Hello all,

I was looking for advice from you fine folks, you have probably experienced situations like this before.

About a month ago, a neighbor to my left was making a loud banging noise at various hours of the day.

 From in my apartment it wasn't that bad, I guess the resident above, he was not as lucky,
 I guess they contacted the police (as i guess it sounded Domestic Violence related). My wife and I were not home but, my baby sitter said police arrived and knocked on the door to open up, they ignored the cop, the officer requested and he was ignored again, evidently the banging got louder, and this time the officer drew his firearm on the door and demanded they open the door (pretty crazy as I reviewed my camera footage when i got home lol). Evidently it was a kid bouncing a basketball off of the walls...

It was over, or so i thought. The bastards started bouncing the ball near the wall near me, I was going to tell them to cut it off but the resident that called the cops the first time, asked them to knock it off. They parents said "oh, yes sorry..." and as soon as the guy walked back upstairs, the kid was back at it. Later that day I called Management (as talking to these bastards was not going to do much) and informed them of the situation, management said they would write a letter and if they did it again they would possibly evict them. My neighbors bounced the ball once again, I sent an email to management and received no response. The bouncing of the ball died down but still occurs once every few days.
Sorry, that’s not all. Yesterday morning, I went to sit down and work on my college assignments and my feet were suddenly greeted by a large puddle of water!
I knocked on their door (puddle coming out of the front door too) to inform them of this crap… The woman immediately started sweeping the water outside and didn’t even call management to assist, I called management as the flood was getting worse. I asked the maintenance worker WTF was going on and he told me, they were flushing various items down the toilet that were not meant to be flushed. Furious after hearing this, I went to the front office and explained all of this.

They acted concerned and said they would speak to the manager and call me back… I never received a call…
My laptop charger was on the floor at the time and thankfully I was not electrocuted. My charger seems fine too.
What would you guys do in this situation? I spent 2 hours vacuuming up the toilet water, could have been electrocuted and the boarders on the wall are now stained with their toilet water…And I also heard the ball bouncing on the wall later yesterday night…

You have issues at a couple of levels. Lets start with the sound.

You can call the police and if it persists after warnings a citation for disorderly conduct can be issued. If that doesn't work then they can be arrested for disorderly conduct. Keep in mind though that if the guy making the noise is a juvie, they will be arrested and returned back to their parents anyway. So that is the police side. Next is the association rules which should cover unreasonable noise. They can issue warnings and citations for these things. If the resident manager is not taking action then take it to the board. (I am on the board of a condo association)

Next is the water damage. Document all damage in case you have to go after their insurance. Get a report from the resident manager that states that the leak came from wrong items being flushed down the toilet because this will show that it was negligence that caused the damage, not just an old pipe. This matters because it helps you to go after their insurance instead of just going to yours because if you go to yours you might likely have to eat the deductible. Also keep in mind that even if you got all the water off the floor, the drywall might be soaked which could then lead to mold. If you suspect it that bad, ask their insurance for a damage inspector to come in and then they will check moisture content of the drywall. If not dried out soon, it could turn to mold.

If the resident manager or the worker is not doing their job in communicating concerning the leak then go to the board. Keep in mind that a resident manager is a hard job, they may have many issues on their plate at once with the frequent emergency thrown on top.

eyeeatingfish,


I appreciate the information, I had no idea I could involve their insurance, as well as, an inspection for mold. Thank you!

If they are renters you'd be lucky if they have any insurance. If they are uninsured renters you'd have to see if you could go after the owners homeowners policy.

If they are renters you'd be lucky if they have any insurance. If they are uninsured renters you'd have to see if you could go after the owners homeowners policy.

or the associations insurance which wold go after the "bad "tenant.

Hey, is this the neighbor who was dry firing outside ?
 

or the associations insurance which wold go after the "bad "tenant.

Hey, is this the neighbor who was dry firing outside ?
 

I don't think the association insurance can be held responsible for a bad tenant. I suppose you could sue the association for failing to maintain a certain standard though. But as far as an idiot clogging the toilet with objects, that is not going to fall on the association.

How old is this guy in question anyway?

It is an entire family, from 50 down to 15 years of age... So I raised hell, and so far so good, but, the folks to my right are just as bad, yelling at all times of the day and their dogs bark most of the time, even when someone walks by, the dogs bark. I looked up the laws for my city and  willful yelling and shouting are not allowed...

Also, most of the people who own dogs, let them deficate on the sidewalks and within other parts of the common areas. I had my dash cam rolling when a woman let her dog śhit, and did not clean it up, just walked back in her home like it was fine. There is no association here, as I live in an apartment complex.

Is there a possibility the unit can evict me for addressing these concerns? My wife said that, and I thought she was being ridiculous... If non of these issues are addressed I should get an attorney, I am a full time college student now, so it will be difficult to find spare time to move.

It is an entire family, from 50 down to 15 years of age... So I raised hell, and so far so good, but, the folks to my right are just as bad, yelling at all times of the day and their dogs bark most of the time, even when someone walks by, the dogs bark. I looked up the laws for my city and  willful yelling and shouting are not allowed...

Also, most of the people who own dogs, let them deficate on the sidewalks and within other parts of the common areas. I had my dash cam rolling when a woman let her dog śhit, and did not clean it up, just walked back in her home like it was fine. There is no association here, as I live in an apartment complex.

Is there a possibility the unit can evict me for addressing these concerns? My wife said that, and I thought she was being ridiculous... If non of these issues are addressed I should get an attorney, I am a full time college student now, so it will be difficult to find spare time to move.

So the whole complex is apartments only? If that is the case and they are under a single owner then I am not sure if you have much recourse. If the complex owner doesn't make or enforce house rules then there isn't much you can do about it. THe landlord could decide not to renew your lease if you complain too much but you just reporting violations repeatedly should not violate your rental agreement.

You could talk to an attorney but I don't think there will be much in the way of damages for just having loud neighbors. But you would have to pay the lawyer upfront most likely.

For noise and animal noise issues you can call the police. They will come out and if possible they will address the issue. If they have to come out repeatedly then they will stop giving just warnings and issue citations.

I don't know what city you are in though and their rules, I am speaking for Honolulu.