We lost the neighbor lottery. Looking for advice
Hi all,
We lost the neighbor lottery and recently moved in above a neighbor who has been a PITA since the day we moved in, and our co-ops management company seems to be capitulating to his every whim. I essentially want to get a gut check on how to address this situation: is time to ramp up our response with the board, or an attorney, if necessary.
Some background:we renovated our apartment before moving in, and this neighbor complained anytime the workers were 1 minute early or 1 minute late around the building’s work hours.
We moved in, and the neighbor made multiple complaints about our small dog barking. Management sent us a strongly worded warning relaying the complaints. Our dog is a senior and mostly just sleeps, barely makes any noise aside from a rare, excited bark, which we correct. We have a doggy cam for when we are not home and can confirm she does not bark when alone. We were surprised by the warning letter, so we asked management to provide some specific times and examples of the complaints so we could pinpoint if this was even *our* dog barking. We did not get a response.
Then we got a request to inspect our apartment’s doors as there was a complaint our doors squeaked. A handyman came and confirmed they did not squeak.
Then we got a request to inspect our floors for 80% coverage per house rules. During the inspection, the super confirmed this was in response to complaints from our downstairs neighbor of footsteps and noise. He even acknowledged he is problematic. He took pictures of our floors and sent them to management. The super’s initial reaction is we have close to but probably not 80% coverage. We also had soundproofing installed underneath the floors during our renovation. Given the pattern, I would not be surprised if management asks us to add more coverage, which could be costly and logistically challenging given our floorplan. However, we haven’t had a response yet.
To summarize, we are just trying to live our lives - we don’t have parties, play loud music/tv, do aerobics in the apt etc or anything out of the ordinary. But we are repeatedly put on the defensive by this neighbor, and by the management company, who seems to capitulate to every claim he makes. Lastly, we have spoken to other neighbors, and know he has lodged many similar complaints against current and previous residents. We have also been told by neighbors that confrontation/mediation is *not* something he has historically been open to. In other words, people have tried to talk to him, and he goes ballistic and screams at them.
We are tired of being scrutinized and made to feel delinquent when we have done nothing wrong. We just want to enjoy our new home.
Any advice, appreciated.