Tara Johnson was ready to scream; she loved her condo in the historic district of her hometown, the high ceilings, the hardwoods, and the view from her living room windows. But life there was becoming a nightmare thanks to the new neighbor who had moved in upstairs.
The problem started when the owner of the unit above hers leased it to a single woman with no children. That wasn’t normally anything one would worry about, but Tara’s new neighbor was proving to be a nightmare.
The woman was nocturnal, and Tara would be awakened in the middle of the night by the noise of her loud television. She would bang on pipes at all hours, and it got so bad that Tara called the police to come and check it out. Of course, police departments have much more urgent things to attend to, and it would take them hours to show up and take her complaint.
She eventually sent letters to the condo board, who told her they would take care of it. Many letters later, they finally sent a letter to the condo owner telling him they would enforce the rules. Still, nothing happened.
The noisy neighbor continued to make her noise and disturb Tara. To get away from the noise, Tara would sleep at a friend’s house when he was out of town. But as a homeowner, she knew this was no way to live, and that something had to be done.
She complained to security, which noted her complaints, but did nothing. Even the police finally told her that they could ticket the woman, but that didn’t stop the noise and disturbance.
Finally, Tara decided to file a lawsuit against the condo association. Condo rules stated that no loud noise, music or other nuisances that would disturb or annoy other occupants of the building would be permitted between the hours of 11 p.m. and 9 a.m.
Tara claimed in her lawsuit that the board had ignored her and instructed security to stop responding to her calls. Even though the board eventually fined the condo owner, for Tara, it was too little, too late.
The condo board argued that Tara had no basis to make a legal claim. The board contended that it had the right to enforce, or not enforce the condo rules and restrictions.
What do you think? Does Tara have a case?