Hi!
What a shame! As you say she's an owner, correct?
Anyway, I own 2 condos, in very different locations. One side of town which is lovely & I lease out is where I've never encountered problems.
However, where I currently reside there are almost 1/2 renters which has caused a myriad of problems such as what you state. Rules are constantly broken. The HOA CC&R's vary, but there must be something in the rules that will protect you & other owners. Yes, the police should have been called for some record. Being negligent is a big one in my book! Does your HOA issue fines for such incidents? This has worked great here & the Pres certainly should be keeping written records. What about the board? Monthly meetings are the norm & should be addressed in a legal form.

Sharlee

This is why co-ops are so popular in NYC--we would evict her. A co-op can kick people out much more easily than a condo. There are procedures, but they've worked.

Time to start keeping records, and for all the other residents to begin calling the cops EVERY time something unpleasant goes down over there. Also, it might be a good time to meet w/ your police dept's community affairs officer and find out what you would do to get them to investigate whether she is selling or using drugs on the premises.

And time for everyone to start pressuring the condo's board (and president) to begin using whatever tools exist in the condo's charter.

I would start pouring over the condo documents to find out what options 75 percent of the owners have in dealing with problems, including amending the charter to have a way to deal with these issues: change to electric stoves; have everyone install gas detectors; install security cameras, etc.

This was a topic on this mornings "Today Show"....

Here is a link that might be useful: 9 Smart Tips On How To Handle Nasty Neighbors

Get together with all the "good" neighbors and give your Condo President an ultimatium: Either she goes or we do. And be ready to move out if it comes down to that.

This should be your president's problem, not yours.

Thanks for all the ideas, so far!
I will look into the Condo Documents to see what they say.

That's easily said "Either she goes or we do".....How do you kick out someone who owns her own Condo? And if we go....we would have to go through the whole Process of trying to sell our Condo's? And you can't sell a place over-nite? And how can I feel right selling my place knowing what I know about this person? I would be holding back information to the new Buyer and wouldn't that give the new Buyer reason to hold me accountable for not telling him the "truth"????

Yes, you'd have to sell if the president is intransigent. But really, there isn't much choice, is there? In the end, either you move, she moves, or she cleans up her act. You've ruled out door #3, so that leaves the first two.

As far as disclosing your reason for moving, it depends on if your local laws require you to disclose the existence of a nuisance neighbor. Most places do not have such laws, but some do. If you're in that boat, the whole situation is more difficult. You'd have to move, but still be able to maintain plausible deniability about knowledge of the bad neighbor's behavior, so giving an ultimatum to the president would not be a good idea, nor would even collaborating with the other neighbors.

Graywings' suggestions could be quickly and easily implemented while you and your other neighbors consider what additional steps to take. If your immediate concern is safety, then requiring working smoke & CO detectors in all units (which may be code anyway) is cheap & easy. You may even consider requiring residents to have monitored security systems that include fire as well as police. A security camera system could be installed for under $1K. In fact, I have a small peephole/camera that records & saves 10 second clips (GE/Jasco Intellicorder) that can be bought for about $250.

At the very least, you can make sure that your own unit has good quality smoke & CO detectors. You may be able to wire an alarm to sound outside your door, too. A device such as the Intellicorder could possibly pick up some of the activities outside that you seem to fear are illegal.

IF in fact your neighbor is engaging in illegal activities, the police may be more responsive if you can show them evidence of dealing, soliciting, etc. They may also respond better to calls about noise violations or disturbing the peace calls if you have recordings to show them that it's a chronic problem and not just a one time event that they didn't witness.

I would definitely report the incidents to the police. Hopefully you have POP officers in your local police department. If so, call and ask them to speak to your dangerous neighbor about your concerns.

first, report the incident to the police. If you suspect she is selling drugs they would probably be more interested. Secondly, I assume that your seller did not mention the 'nuisance neighbor' - can your real estate attorney do anything on that score?
Thirdly, if the rest of you act as one, and make life difficult for her then she may get the message that she either has to change or move.
good luck

I like th ultimatum to the condo president but I think it should be "either she goes or you do." I am not familiar with condos but it is an elected position, right? If that person takes pride in their president status then they will not want to be ousted at the next election.

Do y'all have security at the condo? You may want to look into getting an off duty cop to put in a little time. We had one drive around our subdivision every so often and it didn't cost that much. Just be sure he is aware of the situation with her and try to schedule his time around times when she is coming in and out so he can be sure to give her a stern look. Just knowing that someone is watching might "encourage" her to be on her best behavior. Also if she really is dealing durgs or something illicit, I doubt the shady guys will want to come around if they know there is an officer on the premises.

"#1 mistake - the President did not call the Police at the time this happened"

There is probably no crime here that the police can do anything about.
You are stuck with her if she owns the place.
Short of having her actually prosecuted and sent to jail there is probably no way to force her to leave.

I like the idea of putting pressure on the president to do something by hinging it upon re-election.

In the meantime, every single time you see strange people at her condo, call the cops. If you see her stoned, call the cops. Every.Single.Time.

every single time you see strange people at her condo, call the cops

People are entitled to have company visit them that you don't know.

If you call the cops because someone you don't recognize is visiting your neighbor--they are going to LAUGH at you. And ignore you.

In fact, this could backfire: The record of your calls on this issue could be used to sue you for harrassment. And the cops will ignore, or discount, any subsequent calls you make on the issue.

That's why I think our OP should talk w/ the public-affairs officer. The cops may have info on what to watch for, that the cops *can* pay attention to. There are patterns to behavior that can be interpreted in certain ways, that can become evidence, or "probable cause." And others that can't. If she is dealing, there may be certain patterns to her activities (and those of others) that you can document.

Coaching on how to observe, etc., could be really useful.

Not to be contrary but have you any real proof that this woman is "an alchoholic/drug addict with mental issues"?
When you say "she is "loaded" every time I see her", has this been determined by your observation alone? There are many physical issues that appear to mimic drunken behaviors and it is not at all uncommon to make this mistake in a casual observation. The fact that "She is always bringing around shady looking guys",, is irrelevant IMO- she has friends, or a support team, or whatever. There is no law against having friends over. "And no telling if she is selling drugs - which is another possible concern." Well- this is pure speculation. Whatever happened to believing the best of people until otherwise is proven?

As far as having gas accidently on- mistakes happen. Everyday. By busy people, forgetful people, absent minded people- it is certainly no proof of anything evil going on.

Has anyone made an attempt to get to know this woman? To find out real things about her instead of watching through a peephole and surmising the worst?
A moments conversation with someone living 20 feet from you doesn't seem like a lot to ask. Rarely is anyone's full story made apparent by simply watching them.

I don't mean to stir the pot, but no one has even considered that there might be another side to the story.

I assume that when someone writes a post, we get a shorthand version of the events that led up to the question at hand. The statement "She claims she will clean up her act" implies there has been some discussion with the neighbor by someone in the building.

The suggestions I made about everyone changing to electric stoves, everyone installing gas detectors, and the building installing security cameras are ways of protecting the neighbors regardless of why or how or if the problem exists.