So it looks like maybe POS neighbor 2 complained to the office about POS neighbor 1 about the smoking? I was originally gonna go to the office today to complain about the smoking today because I thought the office would be closed yesterday since it was thanksgiving. But it appears the office may have been open? I went to check my mail and apparently USPS delivers on thanksgiving? cuz I got mail in my box.
Anyhoo, I walked past the office as I got my mail and it didn’t have a note on the door saying it was closed (they usually tack a note on the door) but there was no note so I am assuming the office was actually open yesterday? So yesterday the smoker tried to hide his smoking as I didn’t smell too much smoke, unlike wednesday when shit-tons of smoke filled my apt. I am assuming neighbor2 (on floor2) lodged a complaint about neighbor1 (on floor1)?
Should I go to office and lodge a complaint anyway? It appears neighbor1 is trying to hide his smoking (I say hiding because I walked by floor1 around his apt and I could smell smoke in the hallways but not by the patio where he usually smokes, which is on the other side, where all the smoke wafts up to my apt). Also, the bathroom ventilator was on all day- it would either be him or neighbor2- you can hear the loud bzzzz when it’s on- so I’m assuming he’s smoking in his apt and is having his bathroom ventilator on all day to get rid of the smoke inside his apt while he smokes inside his apt.
Should I go to the office anyway to complain? I don’t know for sure if neighbor2 told the office, but the asshat neighbor1 seemed to tried to hide his smoking yesterday vs blatantly smoking out in the patio wednesday where neighbor2 and I can smell it.
17 comments
Yes. Yes. Go and lodge a complaint also. If he’s breaking the rules and the other new neighbor has complained, then you need to also. That way they hear it from multiple tenants, and have to assume there’s an issue and that it’s not just you. And document what, who, when you spoke to, etc.
Maybe they were subliminally hinted with your request to file a complaint on them so then they went and filed one against the other because well why, because they’re POS of course
So I went to the office to report the smoking. So it turns out the office was closed on Thanksgiving, so no one else had lodged an official complaint other than me 3 weeks ago. Don’t know if the other neighbor knocked on his door or the guy just decided to wise up yesterday and try to hide his smoking.
Anyway, the lady at the office told me that when she called when I first complained, she said that he said he had a friend over and it was his friend who smoked. Wow, what a slick liar. I told the woman at the office it is so not his friend. I told her he smokes pretty much every day and it’s definitely him, not a “friend.”
The worrisome part is that if a tenant violates the rules, it’s not so simple to kick the guy out. She told me if it continues, they could take it up with the lawyer and go thru the legal system of eviction- which is not an easy process and I don’t think they would do anything if no one else but me complains. Cuz it’s a lot of work and money for them to evict someone and it’s only me, one person, who has a problem with that tenant.
Same thing happened to someone I know (except that smoking was permissible). The apartment complex provided her with an air purifier (she had to pay for the electric). It did a decent job of filtering (I think it was a $500 unit) and she kept it in her bedroom. You can demand this. It will cost them less than it would to hire an attorney, especially if he pays his rent.
Thanks for your suggestion but no, an air purifier is not going to take get rid of cigarette smoke. Only by him not smoking (or not opening his window full of smoke from his apt) is going to eliminate the problem. The problem is, he does smoke out in the patio, and even when he does smoke inside his apt, he opens the window to let out the smoke, which then goes into my apt.
mayoclinic. org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/air-purifier-smoke/faq-20058555
Well, then you can ask to be transferred to another unit when one becomes available and ask them to assume the expense of the move. Or you can see if you can break your lease. Or tweet about it.
what is going on today… ?
guys
calm down :/
There are a lot of people in pain here. Some complain. Some complain about people complaining. Some try to laugh about it. In the end, even if we behave badly, we all belong. Even those who may not be suicidal. . . .
You seem compassionate. Perhaps share some of that with eternaldarkness. If smoking man comes on this site and complains about her, we’d say he should show some consideration to his neighbor and maybe re-read his lease agreement.
What’s your goal, here, soulsister? Start a picket line against a fellow SP’r? The thought police are already destroying this site, let’s just write it off as a bad night and start fresh tomorrow.
I lived in a condo years ago where the fellow below me used to smoke. I hated the smell of that crap. Luckily he moved out in a year. I am all for the Gov. raising taxes on tobacco–the more the better!!
Smoking is against the rules in this complex. So yes, he’s breaking the rules. Not everyone wants to smell other people smoke and get lung cancer. I’ve been coughing the last 2 months because of him so it affects my health.
More likely you’re allergic to dust.
Hmm. Maybe you can buy him a vape and some eggnog flavored e-juice for a holiday surprise. Win-win.
No, people cough when they’re exposed to cigarette smoke because there are toxins in there. It has nothing to do with dust and everything to do with all the harmful substances in the cigarette smoke.
“Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adults who have never smoked. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or at work increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20–30%. Secondhand smoke causes more than 7,300 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers each year.” -CDC
Report him again. Keep reporting him. You’ve heard the saying “Squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Speaking kindly to him or offering alternatives or gifts will accomplish nothing. This isn’t a tv story where people have a change of heart due to inherent altruism, this is a person, in his home, breaking rules that are established so as to create a community of order. If he can’t abide by those rules, there are consequences. That’s life, and that’s tough. When you stack humans one atop the other, accommodations have to be made, and in apartment complexes, too many people assume that these rules don’t apply to them, and that’s b.s.
Complain, but be reasonable and calm, don’t yell or fly off the handle, like I’ve done in the past. Gets you nowhere and alienates management, who at this point is your only real hope of solving this problem. It’s nice to think this neighbor will listen to reason and have a moment of change, but when it comes to personal habits that bother others, how many of us are willing to change that easily?
Maybe you can go to the manager when neighbor is smoking and ask him/her to come into your apt when the conditions are bad, so they can see what’s going on. If the manager has any integrity, they will follow that visit up with a knock on neighbors door to discuss things. Document, document, document times, dates and names of people you speak to, and take it to the next level if necessary – owner of the complex, apartment association, etc. This is no different than people being excessively noisy or any other nuisance.