Apartment Living

My Saturday Night

January 16, 2005

To Whom it May Concern:

This letter is to inform you of the recent behaviors of the tenants at apartment number A-7 at West Oaks Apartments. I have already informed the Eugene Police Department of information enclosed here, but wish to keep you informed and to document what has occurred.

Since the tenants of A-7 moved into the unit, living next to them has been highly unpleasant for a number of reasons, particularly the extent to which they smoke cigarettes in the apartment, the messes that constantly appear outside of their doorstep that I must walk past to reach my apartment, and the repeated verbal assault the two residents inflict upon each other late at night.

The two residents of the apartment smoke incessantly, and while this is apparently allowable according to those I have spoken with, it makes for an extremely repulsive walk past their door. As a former smoker, I am extremely sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke, and living next to these tenants is difficult for me. Similarly, I understand that this is allowable, so I am mentioning it purely for the sake of describing all aspects of the behavior next door. This is the least of my complaints.

Secondly, the cleanliness of the area around the door of A-7 has become increasingly poor since the current tenants took up residence. In late November a carved Jack-O-Lantern was still sitting on a chair in front of the unit almost a month after Halloween had passed. The pumpkin was molding and filled with maggots. When I came home from my Christmas travels, a cardboard box containing a well-used cat litter box was sitting in front of A-7. After walking back and forth passed the disgusting, smelly box, I finally put it in the dumpster myself. Currently, small scraps of paper litter the sidewalk outside of the unit. These are only a few examples of the gross behavior of these tenants.

The last and most unendurable behavior exhibited by these tenants is the fighting, yelling, slamming of doors, and other forms of verbal abuse that the tenants inflict upon one another. This very loud fighting occurs at least three times per week, and usually begins around three o’clock am. Often, the fighting has occurred on week nights when I had to work very early in the morning. I have lost sleep because of their fighting on a number of occasions. In early November I knocked on the door of A-7 following such an outburst and asked them to please be more considerate of me. The fighting has ensued since, despite my asking them to stop.

The most recent example of this abuse occurred very early this morning. I awoke at around 3:30 am to the sound of the two tenants arguing with one another in the room attached to my apartment. Soon after, one tenant moved into the living room and they yelled at one another from different rooms. 3:30 in the morning is an incredibly unreasonable and disrespectful time to have such an argument, although this behavior at this time of the morning is typical of this couple.

Finally, at 3:45 am, I got dressed and went next door to again ask the tenants to quiet down. As I approached their door, the fighting continued, but after I knocked, they quieted down and did not answer the door. I knocked several more times, but the tenants continued to ignore me, pretending as if they were not there. This reaction was immature and only added insult to injury in a situation where their actions have caused me to experience repeated anger, anxiety, and sleep loss. I then called the non-emergency number for the Eugene Police Department and reported their behavior as a noise disturbance and potential for violence. The Police Department arrived shortly and the tenants quieted down after their departure.

Again, my purpose for writing this is to inform those interested of repeated behaviors of the A-7 tenants that are highly unpleasant and will likely continue. I am not an unreasonable person, and quite contrarily, I have withstood this fighting for a lengthy period of time, assuming that it would eventually stop. It has not stopped, however, and at the current time the fighting is unbearable. I have studied social health issues in depth as a part of my university course work and will therefore not tolerate behavior that is a risk factor for escalated violence.

Please take note of this information and take appropriate action if these behaviors continue. At the present time, I am considering moving to get away from this situation, although my ultimate choice is to remain because I am not the cause of the disturbances. Please feel free to contact me if necessary and I will keep you informed of further problems regarding this matter.


Sara (last name omitted)