Bit of a long one as it's a strange situation. I live in the top floor of a townhouse. I have the strange neighbours below me and then two other flats. These properties are tiny, made for single people and perhaps a couple that don't work from home - all one bedrooms and the building is old.
Since November a new neighbour moved in that has been driving me and my other neighbours nuts. Initially it was just the man, and he was told by the landlord (due to how bad the previous tenants were) it was a quiet household so no kids etc.
He claimed it was just him and his wife, and she was coming from Germany in a couple of months to join him and they are both nurses. I thought great as I work in the emergency services so that to me meant other shift workers so quiet.
Since then his 'wife' appeared and brought a 4yo child with her... My downstairs neighbour who works from home asked him how long they were going to stay in passing as the noise is incredible. He referred to the child in a way that made him sound like he wasn't his and said he was only here for a little bit and would be staying elsewhere... Odd but ok.
They then had this period of the wife/kid being here for weeks and then vanishing for a fortnight and returning. However since April this child has not left and here permanently. My neighbour actually spoke to his landlord about the noise and when he spoke to my neighbour he again confirmed the child would not be living here.
I am at my wits end with the noise. I don't expect silence at all times, but that is also why I moved to this property. It's too small for a family unit and the kid is up from 11am until sometimes 2am jumping about and yelling. I am stunned that he sleeps until midday and up all night. I chose a top floor flat, and yet I can hear and feel the constant stamping about. To make it worse they have arguments late at night that have increased in frequency with no regard for anyone else in the building. The house is so small I can only assume the kid is in the next room while they are doing this and they all must share a bedroom. I of course tried to speak with the husband about this, and he told such outrageous extravagant lies about the situation that I was stunned and never spoke to him since except a morning in passing.
Now to the stranger part. Not long after they first moved in April time, as I was coming back she was standing outside engrossed in her phone while the kid was running about in the street waiting for the husband. He was very chatty and spoke to me but she is standoffish and rude. He has an English accent and I recall being surprised by how eloquently he spoke for a child of that age. A few weeks back however, he finally managed to open the front door when I was coming back (another annoyance, every time I leave my home it's like I am being surveilled and he bangs on the door and cries MAMA MAMA DOOR over and over like a guard dog) and he was like another child. He could barely seem able to speak and was babbling a few nonsense words. This was not the articulate little boy I had met a few months prior. He looked clean and fed etc but he seemed to have totally regressed mentally. All I ever hear of her is her endlessly bellowed phone conversations that she has all day, telling the kid off or the screaming matches at night with her husband. I don't think she works, or at least he lied about her being a nurse as she's here all the time. They also incredibly rarely leave the property which means that all day it's this noise. I find that weird that such a young child has no socialisation and concerning in light of his current mental aptitude.
On top of this, the child looks nothing like either of them. He's very tall for his age and his complexion and features are noticeably different. Idk if that means another father, but I think it's notable in light of the above.
September has just started and the kid has not gone back/started school and remains at home, indoors all day jumping off furniture and shouting MAMA MAMA over and over again. They have a window that opens outwards and he hangs out of it yelling into the street with no reprimands or care for his safety. I can't understand why he isn't in school, he was four last year November so he must be five or approaching it now. They don't appear to parent him, and wherever I leave my house it's just loud phone conversations and him hooting and yelling in the background so I highly doubt he's home schooled.
Aibu to be concerned for this kids welfare and think the parents are shady? What do I do next?
There is more I left out but it's already super long...