The old lady who is my downstairs neighbor smokes like a chimney. It seeps in through my fireplace (even through the shrink wrap) and makes it almost impossible to garden out on my balcony. Almost every time I go to plant anything, or water flowers or straighten up out on the balcony, there she is downstairs on her balcony spewing plumes of smoke stench all over my balcony area.
I don’t know where she’s smoking where this is happening, but smoke is also seeping up in the electrical outlets on the outerwalls and under the masterbath sink. So it’s not entirely her fault, these places weren’t built very well in that regard, apparently.
I’d take the manic-depressive former neighbor back any day. Yeah, she was a little unreliably crazy, but at least I could breathe on regular basis on my own balcony without choking and gagging.
Worse than the smoking issue is the way she treats her cat. It has long hair that is never groomed, which can cause severe skin issues. She leaves it outside a lot. They are from Arizona, so they’re obviously used to warmer weather, but that doesn’t seem to matter, the poor cat it out there even when it’s night time and cold. I’ve let it into the garage before, just so it can be off the floor and in a warm area.
Isn’t there some legal way I can make her stay there unpleasant enough that she’d move? She’s only a renter, not the owner. Nothing nasty or hurtful, and ESPECIALLY nothing illegal, just something that will change her mind about living here. And I work a lot, so it has to be something that will work if only done in short shifts.
Have you tried talking to her yet? Before you jump to the “force her out” stage, how about just saying that her smoke bothers you? If that doesn’t work then you’re SOL because she can do whatever she wants in her own house and you have no right to try and force her out of the place she pays money for.
As for the cat: that’s none of your business. Leave it alone.
Yeah, talk to her. It’s not impossible that some solution could be reached (it is unlikely, though).
After that? Pack up your stuff and move to a place where the lease forbids tenants to smoke (or, at least, where you know that none of your immediate neighbors will be smokers). I’m afraid this is it as far as options go, because your downstairs neighbor is in the right.
Regarding the cat: are you sure that the cat is actually *locked *out and not just a cat that likes to be outdoors a lot, cold be damned? If it is actually not able to come in from the cold, again, you can talk to her about it, but that’s probably about it.
If they are violating the law you can constantly report them. My friend is going through this with the person who owns the rowhouse next to his. His neighbor has abandoned the property and drug users are living in it. He is trying to get the city to condemn the property so that it will go on the market and someone will buy it and fix it up. Houses on his block are going for about $70k less than other houses in the neighborhood. It’s taken him more than a year, but he has the guy in a legal box now and the hammer is about to fall. I tell this story to give you an idea of what a bad neighbor is really like.
If your neighbor isn’t allowed to smoke in your building, you might be able to make her life miserable, but I don’t think your going to get much traction with the argument that you don’t like the way they groom their cat.
Are you sure that the problem is with her and not mental health issues of your own ?
I am an ex smoker and really do not like the smell of smoke now, but your post sounds a little unbelievable and a trifle bizarre.
Another vote for talk to her or move. Or, you can talk to your landlord/property management company or move. Either way, I don’t think there’s a way you can legally make her stay unpleasant (at least not intentionally), nor should you. That seems a bit passive-aggressive, and she may not have any idea that she’s causing you discomfort.
If you do talk to her, I’d try to provide an alternative location for her smoking. Somehow I don’t think she’ll quit smoking just because you find it annoying, and in my experience, if you’re going to criticize someone or tell them to stop a behavior, it’s easier to do if you can provide a constructive solution to the problem instead of telling them to cut it out (especially since she’ll now be the only one who has to deal with negative consequences, such as nicotene withdrawal or going out of her way to find a different smoking location).
Take rumba lessons and practice at odd hours. Get into tap.
By a forty year old bed frame and mattress with bad springs. Have LOTS of loud sex.
Take ethnic cooking lessons from a cuisine the cooks a lot of tripe. Let the smells waft through the building.
When you see her coming, pull out your cell phone and pretend to be making drug deals. Later on, start switching to scared calls that make it sound like you’ve stiffed your supplier. Mention that its ok because you’ve told him you actually live in the apartment below yours.
I hate smoke as much as anyone, but if she’s legally allowed to smoke in her apartment, your best option really is moving. Trying to chase out a neighbour who isn’t actually doing anything wrong is morally questionable.
I would probably talk to the landlord first, to ask if they can try to seal up the ductwork or do other maintenance stuff to keep the smoke out of the your apartment. Make it about the building, not her, it will implicit that she smokes a lot and they can take it up with her if they want. If you do talk to her I would make it about small concessions like maybe not smoking right under your balcony when she’s outside. Because yeah, she’s not going to stop smoking if it’s legal for her to do so, but she might be bothered to cover up a vent or move 15 feet to the other direction.
In then end, though, I would plan on moving. One of the luxuries about renting is that you can just move when you don’t like the place anymore.
You could seal up your apartment but it would be time consuming to pull all the baseboards and electrical outlets. Probably easier to move. Ask to get the next ground floor unit and see if the owner is willing to segregate smokers in the future.
Well, you could find as many nitpicky things about the neighbor you can find and complain to the landlord about them constantly. I have a neighbor a few doors down that didn’t like the fact we rented out a room in our house do something similar to me, constantly complaining to the HOA to try to force me to kick out the roommate. A single weed pops up in the lawn and I knew to expect an HOA violation notice in the mail the next day. (Still does it somewhat, even though the roommate is long gone, because he doesn’t like me and just wants to be a dick.)
The danger with this strategy as a renter is that when your lease is up the landlord may think you are the PITA and not renew.
Unfortunately, I’m an owner, she’s a tenant. If I could move, I would. The owner’s former tenants were a little weird, but smoke free.
Yes, the cat is left out when it’s really cold, it meows all of the time.
And yes, I realize that she’s smoking in her “own” place, the trouble is, her smoke doesn’t STAY in her own place and no, there’s no talking to her. She’s a snot, and I know that from before I had any clue she smoked, when she was first moving in.
This is a condo unit and her balcony is directly under mine. And let me reiterate, in case the title wasn’t clear enough, I am not the least interested in anything ILLEGAL. And yes, it is that bad to the poster that asked, I don’t have some sort of weird ultra super-sonic nose.
It sounds like you may have purchased a condo in a building that wasn’t built to modern fire codes, which require rated smoke/heat barriers between units.
I don’t expect her to quit smoking or to “do” anything. You’re not answering, in the slightest, the question I asked. That being the case, why waste your time popping in?
Prove to the landlord that the smoke travels into your condo by setting her apartment on fire.
Seriously, since you own the condo you can seal it up so at least it doesn’t move through the walls. If you were renting it wouldn’t be worth the effort but this is something you have equity in.