Imagine living in a duplex where the breaker box for your unit and the upstairs unit is in your unit. That means that any time the power goes out or a breaker flips for electricity in the neighbor’s apartment, you have to flip the breaker.

That sounds like an awful and annoying setup to me, but it’s the way it is in this story which was written by the person who has the breaker box in her apartment.

The problem isn’t the breaker box though. The problem is that this renter wants to move out early and break her lease because she’s scared of the upstairs neighbor.

Keep reading for all the details and to see if you think the renter should be allowed to move out early or if she’s overreacting.

My Upstairs Neighbour Threatened Me but My Landlord Won’t Let Me Move Out Without a Huge Fine

I (25f) moved into a new apartment 3 months ago. It is a large duplex – I live in the basement suite and the main/2nd floors are a separate suite.

My upstairs neighbour S (mid-30’s f) has been making my life very difficult ever since I moved in.

Some context:

I’ve lived with roommates before, but this is my first time living on my own and I adopted a 2-year-old cat named Lucy when I moved into this apartment.

Now, let’s get to know the neighbor.

S is a single mom with two young kids. I hear her yelling at her kids, swearing at them, and the kids crying nearly every day.

S has a front door to the house with a doorbell camera, but there is also a side door that we both use to access our suites.

I have the breaker box for the house in my apartment, so anytime a breaker flips (which happens semi-regularly), either myself or the landlord has to manually flip it at the breaker. All the fuses are labelled so we know which is which.

The neighbor was annoyed about OP’s cat.

One day shortly after I moved in, she had a breaker flip and came down to my apartment door, banging on it and asking me to let her in to flip the breaker.

She noticed my cat’s food dish and toys and asked if I had a cat.

When I said yes, she was annoyed, saying “That’s why my kids have been so sick since you moved in! They’re allergic!” (We live in a pet-friendly building, and she has two dogs).

The neighbor also complained about parking.

When I was having my wifi installed, she came down to complain that the wifi tech parked in her spot, demanding that he move immediately.

She angrily told me that he should never have parked in her spot when I “didn’t have permission” to allow him.

He parked there of his own accord and I had no idea since he just showed up at my door.

There were a couple of other times she came to my apartment to flip the breaker, with no major issues.

The neighbor was really upset.

A couple of days ago, I got home after work, and within 5 minutes she was banging on my apartment door and yelling at me to stop messing with her.

Through the door I asked her what she meant, saying I had no idea what she was talking about.

She said her power was out again and to just turn it back on, then she went back to her apartment.

I was very confused but looked at the breaker box and saw that all the switches were in the right position.

Yikes! The neighbor clearly thinks OP is out for revenge.

A few minutes later, she came back and was even angrier.

I opened my door so she could look at the breaker box herself thinking it would calm her down.

It did the opposite. She started yelling saying she didn’t know what she ever did to make me mess with her, why couldn’t I just leave her alone…

When I said I never touched the power and was not doing anything to her, she began yelling in my face.

She called me a liar, saying that she had cameras and saw when I come or leave the house. She said if I didn’t stop messing with her power, I would be sorry. She flipped all her breakers off and back on, then she left.

She finally got the landlord involved.

I immediately emailed my landlord describing what had happened.

She called to apologize but said she was confused. She had instructed S to call her if she had power issues, so why was she coming to me?

I mentioned it had happened before and the landlord told me that she would remind S not to come to me.

After informing the landlord of the other interactions with her, she instructed me not to open the door and to call the police if S came down and would not leave me alone.

She wants to move.

Over the next few days, I felt more and more on edge and unsafe about the situation. So I emailed my landlord again saying that I felt unsafe and if S thought I was still messing with her, I was worried she would escalate and do something drastic.

I said that because of how unsafe I felt, I was going to start looking for a new apartment, and hoped that they would allow me to break my lease without the penalties (2 months’ rent) that were outlined in my lease agreement.

Apparently, since S had not physically harmed me and I had no actual proof of what had happened, it was her word against mine. So if I decided to break my lease, I would have to pay the full penalty.

I cannot afford to move AND have to pay the fine, so what would you do if you were me?

I don’t think S would retaliate, but I obviously don’t know her. I’d be frustrated if my power kept going out too. The neighbor is obviously wrong about OP messing with her, but I can see why she might think that since the breaker box is in OP’s apartment (which seems like a really bad setup).

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about someone who asked their neighbor to move their fence off their property, then learned the neighbor was trying to claim their land as theirs instead.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person offers some advice.

One person has a theory.

Here are some more good suggestions.

Another person wishes her luck.

Following the landlord’s advice, calling the police and installing cameras to gather evidence will all work in her favor. I really do hope that the landlord is trying to evict the upstairs neighbor.

That said, why are the circuit breakers flipping so often? Is there a problem with the electricity in the duplex, or is the upstairs neighbor overloading the outlets?

Regardless, it sounds like all of the advice is for OP to stick it out but gather evidence. It sounds like the landlord is on her side.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a family who is resisting pressure from the HOA to remove their tree and lights.