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You may fight like mad and she still wins. Things may also get much worse with her. Sometimes you just have to think of your own sanity. Not every battle in life is worth fighting.
I can understand the OP's vindictiveness here. I couldn't blame them if they developed a taste for curry, and started using it in every meal, the entire building would smell like a Mumbai restaurant. If that didn't do it, graduated to boiling old sweatsocks (after walking through cat pee). And take up the drums. And adopt the yappiest little dog they could find. And then get serious about it.
The question would be whether they could do the above without making life miserable for the neighbors below and on the sides, no sense punishing them.
Hello all. Looking around here and this seems like the most appropriate forum for this. I am not looking for or expecting legal advice, just some words of wisdom from people that have dealt with dishonest and inept HOAs.
The title is not a joke. The woman that moved in above me 4 years ago has been causing excessive noise since nearly the day she moved in. She is also on the HOA board herself (as a pawn), and friends with the President. The entire HOA board is female and I am a male. She is a professional dance instructor for a living. We live in a building with thin floors so nearly everything is audible. Over the years, I have placed over 10 isolated complaints with the HOA regarding noise from above - everything from her admitting to "dancing" at 6am in the room above my bedroom to screaming matches with her boyfriend. There is a pattern with noise subsiding for several months then picking back up again like nothing ever changed. The HOA's tune has always been "we will talk to her, but there is really nothing we can do about it."
Back in September, I was woken up at 6:30am by what sounded like furniture moving around in the room above mine. I was a bit angry and went up to see what the commotion was about. I was told by her boyfriend who answered the door that he had been disassembling their bed and apologized for the noise. I yelled at them and might of used a bad word or two, told them it was unacceptable, and issued another complaint with the HOA. Once again, the HOA told me there was nothing that could be done on their end, in part because this individual told them it was after 8am when he started on the bed, which was a blatant lie.
I made some reference to the HOA that I might need to pursue legal action if they refuse to get involved. Shortly after this, I was made aware that the woman above me had initiated legal action against me for harassment, yelling at them the morning the bed was dissembled and calling her a b*tch in an email. I was never served and nothing ever substantiated from that. And yes, all I did was yell at them from the hallway and call her a bad name. Seemed to be a direct retaliation for my complaint.
The HOA then revised some of their CCRs around such issues to incorporate Internal Dispute Resolution and Alternate Dispute Resolutions as mediation steps before litigation can be filed for general complaints (this is CA). As noise continued, I asked for Internal Dispute Resolution in December. The HOA delayed every step along the way and I was finally given the meeting exactly 30 days after asking for it (the limit, by law). In the meeting, she admitted to teaching dance class on the weekend in her living room. This raised some eyebrows even among the other board members. The guy we pay to serve as property manager then suggested everything would be okay if she just added some padding to the floor to absorb the noise of people dancing. The meeting summary that was sent out by the HOA afterward was extremely deceptive, dishonest and portrayed me in a bad light - not an accurate representation of what was said in that meeting.
To me, it seems ridiculous that an HOA would even accept the notion of a resident teaching a dance class in her unit, running her business, with an individual living underneath, pads or no pads. Am I crazy on that? I am positive it would not be accepted in other apartments I have lived in.
Also, today I received an Internal Dispute Resolution request from the HOA from her for yelling at them and calling her a b*tch back in September. A very obvious retaliation for my meeting request. I have had no interaction with either of them since the previous meeting. Apparently I am not required to reply or attend, which I won't. I believe her threats regarding my reaction to them back in September hold no legal merit and are frivolous at best.
Some side notes - I have gathered that this woman is a Daddy's princess. She is incredibly entitled and appears to have some family money. Also, this is not the only issue I have had with this HOA in regards to complaints to them.
a lawyer I spoke to yesterday made that comparison (commercial).
this sounds more like hip-hop dancing where people are jumping 5 feet in the air and landing over and over.
I hate to say it, but it sounds more like they are trying to get under your skin to make you move than they are "dancing". Which makes THEM vindictive, and hurts them in a courtroom setting. Now, if you could only get some proof of this, like getting her to admit it while being recorded. Since you got a lawyer involved, I'd do no more and no less than what he instructs you to do going forward - make his job easier, not harder. Although I'd still be eating a lot of curry, LOL, no law against that.
Have you talked to your neighbors about this and if they have complained as well? You could get statements to give to your lawyer for further backup. Just a thought.
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