COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Even the "Supernanny" has her limitations.
The hit ABC television show is known for sending no-nonsense host Jo Frost into homes where children run amok so she can teach the children and their parents a more orderly way of life.
But a November visit to a Commerce Township family's condominium appears to have made little difference: The condo association is suing the family because of the noisy and unruly behavior of four children that it claims continued well after the "Supernanny" came and went.
The Trillium Park Homeowners Association wants Michael and Tamara Amouri to immediately comply with condo regulations or face eviction.
"I don't know if ("Supernanny") had success or not," said Patricia McBride, the property manager for Whitehall Management. Long after the "Supernanny" was gone, she said, the complaints kept coming.
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"When someone calls you at 1 a.m. crying on the phone about not being able to sleep, you know they aren't making something up."
According to Whitehall, which manages the 320-unit apartment-style Trillium complex, the noise eventually drove the neighbor who lives below the family to sleep at a relative's home.
The lawsuit alleges the children "create excessive noise at all hours of the day and night."
Tamara Amouri, 31, said she was unaware of the lawsuit but expects to move "in a couple months."
The Oakland Circuit Court lawsuit, filed Jan. 17, also names Christopher Sharrack of West Bloomfield, who owns the condo but rents it to the family.
The lawsuit, to be heard Feb. 7 by Judge Robert Ransom, notes the Amouris were so concerned about their children's behavior that they enlisted the aid of the TV show.
Tamara Amouri admitted that for the first few weeks after they moved in Nov. 1, her children did "have a habit of staying up late or even getting up between midnight and 3 a.m. and start playing with their toys."
The condo has hardwood floors, she said, which probably added to the noise for those in the condominium below. But she said that an 8 p.m. bedtime has eliminated late-night noise. Anything else, she said, is just the normal sound of young children.
"These are young kids and they aren't always going to be quiet — my 1-year-old is a speed racer," she said. The Amouris have a 4-year-old daughter, Hailey; 2-year-old twins Jianni and Julian; and 1-year-old Ashton.
Neighbor Alex Rowan, 49, who lives directly below the Amouris, will second that. He says life has been a nightmare since the family moved in around Halloween. He has been sleeping at his brother-in-law's home in Novi for weeks, he says, coming home in the morning to change clothes and go to work and often finds his sleepless wife in tears.
"I don't know what I did, but God must be mad at me about something," he said. Rowan says he tried to talk to the Amouris, but he says he was told the noise was his problem and he shouldn't have bought a downstairs unit.
"They run, they scream, they drag furniture — they've even got a Big Wheel up there," he said.
McBride said the children are well cared for.
"The kids are cuter than cute, appear to be well-fed, always clean and always dressed to the nines," McBride said. "The parents obviously love them and take care of their physical needs. But they also realize they have problems. They contacted 'Supernanny' before they even moved in here."
Last August, Tamara Amouri and her children were among those who appeared at Oakland Mall for consideration by "Supernanny." A production crew, including Frost, spent nearly two weeks with the Amouri family in late November.
In an interview at that time Frost said the family needed help and Amouri "desperately needs to manage her children and enjoy motherhood." Frost said she looked forward to providing the family some structure and "setting a solid foundation."
An ABC spokeswoman said that due to the litigation she couldn't comment on how the "Supernanny" fared here.