Ok, I'm Fuckin' fed up!!!! Pls help, w/advice if you can...

I don't know what the deal is, but the people below me cook with a lot of garlic and spices. That isn't the problem. The problem is despite being asked on several occasions to USE THEIR VENT they don't. How do I know? Because my apt. get's the glorious(not) smell on a daily basis.

Here's the other problem. I have SEVERE allergies and asthma. VERY SEVERE! I had surgery in June to try to correct part of the problem, but I still have to be VERY protective of my environment. I have the air cleaner, the ionic breeze, and every kind of spray and carpet thing known to man. But I'm getting pissed because all that spray and stuff frankly isn't very good for me or my issues.

Dh has talked to the office numerous times. They've been understanding and spoke to the people--but apparently there is a language barrier. Apparently someone leased the apt. for them, and the one that speaks english isn't around frequently.

There are days when I don't open my windows, if it's a bad air quality day--This isn't merely an inconvenience, they are infringing on my health!!!! I should be able to control the air in my apt. and that is NOT the case now--this has been going on for months!!

What the hell do I need to do to get our apt. management to understand the urgency of this? I've been keeping a log since the last time she spoke to them--not a day has passed that they have used their vent. The last six days I've been home(was away two) there hasn't been ONE day they've used their vents!!!

:grr::cry: :mad: :cry: :grr::cry: :mad: :cry: :grr::cry: :mad:

What is the language? I'm thinking you could pretyy much explain this with hand signals and pantomime??? Perhaps a greeting and few kew words in whatever language - maybe someone here can help or try another site (Lonely Planet comes to mind - I got some good advice for a few Persian/Farsi phrases there one time)


Please and Thankyou can go a long way....

Write a letter in english, have your friend translate it, slip the translation under the door, send a copy of both the english and foreign language letters to apartment management. At least then it's documented. And check your rental agreement, noting what clauses would apply to your situation.

maybe that will be helpful...I guess I'll write them a letter using their own lease--backing it up with my medical crap.

I doubt they want to get a bill from the emergency room the next time I have to go in for an asthma attack...:eyes:

1. See if you can get a note from your doc asap saying you need to be in a clean environment. This might help "nudge' the apartment manager along.

2. What language do these people speak? Do you know? Do you know anybody, or know anybody who knows how to speak the language?

3. If you don't, try the internet site BableFish. You can write something in English and translate it online to many different languages, and it's free. Obviously you need to know what language they speak to do this. If they truly have a difficult time understanding English, they may really not know what the apartment manager tried to tell them.

4. If all else fails, see if the apartment manager would be willing to have an interpreter talk to them. There are interpreter services all over the place. The reason I suggest this is because, in addition to your neighbors needing to understand the words, they need to understand the meaning of the words and the context. I have had a number of clients over the years who speak little or no English. Even when they do speak some English, they don't always understand the meaning of some words I have to use in talking to them, so an interpreter can be really helpful in this area. I mean, maybe they have never lived in a place with a cooking vent. Might sound silly, but that could be it. Telling them to open the vent may have no meaning to them.

Hope something helps you. Hubby and I have allergies (he had surgery a couple of years ago), and you have my sympathies.

I'm getting letters from my ent and my allergist, stressing the kinds of things I can't have in my environment.

The interpreter is a great idea! THEY the mgmnt. needs to do it, but I will certainly make the suggestion, and include a few sources where they can find one.

Maybe if they have the threat of my billing them for extra office visits they will get a bit more urgent about it!

I bent over backwards trying to just handle it on my end with the sprays, etc. But it's ridiculous. The money dh has spent getting all this crap alone, is insane!!!

We had 70's era carpet in our house, and no amount of shampooing and vacuuming would help. After hubby's surgery, his doc wrote a note for him saying he should be in a carpet-free (or at least very low pile) carpet area because of his allergies. The carpet in the bedroom is very low nap and pretty easy to keep clean, but the livingroom carpet was the sculptured shag crap from the '70's. After he got the note from the doc, I wrote a letter to our landlord, including the note. Within a month, we had new laminate flooring in the livingroom, and it really helped him a lot.

The interpreter service will cost, but your landlord would probably have to pay for it as it is part of this whole issue. I'm really betting this is more of a language/cultural thing than it is a "bad neighbor" kind of thing.

Some of my clients have been Cambodian refugees who escaped the Khymer Rhuge (damn, I know I spelled that incorrectly), and I had to develop a relationship with an interpreter who not only spoke their language, but was able to convince them I was not a threat to them, as they saw anyone in a perceived position of authority as a threat. Definitely a cultural thing.

Anyway, let me know how it goes (smoothly, I hope!).

picture cards
Stove


Vent

(note: Add arrow to indicate vent)

cooking vapors


asthma
http://www.gufpaht.com/images/AsthmaAttack!GufPaht.jpg

Pic of you, and show your inhaler

Make sure they understand you live above them

:)

I really don't want to complicate the issue or be rude. I don't really know what their culture is, and I want to remain respectful of that. Some of the middle easterners in my building are VERY friendly--but a great deal of others won't even look at you when you pass them in the hall. I pay attention to stuff like that...

I'm going to go to the mgmnt. w/documentation that they obviously aren't using it all these days and times in addition to my medical documentation.

Maybe if mgmnt. understands it isn't merely an inconvenience, but a legitimate health concern, they will treat it with more concern and urgency. Besides, it is in the lease--it's their job to enforce that.

This situation could literally kill you. I have asthma too and cannot physically tolerate situations like this.
Get letters from you docs and take them to a lawyer then have the lawyer present them to the apt. complex. The apt manager should then confront the tenants. It's not your responsibilty to do so. The apt. complex would then be on notice that you mean business. If nothing changes, then sue them for forcing you to live in an unhealthy environment.
This is your life and not being able to take a full breath in your own home is tantamount to willful negligence of the apt. management.

I don't mean to be cheap by any means--but I know lawyers are expensive.

Would one of those legal services where you pay a monthly fee for attorney services be sufficient (in your opinion of course)?

And thank you very much for your input--I was kind of thinking I may need to get some sort of legal representation on this...
to get the ball moving and so they know it isn't about my just being 'annoyed' but really concerned about my health...

Not disagreein' with you, but unless these people (the neighbors) truly understand what is being told to them, all the legal power in the world won't help, other than make a worst mess of things. I do agree it is the apartment manager's responsibility to notify these folks, but they have to understand what is being said.

I never deal with non-English speaking clients (or client's with only a small grasp of the language), because it isn't fair to them for me to tell the what their responsibilities are if they can't understand what I'm telling them.

I agree, that it is cultural. I am well aware of cultural issues, as a former Resident Advisor in one of the most culturally diverse colleges in the nation (at that time).

So many of the problems the students there encountered with living with one another broke down to culture. This is part of why I am reluctant to address them myself...they don't know me, and may misunderstand and think that the apt. is telling me to go to them, or any other number of assumptions....it can get quite messy, that's not my desire at all.

The legal issue, would primarily be for me to get the message across to the apt. that I will hold them liable for my environment and health. It's a huge complex,and I know they have many other tenants with lots of other issues. But I need for them to take this seriously.

Maybe if I have a lawyer addressing them, they know they need to get off their asses and get an interpreter. I'm the one living with this--not them.

Call an attorney referral service and get a free consult with an attorney who knows landlord/tenant law. Many attorneys offer free consults, and it may be that you won't actually have to hire one. Bring your lease and the notes from the doc for him/her to look at.

Good luck to you, bliss, and please let me know how it goes.

:hug:

I will keep you posted...thanks for caring. :hug:

For the most part, this is a great building. They are incredibly efficient, and fair in most things. We really haven't had any problems here, other than the occasional annoyance of being awakened by leaf blowers. LOL!

One of the bldg. mgrs. has been great about trying to talk to them and rectify the situation. I do appreciate her efforts, I really do.

It's just frustrating, because it IS a health issue for me--and as you probably know, it's not much fun when you can't breath, or you've had a sinus headache for several days, etc.

I feel badly complaining...but I have to be mindful that I'm not just doing so to be picky or difficult.

So I really appreciate your understanding and empathy in responding to me tonight. It means a lot, to be heard and understood! :hug:

And you're not complaining -- you are trying to save your health.

:hug:

Lived in an apartment complex. I moved from a one-bedroom unit to a two-bedroom. The property manager did not make me pay a new kitty deposit, because I had cleaned my apartment so well.

Well, she left and was replaced by someone I ended up calling Mr. Nasty. My unit was on the third floor; the stairway was outside. One night about midnight, I heard a ruckus coming from the 2nd floor landing. I opened my door, and the noise stopped. I didn't have to say a word, and I never complained to the manager, because the people shut up right away.

Several days later, I got a note from Mr. Nasty, telling me the people down below me had complained of my making noise around midnight. WTF?? They were obviously trying to throw the heat off themselves. Also in the letter was notification that I needed to pay a deposit for my cat.

Went to see Mr. Nasty and explained that the former property manager had not made me pay it, and it was noted in my file. Well, Mr. Nasty said he "couldn't find it". I know it was in there 'cause I saw the former manager put it in my file.

Anyway, he also would not believe that it had not been me who made the noise. So I got online to our state's website, and researched landlord/tenant laws. Found I was in the right, and he wasn't. Then I went to see a lawyer on a free consult, told him what was going on and what my understanding of the laws were. He confirmed my understanding.

I wrote a letter to Mr. Nasty, referenced the laws, said I had seen a lawyer, and Mr. Nasty didn't have a leg to stand on (I said it more professionally than that). Mr. Nasty didn't bother me again. :7

Mr Nasty sounds so pita! Isn't it funny how EVERY bldg. seems to have one.

Our last bldg. was tolerable, until our apt. mgr.died, and his wife moved away. Then we got OUR Mr. Nasty. Except we had many other choice names for him. ;)LOL! LOL! He, his wife and child were some of the most unpleasant, unprofessional and downright inappropriate people I've ever encountered.

This place is heaven in comparison to what we went through there. LOL!

Thank you for sharing your experience--funny how laws and such speak so much louder than we do in some instances.

and it has nothing to do with cultural miscommunication. This is a health issue and nothing more. It is their responsibilty to see that their complex is a haven, a home for everyone living there.
I honestly do not know how to find an affordable lawyer in your area. Can you tell what the closest metro area is and I can do some research?
Sac., LA, SF? No personal details.

The real reason this makes me so mad is that I went through something very similar. We had lived in our apt for 6 years when a bunch of smokers of all types moved in next door. I spent too much money at the doctor and several ER visits before we saved enough money to move out. It was a nightmare. I was doing my inhaler 20 times a day and still couldn't breathe.

Los Angeles county, pretty close to Long Beach area. It's so kind of you to offer to try to help with this. Thank you so much!

I'm doing some digging on the internet myself. I just found this and if I can find out more about them, this looks promising...

http://wserver0.prepaidlegal.com/member_stories/letters/BSandersCA.html

It makes me mad. It's my health and no one else has to go through what I do, so that upsets me. They don't know what it's like to feel like you can't breathe, or to be up all night with a migraine that was triggered by a sinus headache...I do. So, whatever speaks the loudest and gets the most done is what I want to do.

Hate to be bitchy--but my surgery wasn't a whole lot of fun--especially not the recovery. I have to take care of it, I don't want to go back to have it done again.

Oh, and thank YOU for caring so much! It really means a lot to me! :hug:

severely exacerbated by sprays, powders & cleaners--try to minimize your exposure (You already know that), but even used sparingly will prompt a snowball effect. Maybe try to find out if there is a specific duct or vent that is carrying the vapors to your home & if so block it. Ambient vapors are a fact of life, so if your health is at stake & nobody will listen, consider a single dwelling instead of apt. I realize this is a financial issue, but so are extensive medical bills. Don't get me wrong, you have a right to be pissed, but weigh the stress consequences.

While we were out of town, maintenance checked the vents, and said they weren't blocked.

Thanks for the advice--I agree the stress isn't worth it. But I think (hope) I'm not doing this all in vain. They are VERY strict here, on most issues.

I'm sure once they understand, that it isn't just another 'tenant complaint' that I do have a health concern they may be more conscientious about solving the problem... They have been about most other things, I can't imagine they wouldn't be about this.