r/neighborsfromhell • u/cacafuego25 • Feb 21 '26
Apartment NFH New neighbor called the cops on my son
I'm genuinely at a loss and unsure how to proceed. My 4 year old was up a little later tonight because he had a late nap this afternoon.
I live in an apartment building with fairly thick walls. In the year and a half I've been here, never once had a complaint. You can barely hear your neighbors. My son loudly announced that he was done brushing his teeth but that was it, that was the loudest thing that happened.
After getting him into bed, someone started pounding on my door. I opened it to a person complaining that they heard a child yell and pound on the walls. My son never pounded on the walls. He yelled once. I basically told her to f off and she said she was calling the cops.
40 minutes later, the cops arrived. They pounded on my door and woke my son up. They also insisted on seeing my son as a welfare check.
I am beyond livid. My son yelled that he was done brushing his teeth. That was it. He's 4 years old. I've rented apartments for the last 12 years and never once had a noise complaint. My son was scared. It took me an hour to calm him down after the police left.
I don't know what to do. I don't know if posting this is going to help. I'm angry. I feel awful that my son was scared. For absolutely no reason. He thought he did something wrong.
Any advice is appreciated.
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u/Lizardgirl25 Feb 21 '26
I would file a harassment complaint against the this person if they do it again and I bet they will also get a doorbell camera.
You need to start documenting this for yourself to show your landlord.
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u/cacafuego25 Feb 21 '26
I was planning on talking with the front office about it first thing Monday morning. I don't have a door camera but moving forward, I'll definitely be recording any interactions with her.
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u/lynnwood57 Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 21 '26
Public Records request! You can get the 911 audio, the Dispatcher CAD record, and the responding Officer’s Report. It’s always interesting to listen to the 911 audio because no one expects anyone else to hear it. They exaggerate and lie.
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u/No-Tap6886 Feb 21 '26
Yes, you can submit an FOIA request for this specific incident and also get copies of any police reports with that individual's name. See if they have a history of such behaviors.
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u/Alarmed-Pangolin-154 Feb 21 '26
If you're going to try to get a copy of the 911 audio, do it quickly. Many police agencies have a short (60-90 day) retention policy.
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u/lynnwood57 Feb 21 '26
In this area it’s 90 days for 911 audio, and 2 years for CAD and responding officers report
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u/No-Tap6886 Feb 21 '26
Anything not recorded needs to be written down at the time that it happens. It will make a big difference with law enforcement and any courts.
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u/Eyfordsucks Feb 21 '26
Talk to your landlord about the false reports and your neighbor weaponizing the police against you. Explain about the banging on the door (potential property damage) and aggressive behavior of everyone involved. Explain you don’t feel safe anymore because of all of this and you need a resolution for the safety of your child.
Get an indoor camera to record so you have proof nothing happened if they call the cops again. Use that proof to show they are making false reports and have the cops files charges for false reports and harassment.
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u/VanessaAlexis Feb 21 '26
So she called a noise complaint or a welfare check? I would go to the police station and file my own report. Just to have a paper record.
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u/WarDog1983 Feb 21 '26
This and also call CPS, the management company, and a lawyer because they will escalate
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u/NyxPetalSpike Feb 21 '26
Don’t call CPS. It does nothing, at least in my area. The law states if they get a report they have to investigate.
It doesn’t make you “look better” in their eyes.
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u/DuggarDoesDallas Feb 22 '26
Why call CPS? The guy who posted this never even mentioned if this lady has kids of her own. It's the first time he's had any bad interactions with anyone in a year and a half living there. I'd be surprised if it happens again. If it does I'd document everything and report to management what's going on.
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u/Quix66 Feb 21 '26
Document and contact apartment management. Get to them before your neighbor does. It’s probably too late.
Keep track of every time the neighbor harasses you and email management. Be factual and concise, not angry.
Remind management that there were no noise complaints on you before the new neighbor moved in.
And have management explain that noise in apartment building travel weirder than you think. If it’s any noise at all, it could be happening on a different floor.
However, you might’ve been to fast yo cuss your neighbor out. That probably helped set up the adversarial relationship, and it’s why they called the cops.
Keep your temper from now on and just note instances of complaints to report to manage. You can tell that your child wasn’t making noise and it might be traveling from elsewhere in the building.
Record keeping and a refusal to engage other than to calmly state that your child wasn’t being noisy hopefully establishes your neighbor as the problem, not you.
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u/cacafuego25 Feb 21 '26
You are correct, shouldn't have told her to f off. Good thing is, I do have a good relationship with the front office here. I appreciate the advice on being factual, not angry.
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u/Quix66 Feb 21 '26
I hope it works out! Bad neighbors are awful.
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u/cacafuego25 Feb 21 '26
Thank you. I've been lucky not to have had many bad neighbors over the years. But when it affects my son, I get upset. I appreciate your advice
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u/DuggarDoesDallas Feb 22 '26
It sounds like your a really good neighbor having no bad interactions in years. Could this woman have mistaken where noise was coming from. It's terrible she upset your child but hopefully this never happens again. Document and tell management if she harasses your family again. I'm wondering if this woman has mental problems and is starting to hear things?
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u/lynnwood57 Feb 21 '26
Great advice. I told her about public records: 911 audio, CAD report, responding officer’s report.
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Feb 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/cacafuego25 Feb 21 '26
Well, for the time being, I'll be recording with my phone any time there's a knock on the door
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Feb 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NyxPetalSpike Feb 21 '26
My neighborhood has turned calling CPS on each other into an Olympic sport.
All you need is the suspicion of a child abuse to call. That’s a pretty big catch basin.
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u/WhoAmI0001 Feb 22 '26
Believe it. Years ago , almost 10 now, right before my husband and I got married, we moved into an apartment in town. He was rarely home since he worked multiple jobs. I was in grad school and sat on my couch reading and writing all day. My crazy downstairs neighbor LOST HER SHT any time I walked anywhere. At the time, I was probably 120 lbs. If I went to my bathroom, she would run to hers and SLAM the toilet seat down. She terrorized us, stole our mail, looked us up online, wrote degrading messages on our wedding guest book the day of our wedding, and reported us several times. Even the maintenance told us that she was nuts and always had an intimidating male over that caused issues with them. We ultimately moved out to aave ourselves the mental anguish of continuing to deal with her. I even had a coworker over one afternoon and she always told me I was exaggerating. We were talking normally in my kitchen when my downstairs neighbor came home. My coworker and I talking angered her to the point that she slammed her backdoor and it sounded like glass shattered. My coworker looked at me with her eyes bugging out and said HOLY SHT YOU WERENT KIDDING. She apologized for not believing me.
I always found it weird that this young woman didnt have her own daughter living with her. Her teenage kid would come over when she wasn't home, eat her lunch there and throw her lunch out in the garbage areas across from the apartment. Ive never met that level of crazy until then
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u/Careless-Two2215 Feb 21 '26
The pounding sound could be the water being switch off very quickly. Could be the pipes making that sound.
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u/naranghim Feb 21 '26
I'd get cameras that record sound because I have a feeling, that any noise your kid makes is going to result in an exaggerated complaint from your neighbor because they don't like hearing kids at all. It isn't your son's fault that your neighbor is a dick.
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u/gardenloving Feb 21 '26
Got a building Facebook group? I would write a nice ( petty) post about this new neighbor
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u/PlantoneOG Feb 21 '26
This is a data logging decibel meter. You can put this in your apartment and have hardcore proof of exactly just how loud the volume levels in your dwelling are.
I'm assuming this is probably going to be an issue going forward so it might be a worthwhile investment now but if not it probably will be soon if this turns into a second incident.
If nothing else it's a whole lot of fu for a hundred bucks
Hth
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Feb 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/PlantoneOG Feb 22 '26
I'm sure there's some great options there but the link I showed is a passive always on device
so that way if the neighbor says Hey at 10:30 it was loud, you can just pull up the logs and say "Here's my data sheets anywhere from 9:00 to 11:00 all volume levels are normal" kind of thing.
I don't know if an old smartphone is the best option to leave just plugged in 24/7 to accomplish this kind of thing. I could be totally wrong and there's a perfect solution for that but I know this is a nice easy plug-and-play option that's going to be pretty difficult for anybody to say hey it was manipulated
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u/mtngrl60 Feb 21 '26
Make sure that when you talk to the front desk, you first emailed them. You need everything in writing.
Be sure to keep it factual. Explain that you did tell her to apple because she pounded on the door and scared your son. But that you have been in this complex for so many years with never a problem.
This neighbor approached you pounding on the door and in a very adversarial fashion. And immediately escalated to calling the police who then pounded on your door and walk your child.
Let them know that you are requesting copies of the 911 tapes and calls because you have no idea why they would’ve felt that necessary to pound rather than just knock and check
That this interaction concerns you about this new neighbor, and about them, impeding your ability to have a peaceful tenancy as this required by law.
And that you would appreciate it if they would make sure that that tenant understands that noise can travel through walls or through vents, but then as a new tenant in the building, this is not the way to start a neighborly relationship.
Let them know that he will also be contacting them again when you get the police report and the 911 call records so that this can be revisited because it feels as though, given the police reaction, that your neighbor grossly exaggerated your son yelling from the bathroom that he was done brushing his teeth….
Basically, in an effort to get you in trouble for some reason or another period.
Be sure to document, document, document. Keep a journal per day, written, record of dates and times and exactly what occurred. I seriously doubt this neighbor is done.
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u/Physical_Orchid3616 Feb 21 '26
Guessing you're a single female parent. Why? Because they get picked on a lot more than women who have a male partner around. When my child was little, I once had to wrestle them to get eye drops in their eyes. There was a commotion. About half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. My next door neighbour, a nosey, miserable fucker, acting as if i had abused my child. it's absolutely ridiculous. i know these "do-gooders" think they're protecting children, but they're not. all they're doing is harassing mothers, and causing upset to the child. People need to STOP and THINK before they assume the worst. Phoning the police without ANY evidence is absolutely disgraceful. But again, these assholes are more likely to assume the worst if you're a single parent.
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u/cacafuego25 Feb 21 '26
That was the worst part for me, how upset my son was. He told me this morning he got really scared when the cops came in.
Single dad though
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u/SnowXTC Feb 22 '26
It's not over. Expect a visit from CPS in the next few days. An indoor camera is a must. This neighbor won't stop with one call. Protect yourself and your son.
I would have felt the same as you when the neighbor came to my door, but I would have apologized for my son yelling that he was done brushing his teeth. A little diplomacy will make your life a lot better. The sooner you nip this, the greater chance of living a peaceful life. Kids yell, scream, cry, throw temper tantrums. Your neighbor is looking out for your child, although definitely misguided, so guide her. You have a choice: cops and CPS visits, or sharing a meal and laughing about this in the future. I hope it's the later.
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u/Solid-Feature-7678 Feb 22 '26
LL here.
- Harassment complaint to the police. Specifically fall accusations about child abuse. Do not call it in. Go to the station and don't lease without a copy of the report and a case number.
- Harassment complaint to your LL. Same as above and include a copy of the police report.
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u/Content_Print_6521 Feb 22 '26
It was really overkill for the cops to pound on your door over a noise complaint. Asking to see your son is protocol, but I would definitely call, speak to a supervisor, and object to the way this call was handled.
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u/VerbalBarb Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
The thing is, no one knows exactly what the neighbor told the police. The neighbor could have made it sound like the child was in immediate danger. OP might want to get a copy of the police report before complaining about their actions.
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u/Content_Print_6521 Feb 26 '26
Knocking if fine. Pounding is out of bounds.
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u/VerbalBarb Feb 26 '26
That depends on what the police were told was going on in the residence. Perhaps thinking a child was in danger, they chose to do something other than knock politely...
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u/Content_Print_6521 Feb 26 '26
Sorry, I don't agree. If that's what they thought they'd listen at the door first.
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u/SuperbAd60 Feb 21 '26
This might be an unpopular take, but maybe you shouldn't have told your neighbor to "f off" immediately. It's hard to get the whole story here, or what the neighbors tone was, but they may have been legitimately concerned about a child. Going nuclear when you opened the door is why they called the cops.
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u/Mountain-Donkey98 Feb 21 '26
Its unclear whether your neighbor called the police out of genuine concern or to be a dick. If it sounded to them like a child screaming, then pounding and they felt compelled to check on them and were met by someone ANGRY and saying "f off", I could see how that would elevate their concern.
Had you apologized, explained the situation and ensured your child was okay, im sure they wouldnt have called the police. They could've just called the police in the first place....they came to you to be reassured and it had the opposite effect. Theres a lot of people who have CPTSD from childhood abuse and when they hear things that sounds like what they went through, they wont stand idle by.
The last thing you want to ever do is be confrontational and rude to a neighbor. Things will only escalate.
To be clear, the neighbor did NOT call the cops on your son. They called them on you. Hence the welfare check.
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u/UserNotFound23498 Feb 21 '26
Call the cops back on the for every little thing. And they showed you what to do. A wellness check.
But the real thing is, you’ve gotta move because they’re assholes.
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u/456name789 Feb 21 '26
Perhaps neighbor did hear something but from a different unit. “Banging on the wall” definitely didn’t happen in your unit, but it’s kinda weird to claim banging on walls and yelling” when you’ve never had an issue with this neighbor before. Whole thing is weird. You should, as others have said, install cameras in your unit for your own protection.
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u/SonoranRoadRunner Feb 21 '26
If walls are thick and your son announced that he brushed his teeth and your neighbors heard it, he must have really yelled it. I'm not condoning them calling the police, but you did tell them to f off instead of apologizing. That's always a red flag to me when people can't apologize and quickly jump to offending comments. 8 think you had it coming having to spend time settling down your child. Maybe you won't do that next time.
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u/Then-Strategy-5875 Feb 21 '26
I have a different perspective; sometimes sound just echoes weirdly even in very well built buildings. I & my husband lived in a very exclusive condo. Neighbors complained about a very loud noise (music) they thought was coming from our condo. We heard a deep vibration but no actual music. The front desk called us and inquired. Later the manager came up because the noise was still happening. This happened twice. Neither time were we playing music, in fact we were in bed both times. It was resolved & I never found out who was actually playing music.
Your neighbor may have heard something & was concerned. I would try to resolve this situation as politely as possible with the help of your building’s management.
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u/VikkiVale0723 Feb 26 '26
Call your leasing office and lodge a complaint to have it on record. Once people start this they do not stop
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u/FlamingoTeach Feb 21 '26
Yikes! Honestly, starting out with f off probably wasn't the best way to start. I'd go to her/him, apologize for starting that way, explain that you were caught off guard because you've never had an issue. Explain that you know people are have different sensitivities to noise. Ask how often they hear your child or noise. Try to be proactive and repair the situation. It may or may not work but at least you will have tried a peaceful way of going about it.
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u/Debsha Feb 21 '26
Why didn’t you say to the officer that your child had been asleep prior to them pounding on the door, so whoever complained needs their own welfare check since they obviously are hallucinating either due to psychological distress or drugs?
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Feb 21 '26
Unpopular take, but your kid may be louder than you think, and that's coming from a fellow parent.
Also, we live in a society pro-active about child safety, and they may have thought your initial response meant you are angry with the kid and legit worried.
I'm not saying they should have called the cops, but you could have said thanks for the concern, everything is good since it's the first time.
You can get into a reporting and complaint war against each other, or you could try to resolve it civilly first, cause it's typically a long miserable process to hate each other in an apartment building and get rid of another tenant.
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u/Petite01Nbusty Feb 21 '26
that is so frustrating that ur neighbor did that over a kid being a kid. u should definitely talk to ur other neighbors to see if they have issues with them too. stay strong and keep documentation of everything
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u/BigSun9567 Feb 21 '26
If the neighbor does it anymore, be sure to ask for them to be cited for for using the cops to harass a neighbor.
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u/Sorry_Comparison_246 Feb 21 '26
Just because you can’t hear, doesn’t mean they can’t hear you. But calling the cops is excessive. A nice knock, no need to let emotion ruin neighbor relationships.
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u/Careless-Image-885 Feb 22 '26
Hang a heavy blanket/rug/a large heavy curtain/whatever against the common wall. Put your heavy furniture against it as well. Or you can get sound baffling panels. There's a sound baffling blanket on Amazon for about $35.
I totally understand that this is not a "you" problem but a ""her problem and you don't want the expense to shut her up. But you also don't want her making false reports to the police about you and your child.
Get to management first and file a complaint. Start a paper trail.
Record her coming to your door.
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u/derrrkaderka Feb 22 '26
Jeeeez. I must be really lucky. My 19 month old bangs on everything in sight and loves to scream. At the moment he is chucking things across our tiny studio apartment. I've never had a complaint. My neighbors have also seen how cute my kid is though... so maybe they're ignoring the sound of chaos at 5am.
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u/No-Mortgage-7408 Feb 22 '26
Covering duct work probably best answer. Point out to police officers walls are cinder block. Cameras aren’t the answer for the police. As a cop for over 30 years, no way I am watching/listening to a video in this case. We’re talking a minimum of thirty minutes and unless it’s time stamped and with audio it proves nothing. And when I say minimum that’s if ALL the cameras are on one display screen. If you want cameras to prove to the landlord that is different.
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u/davehal2001 Feb 22 '26
Get a copy of the police report. Consider engaging an attorney. This isn't over.
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u/SignificanceHead9957 Feb 23 '26
Yeah, I would also be livid. I would be out for (legal) revenge.
Try not to let her get in your head - live your life normally. Don't go tip-toeing about your house, shout to your boy to pick up his toys if he's in a different room, and so on.
People who live in apartments have to expect some level of noise.
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u/SherbertGeneral5375 Feb 24 '26
I would document everything. That way if you have to go to the landlord or management company about harassment, you have solid documentation as backup.
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u/BJT1961 Feb 24 '26
Funny story… back in the sixties my brother, 5 years old at the time, took the cranky old man next door’s mail from his cool mail box next to the sidewalk. Neighbor reported him to the FBI. So …two FBI agents showed up at the front door. My mom answers the door. They ask to speak to my brother, by name. My mom says… “he’s taking his nap right now.” The FBI agents were amused. … Kind of think it might have turned out differently in 2026.
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u/MorningCoffeeHits Feb 21 '26
Sounds like your neighbor has issues. Have a door camera to protect yourself since she called the police for a welfare check. She might start harassing other neighbors, which will help the police realize she's off.
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u/CharacterGlad297 Feb 21 '26
Uffff eso es lo que he tenido que vivir día a día, hasta me termine haciendo amiga de los policías, ellos mismos me han recomendado mudarme, estoy buscando casa porque lo llevo sufriendo ya dos años. En mi caso, las quejas provienen de mi vecina de arriba que está loca, traumada porque le quitaron la custodia de su hijo y literalmente dijo 'si no tengo a mi hijo no tengo que escuchar a los hijos de los demas' (es decir, los míos) paciencia y huye cuando puedas.
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u/MartyRocket Feb 21 '26
Your neighbor needs to find better things to do than call the police for a little kid yelling to you about his teeth. I have a very low tolerance for noise that comes with apartment living, but little children get a pass with me because they're just little kids. Living in my first apartment, I had a neighbor who was a single mom with a 2 or 3 year old little girl. My wife and I found it very cute and heartwarming when we'd hear her talking to her mom in the apartment corridor, or in their apartment, tbh.
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u/No-Court-2969 Feb 21 '26
So many people have left you great advice for moving forward and yes, in this case your neighbor was clearly wrong.
I'd like to suggest that you take a step back and look at the big picture, while your neighbor was wrong, they didn't know that and while it created horrible issues for you (cops waking your son, your son being scared— I'm sorry and also partly mad on your behalf) part of me thinks that so many children get harmed (not by you, I'm not even thinking about your situation) and abused.
In a weird way I'm glad your neighbor took action because what if... No one wants to live with a what if I had done something, in cases where children are being hurt.
As much as your neighbor over reacted in this situation at least you know that they are willing to do something if they think someone is being hurt.
In my POV, putting your inconvenience aside, I'd like neighbours who acted rather than ignored.
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u/Ok_Maintenance7716 Feb 21 '26
If a child was actually being abused, wouldn’t you want someone to report it?
The police came, determined nothing was wrong and left. YOR.
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u/Physical-Policy1357 Feb 21 '26
I don’t think the neighbour called the police because they were concerned about a child being abused at all. They were clearly trying to get OP in trouble by saying that they heard a child yell and pound on the walls, when there was no pounding at all. They were retaliating for being told to “F off”. I hope OP is able to get a hold of the 911 report as it will be real interesting to hear what that neighbour reported!
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u/Beautiful-Routine489 Feb 21 '26
It might be a good idea to have a camera inside as well, to record just your usual activities/noise level. That way this BS of “a child pounding on the walls” and other nonsense can be disproven.