I Hate Apartment Living... Let Me Tell You Why

[Jessika]

Our landlord is AWESOME, he isn't the problem at all, its the condo association for where we live.

We renewed our lease in February for a second year. Our landlord knows that we have two medium breed dogs. He knows they are well trained and well behaved and non-destructive. He also knows they are very well taken care of. And he agreed to let us have them when we signed the lease.

Apparently the condo owners association or whatever are deciding to change their rules and policies. Now apparently you can only have one dog only 30lbs and under. They are having a major problem with people not picking up after their dogs, and of course only large dogs contribute to that problem... because little dogs don't poop..... /sarcasm

HJ and I have already had a "concerned" neighbor call the homeowners association and file a complaint against us because, they claimed, we don't pick up after our dogs, they were "concerned" the apartment was too small for two "very large dogs" (Aussies a large breed dog??? *cough* okk....), and felt they weren't being properly exercised. Which of course all of that is a complete farce, and our landlord knows that. Our landlord has been over and met my dogs and has actually been surprised that they WERE as well trained and behaved as they are.

So we can not walk both dogs together anymore, he recommended that I walk one dog, then later HJ walks the other one, and to only walk them in the mornings and at night to avoid a lot of people seeing us so they won't get "suspicious". Because it takes that ONE person to file a complaint, and then we get a violation and have three days to get rid of the dogs or we get evicted.

Now of course I don't have to give up my dogs, I would just ask my parents to come pick one or both of them up, but its just a HUGE inconvenience because we go back to work tomorrow... every day... until December 15th. Yes I work 7 days a week every single day until mid-December. So if we do get "Evicted", this will really put us in a bind.

As I said, our landlord is behind us 100% and is giving us suggestions on what to do, but its just STUPID PEOPLE who don't pick up after their dogs that is the reason why this is happening!!

Just tonight I was walking Jamie, she didn't even poop, but I had a bag with me just in case, and of course I stumble across a pile of fresh poop. Now I COULD have left it sitting there... but knowing my luck someone nosy was watching me and it doesn't matter if they physically saw my dog poop or not, all it would take is them walking out to inspect the area after I left and find that cold pile of poo and claim I didn't pick up after my dog. So I picked it up. But its just ARGHHHH SO FRUSTRATING that people can be THAT lazy, and who suffers in the end???????? The responsible people like ME!!! Because OBVIOUSLY, since I have two dogs, I am contributing twice as much to the problem.

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

I can not WAIT to move back with my in-laws... and then eventually get my OWN HOUSE... where I don't have to put up with anyone's BS!!

[Freedom]

Your Landlord should have a say in the proposals to change bylaws of the condo; he is the owner. Did he appear at the meetings? Did he take a stand? Did he vote?

They "could" have grandfathered in people already living there and just not let any other new residents follow the new rule. But that wouldn't have helped with the jerks who aren't picking up after their dogs.

So sorry to hear that you are having this extra stress. I don't what else to say except, UGH!

[Alysser]

Jessika, I am sorry to hear you are having such trouble, and that lazy people are not picking up after their dogs. Such an easy thing to do is causing such a huge fuss! I really hope they can straighten something out, and it works in your favor.

(((hugs)))

[critter crazy]

Uggghhhh...I remember those days. Years ago, hubby and I lived in an apartment, and at the time we ahd our RB Rotti Boy Zeus. We always picked up after him. Someone however thought that we werent, and every morning there would be a pile of poop placed on our front porch!! Uggghhhh...soe people i tell ya!! If they had nothing better to do, the kleast they could have done was actually figured out who was not picking up after their dog, instead of assuming it was us. But of course, no one liked our dog cause he was a Rottweiler!:rolleyes: Heck all they had to do was look at the pile, and they would know it didnt come from our dog!!:D Thank god I dont have to deal with any of that anymore!!

[Jessika]

Ohhhh boy the SECOND someone starts leaving dog poo on my doorstep... I will file SO many complaints and call my landlord and etc etc etc

Yes, he appears at every meeting, yes he votes, etc. But I guess since where we live is a tourist town, the rules on condos and what not are different. YES, he owns the condo we are renting from him, however since he is in this resort, he has to abide by their rules. So while he has leway for his OWN rules, he has to first and foremost follow theirs'. And I assume they have the right to change them at any given moment without any warning. :(

Because apparently tourists like to complain. It's almost a slap in the face when these overnighters come to stay... because they are renting for their weekend vacation an apartment that I live in every day (if that makes sense). We've already had "notifications" of "violations" from complaints as results of the overnighters... such as... there is a weird parking space here; we always park within the lines. ALWAYS!!!! But one of the parking spaces we frequent.. the pathway is like.. IN the parkingspot, so even if you are in the yellow lines you're still on the walkway, if that makes any sense. It IS a legal parking spot, but its VERY narrow to park in it if you're trying to avoid the walkway. One night we parked there (because spaces are very limited for our buliding and all the other spaces were already taken), but our tire was TWO INCHES (we measured it) on the walkway, the next morning there was a ticket on our truck for "parking on a designated walkway". :mad::mad::mad: FIRST off, there is NO "designation" that this is a walkway!! It's just concrete versus blacktop!! We have also had our cars TOWED before because of WRONG information given out BY THE CONDO OWNERS ASSOCIATION, eventhough we followed the instructions given to us, we were still towed!

I mean, seriously, crap like this is ticking me off. I can not WAIIITTT until December, I am outta here!!

[flipgirl]

I totally sympathize with you!! I have a different issue but I live in an apartment style condo and my neighbour likes to have noisy all night (including weekdays) parties. the rules say that tenants must be quiet between 11pm to 8 am. One day, I had left and my dog barked for an hour. This is from 7 pm to 8 pm. This neighbour had the gall to leave a note on the door saying, "keep your dog quiet" and not sign the note! I know it's annoying to have a barking dog but it was not all night like their parties - which usually sound like a herd of hyenas.....I don't get it.

Anyway, I think that if you signed a lease allowing you to have your dogs with you, that should stick until the end of the lease. If the condo association wants to change the rules that's fine, but make it effective for NEW owners or renters who take possession by a certain date. And if they want to keep accusing you of not picking up after your dogs, tell them to provide an authentic video and the DNA of the poop as proof. Just because they may be slightly larger than other dogs doesn't mean that the other dogs don't poop as much. Trust me, I have a small breed and she poops like it's out of style! In the meantime, hang in there, December will be here before you know it!

[Jessika]

Things seem to be going better... I haven't come across any other piles of poo anyway... and I make SURE to walk Jamie out in the open where others don't walk their dogs so if they want to try to accuse me then well of course I will ask them to provide photographic/video evidence of me not picking up, etc.

HJ and I are still walking the dogs separately so as not to draw attention to the fact that we do have two dogs and we're making sure not to leave anything behind so lol

And boy can I sympathize with noisy neighbors... my year-round neighbors are not bad AT ALL, in fact I don't have ANY problems with them (anymore, anyway, we did have some illegal immigrants next to us that would play LOUD BASSY music all night and day and wouldn't answer the door when we would try to talk with them so we called the cops and that's when we found out they were illegal :() but the overnighters we have problems with, since they don't live here they don't care, they park TERRIBLY (usually over the lines or diagonally across two spaces....), STOMP up and down the steps, SLAM doors and cabinets and we can hear it all. :(

[CathyBogart]

Urrrrgh, I hate apartment living for similar reasons....I've had MULTIPLE complaints that _I_ don't pick up after Jasper, when in fact I pick up after not just him but other peoples' dogs as well. :mad: I guess we're just out and about the complex enough that people see us and assume things. Stupid people.

[Jessika]

I've had MULTIPLE complaints that _I_ don't pick up after Jasper, when in fact I pick up after not just him but other peoples' dogs as well.
Yup that's another issue we're dealing with. GRRR

[flipgirl]

I just got a voicemail from the property manager saying that there is a complaint that my dog barks all day. I know that she gets anxious when I leave but I cannot see her barking all day. Plus if she hears people out in the hall, she'll bark because she's being protective. So if my neighbours would take a little care in closing their doors and walking like human beings, then maybe she wouldn't bark so much. However, I know it can be annoying. I just don't understand why they don't come see me and talk to me. I have never complained to the property management about the noise, and the smell of smoke and other disgusting smells because I know it's part of apartment living. However, I did complain to the neighbour making noise but I talked to him.

I sympathize with all apartment residents!!! I wish I could afford a detached house so I don't have to deal with neighbours.

[moosmom]

Apartment living just plain sucks. I've lived in an apartment all my adult life and have had my share of awful neighbors, including a single parent of 2 small kids who played ring around the rosey in the living room at 10 pm! (I lived below them). It was terrible. Her boyfriend used to bring over his puppy and tie it up to the bannister in the hallway. After calling the police numerous times (my landlord advised me to do so), they finallly moved out and I took that apartment. I will NEVER live beneath anyone ever again.

[Jessika]

The last two days I've gone out to walk Jamie there's been a woman watching me. Not someone watching from their own porch, she's like... standing by a tree. And tonight there was a person outside with a flashlight, and when I showed up, they turned it off and hid behind a tree. So... yeah.

[BC_MoM]

That's freaking creepy.

[Ginger's Mom]

So while he has leway for his OWN rules, he has to first and foremost follow theirs'. And I assume they have the right to change them at any given moment without any warning. :(

I would check with an attorney about this, I don't think they can change the rules without giving everyone notice.

I lived in an apartment for 10 years and have been in my condo for 9, I hate not having a place for my dog to run around and play. We have to go to the park for running, and some days (rain, snow, cold, working late, etc.) that is not possible. Plus I have a very timid dog, so for four months out of the year my dog is terrified to go for a walk at all because it is already dark before I get home from work. Not having an area for her to call her own is one of my biggest regrets. But, anyway, I got off track.

Back to what you were talking about. Talk to an attorney. I do not think your landlord (and yes I do mean your landlord, I blame him) can change the terms of your lease, i.e. allowing two dogs over 30 pounds, and then just change the lease without notice or cause (by cause I mean having given you warnings of violations to your lease to which you responded). I think the worst he could do is tell you that he will not renew your lease with the same conditions, and that next year's lease will only allow for one dog, or whatever he wants to say, so that you will have notice and can look for another place. As for picking up after your dog, my advise is make a big show of what you are doing. Walk around with a plastic bag in your hand, visible to all. After it is filled up, when you see a neighbor wave to them with hand that is holding the bag of poo (because the dog leash is in your other hand ;) ). Everyone knows I pick up after my dog, it is quite obvious that I walk around the neighborhood with dog poo in my hand. No complaints. Also, make sure if you see others not picking up that you loudly say, "do you need an extra pick up bag?"

[moosmom]

Great advice, Gingersmom.

[Jessika]

But see, the problem ISN'T my landlord, it's the condo owner's association or whatever at the resort where we live. Our landlord is totally cool with EVERYTHING, but his hands are pretty much tied. He's giving us work-arounds (such as walk the dogs separately, etc) because he does not want to lose us as tenants.

So far so good, though, no more complaints, and I haven't found any more heaping piles of dog poo not belonging to my own dogs (just maybe a small stray turd here or there that an owner may have missed) so it looks like things are FINALLY getting better!

[Ginger's Mom]

I am glad to hear that things are getting better. I am not trying to be argumentative, but if your landlord is making deals with his tenants that are against the rules of the association, that is his problem/fault, not the condo association. I am fairly sure that anyone who already has dogs that owns a condo (not sure about renters) are grandfathered in when there is a change in restrictions. Check with an attorney, if your landlord is telling you that you need to get rid of the dog because of the change in rules, you may still be protected until the end of your present lease. If he is telling you that you have to get rid of your dog because you are not picking up after it, get a copy of the condo association rules, to make sure that they are enforcing the same standards for everyone. I don't think they can take your dog away from you because you didn't pick up their poo. (ETA: I just reread this and it sounds like I am saying that you aren't picking up after your dog. I didn't mean to make it sound like that is what is actually happening, but I was just responding to the charges that have been made.) Logically, I would think the only thing they could do is fine you (or in this case your landlord, which is where the problem lies). In any case, I hope that the next three months are fairly quiet neighbor-wise.

[Jessika]

I understand that, but he ISN'T telling us we have to get rid of our dogs, he says our dogs are the most well-behaved ones he's come across in the resort and says just don't walk them together where other people can see and "tattle" on us, if that makes sense. He won't kick us out unless the association catches us and makes him. Actually we wouldn't even be evicted, we would just have to "get rid of" one dog, which I would just take Jamie to stay at my parents house until this December lol

As I said, he just made us aware of what could happen and is doing everything he can on his end to ensure that we DON'T get in trouble. The rules when we signed the lease two years ago have changed in the last two months, and I know its the association's rules, NOT HIS, however he does still have to abide by them. So he didn't just change the rules, they did.

And I'm quite positive they don't care about being "grandfathered in" otherwise my landlord wouldn't be concerned for us and be giving us tips on how to keep low lol But I'm not sure, I should check and get a list of rules from the association (which I currently do not have) as well as looking over our lease and making sure we're ok.