Upstairs neighbor screams for hours. Police say “not a crime.” Strata says “mental health.” We’re stuck.

Our upstairs neighbor has screaming episodes a couple times a month (sometimes more). It starts with yelling and lamenting, then usually escalates to cries of "OWWWW” after what sounds like his body hitting the floor.

We’ve called police for wellness checks when it sounds like he is hurt. Police have attended multiple times. After their most recent visit, they told us he was “frustrated because he couldn’t find his wallet..." but because it’s not a crime, it’s a strata issue. After police leave, the screaming continues. Episodes last for hours.

Police say it doesn’t meet the threshold for mental health intervention.

Strata says it’s a mental health issue and refuses to enforce noise bylaws. They also say whenever they have issued a warning letters in the past our neighbour "vehemently denies" the accusation. We have video evidence. Other units have come into our place to confirm the noise is excessive. Police records show he admits he’s the source of the noise.

This guy also keeps flooding our home. Twice we had to move out for repairs, and multiple units below ours were impacted as well.

A former council member told us that during one investigation he was passed out in his hallway and a sink clogged with vomit was overflowing which caused the flood.

Since then water has come pouring through our bathroom ceiling due to toilet overflows (one ran for hours while he left the property), and shower overflow which he admits to us when we go knocking on his door desperate for him to cut the source.

When council follows up, he insists it’s “the pipes" and council keeps paying plumbers to confirm it is indeed... not the pipes.

We are exhausted. Has anyone successfully forced action in a situation like this?

We are in British Columbia and considering asking the CRT for a behavioural order against out neighbour while filing another claim against our strata.