Last night was the straw that broke the camels back.
We moved into out new apartment over 4th of July weekend. Things were fine up until the neighbor got pregnant and quit smoking. Ever since then I get a weekly phone call from the landlord because the lady next door and her husband claim we are smoking in the house. Now they have taken it to a new level and have begun blaming it on my son.
Last night about 6:30 pm I pull in my drive way and see my landlords SUV. I never got a phone call so I assumed that it was really nothing, that until he knocked on my door. Once again for the 6th (atleast) time our neighbors have accused us of smoking in the house. This time is different though, my landlord says that you could smell it as soon as the basement door was opened. So of course the come over here and it smells a little like smoke but not like over there. Hmmm, I am a smoker and I had just had a cigarette before I came in the house! I have never smoked in this house once, my husband made the mistake of smoking in the basement along time ago and ever since then it has been non stop accusations of smoking in the basement. I was also told by the landlord that that they (neighbors) called on the other tenants and awful lot too. I almost wonder if this is what they do to people. I remember the tenant before me wished us good luck and when I questioned what she meant by that she smiled and said "I hope you will be happy here." Now I know why she said that! Last week when the landlord came over for the same issue, his attitude was different towards us. He came over and sniffed basement and nothing, no issue on our side. Apparently their side smelled like a dirty disposable diaper due to the rotting and moldy pumpkins in their breeze way. Now we are the bad guys, it was written all over the face of my landlord.
Quite honestly I feel like I am being harassed now. There is NOTHING in my lease that says I cannot smoke in the house even if I wanted to. We chose not to smoke because of the central air conditioning, not because it is in the lease. Now they claim that it is my son, why would a kid smoke in the house when his own mother and step father don't smoke in the house...helloo!! So now I am stuck, I don't know what to do besides move, I have been here 5 months and I am sure it will not stop. Pretty sad, that's for sure..
What do I do?? Wait it out, move out. I guess those are my options and it is not fair. How can they get away with this??
Oooohhh... nightmare neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you because I had a neighbor like that before - kind one moment and demented the next.
To end my problem, I moved out. There's no other way, really.
We are prepared to move. After the holidays though.
ReplyDeleteMost cities have some sort of tenants' rights association. See if your city does and give them a call. Unless there is something in your lease or some city ordinance that prohibits smoking in your house, neither your landlord nor your neighbors have grounds for complaint.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are experiencing is nothing short of harassment, and you should not stand for it.
Len, thanks for your suggestion. I will call the city and find out. There is nothing in our lease that says we cannot smoke. We chose not to first and foremost for the health of my son and the apartment we live in (duplex) has central air and we did not want that constant smell of cigarette smoke.
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