Neighbors' son crashes his new birthday drone onto an apartment roof, so they chase down the top-floor resident and pressure her to let them into her flat, but she refuses: 'It will only take 2 mins'

Author image for Celeste Mello
Celeste Mello • Writer and Editor
Jul 28, 2026 3:15 PM EDT

Neighbors may ask you for a favor once in a while, but when they do, it's typically something within public access. It doesn't involve getting inside your house. Well, this neighbor needed access to the roof and felt entitled to ask the apartment's top-floor resident to enter her house to look for his lost drone.

Residential privacy matters more than recovering a birthday drone, don't you think? Especially when the resident has already tried to help. The woman looked for the drone, didn't see anything, and that's the end of the story. Neighbors can't keep insisting on letting them into the flat to look for the drone. 

It all began when the neighbor's son crashed his new birthday drone onto an apartment building's roof, but nobody could see exactly where it landed. Then, his parents approached the woman living in the upstairs flat and asked whether they could access the roof through her apartment. That's a big no-no. You don't know who these people are, so why would you let them inside your flat and inside your house? Reasonably, she refused to let strangers in her house.

What's more, the resident had already checked several windows on multiple days and could not see the drone. She explained that to the neighbors, only to be chased down by them on the street almost two weeks later. This time, rather than accepting her answer, neighbors attempted to negotiate. They insisted that the search would only take two minutes… As if a shorter invasion of privacy would be any less invasive. 

The woman stood her ground. She was protecting her privacy and her safety. The neighbors have other ways to solve the problem. They can contact building management, hire an appropriate professional, or at least approach the other top-floor resident if they want to have another try. What they can't do is pressure a woman into surrendering access to her home because their son lost a drone. 

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  • Young man operating a remote control for a drone while standing outdoors.
    via Unsplash+ (Shutter Speed)

    Young man operating a remote control for a drone while standing outdoors.

    Individuals shown are models.

  • AITAH for not letting my neighbours into my flat?

    About two weeks ago my neighbours stopped me outside my flat and started asking some weird questions... they initially asked if I could let them into my block, I asked why. They wanted to
    via hippychick4206669
  • speak to the woman in the upstairs flat (that's me) to ask if they can access the roof from my apartment. I said no, they
    via hippychick4206669
  • wouldn't be able to because the ceilings are like 12feet high, why? Their son had been bought a drone for his birthday and crashed it on its maiden
    via hippychick4206669
  • voyage somewhere on the roof (it hasn't fallen back down). I said I would have a look myself on my balcony and see if I could spot it - I couldn't.
    via hippychick4206669
  • I had been on my way out to head to a work meeting and arrived 15 minutes late because I'd taken the time out to look for them when they had asked.
    via hippychick4206669
  • Elevated view of apartment rooftops and urban buildings in a densely populated city.
    via Unsplash+ (Eugene Matthews)

    Elevated view of apartment rooftops and urban buildings in a densely populated city.

    Image is illustrative.

  • Then yesterday, I was walking home and the woman chased me down in the shop next to my flat. They approached
    via hippychick4206669
  • me negatively and said they had tried to shout me down (I had headphones in), the woman asked me to come outside. When I had paid for my stuff, I
    via hippychick4206669
  • exited and she and her boyfriend were there. He starts walking towards me like yeah that's great thanks very much,
    via hippychick4206669
  • I was just like what? She asked me to come outside? The woman goes, yeah I've not asked her anything yet. So then the male goes, ahh is it alright if I come
    via hippychick4206669
  • into your flat to have a look for the drone? i just can't get it out of my head. I said no. I'm not open to having people coming in and out of my flat.
    via hippychick4206669
  • I've had a look on the roof myself multiple times over various days from different windows and from my flat, it is not visible on the roof.
    via hippychick4206669
  • Neighbor stops a top-floor resident to request access to her apartment while searching for his son’s lost drone.
    via Unsplash+ (Jonny Gios)

    Neighbor stops a top-floor resident to request access to her apartment while searching for his son's lost drone.

    Subjects are models.

  • They didn't take it very well and tried to negotiate, 'it will only take 2 mins.'
    via hippychick4206669
  • There is a man who lives on the other side of me on the top floor and they don't seem to be asking him for access to his flat.
    via hippychick4206669
  • AITA for not letting people into my flat to look for their lost drone on the roof?
    via hippychick4206669
  • HalfPriceDommies If you can't see it then neither will they be able to see it. Suggest that maybe the flat on the other side of you may have a better view and they should approach that owner. You definitely do not have to let them into your flat.
    via HalfPriceDommies
  • ladycroft Do not let them in. Ever. If they want to look for the drone they can contact a building maintenance. Simple. And tell them that. Even then building maintenance can look in their behalf. They never need to enter your suite.
    via ladycroft_
  • TobyADev NTA. if they think you have it that badly they'll just call the police who can deal with it
    via TobyADev
  • MotherOfLochs NTA. They can approach the other neighbour instead. You do not owe them a thing, especially given how aggressive they approached you.
    via MotherOfLochs

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neighbors personal boundaries lost drone neighborhood-drama neighborhood-stories roof access neighbor drama entitled neighbors drone personal space resident birthday gift apartment
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