My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Pennsylvania
I have lived in my townhouse for 12 years (13 in June)....we are good tenants. Pay monthly, don't ask for many repairs and have only brought a few issues to landlords attention. Two were new tenants parking in our spot and when the recent neighbors moved in, I asked that they turn down the XBox and music to a mild roar after 9:00 - the pictures on my bedroom wall were literally shaking. THe noise level is still loud but pictures aren't shaking so I don't say anything. People gotta live, right? I also don't ask for much to be fixed unless it's really important....faucet fell off bathtub, kitchen faucet was leaking, a/c not working a few times and they did have to place a 15 year old hot water tank. There is a list that I could nit pick about but it's not major so I'm not going to bother them for every little thing that needs fixed.
Anyhow, the neighbor on the other side of us has lived there longer. He has worked 8 months in the 12 years I've lived there. He never leaves. He has yelled at many of the neighbors about their noise level and even confronted the woman across the street who own her home about her dog barking. He used to come over and visit and eat dinner and stay till 4 in the morning. A few years ago he started to change. He accused my husband of talking about him and my husband discussed the accusations with him and told him he wasn't referring to him. He explained what he was upset about (too much to type) but it had nothing to with him. We thought we cleared the air. Then he accused my son of messing with his car mirrors (my son goes out to the bus with my mother-in-law and gets picked up so he's no where near the car). He said he was going to call the police and I suggested the he do that and ask for fingerprints. He flipped out one day when I put a nail in my wall to hang a picture. It lasted 30 seconds. Another story is .... my son would drop the toilet seat on occasion when he put it down. The neighbor would pound on the wall if he heard it. This went on for about 3 months and the seat dropped maybe 5 or 6 times. Finally one night, I was getting my son ready for his bath and I am the one who was putting toilet seat/lid down and it slipped out of my hand. Neighbor then proceeded to pound on his wall 3 times and I flipped out. I slammed that lid about 15 times and screamed at the wall like an idiot. The next day I did contact the landlord via email to advise her of what transpired and admitted to my retaliation because I was tired of him doing that. That was in November of 2015!!! The most recent was in the summer. We were having a window replaced in our bedroom. Later that evening, the neighbor caught my husband outside and said to him "If you love your son you might want to keep a better eye on him." So my husband asked what he was talking about - he said "while you guys were out with the dog he was making a terrible racket in there up and down the stairs and banging on the walls." So my husband went with it and asked him about what time and he told us 11:30 this morning. My husband told him that we never ever leave our son alone and unattended and that the noise he heard were the maintenance people replacing our window. It was not our son running wild. He didn't have a return comment other than "oh."
This past week I get a call from the landlord stating that the neighbor states he feels we are intentionally harassing him. Needless to say I was shocked. I don't think about the guy let alone consider harassing him. I asked for an example.....she told me about the toilet incident....15 months ago!!!!!! I don't care enough about this guy to waste my energy harassing him. I emailed her and told her and assured her we are in no way harassing him. My husband was very upset and then I get an email from her stating for him to avoid screaming...he was NOT screaming. Upset and angry but far from screaming. What can we do to protect ourselves against this guy? His paranoia is getting worse. What can we do make sure we aren't kicked out because of his lies. He has confronted many people because of their noise. The man never leaves his townhouse. He sits in there all day, alone and watches t.v. or whatever. How do we even know he's in the bathroom to be "harassing" him?
I told her that yes, my kid has dropped a toilet seat on occasion but it doesn't deserve him pounding on the walls. Not sure what he is doing in there that needs so much concentration that the toilet seat noise interrupts his process?!?!? He started pounding his screen door when we came home the other night because our door has been broken for 11 years and it closes loudly. It closes loudly because there is no latch and no slider thing up at the top (not sure what is called.) He never mentioned it bothered him in all the years he was coming over eating dinner and visiting until 4 a.m. I've asked her to fix that via an email and told her that I'm concerned we'll lose our place to live because of his false accusations. I told her that I feel he can do or say whatever he wants and we have to deal with it. I feel like we are the bad guys and we aren't. She didn't give us any reassurance that we are "okay." 12 years and never a problem.
Just an FYI the only walls we share are the ones going up the stairs and in the bathroom. He should not hear anything else other than going up the steps and whatever goes on in the bathroom. Why is he listening so intently? How noisy can you be going up the stairs? What are our rights? How can we protect ourselves against him? And YES, we are actively looking for a house to buy.....but don't want to make a huge purchase just for the sake of getting out of there. Please - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to not have our lease renewed (I think in May or June?) and i don't want to get evicted because of his antics. He's a quirky little, lonely name and we have never ever harassed him...well, I did retaliate that one time with the toilet lid but that was the ONLY time and I told the landlord about it well before he brought it up. I told her that I was concerned about his mental state because getting that upset about a toilet seat dropping on occasion was not normal. Anyhow, I could go on for days and days but I'll leave it at this. THANK YOU.
PS - in November 2016 the kitchen faucet was replaced. I contacted landlord again because it's not just dripping - now we have to turn the water off under the sink or you could fill a pot with how much water pours out. She said she fixed it in November so we have to pay for it to be fixed. Is this accurate?
I have lived in my townhouse for 12 years (13 in June)....we are good tenants. Pay monthly, don't ask for many repairs and have only brought a few issues to landlords attention. Two were new tenants parking in our spot and when the recent neighbors moved in, I asked that they turn down the XBox and music to a mild roar after 9:00 - the pictures on my bedroom wall were literally shaking. THe noise level is still loud but pictures aren't shaking so I don't say anything. People gotta live, right? I also don't ask for much to be fixed unless it's really important....faucet fell off bathtub, kitchen faucet was leaking, a/c not working a few times and they did have to place a 15 year old hot water tank. There is a list that I could nit pick about but it's not major so I'm not going to bother them for every little thing that needs fixed.
Anyhow, the neighbor on the other side of us has lived there longer. He has worked 8 months in the 12 years I've lived there. He never leaves. He has yelled at many of the neighbors about their noise level and even confronted the woman across the street who own her home about her dog barking. He used to come over and visit and eat dinner and stay till 4 in the morning. A few years ago he started to change. He accused my husband of talking about him and my husband discussed the accusations with him and told him he wasn't referring to him. He explained what he was upset about (too much to type) but it had nothing to with him. We thought we cleared the air. Then he accused my son of messing with his car mirrors (my son goes out to the bus with my mother-in-law and gets picked up so he's no where near the car). He said he was going to call the police and I suggested the he do that and ask for fingerprints. He flipped out one day when I put a nail in my wall to hang a picture. It lasted 30 seconds. Another story is .... my son would drop the toilet seat on occasion when he put it down. The neighbor would pound on the wall if he heard it. This went on for about 3 months and the seat dropped maybe 5 or 6 times. Finally one night, I was getting my son ready for his bath and I am the one who was putting toilet seat/lid down and it slipped out of my hand. Neighbor then proceeded to pound on his wall 3 times and I flipped out. I slammed that lid about 15 times and screamed at the wall like an idiot. The next day I did contact the landlord via email to advise her of what transpired and admitted to my retaliation because I was tired of him doing that. That was in November of 2015!!! The most recent was in the summer. We were having a window replaced in our bedroom. Later that evening, the neighbor caught my husband outside and said to him "If you love your son you might want to keep a better eye on him." So my husband asked what he was talking about - he said "while you guys were out with the dog he was making a terrible racket in there up and down the stairs and banging on the walls." So my husband went with it and asked him about what time and he told us 11:30 this morning. My husband told him that we never ever leave our son alone and unattended and that the noise he heard were the maintenance people replacing our window. It was not our son running wild. He didn't have a return comment other than "oh."
This past week I get a call from the landlord stating that the neighbor states he feels we are intentionally harassing him. Needless to say I was shocked. I don't think about the guy let alone consider harassing him. I asked for an example.....she told me about the toilet incident....15 months ago!!!!!! I don't care enough about this guy to waste my energy harassing him. I emailed her and told her and assured her we are in no way harassing him. My husband was very upset and then I get an email from her stating for him to avoid screaming...he was NOT screaming. Upset and angry but far from screaming. What can we do to protect ourselves against this guy? His paranoia is getting worse. What can we do make sure we aren't kicked out because of his lies. He has confronted many people because of their noise. The man never leaves his townhouse. He sits in there all day, alone and watches t.v. or whatever. How do we even know he's in the bathroom to be "harassing" him?
I told her that yes, my kid has dropped a toilet seat on occasion but it doesn't deserve him pounding on the walls. Not sure what he is doing in there that needs so much concentration that the toilet seat noise interrupts his process?!?!? He started pounding his screen door when we came home the other night because our door has been broken for 11 years and it closes loudly. It closes loudly because there is no latch and no slider thing up at the top (not sure what is called.) He never mentioned it bothered him in all the years he was coming over eating dinner and visiting until 4 a.m. I've asked her to fix that via an email and told her that I'm concerned we'll lose our place to live because of his false accusations. I told her that I feel he can do or say whatever he wants and we have to deal with it. I feel like we are the bad guys and we aren't. She didn't give us any reassurance that we are "okay." 12 years and never a problem.
Just an FYI the only walls we share are the ones going up the stairs and in the bathroom. He should not hear anything else other than going up the steps and whatever goes on in the bathroom. Why is he listening so intently? How noisy can you be going up the stairs? What are our rights? How can we protect ourselves against him? And YES, we are actively looking for a house to buy.....but don't want to make a huge purchase just for the sake of getting out of there. Please - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to not have our lease renewed (I think in May or June?) and i don't want to get evicted because of his antics. He's a quirky little, lonely name and we have never ever harassed him...well, I did retaliate that one time with the toilet lid but that was the ONLY time and I told the landlord about it well before he brought it up. I told her that I was concerned about his mental state because getting that upset about a toilet seat dropping on occasion was not normal. Anyhow, I could go on for days and days but I'll leave it at this. THANK YOU.
PS - in November 2016 the kitchen faucet was replaced. I contacted landlord again because it's not just dripping - now we have to turn the water off under the sink or you could fill a pot with how much water pours out. She said she fixed it in November so we have to pay for it to be fixed. Is this accurate?
Quiet Enjoyment: What to Do if Your Neighbor Falsely Accuses You of Harassment
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