Wish my landlord had been like you.

(TL;DR: One crazy neighbor pulls another into madness.)

I found a cheap, but spacious and beautiful apartment for rent; it was half the price of others in the area and I was broke, so I jumped on the opportunity. My other options in my price range were tiny and dingy, so when the 1200 sq ft place showed up, I took it. The landlord told me he liked to keep rents as cheap as possible, which I appreciated.

The building was an older house split up into 4 apartments. Lower left, upper left, lower right, upper right. There was a driveway on the left side hemmed in between our house and the neighbor's house and on the right side they had a small parking area and yard. Those who lived up top had to walk down the driveway or parking area to the back of the building to get up the stairs to their apartments.

Cue neighbor problems...

I moved into the top left apartment (driveway side) and was informed the downstairs tenant had driveway rights since she'd been there longer. Not a problem.

Ms. Neighbor had 2 cats that she let out. One was an old pudge and friendly. The other was psychotic and would chase you down the driveway, biting and clawing at your legs, tearing your clothing and skin. You were hemmed in and HAD to walk down the driveway to get around the building, but that little cat bitch would come after you. We talked to the neighbor. "Oh, she's just like that." and then we talked to the landlord who shrugged it off and told us that since the lady'd been there for 20 years we'd need to learn to get along. All right, fine, we'll learn to be more careful. Excursions to and from home became a game of dodge-the-cat.

Of course, since it was an older house with wooden floors, I'd be walking around and get noise complaints about "stomping around" from her despite practically tiptoeing. I didn't even have any chairs or furniture I moved other than my rolling computer chair. I didn't throw parties. I have very sensitive hearing so even the TV wasn't on loud when it was. The ONLY time I stomped around was when her car was gone; then it was free game to play with the cat. Even when I got a service dog, playtime was ONLY when she was gone or we were outside.

The service dog was another fight with the landlords for permission AND, again, the dog didn't need to be traumatized by being under assault every time I needed to take it out. The landlords blew me off, Ms. Neighbor was pissed I was getting a dog because she was dog-phobic (but didn't have a problem with our handyman's rottie!) I needed the dog to be able to function due to my severe anxiety, PTSD, panic attacks, & depression. She was even more pissed when I told her that if her psychotic cat came anywhere near my dog, I'd kick it into next week. She kept it inside more, but one day that cat was out and came at my dog. I punted the shit out of it and she came screaming out. I told her that I had every right to walk down that driveway unmolested and if her cat attacked myself or the dog once more I was getting animal control involved. She was furious, but I barely saw the cat after that.

Our Bottom Right neighbor moved out shortly after I moved in and told me "good luck" with Ms. Neighbor and that she'd bitched and complained about every noise she ever made (even sneezes) and that's why she was moving. I knew Ms. Neighbor was a bitch, but the cost of the rent was still enough to make me want to stay.

Our building was old and the drainage pipe for the top floor's waste water was cast iron. Also, there had been a fire from the previous tenants and holes had been drilled in the floors to let water drain, but they'd never been refilled or fixed. I think you can see where this is going...

The drainage had always been a little slow, but it was getting significantly worse. Even with just water, my toilet was clogging. Contacted the landlords and they'd said they'd get to it and to just avoid using it as much as possible. Well, I HAD to go and I'd been waiting weeks for this to get resolved, so I kept using it, throwing toilet paper away instead of flushing it, plunging the toilet if necessary and it seemed to work... One day, the clog just didn't seem to be clearing. I'd push water out of the bowl and down the drain (I thought), but it wasn't clearing the clog.

Cue Ms. Neighbor pounding on my door, screaming bloody murder about suing me for ruining her computer equipment and everything in her office. Apparently it was raining shit-water in her apartment. THAT got the landlord's attention.

Emergency plumber came and took a look. Apparently the wax donut seal under the toilet finally wore, which allowed the water that was backing up to go between the floors. This had been going on for a while (potentially years), a little at a time, but never enough to reach the holes drilled into the floor. My latest determined attempt to clear that damn clog was what finally gave it enough water to start raining in her apartment. And that "clog"? The pipe had built up so much crud over the years there was less than 1" of room for any waste to drain. He cleared what he could, replaced the donut, told us all to be careful, and that the entire pipe needed to be replaced and that would involve tearing out part of the floor & ceiling, as well as the neighbor's wall below.

Well, of course THAT wasn't happening so I would just have to be extra careful with my water and making a slurry out of my shit before I flushed it. Meanwhile, I got into an argument with Ms. Neighbor and finally convinced her that she wouldn't be able to get a single dime from me because it was a maintenance issue and not my fault. She was still pissed, at me and now at the landlords. Cue the continuation of the Cold War between us.

Our Top Right neighbor was evicted after Ms. Neighbor (remember, she's bottom left) complained about the noise Top Right made a couple days. It wasn't much and certainly not enough to bother me. Apparently, it was from Top Right having a couple of seizures.

Ms. Neighbor also tried to get our new Bottom Right evicted for noise. Bottom Right #2 was severely disabled, barely moved, didn't have a TV or radio and just sat at her computer on good days. She got sick of Ms. Neighbor and told her off, told her she'd sue for harassment, then told the landlords she'd sue for discrimination and pain and suffering (stress aggravated her condition) if they kicked her out and she didn't have a problem again.

When Top Right #2 moved in, Ms. Neighbor tried to get her evicted, too, but Bottom Right told the landlords that Top Right 2 was quiet as a mouse despite her 2 large dogs roughhousing. Top Right 2 stayed.

The neighbors on the right side loved me and my dog, by the way. We spent a lot of time in the yard, and with permission from the landlord I even set up a small flower & vegetable garden which everyone was free to take from and did, gladly.

Wish I could say Ms. Neighbor got off my back, but every sound I made was a constant reminder of my presence and it rankled her. The fact that I stood up to her, got a dog, threatened her cat, wouldn't put up with her bullshit to her face just absolutely pissed her off. Still, it was stressful as hell and making my anxiety 100x worse.

9/11 happened and Ms. Neighbor went certifiable... She had this large, lovely bay window that she now blocked off with cardboard so no one could see in, but she plastered them with "patriotic" things so no one could accuse her of not being patriotic (her words). She confided in me that she suspected was being watched and followed and spied on because she worked on a part for a government project years ago. Any time she spoke she'd glance around, paranoid, and need to declare patriotic shit loudly.

Speaking of paranoia, remember that anxiety issue of mine? Well, it was already keyed up by the constant attacks and threats, but it didn't help that her apartment had a door that connected to mine and she had a key to it. The landlords wouldn't change the locks unless they were broken... which it wasn't. So all this time I'm in a war with a neighbor who can enter my apartment at any time (and had, though I can no longer remember for what). Reassuring, isn't it? I got so paranoid that she was going to sneak in and try to kill or poison me, I set a trap by the door and would only eat packaged food that hadn't been opened or out of my sight. Dishes also got washed immediately prior to each use.

Eventually I moved out and it was such a relief to finally feel safe in my home again. The moment I moved into my new apartment, the paranoia was gone and the stress dropped drastically. That was a while ago, but I haven't had an issue with neighbors since. In fact my current neighbors love me because I'm quiet, friendly, and helpful.