What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
My question I feel is a fairly simple one, but has a ton of background knowledge that is unquestionably relevant; I will try to include as much necessary information possible.
Question: On what grounds can I take a neighbor to small claims court for being psychologically abusive and otherwise unruly in general?
Most important points;
1) My girlfriend, her sister, and I - all college student - inhabit a small fifth-floor apartment in Manhattan.
2) Our neighbor is actually the resident that lives directly below us and has complained about noise levels coming from our apartment for quite some time now. His complaints include, but are not limited to:
a) a suitcase rolling across our floor at 10 pm - which was one of us returning home from a trip.
b) loud footsteps in the morning that apparently was disrupting his daughters studying time - it was 10:45 am on a Friday.
c) talking in the hallway at a reasonable* decibel as we ascend the five-floors to our apartment - he lives on the fourth floor.
d) Smelling heavy Marijuana smoke that makes him uneasy because his "daughter is a minor."
e) After some plumbing of ours began to malfunction - which incidentally lead to some muck hitting him on the head - he claims that we had the muck hit him intentionally.
f) He once emphatically complained about noise coming from our apartment when we weren't home - and have the bus tickets to prove it.
I would like to mention that - as college students - we do have company over from time to time and sometimes we do have to remind our guests (usually of no more than two - three people )to be quiet. However, his most vocal complaints have nothing to do with these times.
3) His responses consist of:
a) Running up to our apartment, banging on the door and retreating back to his apartment before we have a chance to open the door.
b) Turning his speakers around in his ceiling to orient towards our apartment, crank them to maximum volume, and leave for over thirty-six hours while the music blared into our apartment ( he has another residence in NJ he stays at primarily ). We called the police a total of seven times when this happened but they could not do anything about the music until he returned and when he did he was incredibly uncooperative and very inebriated.
c) We have been verbally assaulted by him and his family for walking around our apartment at 10:50 am on a Friday.
As it pertains to my original question, my girlfriend - who admittedly is an emotionally delicate person in general - has developed a complex about any noise coming from our apartment - including, but not limited to: The television volume, when it is only barilly audible from our couch, ten ft away; running the sink water to long because he might hear it; locking our door too abruptly because the sound of the lock could disturb him, etc. On numerous occasions she has spoken to her psychologist about the extent to which his reactions disturb not only her, but our entire apartment's standard of living.
We have proof of:
- Not being present during one of this complaints
- Police reports of the incident with the incessant noise.
- Attempts on our part to ameliorate the situation completely by offering our phone numbers to him so he can call us or text us to let us know when we are making noise. We sent him an email stating such with our building management as co-recipients.
- Making complaints about not only the suitcase, but also his complaining about footsteps at 10:50 am on a Friday.
He has zero proof of there being issues with Marijuana smoke coming from our apartment.
We have legitimate concerns for his sanity in general. While almost every single complaint of his appears to lack reason entirely, the most noteworthy example of this is when the muck from our sink hit him on the head, he left his apartment - still covered in the muck - and took a bus immediately to our building's management company to show them in-person what we did to him "intentionally." Off the record, the CEO of our management company has said that our neighbor is clearly a very mentally ill man.
Do we have a case here to sue him in small claims court using psychological distress as our motive behind doing such?
If so, while being financially compensated is something we are not interested in - as much as making a point and finally putting an end to his Bull Shxt - what would a reasonable amount be to ask for without seeming avaricious but also without letting him "get off easy" should a judgement be ruled in our favor?
For something like this, would it be better to represent ourselves in small claims court, or to get a lawyer? Would a lawyer accept a contingent fee for something like this?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I look forward to any responses that may come of this.
My question I feel is a fairly simple one, but has a ton of background knowledge that is unquestionably relevant; I will try to include as much necessary information possible.
Question: On what grounds can I take a neighbor to small claims court for being psychologically abusive and otherwise unruly in general?
Most important points;
1) My girlfriend, her sister, and I - all college student - inhabit a small fifth-floor apartment in Manhattan.
2) Our neighbor is actually the resident that lives directly below us and has complained about noise levels coming from our apartment for quite some time now. His complaints include, but are not limited to:
a) a suitcase rolling across our floor at 10 pm - which was one of us returning home from a trip.
b) loud footsteps in the morning that apparently was disrupting his daughters studying time - it was 10:45 am on a Friday.
c) talking in the hallway at a reasonable* decibel as we ascend the five-floors to our apartment - he lives on the fourth floor.
d) Smelling heavy Marijuana smoke that makes him uneasy because his "daughter is a minor."
e) After some plumbing of ours began to malfunction - which incidentally lead to some muck hitting him on the head - he claims that we had the muck hit him intentionally.
f) He once emphatically complained about noise coming from our apartment when we weren't home - and have the bus tickets to prove it.
I would like to mention that - as college students - we do have company over from time to time and sometimes we do have to remind our guests (usually of no more than two - three people )to be quiet. However, his most vocal complaints have nothing to do with these times.
3) His responses consist of:
a) Running up to our apartment, banging on the door and retreating back to his apartment before we have a chance to open the door.
b) Turning his speakers around in his ceiling to orient towards our apartment, crank them to maximum volume, and leave for over thirty-six hours while the music blared into our apartment ( he has another residence in NJ he stays at primarily ). We called the police a total of seven times when this happened but they could not do anything about the music until he returned and when he did he was incredibly uncooperative and very inebriated.
c) We have been verbally assaulted by him and his family for walking around our apartment at 10:50 am on a Friday.
As it pertains to my original question, my girlfriend - who admittedly is an emotionally delicate person in general - has developed a complex about any noise coming from our apartment - including, but not limited to: The television volume, when it is only barilly audible from our couch, ten ft away; running the sink water to long because he might hear it; locking our door too abruptly because the sound of the lock could disturb him, etc. On numerous occasions she has spoken to her psychologist about the extent to which his reactions disturb not only her, but our entire apartment's standard of living.
We have proof of:
- Not being present during one of this complaints
- Police reports of the incident with the incessant noise.
- Attempts on our part to ameliorate the situation completely by offering our phone numbers to him so he can call us or text us to let us know when we are making noise. We sent him an email stating such with our building management as co-recipients.
- Making complaints about not only the suitcase, but also his complaining about footsteps at 10:50 am on a Friday.
He has zero proof of there being issues with Marijuana smoke coming from our apartment.
We have legitimate concerns for his sanity in general. While almost every single complaint of his appears to lack reason entirely, the most noteworthy example of this is when the muck from our sink hit him on the head, he left his apartment - still covered in the muck - and took a bus immediately to our building's management company to show them in-person what we did to him "intentionally." Off the record, the CEO of our management company has said that our neighbor is clearly a very mentally ill man.
Do we have a case here to sue him in small claims court using psychological distress as our motive behind doing such?
If so, while being financially compensated is something we are not interested in - as much as making a point and finally putting an end to his Bull Shxt - what would a reasonable amount be to ask for without seeming avaricious but also without letting him "get off easy" should a judgement be ruled in our favor?
For something like this, would it be better to represent ourselves in small claims court, or to get a lawyer? Would a lawyer accept a contingent fee for something like this?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I look forward to any responses that may come of this.