Recently had to move back to my apartment cause I broke up with my bf. To start MOVING IS IMPOSSIBLE for many reasons, please don’t even ask.
Was hoping for a fresh start with the psychopaths who live below me. I did everything possible to gaslight myself into thinking it was all just a big misunderstanding and that there was hope to repair our relations.
Basically the first day, I had ptsd from before. I tried my hardest to tip toe the entire day, and to never walk quickly so that I don’t bother them (dress despite hearing them stomping and walking aggressively).
The entire time I am on edge because every time I make the smallest noise they counterattack it, doesn’t matter if it’s an accident or once per day. So basically my body and mind is always in a state of fight or flight, bracing itself constantly for a reaction.
Even then, I had to listen to them being noisy af. At one point I tried to turn on my tv on THE LOWEST VOLUME and it wasn’t in response to anything they did. They immediately but some vibrating device on and it kept buzzing it sounded like a drill but it was just a ceiling vibrator and I recorded it. They stopped since then I think they realized it’s too obvious or they could only use the plausible deniability to confuse it with some dude that was renovating for 5 minutes.
After 3 days have passed of living here, I’m realizing there seems to be no winning.
Basically their rules are, that they can make as much noise as they want, but if I make the tiniest noise I will be punished.
Not only that, but they also attack unprovoked. I feel like they are genuinely trying their absolute hardest to get a reaction out of me, it’s like their hobby or something. The third day I put my earplugs in, and even when I was COMPLETELY SILENT LYING ON THE COUCH FOR HOURS, they started escalating and they dropped a really heavy object to the point where the whole apartment building vibrated. They also hammer all day at random times including quiet hours but they do it really quietly, to the point where it’s legal. Like its enough to drive you literally insane.
They also randomly aggressively stomp and they also do stuff to imitate me. Like if I read something funny and laugh (im not obnoxious) right after they will slam stuff or stomp aggressively. Keep in mind I literally laughed once not like I’ve been annoying them 24/7.
Now everyone will try to gaslight me but there’s a lot more that proves they are doing it on purpose, and I’m NOT delusional or imagining things.
Is there actually nothing I can do? Like I don’t even think sueing them would help cause they’re not gonna move out.
I just don’t get why they’re doing it. I’m also worried about them framing me. I feel like most people in the apartment have already turned against me cause I’m the only foreigner who speaks with an accent here.
For example, once I tried going to different floors to see where the sound was coming from, and 2 different people complained immediately and reported me saying I’m “creepy” and “invading their space” and need to stop immediately or they’ll call the cops (I was a 26 year old girl at the time)…
They immediately threatened they would have a meeting with me and the property manager and the other 2 people to have a “talk” with me
I just don’t know wtf to do anymore and I don’t understand why I’m the target of everything
Step one: Document, Document, Document.
Step Two: Did we cover documentation yet?
Step Three: Complain, with documentation, to the apartment management.
Step Four: Document.
Recordings such as video and audio are useful. Just keeping a log of all such interactions can help as well. But, you want to have the documentation to prove your side of things. If things go really sideways and you end up in court, the judge won’t give a fuck about what you say, only what you can prove. Be ready to prove your claims. As we say in the DFIR world, “logs or it didn’t happen”. Then, start complaining to management. And document (keep a written log, you probably won’t be able to record) your interactions with management. All logs should include date, time, who you spoke with, what you spoke about and any actions which management said they would take or actions you said you would take. If it’s an option, keep your communications with management in email. Both the sending and received emails will be timestamped and the headers will provide a reasonable record showing that the emails were to or from management controlled email servers and addresses. And they log what was talked about quite nicely.
Ultimately, the goal is to move this from being your problem to management’s problem. And it’s possible that your problem neighbor is also someone else’s problem. If management has three tenants all complaining about the same neighbor, they have more impetus to take action against the problem. Of course, this assumes a neutral management, which can be an open question. But, this is likely the least costly way to resolve the issue.