Apartment manager threatening us?

[WAMike]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington State

About a week ago our apartment manager came to our apartment and told us that "You probably know that your downstairs neighbors moved out months ago so it's been okay to be loud, but I was just down there cleaning up and your daughter is making way too much noise running around all day."

My wife apologized and said we will try to keep our 3yr old daughter from running around as much.

Then yesterday the same manager came to our door again with almost the exact same speech. Again my wife followed with apologizing and saying that we are trying to keep her from running.

15 minutes from that exchange the manager was back at our apartment yelling at my wife. I only heard bits and pieces through my phone as I was talking to her at the time but she had accused my wife of embarassing her while she was showing an apartment, not trying hard enough with my daughter, telling her that we needed to break our daughters bad habit and be firm with her and if we weren't, than she (the manager) was going to have to be firmer with us.

My question is this: Obviously I feel her behavior was way over the boundaries and i've called the head property management company with our complaint, but is there any other things that we can do? My wife spent all of yesterday keeping my daughter and herself in bed out of fear of this manager coming to our apartment and demeaning her again.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Who's Liable?]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington State

About a week ago our apartment manager came to our apartment and told us that "You probably know that your downstairs neighbors moved out months ago so it's been okay to be loud, but I was just down there cleaning up and your daughter is making way too much noise running around all day."

My wife apologized and said we will try to keep our 3yr old daughter from running around as much.

Then yesterday the same manager came to our door again with almost the exact same speech. Again my wife followed with apologizing and saying that we are trying to keep her from running.

15 minutes from that exchange the manager was back at our apartment yelling at my wife. I only heard bits and pieces through my phone as I was talking to her at the time but she had accused my wife of embarassing her while she was showing an apartment, not trying hard enough with my daughter, telling her that we needed to break our daughters bad habit and be firm with her and if we weren't, than she (the manager) was going to have to be firmer with us.

My question is this: Obviously I feel her behavior was way over the boundaries and i've called the head property management company with our complaint, but is there any other things that we can do? My wife spent all of yesterday keeping my daughter and herself in bed out of fear of this manager coming to our apartment and demeaning her again.

Thanks,
Mike

Inform the manager to pound sand. No amount of being "firm" on a 3-year old is going to keep them from being a 3-year old. While I would suggest not intentionally being loud or disruptive, don't stress over every sound or issue.

 

[WAMike]

Thanks for the quick reply. That is pretty much what I figured, my wife has panic issues so she is taking it a little rough but I appreciate the help.

 

[sandyclaus]

Thanks for the quick reply. That is pretty much what I figured, my wife has panic issues so she is taking it a little rough but I appreciate the help.

Also, being a parent myself (my 3-year-old is now well into adulthood), I know how hard it is to keep them quiet. Have you tried taking them out to a local park and giving them room to run around and play? Regular outside play sessions can be beneficial by getting the child out of the house and giving them an opportunity to use all that pent up energy in a constructive manner. If the child is that rambunctious in the house, chances are he/she is not getting enough play time or is bored.

Just a suggestion

 

[CSO286]

This isn't legal advice, but could you request the downstairs apartment? That way your 3 y/o isn't thumping across a neighbor's ceiling.

It's a lot easier to get a child to understand the "indoor voice" concept than the "walk softly" concept.

 

[WAMike]

Thanks for the advice all.

After the first visit my wife offered to move us to a ground floor apartment but there is a waiting list, and they also want us to pay a new deposit and all sorts of charges associated with transferring apartments.

As far as play we only have one vehicle at the moment, my wife stays at home with my daughter and goes to school. We have some play toys for her on our deck that she enjoys and the only park in our town is along a road that is being worked on at the moment so the side walks are closed. Also we are still getting a lot of indoor weather here in WA.

But at least to me she isn't that rambunctious, its just normal 3yr old behavior. She sees a toy that she loves or gets upset at being told no and kinda runs off to her room or runs out to her toy. Its not as if she is jumping all over the house running in circles non stop That would drive me nuts as well.

 

[DeenaCA]

People who live in apartments are expected to tolerate the normal noise of children, including running. I assume that your 3-year-old is not operating a bowling alley at 2:00 a.m. or otherwise creating an unreasonable disturbance. Families with children are a protected class under the federal Fair Housing Act. The housing provider cannot restrict children to the ground floor or establish unreasonable rules.

See the HUD Familial Status Fact Sheet at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=DOC_7766.pdf. If the manager makes good on her threat to "be firmer" with you, file a fair housing complaint. You can locate a fair housing agency in your area at http://www.fairhousing.com/index.cfm?method=agency.search.

Of the seven fair housing charges that HUD has filed this year, five involve familial status discrimination. See them at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD..._housing_equal_opp/enforcement/2011hudcharges.

 

[WAMike]

Thank you very much Deena, that was extremely helpful and exactly what I was looking for. I really appreciate it.

 

[Searchertwin]

What everyone seems to avoid is WHY the LL is behaving like that.

He is trying to rent the place out. He can't if there is a lot of noise from above.
Let's use common sense here.

The LL should have been more respectful and said that he knows that children play and run, but he is trying to show the apartment. He should let her know the time when he is showing and ask the tenant to help with the noise from that time frame. If the apartment is EMPTY, of course, the noise is going to be extreme and LL should know that.

So, as the tenant, since LL is not using common sense, suggest this remedy above and you probably won't hear any more complaints.

And wife and child staying in bed all day, get real, you just hurt yourself there.