I reaching out for some help/advice for a bad situation. I live in a condo complex in So Ca. A very sweet lady (let's refer to her as Ms. Gold) in her mid-80's, living by herself on the second floor (must walk up stairs and uses a cane) is being victimized by a very irrate unstable single middle aged lady below her, (that I'll refer to as Ms A. )"Ms. A" has been accusing the older lady of having a leaky toliet, which is not the case as she has had a plumber confirm several times/housecalls that her toliet was working properly. Ms. A has been living in the complex for over 10 years and continues to exhibit irrational behavior , from obsessively washing and sweeping the carports as if it was her fifedom (ever seen a sane person wash their car in the pouring rain in a one piece bathing suit? ) , or completely ripping out newly planted shubbery in the common areas. (Which for the record we complained about with pictures to the property management people who's reply was sympathetic and sided w/Ms.A., "Poor Ms. A does she have any family that YOU can contact? If we did that ,rip out plants, the HOA would promptly reprimand us and levy a fine) Ms. A has a long standing record of run ins with neighbors.
Ms. A placed some rambling note , about the leaky toliet issue on Ms. Gold's door -at 2AM (huh?) and proceeded to knock on Ms. Golds door, ring the doorbell ad then call Ms. Gold (middle of the night no less) on her phone. Ms. Gold heard Ms.A at her door yet again , this time at 4:30 AM still screaming about "did you read the note!". Ms. Gold refused to open the door, rightly so, retreated to her bedroom to get her cell phone to call me about the frightening situation unfolding- when she turned around to see Ms. A now standing in her bedroom door frame
, just inches away from the frail petrified Ms. Gold, (!!!!!!) Ms. Gold yelled at her to get out and that she was calling the police . A very scared Ms. Gold asked her how she got into her house to which Ms. A smirked back,"You gave me a key!" Again Ms. Gold is in her mid eighties and thought about that claim and remembered that over 10 years ago she had exchanged key with Ms. A as she had been locked out once, and Ms. A was a rational person back then. Ms. A retreated and called 911. The police showed up and Ms. Gold expalined the scary situation to the responding officers, but being that Ms. Gold is a kind person did not mention that she believes Ms. A has been a constant threat and highly irrational to the officer. The officer went down stairs and asked for the key back , which Ms. A produced and said nothing.
The officer advised Ms. Gold to get her doorlocks changed the next day which she did. I spoke to Ms. Gold the next day about what had transpired.
Ms. Gold said upon further inspection the key that was returned was a copy of the orig she had trusted Ms A with many years back. Ms. Gold remembered that several months previously, she remembered waking up to hearing keys at her door in the middle of the night, highly out of the ordinary. Ms. Gold thought it might be her adult daughter with some bad news as it was the middle of the night. Ms. Gold called out her name and saw a bright light peer through her bedroom door. When the intruder heard her voice the light was vanished and the door closed. Ms. Gold being in her mid 80's was mystified and never told anyone until now.
We contacted out property manager of the complex about the ongoing deteriorating condition of Ms. A's actions and the tresspassing of her into poor helpless Ms. Golds apartment. The property manager is aware of Ms. A's conditon as numerous complaints have been cited . The property manager said she's at a loss of what to do. Her way of not dealing with this matter was to call Ms. Gold and leave her a message to call Ms. A's brother who lives in the midwest. Ms. Gold is clearly the victim of harassment and shouldn't be asked to call the brother about this situation.
So long story long, what legal steps can she take to insure that Ms A can continue to enjoy her remaining years in safety without enduring the wrath of the unstable neighbor? Ms. A's personal safety is the issue as who knows how this will escalate . How can Ms. A get the mental help she needs/meds if she refuses?, I understand she has rights , but the situation continues to deteriorate and I'd hate to see Ms. A get hurt/killed or suffer a stroke from all the hostilities. Could a restraining order help in some way? If the property management makes no offer to intervene, would they be held liable if something (assault or violence) should occur?? Your help is most appreciated!!!
Ms. A placed some rambling note , about the leaky toliet issue on Ms. Gold's door -at 2AM (huh?) and proceeded to knock on Ms. Golds door, ring the doorbell ad then call Ms. Gold (middle of the night no less) on her phone. Ms. Gold heard Ms.A at her door yet again , this time at 4:30 AM still screaming about "did you read the note!". Ms. Gold refused to open the door, rightly so, retreated to her bedroom to get her cell phone to call me about the frightening situation unfolding- when she turned around to see Ms. A now standing in her bedroom door frame
, just inches away from the frail petrified Ms. Gold, (!!!!!!) Ms. Gold yelled at her to get out and that she was calling the police . A very scared Ms. Gold asked her how she got into her house to which Ms. A smirked back,"You gave me a key!" Again Ms. Gold is in her mid eighties and thought about that claim and remembered that over 10 years ago she had exchanged key with Ms. A as she had been locked out once, and Ms. A was a rational person back then. Ms. A retreated and called 911. The police showed up and Ms. Gold expalined the scary situation to the responding officers, but being that Ms. Gold is a kind person did not mention that she believes Ms. A has been a constant threat and highly irrational to the officer. The officer went down stairs and asked for the key back , which Ms. A produced and said nothing. The officer advised Ms. Gold to get her doorlocks changed the next day which she did. I spoke to Ms. Gold the next day about what had transpired.
Ms. Gold said upon further inspection the key that was returned was a copy of the orig she had trusted Ms A with many years back. Ms. Gold remembered that several months previously, she remembered waking up to hearing keys at her door in the middle of the night, highly out of the ordinary. Ms. Gold thought it might be her adult daughter with some bad news as it was the middle of the night. Ms. Gold called out her name and saw a bright light peer through her bedroom door. When the intruder heard her voice the light was vanished and the door closed. Ms. Gold being in her mid 80's was mystified and never told anyone until now.
We contacted out property manager of the complex about the ongoing deteriorating condition of Ms. A's actions and the tresspassing of her into poor helpless Ms. Golds apartment. The property manager is aware of Ms. A's conditon as numerous complaints have been cited . The property manager said she's at a loss of what to do. Her way of not dealing with this matter was to call Ms. Gold and leave her a message to call Ms. A's brother who lives in the midwest. Ms. Gold is clearly the victim of harassment and shouldn't be asked to call the brother about this situation.
So long story long, what legal steps can she take to insure that Ms A can continue to enjoy her remaining years in safety without enduring the wrath of the unstable neighbor? Ms. A's personal safety is the issue as who knows how this will escalate . How can Ms. A get the mental help she needs/meds if she refuses?, I understand she has rights , but the situation continues to deteriorate and I'd hate to see Ms. A get hurt/killed or suffer a stroke from all the hostilities. Could a restraining order help in some way? If the property management makes no offer to intervene, would they be held liable if something (assault or violence) should occur?? Your help is most appreciated!!!
