Are you in Montgomery County? If so, the Montgomery County Police Department Special Operations Division has an Autism/IDD, and Alzheimer’s Outreach program. The officers there are awesome and may be able to help as an intermediate step next week. The email addresses for the officers in charge of the program is on page 3 of this PDF:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/POL/Resources/Files/PDF/Lifesaver/AutismAlzheimerBrochure2016.pdf

Talk to a lawyer but --

I would think you would want to put a request to the apartment complex IN WRITING ASAP for reasonable accommodations based on your son's disability. To include sound-proofing, relocation to a different unit, etc. AND halting of the eviction proceedings.

Anonymous wrote:Skimmed, but . . . .
would not be great to have a legal eviction proceeding on record, besides which legal records do not (so far as I know) even allow you to provide an explanatory note (maybe laws need to be changed for these kinds of proceedings to allow that????)

some questions would related to the volume and time and frequency of the alleged noise, and whether the disturbance really would be considered excessive

also if there could be ANY reasonable accommodations the landlord would allow such as relocating to a different unit -- I had a SN kid and lived in an apt for awhile and made a point of getting garden level to avoid any sound of stomping on the floor--or steps to mitigate the noise (sound proofing materials for example) . . .should add that we then went into our own SFH and I have often thought if we had been stuck with apt life it is very likely we would have been evicted during the most difficult years.

I honestly think there could, depending on the situation, be some degree of negotiation

Let's say . . . a person had very severe developmental issues, no words, little or no use of limbs, and perhaps screamed out and other than ensuring the person was comfortable and had some degree of stimulation there was nothing that could be done behavior-wise--would there be no limits on a landlord's ability to evict just because of the noise???

I just want to add that the question about discrimination is not a yes/no question because it is very specific to the particular situation AND the reasonable accommodation requirement.

The person should get a record from the PD of all calls made re: noise as well as any reports made by responding officers.

Skimmed, but . . . .
would not be great to have a legal eviction proceeding on record, besides which legal records do not (so far as I know) even allow you to provide an explanatory note (maybe laws need to be changed for these kinds of proceedings to allow that????)

some questions would related to the volume and time and frequency of the alleged noise, and whether the disturbance really would be considered excessive

also if there could be ANY reasonable accommodations the landlord would allow such as relocating to a different unit -- I had a SN kid and lived in an apt for awhile and made a point of getting garden level to avoid any sound of stomping on the floor--or steps to mitigate the noise (sound proofing materials for example)

I honestly think there could, depending on the situation, be some degree of negotiation

Let's say . . . a person had very severe developmental issues, no words, little or no use of limbs, and perhaps screamed out and other than ensuring the person was comfortable and had some degree of stimulation there was nothing that could be done behavior-wise--would there be no limits on a landlord's ability to evict just because of the noise???

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may be protected under the Fair Housing Act and state laws protecting disability discrimination.

What state are you in?

Oops, sorry, I see now, MD.

Can you be any more specific about the kind/level/length of time your son makes noises? Have you looked at your lease to see what is says, specifically, about what kind of noise or breach of lease provisilns there are?

Other than the police visit, have you been informed either in writing or verbally, officially or unofficially about noise?

What was the response when you asked for a parking space?

Call the police department and ask for a copy of the police report so you can review what it says, particularly if it mentions your son’s special needs or documents anything else helpful to you.

Also, if your son has a doctor, you may wish to consider having him/her write a short letter stating your DC’s diagnosis and that it manifests symptoms (such as noise-making) that need to be accommodated.

The mom is right in her instinct that what is going on is disability discrimination and a form of covil rights violation. Applicable laws would be the ADA and federal fair Housing Act. Housing communities are obligated to make reasonable accommodations for the disabled. That definitely includes a parking space, and may include not calling the police in response to complaints ir providing some special sound-proofing to the apartment (for example, simply weatherstripping and padding the back of a door may diminish sound traveling) or offering you an opportunity to move (at the same monthly rent) to a different unit in the same complex that better accommodates your special needs (like top, bottom or corner unit with less exposure to neighbors).

Other Fair Housing resources in MD -- call your county tenant rights office. Most counties have one. I have called MoCo and they have been very helpful in the past.

Maryland State Commission on Civil Rights --
https://mccr.maryland.gov/Pages/Housing-Discrimination.aspx

And good Q/A on some aspects of reasonable accommodation under federal law --

https://www.justice.gov/crt/us-department-housing-and-urban-development

Anonymous wrote:You may be protected under the Fair Housing Act and state laws protecting disability discrimination.

What state are you in?

Oops, sorry, I see now, MD.

Can you be any more specific about the kind/level/length of time your son makes noises? Have you looked at your lease to see what is says, specifically, about what kind of noise or breach of lease provisilns there are?

Other than the police visit, have you been informed either in writing or verbally, officially or unofficially about noise?

What was the response when you asked for a parking space?

Call the police department and ask for a copy of the police report so you can review what it says, particularly if it mentions your son’s special needs or documents anything else helpful to you.

Also, if your son has a doctor, you may wish to consider having him/her write a short letter stating your DC’s diagnosis and that it manifests symptoms (such as noise-making) that need to be accommodated.

The mom is right in her instinct that what is going on is disability discrimination and a form of covil rights violation. Applicable laws would be the ADA and federal fair Housing Act. Housing communities are obligated to make reasonable accommodations for the disabled. That definitely includes a parking space, and may include not calling the police in response to complaints ir providing some special sound-proofing to the apartment (for example, simply weatherstripping and padding the back of a door may diminish sound traveling) or offering you an opportunity to move (at the same monthly rent) to a different unit in the same complex that better accommodates your special needs (like top, bottom or corner unit with less exposure to neighbors).

Anonymous wrote:She needs to move to a SFH. The people around her have equal protection from noise nuance and this should apply to all noise above certain decibel or after hours.

This is possible, but the landlord can't unilaterally decide to kick them out. There must be a court order (in MD). The judge will decide based on evidence provided if that's merited.

She needs to move to a SFH. The people around her have equal protection from noise nuance and this should apply to all noise above certain decibel or after hours.

11:32 here again. Note my advice only applies in MD. In VA, the process is a lot faster, like a matter of days.. but you wrote you were in MD.

Are you in Montgomery County? Call Landlord-Tenant affairs:
https://montgomerycountymd.gov/DHCA/housing/landlordtenant/

Also as long as you pay rent -- and this is really important -- you can't just be kicked out for "violation of lease". They need to first go to Landlord Tenant court and get an eviction order. You'll be served notice, and be sure to go to that court date. You don't need a lawyer. I think a judge may refuse to honor their request to evict, especially if you are paying your rent on time every month.

If they file with teh court on Monday, it'll be about a month until the court date. Then, _if_ (and that's a big if), the court orders eviction, then the Sheriff usually takes 4-6 weeks to execute on it (they're busy). In Maryland, only the Sheriff can perform the physical eviction.

If the landlord calls the cops on you to say they want you out, the police will ask for a copy of the eviction order. But since only the court can issue one, you'll know if they have one since you'll have gone to court.

In short, you don't have to be out by next month.

You may be protected under the Fair Housing Act and state laws protecting disability discrimination.

What state are you in?

Please reach out to legal aid lawyers right away! What county are you in?

You may want to cross-post this with a title like “Need help fighting discriminatory eviction”. There are resources available, but unfortunately I don’t know what they are in Maryland. I am sure there are people on this site that know how to fight an eviction, though.

Tell them that you are fighting this. There should be appeal rights on the notice.

I’m sharing her email her with the hope that someone can help her.

Our Apartment Community has been making noise Complaints about my Special Needs Son, stating he makes too much noise. Prior to moving in, I brought my son to the leasing office and explained, that he is Special Needs, Echolilia.Sunday, September 29, 2019, for the 1st time, Police knocked on our Apartment door, in ref to noise Complaints. I explained he was Special Needs, and they left.Yesterday Afternoon around 4:45, I received an email from the Leasing Office. The Police has been to your apartment several times and several noise Complaints have been made against you.The Police have been to our home only 1 time.

The Leasing Office wants to meet with me today, to discuss this matter.I had asked the Manager of the Leading office where I could obtain Special Needs Child Sign posted, and for a marked parking space for my son.

It's my belief that we are going to be asked to move. We have nowhere to go, I moved to Maryland from Georgia, my mother was on Hospice, my mother died 3 weeks after we arrived in Maryland. By Maryland State Law my son had to be in school.
I will call Maryland Disability Rights. I called the Arc and left a message. I called Maryland Commission Civil Rights Division. I called the ADA, and she felt that I did not have a case in reference to Noise Complaints as a part of his Diagnosis.. She felt I had some legitimate,(and I can't think of the word) points, if my child is not treated the same as, loud music, barking dog's, arguing couples,

I think she said something about an inquiry, but I think I have to do a Complaint First.

A letter was outside my door, it's a lawfirm with Breach of lease agreement we have 30 days to move and it's dated for today.We must be gone by 3 Nov 2019. I just paid rent.
======

Any other ideas to help this SN Mom?