I would start documenting very firmly everything that's going on--keep a log, and DO call the managment over to see what's going at AT THE TIME.

Try to lay a case for breaking your lease due to the violation of any "quiet enjoyment" clause.

Or, if the building or complex is big enough, ask them to move you.

You could call the police - the steak thing falls under mischevous acts. Maybe she just needs to be scared.

Thanks for your suggestions guys. I did end up calling the police about the noise this weekend because yet again our resident manager had her phone set to go directly to voice mail. I've never been able to speak to her directly and she doesn't return calls either. So within seriously like 20 seconds of hanging up with the police Friday night the music upstairs stopped in mid song. It was really kind of funny. So I called back and told the police it had stopped for the time being. The dispatcher laughed and said not to hesitate to call again if it started back up.

I'd definitely start taking a log, if I were you. Also, try looking for a decibel meter -- you can find them cheap on Ebay. Every time you hear them (especially music), be sure to record the decibels. It doesn't hurt if you have a video or sound recorder to record the noise levels -- I once was able to convince the management of an apartment to do something about my neighbor's noisy parrot when I played 10 minutes of continuous screeching for them (my requests to the neighbor to please move the bird to a different room or to cover its cage went nowhere; when management asked, something finally happened.)

Yes, log everything. My aunt used to work in the state welfare department and she had to attend a lot of court hearings. I was surprised when she told me judges put a lot of worth on journals. After all, you could be lying. But I guess long detailed accounts tend to reflect at least what you think is happening.

If you keep a journal, don't just write things down once a week. Everytime anything happens enter date, day-of week, time, and full description of what happened, exact words that are said. Be sure to make an entry for every single day. If nothing happens that day, write down that nothing happened today. If you use a computer, print out the notes each week, and do not go back and change the entries for that week later on. You can add notes at the bottom if you remember something but make a point not to alter it once you have finished the week. This increases the credibility of your notes. If a judge looks you in the eye you can state truthfully you never revised the entries.

I sympathize with the steak story. I lived in a 'luxury' apartment surrounded by woods. Pets were allowed and dogs were to be walked in the woods. A neighbor would walk her dog to my lawn and let it go there. I got mad and yelled 'why can't you take your dog in the woods like you are supposed to?' She went off in a huff, and the next morning my second floor balcony was full of dog doo-doo.