A woman who works from home is having trouble with her neighbor’s 2-3 year old child who screams and cries loudly all day and night, causing disruption to her work and leisure time. She has already filed multiple noise complaints, but feels guilty about the possibility of the family getting evicted if she files another complaint.
Source: Reddit
I’m really torn about this. I (F33) work fully remotely and am a bit of a homebody, so I am usually in my apartment most of the time, either working or living my life as one does. Several months ago, we had a family move in across the hall from us with a little girl around 2 or 3 years old. They moved in over the course of two weeknights, so there was lots of banging and shouting in the halls between 10 and 12 at night, so it was not a good first impression for both myself and my roommate.
Over the months they’ve been here, their little one has proven to be extremely vocal. While working she will often scream bloody murder at the top of her lungs, loud enough that it feels like she’s standing directly in my apartment. I’ve had people on calls with me (while I’m wearing headphones) ask who is screeching in the background, and I have to apologize and state that it’s my neighbor’s child. Even at night, I will hear her screaming all the way in my bedroom, which is the farthest room in my apartment from the front door. It’s not so much “I’m scared” screaming (that would warrant a different call) or “yay, I’m a toddler having fun” screaming; it’s more “I’m throwing a tantrum” screaming, and there are some days where it’s nearly constant. I will be doing laundry on the bottom floor (we are on the top floor), and I can hear her all the way on the first floor just yelling and screaming, clear as day.
I have called and complained about them to our office (they also shout talk in the hallway to each other when they have visitors, and no carpet in the halls means it echoes and is loud), and I know multiple other neighbors of mine, both on the same floor and downstairs, have called with complaints too.
Yesterday I had called in with a bad migraine, and even in my room with the door closed I could hear her going full air raid siren, even until 10pm and that just made my blood boil. It doesn’t even sound like her parents try to get her to calm down.
I’ve spoke to my friends with kids about this and they’ve told me to just “keep it moving” because parenting is hard. I am an aunt to two spectacular kids so I get it, but I don’t think I should have to deal with an out-of-control toddler who screams all day and night. My neighbors already have two violations for excessive noise, and I believe one more could get them evicted. While the noise is definitely an issue they have been warned about multiple times by management (i should add that they don’t speak English or i would have talked to them myself) and interferes with both my work and downtime, i cant help but feel immensely guilty knowing i may get a little girl and her family evicted. But even as i write this post, she is banshee shrieking and has been on and off for close to a half hour.
Am I a jerk if i file another noise complaint, even though it may result in a family getting evicted?
EDIT: Just making an edit to answer some questions I’ve been seeing asked repeatedly on here:
- Noise cancelling headphones aren’t always an option for me. My job requires I make calls and I can’t make & take calls with earplugs in. Also I’ve had people tell me they can hear her over said headphones, which is embarrassing
- My office space is in an open area so I can’t really noise-proof my home office.
- It costs $1000 to break my lease and I have a roommate to consider. I’ve also been in my apartment for 8 years and they’ve only been here for 4-5 months. The only thing getting broken around here are eardrums and my patience.
- I have no clue if she’s on the spectrum or not or if she has a disability.
- I don’t suspect abuse and have not called CPS, however a wellness check may be in order…
- I cannot move my home office nor can I work at a friend’s house as I work in a department that works in confidential information, so I need to be at home or at the office. I also suffer from chronic pain so WFH is easier on me mentally and physically
Also in my post when I said “I’m an aunt, I get it” I mean that I understand kids can be LOUD. I get it to a fault, not completely as I’m not a parent, but I understand.
Thank you very much for all the feedback that has been given so far, I really appreciate it!
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