker) to 'get the f* out of here you piece of s*'. We have young children and it's very hard to explain what those words mean at such young age. We do feel because of his aggressive behavior, our lives are being threatened and that everything we pull our car into our garage, we had to close it immediately. We no longer feel safe taking a walk in our community not known when that person would come out insane.

If we call the police (which we did a few times already), it would take the police 5-10 min before showing up, by the time the police arrive, that person would have been 'quiet' down and back into this home. So it's quite useless IMO.

We feel sorry for that family, but we feel that that mentally ill person should be in a 'more suitable' location and that his parents should keep him under control at all times. Having a good night sleep is very important (health and mental wise), and that being waken up almost every night (probably 1-2am) is making us very stressful.

And how, pray tell, has this young man acted aggressively toward you and/or your family?

What would be a more suitable environment, in your opinion?

Perhaps you should learn a little about this young man's mental illness/disease.
Perhaps, in an effort to get a good nite's sleep, you should offer to pay to have this young man committed to a group home/mental health facility.

Imagine, if you will, what it's like in his parents' shoes. Do you honestly believe that the parents allow him to act out? We're not talking about a 4 y/o kid having a temper tantrum. We're not talking about a child's behavior that can actually be corrected by disciplining the child.
Finally: put yourself in the parents' shoes. What if this were one of your children? Would you institutionalize your child because the neighbors did not understand the extent and scope of the child's condition?

 

[I'mTheFather]

And how, pray tell, has this young man acted aggressively toward you and/or your family?

What would be a more suitable environment, in your opinion?

Perhaps you should learn a little about this young man's mental illness/disease.
Perhaps, in an effort to get a good nite's sleep, you should offer to pay to have this young man committed to a group home/mental health facility.

Imagine, if you will, what it's like in his parents' shoes. Do you honestly believe that the parents allow him to act out? We're not talking about a 4 y/o kid having a temper tantrum. We're not talking about a child's behavior that can actually be corrected by disciplining the child.
Finally: put yourself in the parents' shoes. What if this were one of your children? Would you institutionalize your child because the neighbors did not understand the extent and scope of the child's condition?

Yes, God forbid that a homeowner would feel entitled to peaceful enjoyment of his home.

Seriously? You're chastising him for wanting peace and quiet during the night?

 

[Ladyback1]

Yes, God forbid that a homeowner would feel entitled to peaceful enjoyment of his home.

Seriously? You're chastising him for wanting peace and quiet during the night?

Nope, not chastising him for wanting quiet at nite.

Keep in mind that the other family has a right to the enjoyment of their home as well....
It could mean peaceful enjoyment for both parties if they actually communicated. The world might be a better place if, instead of talking about your neighbor, you talked with your neighbor.

I probably would not have even commented, except for the OP's question of 'how to pressure them to leave' and the OP's apparent ignorance regarding mental illness/disease.

 

[I'mTheFather]

Nope, not chastising him for wanting quiet at nite.

Keep in mind that the other family has a right to the enjoyment of their home as well....
It could mean peaceful enjoyment for both parties if they actually communicated. The world might be a better place if, instead of talking about your neighbor, you talked with your neighbor.

I probably would not have even commented, except for the OP's question of 'how to pressure them to leave' and the OP's apparent ignorance regarding mental illness/disease.

What difference does it make whether the OP understands mental illness or not? Furthermore, suggesting that OP offer to pay for the young man's treatment in order to get a good night's sleep is absolute rubbish and intended to denigrate OP.

 

[Proserpina]

I'm struggling to find a happy medium here.

On the one hand, it's no fun being the neighbor. On the other hand, it's no fun being the parent either.

I actually do see what Ladyback is getting at, too. And yes, I do wonder how we got from "noisy" to lives being threatened (!). That's a bit of a reach, non?

So OP. Have you gone over to introduce yourselves?

 

[I'mTheFather]

Nope, not chastising him for wanting quiet at nite.

Keep in mind that the other family has a right to the enjoyment of their home as well....
It could mean peaceful enjoyment for both parties if they actually communicated. The world might be a better place if, instead of talking about your neighbor, you talked with your neighbor.

I probably would not have even commented, except for the OP's question of 'how to pressure them to leave' and the OP's apparent ignorance regarding mental illness/disease.

Apparently, the other family isn't enjoying their home either, due to their son's behavior, if they leave whenever he's causing a scene that OP described.