My supers do nothing about it for a month..so when I write a letter I get a warning!!!?

Question

ok here is the situation..

I live on the bottom floor of a building and have my own outside door. So I have outside my apartment a BBQ and some lawn chairs and a swing. Well my upstairs neighbour has his morning coffee outside on his balcony every day... and when he is done he throws what is left in his mug over his balcony and it always lands on my furnature.. I have nice cloth cushins that now have coffe stains. So I started taking them in and out with me.. but I still have to clean coffee off my chairs everyday. I have spoken to the super about it many times. It has been going on over a month now..

supers have done nothing... so I wrote my upstairs neighbours a letter..asking them to stop...and if they didn't I want the money to get my cushins cleaned. ( i know its them.. I seen him do it)

well they took the letter to the supers..all mad saying I was rude! I was very poliet in my letter.. but anyways the super is pissy at me saying I should not have taken matters in my own

Answer 1

Look at your lease and look at the rules of the apartment house/community.  Every apartment I've ever lived in has had a rule that said upper level tenants were not to throw items from their balconies or windows, were not to pour liquids out, and were responsible for any damages to the property of the people who lived below them.

Did you keep a written record of all the times you spoke to your super?  

It's time to send a letter to the super, explaining that this person's morning coffee is ruining your patio furniture.  Mention that you have already asked for the super to handle this several times and that nothing has changed.  Point out the clause in the lease or the rule in the community handbook that prohibits this behavior from your neighbor.  And you might even point out that your furniture is for people to sit on, and how exactly would the super justify the neighbor pouring his coffee on a person?

Good luck.

Answer 2

Asking for money was probably not a good idea as that makes the letter seem adversarial, no matter how politely it is worded.  Best way to try and defuse it to be the "bigger person" and go talk to your neighbor.  Apologize for the letter and see if you can schmooze them a little.  If they like you, they'll be more likely to be careful.  If they don't like, which is the case now, they'll keep doing it just to antagonize you.

Answer 3

Write a letter to your landlord AND their boss. Document everything if something happens - like getting written up.

You should always go to the landlord about disputes and never the other tennant.