Home is supposed to be the one place where you never have to wonder who’s coming through the door.

A woman lived alone in a small building with eight units, and about five months ago, the apartment next to hers became an Airbnb.

Every weekend brought a new group, along with suitcases, hallway noise at 1 or 2 a.m., and the occasional suspicious smell in the stairwell. She could live with all of that.

What she couldn’t shake was coming home twice to find strangers outside her own door, trying the handle because the numbers were hard to read.

One of them was a drunk guy who got annoyed when she told him it wasn’t his place.

The owner ignored her, and management wouldn’t help. Now she’s weighing her next move.

Keep reading for the full story.

Airbnb next door and I keep finding strangers at my door, landlord ignores me.

I (28F) live alone in a small building with 8 units. About five months ago, the apartment next to mine turned into a short-term rental.

This has created quite a bit of chaos to deal with.

Every weekend there’s a new group, usually with suitcases, loud in the hallway at 1 or 2 a.m., and the smell of substances in the stairwell a few times.

I don’t even care that much about the noise. It’s a building, I get it.

But here’s what really grinds this renter’s gears.

What bothers me is that twice now I’ve come home and found random people standing right outside MY door, looking at their phones and trying the handle because the numbers on the doors are tiny and they got confused.

At times, it’s made her feel wholly unsafe.

The second time, it was a guy who was pretty drunk, and honestly, he got kind of annoyed at me when I said it wasn’t his apartment.

I live alone, so that one got to me a bit.

So that’s when she tried getting in contact with the person in charge, but this was more difficult than she expected.

I found the owner’s number from an old note on the mailbox and texted him politely twice, then called once. Nothing.

I emailed the property management company, and they said they “can’t comment on other tenants’ units” and told me to call the non-emergency police line if there’s a real disturbance.

I don’t want to call the cops on strangers for standing in a hallway.

She also didn’t have much luck consulting the lease.

I also checked the lease, and there’s nothing in it about short-term rentals, but I’m not sure if the owner is even allowed to do this, and I’m not sure who I’d even ask.

So what’s my best move here?

Now she’s wondering what to do next.

Should I keep pushing the management company, look into whether the city allows this kind of rental, or talk to the other neighbors first?

I’m not trying to make anyone’s life difficult. I just want to stop coming home and wondering who will be standing at my door.

This seems like a perfectly reasonable request.

What did Reddit have to say?

Why not just start spinning some tall tales?

Some people take noise complaints more seriously than others.

This user gives another hint on how to escalate the issue properly.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a person who is told their fence doesn’t meet community guidelines, but then they find a way around those guidelines in their own handbook.

If it were this commenter, they would do this.

This woman has handled a stressful situation with far more courtesy than the owner has earned.

She tolerated the suitcases, the 2 a.m. hallway chatter, and the stairwell smell without a word, and only spoke up once strangers started testing her door handle — which is a pretty reasonable line to draw.

Wanting to feel safe at her own front door is the most basic request a tenant can make. She doesn’t need to apologize for asking.