legalquestionreques1
New member
Somebody has been trespassing and harassing me at my apartment for a while now and my landlord/property management company has done little to help. The trespasser(s) have also been leaving items near my door on occasion even though I never consented to accepting any of it. This has happened over 10 times now and my landlord has been notified each time with calls to their office and/or emails with pictures of the items that were left near the apartment. This has all been happening for the better part of a year. All the landlord has done is the following: send me 2 images of who supposedly did this on only one of the many occasions this has happened and send out an email notice to the residents of the building informing them not to let in strangers. From my communications with the landlord, it appears the individual or individuals doing this are getting in each time when some resident lets them in. This keeps happening even after the email not to let strangers into the building was sent out. This has happened multiple times since.
My landlord insists that I go to the police, so I called 911 when I happened to be home one time when someone was trespassing outside my apartment, but the police did not consider it an emergency and transferred me to nonemergency even though I told them somebody was in the building trespassing and harassing at the time. I informed the cop I was transferred to of the situation, and they told me I had to go find the police and give them evidence for them to take some action. So far I have not gone to any police stations to do this, and I am not comfortable dealing with the police directly anyway. I have never had good experiences with the police and would prefer to avoid them whenever possible. I have made various suggestions to my landlord as to how they might deal with this situation. These suggestions include contacting the police themselves and showing the security recordings they have of the trespasser(s), as well as doing a better job of securing the building against trespassers by whatever means they think is best. This could include fining residents that they catch on security recordings letting in trespassers, having security at the entrances, or remotely monitoring the security cameras in the building near the entrances and contacting the police when a trespasser is spotted entering the building (they could probably do that from their office). I personally do not care how they deal with the trespasser as long as it gets dealt with and it is not my place to tell them what they should do in their building, but I have insisted that I want them to prevent whoever is doing this from further harassing me in their building at my home.
My landlord has sent me an email insisting that it is my responsibility to go to the police and get some sort of restraining order. I would like to mention that I have never confronted the trespassers at my apartment, nor do I advertise that I live there. The address of my apartment has always been kept confidential and I do not share this information with anyone other than those that must know. Essentially, only my landlord knows my address and the people that helped me move in would know it, but I requested that both parties keep this information confidential and never share it with anyone. I acknowledge that this information may have leaked, but there is nothing I can do about that since I do not control what others share.
Another important consideration is that I am of limited means and cannot afford an attorney, nor would it be easy or desirable for me to move. I prefer my current location because of the convinces it offers and do not wish to try to hide from somebody who seems to be after me.
I have so far informed my landlord that they should get rid of whatever items/junk is being left at my door without my consent. In response, my landlord has sent me an email telling me it is my responsibility to get rid of this stuff. It seems that the landlord refuses to contact the police on this matter even though they probably have plenty of evidence proving that someone has been committing acts of trespassing and harassment repeatedly against one of their residence. I have informed my landlord that if requested, I would be more than happy to affirm the fact that trespassing, harassment, and illegal dumping (the leaving of stuff in the common area near my apartment) have occurred on multiple occasions. I have made this clear enough in my emails to my landlord, but I do not want to deal with the police directly myself. When telling my landlord that they should contact the police, they essentially informed me that it was not their responsibility to do that and that they do not have the time for that. I am getting the impression that they are negligent in their duty to provide a safe living environment in their building by allowing this trespassing to continue even though they have been repeatedly informed of what has been going on including my requests for them to do what it takes to get this to stop.
I need to know if I am legally obligated to remove stuff that is left near my apartment without my consent? What is the best way to deal with this situation? Is my landlord being negligent to any extent by not stopping this trespasser and if so, do I have any recourse? Can my landlord demand that I remove stuff that is left without my consent and what are the legal consequences if I refuse to comply? I hate to create tension with my landlord because in every other regard this is a good place to live and I do not want problems for myself or my landlord, but somebody is going to have to get this to stop somehow. I would prefer if who is doing this was placed into custody and prosecuted. Can my landlord fine or evict me if I refuse to get rid of this junk that somebody keeps leaving near my apartment? I only refuse to because I am a paying resident and not a custodian in the build and should not have to dispose of stuff that I did not place in the common areas. Should I to go to a police station to report this? Am I legally obligated to go to the police to report this, and if so then how should I contact them because I already tried calling? If I have to contact the police to get this to stop then I would like to do it in a way that always me to keep as much distance between myself and the police as possible. For instance, it would be more convenient for me to email the police with the security camera images of the trespasser and my affirmation that this individual is trespassing/harassing and leaving their stuff in the hallways of the building or call the police or use some form of online filing through a police website than have to go to a police station. On a side note, I checked on my local police website, and they do not seem to have an online crime filing option for trespassing/harassment related crimes, so I am not sure how feasible the online filing option is. I do not want to call the police repeatedly and I refuse to “press charges” as my landlord insisted that I do because according to the sixth amendment the accused has a right to face their accuser and I do not want to even confirm to whoever this is that I live at the place they have been harassing (remember that I have not directly communicated with or confronted whoever is doing this since that could be dangerous for me). The following is my opinion, but it is worth stating that whoever is doing this trespassing and harassment seems to be obsessive and unstable to the extent that I would rather avoid any possible contact. I have made it clear to the police in my initial call that harassment and trespassing are happening. If this were to go to court, I would prefer not to be called as a witness since I do not want to deal with that if possible.
Edit: I need to note that this is not a delivery service doing this. This has been confirmed beyond any doubt through conversations I had with my landlord, from what they saw on the security cameras, and from the 2 images my landlord sent me of the trespasser during one of these instances of trespassing. The items/junk usually tend to be boxes/bags, and they never come with any labeling indicating a return address or who they are from. I took pictures of most of these items that were left and emailed them to my landlord. My landlord has also affirmed through conversations with them that this is trespassing since I have never granted anybody access to the building who would do this. I would prefer that my landlord gets the police involved since I do not know what I should do when it comes to police involvement. My landlord told me in an email, in no uncertain terms, that I am obligated to remove this stuff that is being left near my apartment. I have done this a few times at first, but I have gotten tired of doing it since I do not consent to stuff being left near my apartment, and I am not the custodian in the building. My lease does not indicate that I have to be removing stuff others leave near my door or apartment.
My biggest questions are the following 2 questions. How do I get this trespassing and harassment to stop permanently? Should I be worried that my landlord can fine or evict me if I explicitly refuse to remove this stuff that this trespasser/harasser keeps leaving near my apartment? Is my landlord negligent in allowing for this trespassing to continue for as long as it has over so many instances? Is my only option to go to a police station to deal with this or should I call the police to deal with this? Is there some government website I can visit to file a report about trespassing and harassment? What can I do to get my landlord to be more proactive about getting this trespassing to stop, while minimizing my involvement with this? I will note that my landlord refuses to go to the police themselves even though this would seem to be the best option since they are at least partially responsible for the security of the common areas.
My landlord insists that I go to the police, so I called 911 when I happened to be home one time when someone was trespassing outside my apartment, but the police did not consider it an emergency and transferred me to nonemergency even though I told them somebody was in the building trespassing and harassing at the time. I informed the cop I was transferred to of the situation, and they told me I had to go find the police and give them evidence for them to take some action. So far I have not gone to any police stations to do this, and I am not comfortable dealing with the police directly anyway. I have never had good experiences with the police and would prefer to avoid them whenever possible. I have made various suggestions to my landlord as to how they might deal with this situation. These suggestions include contacting the police themselves and showing the security recordings they have of the trespasser(s), as well as doing a better job of securing the building against trespassers by whatever means they think is best. This could include fining residents that they catch on security recordings letting in trespassers, having security at the entrances, or remotely monitoring the security cameras in the building near the entrances and contacting the police when a trespasser is spotted entering the building (they could probably do that from their office). I personally do not care how they deal with the trespasser as long as it gets dealt with and it is not my place to tell them what they should do in their building, but I have insisted that I want them to prevent whoever is doing this from further harassing me in their building at my home.
My landlord has sent me an email insisting that it is my responsibility to go to the police and get some sort of restraining order. I would like to mention that I have never confronted the trespassers at my apartment, nor do I advertise that I live there. The address of my apartment has always been kept confidential and I do not share this information with anyone other than those that must know. Essentially, only my landlord knows my address and the people that helped me move in would know it, but I requested that both parties keep this information confidential and never share it with anyone. I acknowledge that this information may have leaked, but there is nothing I can do about that since I do not control what others share.
Another important consideration is that I am of limited means and cannot afford an attorney, nor would it be easy or desirable for me to move. I prefer my current location because of the convinces it offers and do not wish to try to hide from somebody who seems to be after me.
I have so far informed my landlord that they should get rid of whatever items/junk is being left at my door without my consent. In response, my landlord has sent me an email telling me it is my responsibility to get rid of this stuff. It seems that the landlord refuses to contact the police on this matter even though they probably have plenty of evidence proving that someone has been committing acts of trespassing and harassment repeatedly against one of their residence. I have informed my landlord that if requested, I would be more than happy to affirm the fact that trespassing, harassment, and illegal dumping (the leaving of stuff in the common area near my apartment) have occurred on multiple occasions. I have made this clear enough in my emails to my landlord, but I do not want to deal with the police directly myself. When telling my landlord that they should contact the police, they essentially informed me that it was not their responsibility to do that and that they do not have the time for that. I am getting the impression that they are negligent in their duty to provide a safe living environment in their building by allowing this trespassing to continue even though they have been repeatedly informed of what has been going on including my requests for them to do what it takes to get this to stop.
I need to know if I am legally obligated to remove stuff that is left near my apartment without my consent? What is the best way to deal with this situation? Is my landlord being negligent to any extent by not stopping this trespasser and if so, do I have any recourse? Can my landlord demand that I remove stuff that is left without my consent and what are the legal consequences if I refuse to comply? I hate to create tension with my landlord because in every other regard this is a good place to live and I do not want problems for myself or my landlord, but somebody is going to have to get this to stop somehow. I would prefer if who is doing this was placed into custody and prosecuted. Can my landlord fine or evict me if I refuse to get rid of this junk that somebody keeps leaving near my apartment? I only refuse to because I am a paying resident and not a custodian in the build and should not have to dispose of stuff that I did not place in the common areas. Should I to go to a police station to report this? Am I legally obligated to go to the police to report this, and if so then how should I contact them because I already tried calling? If I have to contact the police to get this to stop then I would like to do it in a way that always me to keep as much distance between myself and the police as possible. For instance, it would be more convenient for me to email the police with the security camera images of the trespasser and my affirmation that this individual is trespassing/harassing and leaving their stuff in the hallways of the building or call the police or use some form of online filing through a police website than have to go to a police station. On a side note, I checked on my local police website, and they do not seem to have an online crime filing option for trespassing/harassment related crimes, so I am not sure how feasible the online filing option is. I do not want to call the police repeatedly and I refuse to “press charges” as my landlord insisted that I do because according to the sixth amendment the accused has a right to face their accuser and I do not want to even confirm to whoever this is that I live at the place they have been harassing (remember that I have not directly communicated with or confronted whoever is doing this since that could be dangerous for me). The following is my opinion, but it is worth stating that whoever is doing this trespassing and harassment seems to be obsessive and unstable to the extent that I would rather avoid any possible contact. I have made it clear to the police in my initial call that harassment and trespassing are happening. If this were to go to court, I would prefer not to be called as a witness since I do not want to deal with that if possible.
Edit: I need to note that this is not a delivery service doing this. This has been confirmed beyond any doubt through conversations I had with my landlord, from what they saw on the security cameras, and from the 2 images my landlord sent me of the trespasser during one of these instances of trespassing. The items/junk usually tend to be boxes/bags, and they never come with any labeling indicating a return address or who they are from. I took pictures of most of these items that were left and emailed them to my landlord. My landlord has also affirmed through conversations with them that this is trespassing since I have never granted anybody access to the building who would do this. I would prefer that my landlord gets the police involved since I do not know what I should do when it comes to police involvement. My landlord told me in an email, in no uncertain terms, that I am obligated to remove this stuff that is being left near my apartment. I have done this a few times at first, but I have gotten tired of doing it since I do not consent to stuff being left near my apartment, and I am not the custodian in the building. My lease does not indicate that I have to be removing stuff others leave near my door or apartment.
My biggest questions are the following 2 questions. How do I get this trespassing and harassment to stop permanently? Should I be worried that my landlord can fine or evict me if I explicitly refuse to remove this stuff that this trespasser/harasser keeps leaving near my apartment? Is my landlord negligent in allowing for this trespassing to continue for as long as it has over so many instances? Is my only option to go to a police station to deal with this or should I call the police to deal with this? Is there some government website I can visit to file a report about trespassing and harassment? What can I do to get my landlord to be more proactive about getting this trespassing to stop, while minimizing my involvement with this? I will note that my landlord refuses to go to the police themselves even though this would seem to be the best option since they are at least partially responsible for the security of the common areas.
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