Reminder: racist flyers are never the right response to noisy neighbors
To file under "this world is going to hell in a hand basket": Jezebel reports that flyers started popping up in one Irvine, California rental community "reminding" residents to simmer down and be quiet after 10 pm. This, we get.
However, the message takes a turn for the racist by the third paragraph when it singles out African-American residents and says they need to "keep conversation volume down and reduce music levels between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am." The landlord, Equity Residential, says the flyer isn't their doing, telling Gawker it "was not created or posted by Equity Residential. We are investigating the source. We are outraged by the content and it does not match our core values as a company.”
Not to be Captain Obvious, but if a landlord or management company has an issue with noisy tenants, racism is never an acceptable form of response. And it's not acceptable from neighbors, either. (The NYC Rent Guidelines Board recommends trying to work your complaints out with the neighbors in question first, or calling 311; one attorney told us the same, and said documenting the problem, which includes reporting it to 311, could help you make your case to a landlord that your place isn't habitable, allowing you to possibly break your lease if conditions are beyond manageable.)
Equity maintains this ridiculosity is a hoax and, according to the Orange County Register, a police investigation is underway.
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