I have already posted a previous question on here regarding my neighbour. The situation has declined; I have had to put my bed in my living-room and have been forced to sleep there for the last year and seven months due to the noise my neighbour makes all night long, dragging furniture across the floor, emptying wardrobes, internal doors constantly being slammed, and running the water in the bathroom repeatedly, and going out into the garden and watering the plants at 3am regardless of the temperature or the weather. Her behaviour is manic and frantic, and then she sleeps all day. Her son moved in once I got in touch with the authority, but he is a prolific cannabis user and just goes along with the dementia, so he is up all night and sleeps all day to. They only use the bedroom which is on the adjoining wall, to both live and sleep in, meaning the noise is on the wall all night long, I gather she has hoarded herself out of the rest of the property. I was expecting social services to have attended, but then the lockdown came in, and since then my Landlord has had no luck getting social services to attend. They ended up shutting the case after talking to the family, and since then the family have brought more of the hoard back into the property. My partner and I have also been threatened by the family to stop going to the authorities or they will harm us, I reported it to the police. The family have also taken photos of our cars, which has also been reported to the police. Now we can't park our cars near our home for fear they will be vandalised. The elderly neighbour has also accused me of stealing from her garden and threatened to stab and kill me, for which I telephoned the police again. She has previously threatened to kill another neighbour, and she has chased her own family members with knives. She has also called me a Dumba** B*tch, a whore, a hoe, and a C word. The family appear to be hiding the extent of her dementia from social services and I don't know why? She has been making accusations of theft towards most of the neighbours and her own family for years, her husband left several years ago because he couldn't put up with her dementia and hoarding. Most of the family do not work and smoke cannabis, they also supply it to their elderly grandmother which cannot be helping her paranoia. This has become more than just a neglected neighbour with dementia and hoarding, as the family are obviously refusing help for their mother, and as such the situation is not changing. After over 2 and a half years of sleepless nights and stress I don't know if to just move? The Landlord is only forwarded so much power, and unless social services intervenes then they can only treat it as an antisocial/noise issue, and serve warnings for the state of the property. The courts are not evicting people during the coronavirus. My own grandmother had dementia as did my partners father, and neither affected their neighbours because we looked after them, it is a difficult disease to deal with, and without support could drive you mad. The only thing that is keeping me here is that I love my home, and I have spent a lot of money on it, but if you are afraid, exhausted and cannot live in it for purpose then what's the point?
Can you afford to move? If you can, then I would. The situation is not going to get better as you can already attest to. The landlord only has so much power and the excessive stress is not good for your health.
I know what it's like to live with terrible neighbors that have no inclination of changing. We did it for 17 years and it ruined us in more ways than one. Severe anxiety, inability to sleep properly and more. Everything we did was a total waste. We loved our house at first too and we also, did our due diligence by checking out the neighborhood on weekdays, weekends, nights and mornings. We even walked around - nothing, until after we moved in. I had no idea we would have two sets of original neighbors that kept us under nearly 24 hour surveillance among one of them who did obsessive leaf blowing for 4 hours nearly everyday. Towards the last two years of living there, we were constantly on the run and leaving our house, our dog was always alone at that point and we dreaded returning. We had to take on two mortgages to even buy the house (it was our first house as a married couple). Believe me I was so angry that this happened to us.
We've been renting a house for nearly three years and it has been so peaceful and we have our privacy back. So that being said, reread the last part of your last sentence "...but if you are afraid, exhausted and cannot live in it for purpose then what's the point?"
Now, you should have your answer - I wish you the best in making your decision!
Not everything can be fixed. And bad neighbors almost NEVER can be fixed. At worst these situations can end up being a bad true crime episode on channel 179. Sorry, but looks like this problem will be ongoing. I would speak first with your landlord and say that it is down now to your needing to move due to this. That will be his clue that he must pull out ALL THE STOPS in an attempt to take care of this. But as well all know, the law often protects those we should be protected FROM (and of course it can go the other way as well.)
In addition, it's a tough time to try to evict someone.
I agree with posters that suggested moving. It may not be worth the hassle of trying to solve this issue.
I think you will be glad that you moved and wonder what took you so long to move away.
Best wishes to you.
If you're leasing, I would definitely consider moving, as it appears as though you've taken the necessary legal action but that hasn't helped. And given the uptick in viral cases, I don't think that law enforcement and other authorities are going to have extra time to deal with a noncompliant, troublemaking family.
But don't let the undesirables know you're leaving. If you can afford it, hire a moving company and get everything accomplished at once, and get out of there for good.
I hope you can find safety in this environment until you can escape from it. Best, and safe wishes to you.
My friend had issues with her landlord.. She tried very hard to peacefully resolve the issue without any luck. She started looking around. The place she really liked was recently rented. She wasn't familiar with the neighborhood and made a wrong turn and she just so happened to find an even better place. Not only was the rent affordable but it had just been renovated! So go for it. It can't hurt to at least look to see what else is available to you.
Best wishes to you.
Is it possible at your place for you to fence in your property with wood stockade or wall fencing? If it is then she will not only be unable to get on your property but will not be able to even see you coming and going. Talk to your other neighbors. If the lot of you get together and complain to the town you live in, they will take action. Maybe not immediately because of coronavirus but that excuse can only be used for so long. You might also do well to invest in a security system for your home with a few cameras around your property too. If one of them comes by and vandalizes your vehicles then it will be on the security footage and that can be shown to the cops and they will take action.
Even if moving is your last resort - you may be there.
Call the Police every night they're making excessive noise that the Police will be able to hear too.
Take the Neighbor to Court along with all the Police Reports and written complaints from other neighbors.
Have the other neighbors report the threats to the police.
Complain to their Landlord.
If you can't do the above or wait for them to move, then all that is left is for you to move.
Noise is one thing but hoarding can be a disaster. With some help from my friends I moved the very next day. I suggest you do the same before you wake to the same problem.
This is a hazard to you as well as other neighbors.
A lease that is signed between you and your landlord is a contract and in exchange for your rent he agrees to provide a safe, habitable place. This sounds like neither.
You could send him a letter indicating that since your current place is not safe, sanitary due to the conditions the neighbor is creating you are going to move out.
(If you move out without cause he could sue you, the letter and any other documentation you have proving unsafe or unsanitary conditions and proof that you have tried to get him/her to correct would probably go in your favor if the landlord were to take you to court)
I am surprised that APS has not taken more steps to protect this woman and make her safe as it does not sound like she is safe being cared for by the person that is supposed to be.
Look up "sunk cost fallacy" and then think honestly and realistically how you would feel if the problems continued another 3 or 6 months, or more. Think also about how it would feel to relocate and not have the chaos, drama, and threats.
It sounds horrible. Years ago I lived in a flat below a mentally ill woman and still remember it as one of the most stressful times of my life. I loved that apartment and yard, it was such a great place. But as sad as I was to leave it, I knew the situation had little likelihood of resolution, andI had no influence to make it change. And it was SUCH a blessing to no longer live with the anxiety, anger, and distraction that living there committed me to. I now live in an extraordinarily sane, quiet building and thank my lucky stars every day.
You say you love your home and have put in a lot of money, have adjoining walls with neighbors - so sounds like you bought a condo or apartment type unit while neighbor is only renting. Landlord of renter could have done something about this issue a long time ago, before covid. Most leases are 6 mos or 12 mos. If he had real concerns over the condition of his property he could have went month to month on her rent to give 30 day notice to vacate or refused to renew lease with her. He did neither. Probably because it's better for him to collect rent every month instead of cleaning up her mess and finding another renter.
You aren't getting help from landlord or police even though you asked long before covid was an issue. The threats are just threats until someone gets hurt and it's too late. That family is going to continue to make life miserable. The covid virus is not going away anytime soon, so with that issue holding up evictions now, the lady is not leaving. Get away from her. There's a place out there that you can love and have some peace of mind.
Good luck, keep us updated on progress!
Cheryl J. Wilson, M.S.
I would also call The Elder Abuse Hotline and report the son for financial abuse.
Call as many agencies as you can think of. The goal is to get lots of official people inside her unit. One of them will surely make something happen. If not, rinse and repeat with the calls.
I’ve had terrible neighbors before and I know it can take over your life and cause terrible stress. I worry the elderly lady will pass then you’ll be stuck with her son and the hoard is still there.
Then get out, move............remove yourself from this place as soon as humanly possible. It's a no brainer in my book. I'd have moved out after a month or two of this kind of chaos. How have you lasted years????
Good luck!