need advise and options - new LL's (bought building) (apartment, lease, tenants)
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we recently had our building bought and are still under lease for another 7 months. during the months we have been here we have had consistent issues with the shared wall tenants and pot smoke. when we agreed to move here our lease specifically said NO SMOKING or ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, this is why we bothered to move here in the first place...
during the summer months all the issues seemed to magically go away due to windows being open and people outside more often. we had a few really bad episodes of the house reaking of pot and complained, it stopped and we thought it had been taken care of, but as mentioned this was most likely due to summer more then people actually following the rules of the building.
this month it has literally been everyday and night with the house filled with pot smoke, we either wake up in it or suffer the whole day through it once the people doing it wake up...it needs to stop. we work from home and im totally fed up with the stench and burning eyes it causes us to put up with. i cannot WORK in these conditions never mind live
at this point our current (old) LL's just dont care...they have sold the building and wont even return calls. the new owner taken over on November first and we do not even have contact info for them so having any sort of conversation with them isn't going to happen until they decide to show and be kind enough to introduce themselves
things we have done so far to try and have something taken care of here:
1: called the police every day (yes everyday. the police have told us to do so even though legally they are tied). they have been told every time to stop by the police but never do saying they do not smoke. even though the officers confirm they smell it coming out of their front door and on them. the police here cannot legally do anything about it unless they see it being smoked or it is happening outside of the home. the most they can do is ticket them for violation of the peace every three times they come knocking
2: they have had a formally written letter from us letting them know of our intent to have it stop and why
3: have had 3 full police reports made out to verify what the smell is, where it is coming from within our apartment (bathroom, hallway and living room via a shallow closet) the extent it is affecting our living space and their own opinion of WHO is the offending party.
4: note the times of day it starts, how long it lasts for and on what dates. a log of incidents more or less.
all of this is was being done to proactively have the necessary pieces to either take the old LL to court for not enforcing his own lease policies and get the hell out or to have the other tenants stop preeminently...but now it all seem like wasted effort and aggravation
my REAL question here is what should i do once i talk to my new LL? i will be bringing up the the fact we would like the whole building to take on new leases to help solve all these issues. beyond the major issue affecting our everyday here these people have also gotten a large doberman that they walk around the property WITHOUT A LEASH...
i know i could be the ultimate bylaw enforcer and have them ticketed for not observing the city bylaw here about large animals and leashes...but at this point with the cops being called so much i feel fricken horrible and i really do not have the time in the day to constantly play these little charades. there was never any pets allowed here as per the old owners lease, both for noise and safety of other tenants. god forbid this dog decided one day that my wife is some threat when she is walking out to the car. we HAVE TO pass there door to get to the driveway.
i realize without knowing the new LL anything i have in mind is pointless right now. he couldn't even have a lease and will allow smoking pets and whatever anyone wants
what should i be asking of this LL to do taking on these issues from the previous owner and legally what are my right to ask of him?
anyone who is able to chime in, i appreciate your time taken and apologize for what might be a little "ranty" and hard to read..writing this on a phone wasn't easy
Last edited by rego00123; 10-27-2012 at 02:07 AM..
You need to contact the new landlords and give them copies of all the information you gave the previous owners. Send the information by certified return receipt mail and ask them what they plan on doing about the problem, plus you can also being up the issue of the unleashed dog.
If you don't hear back from them within a reasonable time period then I'd suggest you retain counsel as it seems you probably have cause to break your lease without penalty.
the new owner taken over on November first and we do not even have contact info for them
my REAL question here is what should i do once i talk to my new LL?
we would like the whole building to take on new leases to help solve all these issues.
but at this point with the cops being called so much i feel fricken horrible...
This reads like you are new tenants in an older building...
probably a bit run down and with lower rent than the other places you didn't move into.
Am I close? Next guess: Is the neighborhood "gentrifying"?
Quote:
what should i be asking of this LL to do...
and legally what are my right to ask of him?
Ask him if he intends to "fix the place up and find a better class of tenant".
If so... then volunteer to cooperate and hopefully in a year of so the problems will be sorted out.
If not... then ask if will he let you out of your lease early so you can find your peace elsewhere.
Getting what you want will likely mean a nice bump in your rent whichever way all that turns out.
You need to contact the new landlords and give them copies of all the information you gave the previous owners. Send the information by certified return receipt mail and ask them what they plan on doing about the problem, plus you can also being up the issue of the unleashed dog.
If you don't hear back from them within a reasonable time period then I'd suggest you retain counsel as it seems you probably have cause to break your lease without penalty.
the dog right now is the least of my worries since the pot is directly in our faces everyday and im "trying to be nice" and courteous as possible with this issue. i do not want to see anyone get fines by the police over and over and i really have no problem if they want to smoke pot...i have no vendetta against it being smoked i just really cant do this EVERYDAY in my own place.
the problem we are having atm is even getting the new LL's information. we have repeatedly asked the old LL's for contact info and they never bother to care. they are a complete loss to even bother with atm....sigh
thank you for your advise STT.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational
This reads like you are new tenants in an older building...
probably a bit run down and with lower rent than the other places you didn't move into.
Am I close? Next guess: Is the neighborhood "gentrifying"?
older building yes. neighborhood not so much, its actually one of the best parts of town to live and we moved here to stop having these issues (so much for that lol) the LL's and tenants just seemed to stop careing about rules once they knew the building was sold. our only "other" option to be fully rid of this is a home which is totally out of the question for us.
the problem we are having atm is even getting the new LL's information. we have repeatedly asked the old LL's for contact info and they never bother to care. they are a complete loss to even bother with atm....sigh
Since November 1st is only a few days away, who are you going to be paying your rent to next month? It seems odd that you wouldn't have been given new contact information unless the building is managed by a PMC in which case your concerns should be addressed to them as the agents. It's totally irrelevant whether the smoking is pot or anything else. The bottom line is that it's smoking and apparently your lease specifically says that the units are non-smoking, ergo you have good cause to break your lease without penalty if the PMC/owners do nothing about it ..
If marijuana is not legal in your state, try calling the police a few times. They might not haul the neighbors away but interest from the police should get the neighbor to move to a different neighborhood where the police aren't coming around.
Sometimes it works to just say to the neighbors, "Wow, the police were here asking about you and if there were a lot of people going in and out of your apartment. What's happening?" That might be enough to get them to move. Pot smokers tend to be really paranoid.
What a stressful living condition you are having to endure. I will say that it seems odd to me that the police cannot enter the home on "probable cause" since they can smell the pot smoke. If they can search your car based on an officer smelling alcohol or drugs, why don't the same rules apply to your home?
I would do several things...
Contact the new LL and lay out all the issues to them, but keep in mind that evictions can be lengthy. If they choose to evict your neighbors, it might be months before they are gone.
Look for other places for you to move to. Truthfully, the easiest solution may be for you to relocate. Heaven forbid your neighbors start retaliating against you for causing them problems.
Contact the police department that you have been dealing with and speak with the highest ranking officer you can. The seargant probably isn't even aware of the repeated visits. Use up some of his time (make sure you get a direct number for him so you can call him each time the responding officers walk away without doing anything). Make sure to tell him / her that the responding officers strongly suspect that there is pot smoking going on, but have stated that they cannot do anything about it even though they have identified the odor coming from the apartment.
Take a picture or video of the dog off the leash. It's all about proving what you say.
Keep all your documentation together. If you have to break your lease, at least you will have documentation proving your reasons for doing so.
What a stressful living condition you are having to endure. I will say that it seems odd to me that the police cannot enter the home on "probable cause" since they can smell the pot smoke. If they can search your car based on an officer smelling alcohol or drugs, why don't the same rules apply to your home?
Entirely different scenarios. If you're stopped for any reason while driving your car and the car reeks of pot, the officers have every right to search the vehicle and if they find pot can cite for simple possession of an illegal substance and for driving while impaired/under the influence. Smoking pot in the privacy of your own home is a completely different issue and police don't bother with that as they have far more important things to do. This simply isn't a police issue, it's an issue of the management having a no-smoking building and not enforcing the policy they've mandated.
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