Neighbor advice please

[dakcp2001]

I want to be polite, but am too angry right now. I want to give this person the benefit of the doubt but am having a hard time. They know this is an issue, but yet they do nothing to stop it.

Background: Apartment complex, same car alarm goes off every single night between 11 pm and 1am. Usually stays on for about 20-25 minutes before getting turned off. Just long enough for all the neighbors to wake up, babies to start crying, and everyone to come out on the porches to commiserate with each other that is is the same car yet again.

I get up at 5am to go to work, and out of the last 7 shifts, I have been woken up by this car alarm 5 out of the 7 nights. I am off today, but last night yet again, same stupid car alarm. And there is a newborn downstairs, so car alarm goes off, baby starts to scream and there is no getting back to sleep. Makes for a rough morning. The poor lady downstairs is starting to lose it, she wants to vandalize the car. I kind of wish she would lol. This has been going on since I moved in, so over a month now. Neighbors say its been going on longer than that.

I complained to the complex, they said they have gotten numerous complaints and have given a notice to the apartment about it several times. But yet nothing is getting done. Last night several of my nieghbors have started working on a revenge plot. Everyone out on the porch thinking up ideas of how to make this car dissapear.

So what else can I do? I'd hate to bother the police, but this needs to stop. Should I leave a letter on the windshield? Call the police? Push the car off a cliff?

 

[ols386]

I want to be polite, but am too angry right now. I want to give this person the benefit of the doubt but am having a hard time. They know this is an issue, but yet they do nothing to stop it.

Background: Apartment complex, same car alarm goes off every single night between 11 pm and 1am. Usually stays on for about 20-25 minutes before getting turned off. Just long enough for all the neighbors to wake up, babies to start crying, and everyone to come out on the porches to commiserate with each other that is is the same car yet again.

I get up at 5am to go to work, and out of the last 7 shifts, I have been woken up by this car alarm 5 out of the 7 nights. I am off today, but last night yet again, same stupid car alarm. And there is a newborn downstairs, so car alarm goes off, baby starts to scream and there is no getting back to sleep. Makes for a rough morning. The poor lady downstairs is starting to lose it, she wants to vandalize the car. I kind of wish she would lol. This has been going on since I moved in, so over a month now. Neighbors say its been going on longer than that.

I complained to the complex, they said they have gotten numerous complaints and have given a notice to the apartment about it several times. But yet nothing is getting done. Last night several of my nieghbors have started working on a revenge plot. Everyone out on the porch thinking up ideas of how to make this car dissapear.

So what else can I do? I'd hate to bother the police, but this needs to stop. Should I leave a letter on the windshield? Call the police? Push the car off a cliff?

If the apartment complex management isn't doing something about it by now, I would notify the policy (but not by dialing 9-1-1, just calling the local police), and ask if they can take care of it. That would drive me nuts.

 

[chattyann]

Why not write a letter and have everyone in the complex who is bothered by it sign it, then keep a copy and put the other on the car that is the issue or tape it to their door? Then if that does not work call the police.

Why isn't the complex enforcing anything? Do you have a lease and does it say anything about complaints made against other tennants? It seems that after so many complaints there should be consequences.

 

[tlbwriter]

Find out who owns the car. When the alarm goes off, go beat on their door until they get up and turn it off.

 

[Hannathy]

I don't know what area you live in but has anyone spoken to the people themselves? ( I know some parts of this country you wouldn't do this out of fear for your life) I would think this would be a good place to start and I would keep calling the apartment complex and every single neighbor should do it every day! You know the old squeaky wheel gets the grease. When they have to take 30 calls off the answering machine every morning they will work harder at doing something about it. If those all fail I would call the non emergency police number during the day and just ask the police to swing by on their patrol and hear it, it may be louder than the noise ordinance permits and they could cite the people or at least pay them a visit.

 

[dakcp2001]

Find out who owns the car. When the alarm goes off, go beat on their door until they get up and turn it off.

I think that could be dangerous (for them), since I am usually quite enraged when awoken in the middle of the night. I should bring all the porch people with me. lol. An angry mob beating on the door, I am starting to like this idea. Maybe we could bring torches and sticks to poke her with.

 

[tlbwriter]

I think that could be dangerous (for them), since I am usually quite enraged when awoken in the middle of the night. I should bring all the porch people with me. lol. An angry mob beating on the door, I am starting to like this idea. Maybe we could bring torches and sticks to poke her with.

And pitchforks. Don't forget pitchforks.

 

[jrmasm]

I think that could be dangerous (for them), since I am usually quite enraged when awoken in the middle of the night. I should bring all the porch people with me. lol. An angry mob beating on the door, I am starting to like this idea. Maybe we could bring torches and sticks to poke her with.

You should total do that.

 

[wendy46001]

And pitchforks. Don't forget pitchforks.

Exactly

seriously strength in numbers. Call the police see what they say, the alarm doesn’t have to be going off to notify them of the issue
but when you are all up in the middle of the night have everyone go
its very unlikely the person will give you all hard time with such a large group

 

[dakcp2001]

I don't know what area you live in but has anyone spoken to the people themselves? ( I know some parts of this country you wouldn't do this out of fear for your life) I would think this would be a good place to start and I would keep calling the apartment complex and every single neighbor should do it every day! You know the old squeaky wheel gets the grease. When they have to take 30 calls off the answering machine every morning they will work harder at doing something about it. If those all fail I would call the non emergency police number during the day and just ask the police to swing by on their patrol and hear it, it may be louder than the noise ordinance permits and they could cite the people or at least pay them a visit.

Our lease actually states that we are never to voice our complaints or "confront" neighbors ourselves, we are to report any issues to management and they will handle it. Since they have not handled it, I am thinking angry mob is the way to go. I am new to this area (and state) and I hate to be the mob leader, but well, lack of sleep can change a person.

 

[Scurvy]

Our lease actually states that we are never to voice our complaints or "confront" neighbors ourselves, we are to report any issues to management and they will handle it. Since they have not handled it, I am thinking angry mob is the way to go. I am new to this area (and state) and I hate to be the mob leader, but well, lack of sleep can change a person.

Do you have a home number for management or just an office number? If you have a home number, I'd start making this a problem for them as well and I would call them every single time the alarm goes off. If you just have an office number, I'd file a complaint the morning after each time the alarm goes off. I would also call the police to find out if the alarm would be considered a noise violation. And if the management still didn't do anything to stop the problem and the police wouldn't fine the offenders, I would be looking through my lease to find some way to get out of it so I could move away.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I think you should get the angry mob together and all take one day off from work so everyone can sleep in. Then you should all gather outside and set that alarm off repeatedly throughout the night so the people have to get up constantly. Every time they shut it off, someone go bump the car and trigger it again. I figure after one, or possibly two nights, they'll get the hint. You could also call the police each time it goes off.

If that doesn't work I suggest paying a few of the neighborhood kids to toilet paper their car (and their car only) on Mischief Night (if that's something you have in your area). (insert evil laugh here)

 

[sbell111]

I'd probably move.

 

[Planogirl]

You would think that the owner of the car would be sick of this themselves and would do something about it.

I would at the very least keep badgering the management. They really should do something about it.

 

[tlbwriter]

Okay, so don't "confront" them. "Advise" them. Just the way you'd "advise" them if you noticed they had a flat tire. Very politely. With pitchforks.

But like someone else said, if you have a 24 hr number for management, I would definitely call that every single time.

 

[agnes!]

Forget the management, they've already proven their uselessness.

Every single person who has gathered on their porches in the middle of the night MUST call the police non-emergency number to make a standing complaint NOW. Then when it happens again, EVERYONE *must* already have the non-emergency number on speed-dial and start calling when that darn thing goes off. In our area, if people have car alarms or house alarms go off without cause they can be cited for disturbing the peace.

Do not in any way confront the neighbors yourself.

agnes!

 

[Heidict]

Are there video cameras in or around the parking lot? Because it would be a shame for them to not be able to review them to see how the heck their tire got punctured and flattened.

 

[mjkacmom]

We have a neighbor up the street who's home alarm would go off every 15 minutes for 4 days/nights straight, and it happened a few times! We called the police, and they said they couldn't cut the power. My neighbor write a letter, letting them know that she could be used as the emergency contact when they go away, but they never got back to her. I had babies at the time, and I was ready to strangle those people, especially during nap time!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Stay on management.

We had upstairs neighbors that had 1) pets (and no pets allowed...) 2) musical instruments (guitars and pianos were specific no-nos in our lease) and 3) fought visciously, usually between the hours of 1 and 3 a.m.

I called our landlord 2 times a week until they were vacated from the property. The first several came unanswered, but after I threatened to call the cops on them during one of their "disagreements" they were evicted by the end of the month.

If it comes down to it, write out a petition, have your neighbors sign it and submit it to your landlord. After that point, you have all done what you could to take care of the situation on your part. At that point would it be proper to involve the authorities.

 

[jen0610]

Forget the management, they've already proven their uselessness.

Every single person who has gathered on their porches in the middle of the night MUST call the police non-emergency number to make a standing complaint NOW. Then when it happens again, EVERYONE *must* already have the non-emergency number on speed-dial and start calling when that darn thing goes off. In our area, if people have car alarms or house alarms go off without cause they can be cited for disturbing the peace.

Do not in any way confront the neighbors yourself.

agnes!

This is exactly what I would be doing, as we have the same disturbing the peace ticket and towing for repeat offenders. And as soon as I hung up from the police, I would be calling the office and leaving a message on the issue, so that they could hear the horn blowing in the background.

Are there video cameras in or around the parking lot? Because it would be a shame for them to not be able to review them to see how the heck their tire got punctured and flattened.

You don't have to actually puncture the tire. There's this handy-dandy little tool called a stem puller and it works wonders. Take the cap off the air valve stem and pull out the center little plug and the air all comes out.