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[quote=Anonymous]I know this is an old thread, but I'm currently dealing with this myself. 10 months ago, a schizophrenic moved into my condo building. The guy's step-dad purchased a 1 bed, 1 bath condo in my building for him and up and dumped him here. The family rarely comes (generally once or twice a month) and when they do come, they don't stay long (usually a few seconds or minutes).

Over the past 10 months, he's had 9 "fits" (1 last May, 1 last June, 2 last September, 2 last October, 1 in January and 2 this month). During these "fits," he's yelling, screaming, swearing, talking to himself and, at times, singing and laughing loudly. He's Hispanic so he always yells, screams and talks to himself in both English and Spanish. The swearing is always in English and the "f" word is his favorite curse word. More often than not, I lose track of how many times he says it. His "fits" usually start outside or in the garage while he's smoking and end inside his unit. He also enjoys slamming doors and pounding on walls. There are times it sounds like a bull in a China shop. His "fits" are usually late at night (after 10 PM) or in the early morning hours (between 2 and 7 AM). There are times he's jolted me and other people in my building out of their sleep. These buildings are 15-16 years old now and were built quite poorly so when he has a "fit," it's hard not to know he's going off.

I and others in my building have tried to deal with his family and haven't been successful in any of our efforts. As far as his family goes, they understand our concerns and are doing the best they can under given circumstances and have made it abundantly clear they don't wish to really discuss this with anyone anymore so continuing to deal with his family is now a lost cause. As far as the HOA goes, they are of little to no help. They're afraid to get involved. My complaints go unanswered and they've cited Fair Housing as their main reason for choosing to take a back seat in the matter. I've reached out to various state departments and non-profit organizations in an effort to get help and have been told there's really nothing they can do unless he ever becomes a direct threat to himself or others and while not taking his medication doesn't make him a direct threat, it gets chalked up as a bad decision he's made but a decision he has every right to make. If he doesn't want to take his medication, then he doesn't want to take his medication.

We consider neglect a form of abuse in this country. We don't tolerate the neglect of children, pets or the elderly and, as such, these acts are punishable under the law yet it seems that the neglect of disabled people, especially the mentally disabled, is somehow exempt from being punishable under the current laws of this country and am dumbfounded as to why we consider it acceptable in this country.

I'm keeping a detailed log of his "fits." I record the date, time and details surrounding the "fit" and, when possible, I grab my tablet and try to record him going off. I also call the police. I'm not quite sure what else to do. My hope is that eventually the police will get tired of responding to his "fits" and start getting the right people involved for me.

Id like to do what my one neighbor recently managed to do and just up and move, but am unable to do so at this time. I'm stuck in a situation I don't want to be in and never asked to be in and am trying to make the best of it. It's my understanding that it takes condo and apartment residents 3 or more years of continuous documentation and calling the police before something finally happens and the right people step in and take some kind of action in the matter.

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