Well this is neither Mundane nor Pointless but it seems the best place for it.
Last month we got new tenants in the building, a couple of guys in the apartment one door down. Things seemed quiet at first, but after about a week we started noticing that this guy is getting a lot of visitors. I say this guy as I’ve only seen one of them. Then it happened; I was leaving for a trip to the grocery store when I saw the guy sell crack to someone. Needless to say I was pissed.
So I called the owner. I told him about the sell I witnessed and mentioned the many visitors occurring all day and night. He said he’s call his attorney for advice. He came out about two weeks ago and also witnessed at least two deals himself. Nothing seems to be coming of this. It’s entirely possible that he is doing something and just can’t tell me for privacy reasons, but I want these guys gone. NOW!
Now I’m wondering should I break the lease, it’s a public safety issue and I have three boys I don’t want exposed to this crap. I figure since I informed the landlord he is legally obligated to do something about it. I tried to report it anonymously to the police but we no longer have a crime stopper program in Oakland. Does anyone know if I can go to the police station and report it without giving my ID? I don’t want to flag a cop down in my neighborhood, as I don’t know what the other guy looks like. I also don’t want to move, this is a good neighborhood and I want to stay here until I buy a house next year.
Any advice is appreciated.
PS I’ve considered confronting the guy and telling him to knock it off, but something tells me that that would be a bad road to start down.
Call the police. I’m not sure what the laws in CA regarding lease-breaking, but I think you can ask your landlord if he’s planning to do something or can you get out of your lease.
You could also start leaving anonymous notes on the guy’s door…“I know what you did. It makes me sick. I’m going to tell” and see if that ratchets up their paranoia enough to move.
I’ll second calling the police, but I think this is a very bad idea. If you leave a note, someone could see you even if you don’t think anyone is watching. If they know you may call the police, you could be in danger. Sure, they may get paranoid enough to leave, OR they could become an even bigger danger to you and your family.
Get in touch with the Citizens’ Advisory Board for the San Francisco area; I’m assuming you live in Oakland, California. Maybe they might have some ideas of what’s to be done, and what the available options are.
I’d stay well clear from your unwanted neighbors; no notes, no phone calls, no confrontations.
How about CORE? I know it’s more emergency-based, but they seem to have neighborhood involvement. It might be able to put you in touch with a solution.
Well, that sucks, Stuffy. I wouldn’t be looking at lease-breaking just yet - it can take a while to evict tenants (it can take as long as three months here in Calgary). Maybe call the police and get a file started on your neighbours, should you have to break your lease later on. I would also talk to the owner - I would talk to him a lot - like, every day, until you’re sure that he has evicted your criminal neighbours.
Be persistent about calling both the police and the landlord. Keep after them. Ask for updates. You have every right to be updated on the progress of what steps if any are being taken. Your landlord may well be doing something, but it can take quite a while to evict a tenant.
Do not confront the neighbor about this. Unless you see him dealing drugs TO YOUR CHILDREN, avoid confronting him personally. There are trained professionals to do that for you. See above about calling the police. Drug dealers quite frequently have projectile weapons and no particular moral qualms about using them.
My biggest concern is that drug dealing (especially crack) and guns tend to go hand in hand. That’s why I’d like to make a complaint anonymously if possible. But then it would be hard to follow up on too. Would my name be on anythng if I just called traditionally?
Yeah, so much for it indeed. Someone was asking for real world advice here and as far as anyone could tell you offered advice that could have caused serious harm. If you’re going to do crap like this you should really put a winking smiley after it or somehow explain that it’s a joke. Better yet, keep it in CS where it belongs.
You might also consider approaching the other tenants of your building (the law-abiding ones, that is) and asking them to call the cops, too. The cops might be more responsive to multiple callers.
Good luck getting these scumbags outta your building.
I left an apartment mid lease after having a gun pointed in my face after interrupting a drug deal in my back (locked) stairwell. It was considered “constructive eviction” which IIRC means basically the mgt co. has allowed a situation to make continued tenancy impossible. You should do a search on that term.
As an aupdate to my report in an earlier thread by someone about illicit smoker stench from a neighbor, tte stench of non-tobacco-based fumes that were infiltrating my wall and ceiling from 2 adjacent apartments stopped after a couple of casual words to the apt. complex maintenance folks. One upstairs co-tenant (the several-times-per-evening user) moved out that night - I heard his/her trunk (or bong) being dragged down the stairs. I fear that the hiatus may be temporary as I think the co-tenant may be away on semester break (or maybe in jail-one can only hope) as I haven’t smelled it in about 3 weeks or heard any of their stiff-legged walking above my ceiling, but the furniture is still visible behind the blinds. My olfactory sense is quite sensitive and the common walls and ceilings of the “Luxury apartment home” are not fume-or stink-proof. I can also tell (and my eyes itch and water) when the neighbors use scented laundry detergent, anti-static rags, and scented body talc. These latter items I have to suffer with, but the crack, free-base, formaldehyde, or whatever violates both their lease and my “quiet repose” so if it recurs I will issue my lease-break request after perhaps consulting an attorney (if I can find one that doesn’t toke or smoke). I hate to have to move all my “stuff” after 5 years of settling in here.
Sorry if I’ve hijacked this too far, but it seemed relevant and I don’t often get a chance to cry about this on anyone’s shoulder.
In your case, if informal or formal contact with your landlord/lady does not seem to be working, I also suggest anonymous calls to the appropriate law enforcement agency every time you see a transaction and calls to check on the status. It can help if you can get the name of the agent that you talk with each time. You need to be careful about contacting the neighbors if you do not know them-some of them may be “customers” or sympathetic to the dealer’s business.
I called the number from Uncle Beer’s link this morning. I waited until this morning becase I spent last night gathering as much information as I could about the dealer, including the license plate number from his car. The recorded message encourages you to give as much infomation as possible so I was glad I did that. They also allow you to report totally anonymously or give a psuedonym and number if you’d like follow up. So I gave psuedynym.
Interesting and or shocking depending on your view. The a$$hole has cut a hole in his security door for handing out dope. This is one of those heavy black iron ones, so I have no idea on how he did it, but it wasn’t there before. My brother lives on the opposite side of the complex so I pass his door on occasion. I’m finding it difficult to believe the guy is that bold. I will be reporting that to the landlord today, as I’m sure destroying the landlord’s property probably violates the lease.
I also plan on talking to our Neighborhood Watch guy about hm too.
I would say be persistent to the police and especially your landlord. Tell him if he doesn’t do something to get rid of the guy in a given amount of time he should allow you to break your lease without penalty.
I would be paranoid and consider this a scary situation. PLEASE DO NOT let the dealer know you are onto him.