Quinton M

Residentia Trust's inaction over a period of seven months.

I moved into the Bosbell Hof apartment complex on Saturday, 25th May 2024. The onboarding and application process was very easy as the property rental agent, Natasha, possessed a very easy-going and welcoming personality. I found her to be a very pleasant person, considering she was suffering through a serious bout of the flu and having to buy Tulips as a surprise for her teenage son's girlfriend. I told Natasha that I work as an Online English Teacher and also work in a freelance capacity as a photographer, photo editor, video editor, and graphic designer. To which she claimed that the apartment will be perfect for me, as the complex itself is a very quiet and peaceful place. She also mentioned that a lot of people in the complex do not tolerate noisy children. We both laughed at how children don't play outside anymore. I appreciated that my new home will be a place of peace and quiet. During the apartment viewing it was so quiet, that you could literally hear a pin drop. Initially she wanted to have the viewing happen at 14H00, but I requested that we meet at 14H10 as I would be finishing my last online lesson at 14H00 before a two hour break when teaching would resume. She, being very accommodating, suggested that we meet at 14H15, to which I agreed and accepted. During the first three hours of occupation of the apartment unit at Bosbell Hof, I had met my next door neighbour. A 68 year old, Afrikaner lady, who has since become a friend and also surrogate grandmother. After introductions, she asked me whether I would accompany her on her weekly shopping runs on Sunday mornings at 9am, to which I agreed and that just became our thing for a couple of months, until the end of November, where I informed my elderly neighbour that I cannot walk with her any longer because I am very exhausted from being sleep deprived. On our Sunday walks, we would compare notes on who the offending noise makers were throughout the weeks. She has claimed several times that trying to engage Residentia Leasing Trust in conversations related to service delivery on their part is a futile exercise that will just leave the complainant frustrated. Months of consistent and constant noise went by until I finally decided to make contact with Resident Leasing Trust via email through a Google search of who to cantact, as those particulars were not furnished in the contract I had signed before taking up residence in this apartment complex. In the email correspondence, I requested that Anine amend the monthly invoice to accuractely reflect the physical address, as I would receive phone calls from delivery people stating that they are at the address but are unable to see me. I wrote this email on Tuesday, 20th August 2024 at 21H27. Here is an excerpt, which is part of a long email thread, where there has been no solutions created by Residentia Leasing Trust. “Since mid July, however, the noise levels have increased and have become quite common place. Instead of the noise now being limited to ungodly hours over the weekends, there is now constant and consistent noise from the upper levels between 8pm to midnight on a daily basis. The noises include: 1) Someone constantly dragging heavy furniture around, 2) Someone dropping a hammer on the floor multiple times a night, 3) Someone using either a golf ball or a marble to drop it multiple times a night or hours on end, 4) Doors are constantly slammed and it sometimes sounds like the front gate is intentionally being banged. At present, there is someone knocking into the walls with a hammer and this knocking will not stop until around midnight. On two seperate occasions I've heard a woman shouting, 'You have no respect for other people! Why do you keep making so much noise?' - When the woman shouted this, the knocking and banging ceased, only to be resumed an hour later. I know I've levelled some very hefty complaints here. I would just like to inform you of what's happening and also ask whether you have restrictions regarding noise levels in the form of a formal notice. If such a thing does in fact exist, could you perhaps forward me that notice and I will print it out at my cost and place the notice in each post box, as well as drop one in front of every door. I have spoken to my neighbours on both sides of the unit I currently occupy and they are also very much fed up with the current, unchecked, unnecessary, and unwarranted noise levels above our heads literally every night. I truly hope you have a wonderful week ahead in spite of this dramatic email. I just think that it is unfair that people are allowed to just do as they please when they know the possible impacts their actions are obviously having on others.” END OF EMAIL EXCERPT The reason I requested Residentia Leasing Trust forward me formal notices related to noise levels, is due to the fact that I could not find any 'noise regulations' clause within the contract I had signed, which I thought was a bit odd. I then received an email response from Anine the next day, at 09H41, stating the following, “I have included Anna-Marie, the Portfolio Manager of Bosbell Hof, in this email. She will be able to provide clarity on the issues you raised.” Later that day, I received the following response from Anna-Marie, “Thank you for your email. I have informed your rental agent to update the levy invoice with the correct address as requested. To effectively address the noise issue you are experiencing, we need more details when reporting these complaints. Please provide the unit number, along with the exact dates and times of the disturbances, so we can issue a warning through our WeConnectU system directly to the owner/s. Pertaining to the complaint of last night and the noise you mention that was made up until 23H30, I have communicated your complaint to the chairperson who instructed me to send a strong worded warning to the unit owner as this behaviour is unnecceptable. You should have received a copy of the Bosbelhof Conduct Rules and Management Rules, which outline the regulations for all residents, owners, and tenants. If you have not received these, please let me know, and I will provide you with a copy.” When signing the contract, I did receive a signed copy of the regulations. However, there is no “noise clause” in this contract. The word “noise” literally appears nowhere in the entire document. There is only one point in the contract that tenants can use to illustrate that the residential environment is not up to standard, under clause 10 of the contract, entitled “General Duties of the Tenant” “10.1.9. - respect the rights of use and enjoyment of neighbours;” At 17H13 that same day I responded to Anna-Marie with, “Thank you for your reponse. It is difficult to pin-point most of the upper level noise origins. I am however certain that the majority of the noise is coming from directly above the unit I am occupying. I will monitor for the remainder of this week and coming weekend. Much gratitude for this amendment. Wishing you a lovely evening further.” At this point I was still labouring under the delusion that Residentia Leasing Trust and I could work collaboratively in solving the systemic issues this apartment complex has inherited and continue to operate under. The noise levels continued to rage on, with Residentia Leasing Trust not conducting site visits, or launcing investigations into the claims, yet, while proudly announcing as part of their mandate on their website, “We are proud to be one of the oldest and largest Managing Agents in the Western Cape, who value relationships and provide our clients with the service they deserve.” According to this logic, I deserve to be invoiced R7500 per month while suffering through sleep deprivation, a loss of income, and a company totally unwilling to perform their due dilligence. R7500 is exactly chump change. I honestly thought that this rental amount would amount to proper screening practices and enjoying a stable homelife. I did not expect to fork out R7500 each month to live in a complex that has the ambience of a ghetto state. Residentia Leasing Trust should change the mandate on the landing page of their website to “Profits over people. And if you find that problematic, we definitely won't listen.” On Thursday, 29th August 2024, I once again made contact with Residentia Leasing Trust at 23H26. “Right now, there is a very loud gathering of foreign nationals laughing, shouting, walking repeatedly in high heels in Unit XX. This particular unit is above my neighbour, who is 68 years old and leaves for work at 07H15 in the morning. The fact that I can hear these noises on my side quite clearly, should indicate the level of disregard these people have for fellow tenants. I'm bringing this to your attention for my own record, in the event that things turn sour over here. As I am once again laying awake, unable to sleep, with a wake up time of 5am” This email received no response from Anna-Marie or the entire Residentia Leasing Trust company. On Monday, 2nd September 2024, at 21H21 I made contact with Residentia Leasing Trust yet again with an audio file attached. “Hello again. I have attached a recording I obtained standing on the bathroom floor and holding my right arm to the ceiling. The knocks you hear are not created by me, but the tenant in Unit XX dropping hammers and other heavy tools on the floor, while constantly knocking on the walls. This will continue until midnight or 2am, depending on this person's undurance. I have now reached out multiple times without any measure of success or even feedback. Three tenants and their immediate families living below this inconsiderate idiot, are having our rights to peace and quiet stripped away because Residentia as the managing agent is seemingly doing nothing to hold this person accountable. Please provide feedback in writing whether I should seek accommodations elsewhere, as previously stated this constant hammering is affecting my work as well as my and my neighbours' general mental health. I've once again read through the contract agreement and I believe that my right to enjoyment is being infringed upon. Or does this idiot have the sole right to enjoy himself by making a noise that impacts everybody else around him? On Wednesday, 4th September 2024, I received this email from Anna-Marie, “As per my previous email, I have brought the matter to the attention of the trustees. A warning have been issued to the owner of the unit (section 28) regarding the noise as per the conduct rules. Trust you will find this in order.” On Tuesday, 10th September 2024, I received the following email correspondence from Anna-Marie, “Dear Quinton. Trust you are well. I would like to follow-up regarding the noise complaint. We had a response from the owner and need to insure that it is Unit XX where the noise is originating from.” On the same day, I responded with, “Hello Anna-Marie. Hoping you are well too. I was initially going to wait until after the weekend to provide feedback. I wanted to take my elderly neighbour's feedback into account as well. I spoke to her on Sunday, while accompanying her to Shoprite [a weekly ritual] and she stated that it has been much quieter for her as well. Unit XX has been the culprit behind the most consistent and aggressive noise. They were, what seemed like, knocking nails into walls constantly. They also had gatherings with people during the week, where furniture would be moved on a constant basis throughout the gatherings. These gatherings would end with groups of people shouting in a foreign language at 23H30 on some nights [this was done in a particularly loud fashion]. However, Unit XX is not the only apartment that makes noise beyond their apartment awareness. As a new tenant, I have realised that this is a systemic problem brought on by a combination of factors. Unit XX, the original grievance causing apartment above the apartment I currently occupy has been quiet for quite a while until last night, Monday, 9th September 2024, where the people upstairs also just knocked things into walls and seemed to be jumping up and down on the bare floors. My 68 year old neighbour claimed that she has communicated that there are frequent, unnecessary noises after hours, but that she has given up because, in her words, “niemand gee om nie,” and she doesn't possess a mobile phone in order to send an email. There are also a lot of foreigners who probably think that it is perfectly acceptable to stomp around and have large gatherings of guests, who also don't care that people need to sleep and get up early in the morning to perform productively at work. In closing, Unit XX has been making noises consistently. They are just trying to play dumb now that they've been a bit more silent for a few days. I am spending my mornings in the apartment and opting to spend my nights at a friend's place in Loevenstein, because the apartment in a quiet complex that was promised, turned out to be a horrible nightmare where I'm sleep deprived and the people who are the cause of me losing my income, simply go about their lives as if nothing is happening. If you decide to withdraw the fine requirement from Unit XX, then so be it. I'll pay my full monthly rent each month, even though I'm literally just a day-time renter. And if this puts you in a difficult position … I would like to apologise for that as well. I am sorry. I just didn't think that I'd have to deal with these sort of basic human problems at a complex that has the facade of happy, quiet, simple living. You won't receive any further grievances from me, as I know that this is just how things are at this this place. Literally no amount of investigation from me, which also just seems so incredibly ridiculous, as is isn't my job to police grown ups who signed rental agreements, will change anything. I know when I have to give up and this is the time to just cut my losses and tolerate the ignorat stances of these people, while feeling trapped in a contractual agreement that was signed under false promises. Kindest regards.” The next day, Wednesday, 11th September 2024, I received the following email correspondence from Anna-Marie, in which the rental agent, Natasha, was included. “I am sorry to hear about your experience at Bosbellhof. I have reached out to the chairman for his assistance to address this matter further.” Following this official email sent by Anna-Marie, no action, to my knowledge was taken. No news from the alleged chairman. No inspections. No reduction in noise levels. No notices placed on the notice board. No physical copies distributed via the mailboxes at the apartment complex addressing or raising any concerns. I know I mentioned in my previous correspondence to Anna-Marie that I will no longer bother her with my valid complaints, but on Thursday, 21st November 2024, I drafted and sent another email with two attached videos. “Good morning. I contacted you regarding Unit XX and the noise levels coming from that property months ago. You then claimed that this unit denies the allegations. Last night, we had to again endure a party, in the middle of the week until midnight. Furniture being moved around aggressively, people shouting and screaming in a foreign language, and cars moving in and out of the property. The chairman clearly has no interest in remedying anything, as nothing has changed. My neighbours and I have no need for apologies, we need solutions. I am keeping this email thread alive, not to air my valid grienvances any longer, but instead to have an accurate account of how Residentia Trust simply does not care. I also intend to seek legal councel on this matter, because me and my neighbours are suffering financial losses due to sleep deprivation. I will, of course, perform my due dilligence in informing the next tenant of this apartment about the problems I have had to face while renting from Residentia. That is the responsible and mature thing to do. I wish someone had informed me before I signed the lease agreement which literally means nothing because I am not living in an enjoyable, comfortable environment. Attached are two videos of Unit XX and the noise levels coming from it.” In the videos submitted to Residentia Leasing Trust, I clearly show my watch and the exact time the videos were recorded. The time is also captured in the video files themselves. I think this is totally unnecessary. I had to, once again, forego sleep, in order to prove to Residentia Leasing Trust that I am not making up stories. The next day I overheard shouting in the offending Unit and the noise subsided for a month. Not sure whether it was the chairman, the caretaker [who also appears generally disinterested, annoyed, and powerless in finding solutions], or the owner of the apartment who was shouting at a suddenly apologetic tenant. This story does not have a happy ending though, as the noise levels have become worse. It is quite common to have various units knocking, moving furniture, constant banging of doors, and regular shouting beyond the requirement of meaningful and appropriate level of communication. There are many children living in the complex, however four children have become quite famous for their constant screaming and shouting for no apparent reason. As mentioned at the start of this review, I work as an Online English Teacher. I do various other freelance jobs. The company I work for also employed me as a Teacher Ambassador in order to facilitate and host workshops in “Total Physical Response”. These workshops are at random times and I have had to resign from the Workshop Coordinator role in December, due to these children constantly shouting unimaginably inappropriate things while I was hosting workshops. These children, have on ocassion, played football right next to my unit, constant screaming present, with them kicking the ball into cars, setting alarms off. All of these instances makes me look like an unprofessional person and the conversation moves from teaching teacher how to incorporate physical responses into their live lessons to the lack of parenting in an African context. I am severely sleep deprived, so much so, that instead of teaching my first lesson at 6am, I now barely make it for my 8am lessons, due to neighbours making noises sometimes up to 3am. So, in addition to sleep deprivation, I am also suffering financial losses. I am quite blessed to have a regular online student base, with the majority being elderly Europeans. In the past, I've worked through the entirety of December and January with no problems. This year, however, I have had to cease work for a two week period, Tuesday, 24th December 2024 to Monday, 6th January 2025. That is a loss of €868 [R16 783,35] not to mention the private students that have claimed that the unnecessary apartment complex sounds are just too distracting in order for them to learn anything. I am also in no position to teach effectively, even if my students can't hear the noise disturbances, because I am less focused on the lesson material because of the onslaught of my senses, during lessons, now being a permanent fixture of me trying to make an income. I am now at a point where I'm starting two hours later than normal, due to the constant, nightly noise disturbances keeping me up at night. And I cannot add two hours later in the day, to maintain my current financial earnings, because then the four children makes way too much noise during the day. On Monday, I am heading to the doctor to get recommendations for my sleep deprivation, even though I am not the type of person to chemically alter my moods or states, but I feel like I have no other choice but to get assistance. I still have five months on this contract. Wishful thinking would be that Residentia Leasing Trust actually starts operating as a company performing in a professional fashion. That however, is highly unlikely to happen. “Any noise that disturbs or impairs the convenience or peace of any person is defined as NOISE NUISANCE, and both are ******* in terms of the Environment Conservation Act (73 of 1989) and the Noise Control Regulations of 1999.” Not even sure that Residentia Leasing Trust is aware of the Environment Conservation Act, as they don't even have a clearly defined clause related to noise in their contracts. I guess, the best outcome of this entire saga would be for Residentia Leasing Trust to release me from their contract that basically just protects them. But, having said that, I know that it is not just me affected by this lack of effort by this company. There are so many people, unhappy and frustrated, who are just accepting things as they are due to having tried in the past and not getting a reasonably desired outcome, or not having access to technological tools in order to somewhat expedite their concerns. I am aware that my mentioning of terms like “foreign nationals” and “foreign languages” might read as xenophobic or even ******. That however is not the case. I was born in the Western Cape and classified as “Coloured”. And, though not recently since I have been forced not to work, out of fear of losing my livelyhood due to the noise levels, I work with people on a global scale, teaching them to speak the English language, which isn't even my mother tongue, on a daily basis. This isn't a xenophobic or ****** problem, this is a cultural problem. A problem, Residentia Leasing Trust, should be able to solve by creating reasonable rules, regulations, and restrictions and enforcing those. However, Residentia Leasing Trust does not possess the common sense in which to even set up the framework from which to work from and hold offenders accountable. In closing, my neighbour, had informed me that she will be purchasing a piano in the January. She asked me in December of 2024 to look for music shops around the area and also prices related to different brands, makes, and models. This morning, while I briefly visited her just to check in, since she is an elderly lady, she apologised for any noise she might have caused since receiving her new keyboard. Apparently, she has been playing the classics to usher in the new year. I told her not to apologise, as I have honestly not heard any piano sounds coming from her apartment. And that is the difference in all of this. People with common sense and a moderate degree of respect towards neighbours and then the rest who do as they please because they know there are literally no follow-up consequences. Residentia Leasing Trust, through their inaction, lack of effort, and general disinterest in the people they claim to provide services for, are definitely protecting the latter mentioned.