A Colorado woman removed a neighbor’s note she believed was racially motivated, and feared ‘they are being called dirty because they are Hispanic’

A Colorado woman says she pulled a note off her neighbor’s door before the family living there could see it, worried the message carried racist undertones, as reported by The Nerd Stash. She posted photos of the note on Reddit under the username Trybltn in the r/Apartmentliving community. The note reportedly came from a tenant frustrated with the trash valet, which had allegedly failed to pick up garbage for several days in the building.

According to her original Reddit post, the cleanliness of the building’s common outdoor space had been an ongoing issue for months, even before the family next door moved in roughly two months ago. She described her neighbors as quiet and kept to themselves, and said the tone of the note, along with a pig drawing included on it, felt targeted rather than like a simple complaint. In the comments beneath her post, she elaborated further.

“Our hall isn’t even dirty, though. I’m wondering if it’s racially motivated,” she wrote. In a separate comment, she added that many of the residents in her building are Hispanic families. “My apartment has a lot of Hispanic families. My concern is they are being called dirty because they are Hispanic,” she wrote. According to her, the family who received the note keeps their space clean, which left her struggling to understand why they had been singled out.

Reddit had strong opinions on the note

Reactions on Reddit largely echoed her suspicion. One commenter reacted strongly to a phrase used in the note, writing, “Any note-making accusations about ‘you people’ is unhinged as hell.” Another agreed, saying, “The ‘you people’ is overtly racist. Idgaf what anyone says to the contrary.” A third simply called it “a terrible note.” Confrontations perceived as racially charged have drawn similar attention online before, including a North Carolina woman who says she was harassed for 30 minutes in what viewers also described as a racist rant.

Several commenters praised Trybltn for pulling the note down before the family could see it. “I am glad you took it off, protecting them from hate,” one person wrote. Another added, “Thanks for being a good human.” Trybltn later told her neighbors about the note anyway, wanting to keep them informed. “She was upset, but grateful,” she recalled. A few hours later, one of the family members installed a security camera outside their front door.

If the note’s language was in fact tied to the family’s ethnicity, it would touch on more than just neighborhood etiquette. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on national origin, which covers ancestry, ethnicity, and cultural background. According to the Department of Justice, the law also protects tenants from harassment based on national origin. Housing providers are required to take steps to address complaints when harassment comes from other tenants rather than the landlord directly.

Targeting a household with hostile language tied to their ethnicity, even in an informal note, can fall under the kind of conduct the law is meant to prevent. That said, enforcement typically applies to landlords, property managers, and housing providers rather than individual neighbors. This means the practical legal options in a tenant-to-tenant dispute like this one are more limited.

The identity of the note’s author has not been confirmed, and it is unclear whether they were contacted for comment or given a chance to explain their intent. The claims made in the Reddit post reflect only Trybltn’s account and have not been independently verified.