I moved in to a new apartment after taking over the lease and it turns out my next door neighbour is using his apartment as a psychology office.
They have set up chairs in the landing area in front of the lift using the space as a waiting room for his patients. It's only our two apartments on this level and it's a small building with very few apartments.
What is the best way to approach this?
"I’d just take the chairs into my apartment….and be careful not to saw one the legs halfway through, and put it back in the waiting room".
If the neighbour has enough business where s/he needs a waiting space for patients then business must be doing well enough to justify some actual professional premises.
If not then don't allow the appointments to bank up where someone is waiting. Knock and go right in.
If the neighbour gets greedy then must take what's coming…
to avoid the neighbour hating you hereafter, best advise the strata manager of the unauthorised use of common property, to request the chairs be removed, and please keep your name out of it, so your name doesn't get associated with the complaint.
When he is consulting and patients ate waiting just play very loud music…..like BLARING
Good advice here re. having a conversation with your neighbour first, then following up with Strata/Body Corporate etc. This is weird for you, and probably weird for your neighbour's clients.
One thing to add: depending on what type of mental health professional your neighbour is, AHPRA may not be the right professional body to reach out to if you want to make a report.
If you know your neighbour's full name and are sure he's a psychologist or psychiatrist, you can check the AHPRA practitioner's list: https://www.ahpra.gov.au/registration/registers-of-practitio…
If your neighbour doesn't appear on AHPRA's list, he could be a counsellor (registered with PACFA, ARCAP, or ACA) or a social worker (registered with AASW).
You can check the AASW to see if he's a social worker: https://www.aasw.asn.au/find-a-social-worker/
You can check PACFA to see if he's a counsellor: https://pacfa.org.au/Portal/Find-a-Therapist/Find-A-Therapis…
(based on the 'alleged story being true) Ppl seem to be expecting the victim here to do all the leg work. The neighbour is the one bypassing manners,etiquette and probably strata rules and possibly legalities. Not sure the OP owes the neighbour any input, given no advanced warning appears to have been offered up.By the lease ppl or the neighbour. (maybe why the place was available to rent.Ex tenant had a gutful?)?)
There's all sorts of additional insurance and safety issues that arise from this situation. If the WFH psych is helping sort genuine cases out, then the lack of empathy to immediate neighbours would preclude him form most ppls lists of go too practitioners,anyway. Let the neighbour deal with whatever resolution the OP seeks through proper channels.OP owes the neighbour squat by way of courtesy at this stage
If I didn’t have any children I’d be fine with my neighbour doing this. We don’t know that the guy didn’t ask his original neighbour. OP has just shown up out of nowhere seemingly without ever having inspected the apartment, or with the expectation that once he moved he could shut the operation down.
Really OP is the interloper here and should be the object of suspicion. This really has no harm to anybody except some people who would irrationally find it irritating to know the landing has people quietly waiting in it.
Nope. Amenity is everything
This is exactly the same as moving into a place above a pub and complaining about loud music. The psychology practice was there before he was and now he’s come in, probably got a discount on rent because of it, and wants to shut it down. If he was just interested in amenities he could have moved anywhere else.It seems like he’s more interested in enmity.
@CommuterPolluter: It's nothing like "moving into a place above a pub and complaining about loud music". It's an apartment block and AFAIK it's a residential building.
I think you'll find the forum wants the business shut down. OP just wants to know how to BEGIN a process, and advice on what that could be.
If the business isn't legit through all channels it SHOULD be shut down,and that's a gimme.Whining neighbour or not.
@Protractor: OP moved into an apartment adjacent to a psychology practice and decided he doesn’t like it and wants to shut it down. It’s exactly the same thing. All the quibbling about the business hypothetically being in breach of XY or Z regulation is just that - hypothetical. We don’t know anything other than it’s an existing business which OP just moved in next door too and decided he wants to get shut down.
There’s really nothing to indicate the business isn’t properly licensed besides the musings of some very pathetic forum users. OP has suggested in comments that he doesn’t want the psychologist to have the chance to obtain any proper permissions (should he not have them). It all speaks to a very nasty streak.
@CommuterPolluter: LOL, what sort of practise has their patients and neighbours quality of life in mind, with a waiting room outside and in front of an elevator.The only one available. Even if it IS legit, the 'waiting room' scenario is unfair on the patients and 3rd parties.
Discussion and musing in a public forum is par for the course, despite your (equally) pathetic objections.
When you get a few words describing a vague (possibly made up) scenario, you'll get every layer of feedback. From rancid to racy to ridiculous.Nothing new about that.Nor is it an extreme view to consider the 'business model' is flawed or worse.
Was OP warned ahead of time? We have to fill that gap.Should he just suck it up? That's your entitled viewpoint.Not mine
@CommuterPolluter: A pub is allowed to operate where it is. You cannot operate a "psychology practise" out of a residential apartment, and you cannot use common areas as a waiting room.
@CommuterPolluter: Lol, you cannot do any of that regardless of who is next door, this isn't Bangladesh.
@brendanm: You’d think it’s not Australia either with all the shameless “me me me” attitudes coming out in support of OP. “Oh I would extort him for money if I could - but I’m worried it wouldn’t work so I’ll settle on shutting him down”.
Put your own comfier chairs out, a watercooler and a sign up saying therapy sessions available and undercut him by 50%
Add additional chairs with brothel signage and a flashing open light - sit on said chairs and talk to neighbour's customers - inquire if they are going to the brothel too.
What happens if OP continually moves any chairs that neighbour makes available for his clients in the community area? Surely has to come a point where dude just stops providing chairs…
Except now they're gonna be bored and standing up, leaning against walls and engraving things like "feet sore? Complain to unit #10. He's the dude who kept stealing our chairs"".
Any updates OP?
I’d just take the chairs into my apartment.