to whom it may concern:
I’m going to try to be as simple and concise as possible with this letter, maybe because this is not a simple issue. I am writing because for at least ten months, Apartment 79 has consistently made unreasonable, loud noises, from the child, the grandparents, the parents, and the two dogs. The teenager is the only exception. A lot of this has played out in the hallway. I have complained to the manager, and I have confronted the occupants myself.
Once, I even confronted them personally with a neighbor who had heard their noises from another building! I only confronted them because when he (the neighbor) went to the door on February the 23rd of this year to complain about the child’s nonstop screaming, the mother in Apartment 79 (I don’t know her name) said he was drunk and he didn’t know what he was talking about. I heard it play out loudly outside my hollow interior front door.
I was in bed reading, and for more than one and a half hours, all I could hear was solid screaming, and the phrase: “Go away, Daddy, I don’t want you here!” which is one of the child’s favorites. I had never heard the child direct it to his father before this instance, only to his grandparents, over and over. While this was going on, all of their windows and doors were open. Once again, there is no consideration that there are other people living here.
I stepped out and said that he was not drunk, and that their child’s constant screaming was real, outrageous, and frightening. Then, the father confronted me by saying that I was the one that complained about their dogs barking four years ago. Apparently, they lived below me four years, which I didn’t know before then. Their modus operandi is to deflect the problem to the complainer, instead of admitting that they have a problem.
Again from Apartment 79 in late January, I heard the mother very loudly tell the child to be quiet, because he did not want the “mean, crazy lady next door” to complain. This was before I even came to their door. They have made this personal and included me in this against my will, and without my consent since the beginning.
I finally called the police on September 29th, because the screaming from the child started again. It is all the time and at all hours of the day. He screams to parents and grandparents “shut up”, “go away”, “I don’t want you here”, etc. He beats the walls and throws things frequently.
I am not a professional, but I am a parent. I have worked for the Welfare Department in Tennessee, and I am almost sixty years old. I suspect from excessive exposure to this, that the child is not mentally handicapped in any traditional way. He may have a learning disability or something minor, but I doubt he is autistic. He talks and interacts a lot, and they have finally started screaming for him to shut up. I tend to believe that he throws tantrums to control and manipulate the four adults to his will. They have allowed it to go on for so long without any punishment that he seems to act as a dictator. I don’t care what the reasons behind the situation are; I just don’t want to be a part of it.
I understand that there are laws to make sure children are not discriminated against, but not at the expense of my rights. I have the right as a tenant to “a safe, habitable property that I can peacefully enjoy”. I am an excellent tenant. I pay my rent on time, and I have not had any complaints directed to me in over four years. However, lately I am forced to spend a lot of time in my bedroom or on the back porch to escape the constant noise and shrieking from Apartment 79. I pay rent for the entire apartment, yet I am relegated to my bedroom. The manager’s solution is to offer to move me to another apartment, but she doesn’t have one. I can’t afford to move. Maybe you should let me break my lease or lower my rent, or offer to move them, but I doubt I will be offered anything to help me. Management doesn’t want to deal with this because it is trouble, and expensive to pursue legally. I understand that, but in the meantime I am stuck in the corner of my little apartment bedroom, stressed and exhausted.
I can’t afford legal advice at this time, but I will attempt to pursue whatever I can, i.e. AARP, Rental Protection Agency, etc. I have endured and complained, but I have not seen any action. I am also serving written notice that if there is any retaliation from any of these numerous occupants of Apartment 79 other than what they have done thus far, (e.g. the father threatening me with events from four years ago, the grandfather stomping his feet in front of my door and his wife advising, “Daddy, don’t do that,” or the deliberate slamming of the front door by the child to the point that the parents order him to stop) such as attacks on my person or character, my child, or my possessions, l will be forced and obligated to retaliate and hold the apartment management responsible.
Please note provision nineteen of my lease: Prohibited conduct. I have not been protected from loud, obnoxious noise. My rights to comfort, health, and safety have been systematically denied. If there is any doubt to the veracity of my claims, check with the assistant manager. She admitted to seeing and hearing the child reprimand and verbally abuse his own grandfather. Also, I know that former tenants next door to Apartment 79 complained that the parents fought. The manager has admitted to seeing the child in his usual state getting off the bus.
If the child is disturbed, how is he allowed to ride Greenville County School buses? I think allowances have to be made for special children with special needs. Is he a special child with special needs? It’s irrelevant, and I don’t even want to know. I just want the screaming, the barking dogs, the slamming doors, and the exhaustive displays in the hall outside my door to end. It should not take 40 minutes to get a small child to go downstairs to his grandparent’s truck on a Sunday afternoon, but it does. Not one of them has thought to pick him up and carry him down. He is all of what, 40 pounds? But they don’t.
Additionally, there has not been any obvious noticeable screaming since I called the police Monday. This has happened before. When I went to the door with the other tenant, as I mentioned earlier, their usual cycle stopped for a while. This proves that they can control the noise, but that they choose not to. They have proven they have no regard for anyone else who lives here especially me, and this letter is to document this fact.
Pam Breslin - 10/06/2014
