How to deal with noise complaints... against you :(

Mierin

Mierin

Donor
So, I live in a 2nd floor apt. Admittedly we were loud one night in September and got complaints. I felt like a jerk and we've been quiet since then. The quiet time is 10pm-6am.

But we received another complaint from 2 neighbors this week on a night we both went to bed at 11:30pm and we don't remember doing anything but walking between rooms that night. The lady beneath us is 75-85 years old so she probably thinks 11:30 is super late. The neighbors next to us I can't reach because they have a different entry door.

Anyway this notice says if it happens again we have 14/30 days to vacate.

The thing is I've been paying attention today to my neighbors' noises. I normally don't because it just doesn't bother me. And it seems to me any type of walking at all is loud. To make matters worse the fiance just got a 3rd shift job. On his 2 days off he'll be wide awake during quiet hours.

Also when the next door complainers have sex we can hear it every time and it's always after 10. Same with the neighboors on the other side. I dont give a crap, but what's to stop me from calling up the landlord every time I hear a bed squeaking?

I really don't want to annoy people and we're gonna try hard to be quiet but it kinda takes away the enjoyment of living when you have to constantly be careful all the time. We've never so much as had a party here. We've never had anyone over past 9pm.

I've looked into acoustic testing companies to come and check the building out (no luck there) even though I feel like crap going to that much length to fight the landlord just so I can be the loud annoying neighbor but if I can't even walk around my apt without getting kicked out I dunno what to do.

I've also chatted with the old lady a couple times so I feel like that might be a dead end. I thought if we talked she would feel slightly more guilty about tattling on me. Maybe I should bring her cookies?

 
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You could try explaining it to the landlord (not LOMS) just as you have here. Admit to the transgression in September but then explain that you haven't been loud, that you hear plenty of noises but don't complain and maybe the lady below you is being too sensitive to simple walking around noises. They can't expect you to not move around your apartment. If that doesn't work, they aren't being reasonable.

 
Ask the landlord to describe specifically what noises you're being accused of.

Have the landlord provide you with specific times and dates that you're allegedly being "noisy."

Document your habits. When you watch TV, when you go to sleep. Write it down, every day, both of you.

Does your landlord live on premises, and are they alleging they have heard you themselves? If not, have them go back to the person complaining and double-check that it's your unit that is causing the noise. In a multiple-dwelling home, noise can seem to come from strange places.

Explain to your landlord, in writing, that you are attempting to live normally. Walking and talking and cooking are normal life activities that you have a right to engage in. Explain that in writing to the landlord.

In writing, request a 30-day stay in any action against you. Explain that you have every intention of, and have been trying to, abide by the rental agreement's quiet hours.

Document everything. Save a copy of everything, including any complaints against you.

How many properties does your landlord own?

 
You can probably just wait out the 75-85 year old
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huKSer said:
That is why I hated living in apt. If you have to move try either a basement apt or a duplex?
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That's the plan but we need to make it to July. I really like this apt and I'd be willing to stay if we got a 1st floor apt where the shared walls are in a different location.

 
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Do you think it might be an empty threat? Is it a higher-end complex? Some of the property management companies I do business with need a lot of convincing to kick out tenants who ACTUALLY pay their rent....

 
I will probably go in tomorrow or Monday to talk to the property manager face to face.

The problem is the old lady has probably been here a long time. I've been here 7 months.

As I post this my upstairs neighbors are pounding around again but since I'm not a butthead I'm not going to report them.

 
I live on a 2nd floor in the 3 story building and i can hear every step the upstairs neighbor takes. It literally shakes my apt. I can hear every time the neighbor next to me shuts a cabinet door. I wake up every time my downstairs neighbor opens her sliding door at 5 am to let her dog out. It drives me f'ing nuts but I deal with it bc its the complex having paper thin walls. I dont turn people in for walking around. Or cooking. Or going outside. That is asinine.

Im moving from this complex in May and the next place i live will be top floor so i dont have to deal with apt shaking everytime someone takes a step.

 
Rike Miley said:
I live on a 2nd floor in the 3 story building and i can hear every step the upstairs neighbor takes. It literally shakes my apt. I can hear every time the neighbor next to me shuts a cabinet door. I wake up every time my downstairs neighbor opens her sliding door at 5 am to let her dog out. It drives me f'ing nuts but I deal with it bc its the complex having paper thin walls. I dont turn people in for walking around. Or cooking. Or going outside. That is asinine.

Im moving from this complex in May and the next place i live will be top floor so i dont have to deal with apt shaking everytime someone takes a step.
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Just make sure the people below you aren't old and go to bed at 8pm...

 
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