Accidents Happen
I’m not sure if I’m in the wrong here so I’ll let you be the judge. I’ll give a bit of a backstory before I start. I’m a disabled female (incomplete quadriplegic in a wheelchair). I live in a 20-unit complex with upstairs and downstairs neighbors, and I’m in a downstairs unit.
I’ve lived here since 2013 when the units were first built. I’m quiet and mostly keep to myself. My unit has one bedroom, a bathroom, and a lounge room/ kitchen area. Barely enough room to swing a cat but it’s all been built for my needs and it works well for me.
Around the start of 2019, these new tenants moved into the unit directly above mine. From the start of their tenancy, they’ve been nothing but a pain. There’s a mother (60-year-old), a daughter (30-year-old), the daughter’s boyfriend, and a large dog in a unit the same size as mine.
The first week they were ok, but then they started their ridiculous behavior. Throwing their rubbish over the balcony into my backyard. Using my backyard as their own ashtray. Tipping their dirty dishwater over their balcony, sometimes tipping the water onto my clothesline.
Fighting constantly, slamming their doors. Leaving their dog out on their balcony most of the time, making the dog howl and bark for most of the day. Drinking excessively, which made their fighting and other bad behavior worse. Dropping their clothes over their balcony.
I talked to the tenants and asked them nicely not to drop things into my backyard. When they answered me, I wanted to scream. They claimed to not know what I was talking about but promised to keep an eye out. This stopped them doing it for a while, but a few months later, it started again.
I gave up asking them directly and went to the landlord as a mediator. I started to become scared of the man that was up there, as officers were called multiple times when he would get violent.
And then the world turned to poop and things got worse. Lockdown was enforced in my state in March until mid-June, which is when their fighting started getting worse. They began drinking more and I suspect they were using other substances.
A few days after lockdown is when they started playing their music. Having units so close together makes hearing music and other noises inevitable. But they had a boombox that played so loudly that my floors would rattle and wearing earplugs did nothing to dampen the noise.
This went on for three months from 10 am until 10 pm and sometimes even longer. I reached my breaking point. I made countless noise complaints to the authorities, the council, and the landlord. All of which did nothing until I made an official noise complaint to the authorities.
The tenets were given a six-month noise abatement order. Breaking the order would result in their eviction. This quieted them down for a little while at least. Now that you know where I’m coming from, this is what happened. Yesterday I found a note scrunched up at my front door.
At first, I thought it was rubbish that had been blown there but then I noticed there was writing on it. I had a look and instantly rolled my eyes. It said: “This is [unit number]. I dropped a brown nightgown into your backyard. Will you bring it back to us”?
I had a look for it and it was around the side of my backyard along the grass down a slope. There was no way that I could access where it was sitting. The tenants know I’m in a wheelchair. This is where I got petty about it. I called the landlord and asked if they could contact the tenant on my behalf.
I would have had no problem if the tenant knocked on my door and asked to get it themselves. I’m not a total cow and I told the landlord that. The landlord relayed the message and called me back, telling me that the tenant suggested that one of my care workers get it for them.
Which I said no to, as it’s not their job. In the end, one of the other neighbors got it for me and gave it back to them. I know I was petty about it but I just wanted them to be an adult and fetch their own stuff and not expect me or anyone else to do it for them.
I understand that accidents happen but after the heck they’ve put me through I didn’t feel like doing them any more favors.
Story credit: Reddit / fredzred