The trouble with neighbours

there was a huge furore outside my flat this morning - don't suppose you heard it mark? my downstairs neighbour's brother was going absolutely mental - i'd never seen the brother before, but the downstairs neighbour is fairly crazy, guy in his 50s, smokes weed all day, shouts at his wife and kids, probably violent, certainly sounds that way. for about 20 mins (and i left for work as it continued) the brother was outside the flat shouting up at my neighbour "you fucking pussyhole crackhead, come down here and i'll fucking kill you. you insult my wife, you beat your wife, you're a fat dumb cunt, i'm going to fuck you in the bum you pussyhole crackhead."

it was pretty insane - at one point some people tried to reason with the brother, i heard a posh voice say something that included "civilised human beings" in it which basically felt like racism to me. i did for a second think about advising the brother to maybe leave it, given someone was surely bound to call the police.

was a strange morning, knowing what i do of the neighbour, i'm inclined to believe the brother had legitimate grievance, and the ferocity of his anger suggested a long frustration with having such a c*** for a brother. i suggested to my flatmate i go down and pay the brother £20 then let him into the building to do his worst.

yes i did! just as a noise in the distance though, till i realised it had been going on for a LOOOONG time -- can't see that bit of the road from my flat so i went up on the roof to rubberneck, just as the shouting guy got into his car and drove off, laughing in a kind of loudly despairing way :(

laughing in a kind of loudly despairing way

hmm, board description or screen name?

given someone was surely bound to call the police

not i think just for shouting, even prolonged shouting -- there's quite a lot of that (which is why it didn't really register immediately with me)… ppl often yell up and down the passage, coming from or going into the square: the sound bounces right up into my front rooms (which is why i work at the back, where it sounds much further off), and i think most hearing it just shrug and wait for it to move on

(changing demographic may have bearing on this) (haha ie YOU)

haha - this went on for ages though and it was EXTREMELY loud and aggressive - like people were visibly distressed walking past - it was about a half hour of it. i feel like people are okay with indiscriminate street shouting, or even a few minutes of violent verbal barracking, but this was like deep obscenity and profanity over and over and over for 30 mins at about 0830.

A DISGRACE.

We've just moved into a new building and I'm trying to systematically talk to everyone in the surrounding flats and it appears that we have a very low bar to clear because everyone fucking hated the woman who lived there before us.

of the 32 flats in the blocks there are now maybe three whose occupants have lived here longer than me, i realised to my mild distress recently (26 years in november) (and 15 of those an ilxor)

Under 100 posts? I'm a bit surprised this thread isn't one of the top 25 longest threads on ILE.

I've had numerous others on the go over the years

paths update: project completed!

except that one of the other blocks has piped up saying that a small element outside their front door has been completely forgotten (which is true! i had forgotten abt it and so had the contractor -- so they are arguing it out over the phone, i don't think it's a big deal)

however one of the other blocks just gave me a bottle of champagne for all the work i did getting this to happen so i am fairly pro-neighbours currently :)

sometimes a bit of appreciation goes a long way. congratulations on your success.

ok i think the project is complete, all beefs squared all debts paid X[

^ Sounds like a Radiohead lyric.

buy yourself another bottle of champagne (assuming the first is already consumed)

I'm a bit surprised this thread isn't one of the top 25 longest threads on ILE.

Theres a couple other neighbours gripe threads is probably why.

also several dedicated to a long-running soap opera

I live in a pretty placid neighborhood, except for the house directly across from mine. The daughter of the woman who lives there seems to be getting kicked out and taken back in over and over. Sometimes she shows up and bangs on the door and the mother calls the police on her. A couple of times she's parked her car in the driveway and cops have shown up, taken pictures of the car and left.

I was coming home from a walk with baby stroller and the daughter was yelling at a dude. The dude crossed the street to get away from her and she threw a glass candle at him. It shattered all over the place and pieces of glass hit the baby stroller. Dude jumps in his car. Daughter yells at him "I'm the mother of your child and you put your hands on me?" Dude drives off yelling, "Crazy b---"

:O

Did you do anything about it? I would have called the cops on her for the candle thing, esp if it came close to hitting you or your child.

Didn't call the cops. I was going to be the only one with the baby for the next 8 hours so I didn't want to be talking to police etc. Also, it seemed like maybe some domestic violence occurring and I didn't want to add to the misery.

I wouldn't think twice about calling the cops on someone who was so out of control they were throwing things at people in the street, regardless of what they may have been through themselves. But I understand the impulse to not involve yourself in something when you're the only person watching your kid.

Ugh. Junkies are using the landing/roof area outside our flat to shoot up. Found a syringe and a load of mail they'd rifled through up on the roof after my wife told me she heard suspicious noises coming from up there while I was on the way hoe from work. Also found somebody's debit card that's brand new. It's not the first time we've found weird stuff up there, there's been discarded clothing and beer cans and stuff left up there before. My guess is there's a dealer in the building and they go up there to shoot up after they score, because if they lived in the building why wouldn't they just shoot up in their own flat? I called the non-emergency police number and reported it, but I doubt they'll do anything. Felt a bit weird doing it I've never called the police before.

These bastards are there all the time now. We've chased them away at least 5 times but they just come back half an hour later. We've called the police every day and they finally sent some out last night. They made some concerned noises about how disgusting it is to have bloody hankies and needles strewn across the stairs but it's a matter for the building management company. The building management company say it's a matter for the police.

My wife is not handling this well, they are there at all times of the day sometimes we get woken up at 4am by the door slamming. Now we've got no help from anybody she's talking about buying some pepper spray and trying to get rid of them that way. The police say not to confront them but wtf are we supposed to do if nobody will do anything??

Fuck.

My wife just messaged me they're there now and she's called the police again. Our agent says it's not their problem.

Is there any way we can get out of a 6 month contract due to this? I'm guessing no.

Ah man. Hate this shit.

I'd probably advise you to put it to the mgmt co that you consider it reason enough to break the contract and see how they react, or if you're paying landlord rather than them directly apply similar approach there

horrible situation, sorry to hear of your woes CP. does anyone else in the block use the space in question? if not, is there any way of fencing it off? and have you spoken to any of the other residents about it?

I tried ringing Shelter's housing advice line what a load of pointless bullshit that was. Listen to a load of pre-recorded waffle only to be told there are no operators available, end of call. WTF. No waiting on hold, that's just it. You have to call again and listen to their shit on the off-chance there's somebody available, over and over.

The management company refuse to do anything about the door because it's a fire escape and it has to be left open.

Our next door neighbour was aware of what was going on and had already complained to the management company before we did, but he's not home very often. Thing is I have no idea who anyone is in this building and I don't know who the dealer is. I've got a guess because one of the flats has a very sturdy looking lock on the door, but that's not much to go on.

Would think neighbours might be concerned if mail was fond up there, if it is stuff taht was supposed to be getting to them. & at least make sure taht the mail area was better protected.

I just heard from my next door neighbour that she found neighborhood girls had been back hanging out outside her flat, sitting on the wall and stuff. I thankfully haven't seen the face looming over my wall recently which was presumably one of the same girls.

But finding it odd taht that same next door neighbour was perturbed taht kids in teh area took a tv box from under the stairs in a really unprotected area. I'd wondered why it had been dumped there as I saw it for several weeks. There's no weather protection so it must have been getting wet anyway. Odd place to use asa storage area for anything that they realy wanted.
The guy there has now taken to leaving his bike unlocked on the landing halfway up the stairs which also strikes me as odd. Not sure hwo safe anything is. Particularly since the traveller park up which we thought we got rid of returned. & things like taht were walking a lot at the start of the summer which had most of this block up in arms.

is it even legal of the management company to knowingly let people do drugs in the building? wonder if there's a way of pursuing that sort of line of attack xp

Our next door neighbour knows the woman who most of the stolen mail belonged to so he took what was left of it down to her. He said she is quite vulnerable so I doubt she would want to get involved.

The police gave us one possible line which was that they reckon the fire door should not be openable from outside and we may be able to get the fire dept to force building management to do something about that. But I doubt that will do a huge amount of good. They are getting in the building someway presumably because the dealer is letting them in, so all that would mean is if we chase them out (and the police have already told us off for doing that) they can't get back in through that door, but they can just come in through the front door like they'd have to in the first place!

Deems is correct in suggesting that you ask the managing agent whether you can contact the landlord to discuss. Whether or not you can legally break the lease is secondary - you can ask the landlord whether they are willing to let you out of it early and explain your reasons. If the managing agent isn't going to do anything about it, they will need to explain this to the landlord. The landlord may already know, idk, but it may focus the attention of the agent if they have to go back to explain the situation. Another option, alongside this, could be to suggest a solution. An agent can get a CCTV camera installed for about £500, which may act as a deterrent. Doing that vs the hassle of finding new tenants at the end of the six months might work out better for the landlord.

We had a similar situation at an apartment building I lived in: a dealer squatting in an empty apartment and weirdos shooting up in the hallways during winter. There were hookers propositioning me when we went out my door. Lots of tenants complained to management, who did nothing. Then the entire seven storey building burned to ground due to wiring, but management tried to say the junkies must have burned it down to get out of paying us.

Called Citizens Timewasting Bureau, which appears to consist of an elderly woman reading the website I just read that doesn't actually help back to me.

Building management sent someone round to secure the cupboard the junkies are stashing their needles in. The cunts are sticking their needles under the carpet with the sharp end sticking through, so someone could step on them. The cleaner nearly spiked himself on one this morning. They might be people with problems but there's no fucking excuse for that.

The only good news is apparently they know which flat the dealer's in and are trying to evict them, and the police are coming round tomorrow with the letting agents. Having watched enough Nightmare Tenants and Landlords programs though I know it can take 3 months to get people out.

Came home late last night to find junkie woman on the stairs, this time she had a dog (a staffie I think) with her and I think she'd just used because she was pretty out of it. They don't seem to be round as often now but not going away yet. I called the cops and they came round but she was gone by then. Then about half an hour later they were up on the roof again.

Surely the cops have a vested interest in busting a dealer!?

They need evidence. Presumably we are in a Catch 22 because they need evidence for a search warrant and can't get any evidence without searching the dealer's flat.

Even if they do catch a junkie, they told me if they've already shot up they can't arrest them for anything. I'd've thought they could at least do them for some kind of loitering/public order offence, but that doesn't really help them bust the dealer I suppose.

Statements from yourself and the landlord and/or the management company and the circumstantial evidence of all the junkies and repeated phonecalls are surely enough for a warrant??

furious race to get the gear into u before the cops arrive/get their notepads out

fantastic concept

The cops have been pretty useless tbh. On Saturday, my wife called them, told them she could give a description of the 2 that were there, they declined, then when they came upstairs she told them what they looked like anyway, and they said oh, we saw that guy hanging around outside the building, when he saw us he got spooked and left. FFS, maybe you could've tried searching him? I mentioned that to the police that came later on when I called them and they just gave me the spiel about not being able to arrest them unless they've got something on them, but how do they know he didn't have anything on him since they didn't even bother stopping him?

The cops have been pretty useless tbh

Get away.

It occurs to me that if you're having trouble with the Police taking your problems seriously (which sound awful btw, not trying to be glib), it might be worth popping along to your MP's surgery to ask for help? There might be some advantage to having the Home Secretary as yr MP? Just a thought.

Smackheads can be a pain in the arse but we can't go all Duterte on them, they still have civil rights. It probably doesn't help when services for addiction/homelessness have been almost wiped out in recent years. I mean there but for the grace of God go I etc..

I'm planning on doing that Tim, but her next surgery isn't for 3 weeks. Presumably that's the disadvantage of having the Home Secretary as my MP.

Our neighbour built a music space in his garden, which he claimed would be soundproofed, but wasn't, even in the slightest. He endlessly plays some kind of rock music practice programme where he gets to play the riffs alongside the original recording of Sultans of Swing, or some other rock-blues wankfest. Sometimes it's more funny than annoying. But if I want to garden or read outside, it's pretty annoying to hear someone riffcheese to Under the Bridge or whatever.

Anyway it's winter now so we don't go outside, and he's nearer to the other neighbours than us, so I'm sure one of them will murder him first, hopefully before next summer.

Probably more annoying are his kids who are always shouting MUMMY CAN YOU HELP ME at loud volumes and kicking footballs against the face. (Shouting is fine if you're like a six year old, but I think he's a young teen. I am also irrationally prejudiced against children who say "mummy" or "daddy" instead of mum/mom/dad.)

(Against the fence, I mean.)

Tonight's policeman had 2 incidents to attend in our building. As well as us calling because of junkies, someone got assaulted on the ground floor tonight. What fun. This policeman is a bit more conscientious than others, he's actually cleaning up the needles instead of leaving them there.

This is going into neighbourhood watch FB groups territory again and again when you post, you aren't even talking about your neighbours here tbf. I much preferred it when Chuck_Tatum or Mark S had the gavel tbh.