Noisy neighbors...What are my rights?
So, I have the proverbial noisy neighbor below me. It’s not mere annoyance of people living, but consists of loud conversations, yelling, bongo drumming, slamming doors, loud music after 11pm and well into 3am. This sometimes happens during the week. The lastest was last night. Granted, I think our apartments are only separated by a piece of paper, thus very poor insulation, which has also created a heat issue (which is a story in itself). However, the levels of noise are unreasonable and disrespectful. In the first month they moved in (I say “they” because there are two people living there, BUT I know for a fact that there is just one person on the lease) the music was too loud–I could clearly here what songs were played–too loud. I kindly asked the girl if she could keep it down. It helped a bit, but since they moved in 6 months ago, I’ve endured unreasonable levels of noise too many times. I’ve been woken-up at 2-3am during the week enough times–and I wear earplugs! These people are young, I’m not even sure if they work. If they do, it’s not 9-5\. I knew they would be a problem from the time they moved-in after midnight. Almost two months ago, I asked my super to speak with them, and he said he would. Since that didn’t seem to help, I contacted my landlord last week. He said he’d talk to them, but also said that I should call the police because that usually works. I think this is a bit passive-agressive. I came very close last night. I feel that last night was either their immature response to the landlord’s talk, or the landlord didn’t talk to them. Don’t care anymore. What can I do? What actions should the landlord be taking? Is this grounds to break my lease since, at least in my lease, it says that tenant should not make “annoying noises”? I presume they signed the same one, so are in breach of their contract. I would also say in breach because two people are living there, but only one on the lease. Can they be fined by the city? I’m to the point of seeing if I can break my lease, but I want a clean break, without penalty. This situation has made living here unhabitual. It has seriously negatively affected my standard of living here. Every time I come home, I wonder how loud it will be tonight. Please advise. I can’t take it anymore!
looking_to_brooklyn
in Landlord 13 years and 4 months ago
10
Please log in, in order to post replies!
10 replies
wholesalerbill1 | 13 years and 4 months ago
Time to call the cops. Now they’re just blatently harrassing you. You still have to live there until you find a new place and that could take some time. I’ll bet they quiet down once the cops show up.
looking_to_brooklyn | 13 years and 4 months ago
My neighbors woke me up twice last night–at 12:30 and 3:30 am with slamming doors that shake my apt, loud voices and yelling. So, I wrote my landlord again today and he’s officially on great landlord status. He offered to change my lease to a 30-notice, I believe on my end only, if I understood him correctly. Waiting on his verification. But, that would mean that I wouldn’t be subjected to find a place within a set time. I can spend 2, 3, or 4 months looking and just give 30-day notice. I need time to figure out logistics and figure where exactly I want to live that’s in my budget, but the sooner, the better. I’m disappointed because the apt. itself is a great space. If I didn’t have such noise disturbance, it would be an ideal place.
wholesalerbill1 | 13 years and 4 months ago
Once the a-hole above me came home drunk as a… well you know what and started blasting his stereo system. I went upstairs and pounded on the door. He didn’t answer so I let myself in to find this drunken moron passed out on his bed with a quart of ice cream melting all over him. I didn’t turn off his blasting stereo, rather I went to the basement and started hitting breakers on the electrical panel until I heard silence. I set my alarm clock for 5:00 A.M. and when it went off I went to the basement and reset the breaker. WHAM, the music started blasting and then I heard a loud thud as the drunken idiot fell out of bed and hit the floor. My wife and I were hysterically laughing. He couldn’t look me in the eye after that and avoided me like the plague. He moved out shortly after that, but there were still loud people living above us. Like I said earlier, we got out of Dodge. Helping your landlord find a new tenant might not be a good idea as you would make a quick enemy after that person moves in to have to deal with all that noise. Buy a house in burbs. That’s what we did.
Bklnite | 13 years and 4 months ago
“…I will BLARE my stereo at 6am every day. Oh, and I decided to vacuum my bedroom at 10am yesterday (early to them) and banged my vacuum several times, then let it run while I did the dishes.” “…I’m a f-ing spectacular tenant…pay rent on time, quiet, considerate of neighbors …I’m a goddam dream!” Yeah, you sure are a goddamn dream.
bowl-of-dicks | 13 years and 4 months ago
Well now that you have decided to play tit for tat, you definitely have to leave. The bottom line is that can’t control them, only yourself and they’ve already caused you extreme anxiety. So your best bet is to break the lease ASAP. Offer to help your LL find a replacement so he doesn’t feel compelled to keep your sec. dep or miss any rental payments. Depending on what you pay, you can remind him it’s also an opportunity to raise the rent. Perhaps if you can stick it out till May/June for the high season, finding a replacement will be a snap. Good Luck!
looking_to_brooklyn | 13 years and 4 months ago
bowl_of_dicks…I hear you on the “leaving the speakers face down on the floor.” Yes, I’ve done that. Since they seem to sleep in during the week when I’m getting ready for work, I’ve been turning my stereo up. If they continue to bother me, esp. on weeknights, I will BLARE my stereo at 6am every day. Oh, and I decided to vacuum my bedroom at 10am yesterday (early to them) and banged my vacuum several times, then let it run while I did the dishes. I’m no longer going to give the coutesy of speaking directly to her. That’s over. Once should have been enough. Twice more of my super and landlord speaking to her should be enough. If the problem persists, I will speak with my landlord again and do what was suggested and request the actions he taking to remedy the issue and/or request a lease surrender agreement. He’s decent overall, so don’t want to leave on bad terms. But, he needs to take responsibiliy for his building. I’m just many months away from the end of my lease and just don’t know if I can take it for that long. I’m a f-ing spectacular tenant…pay rent on time, quiet, considerate of neighbors, only call when there’s a real issue. I’m a goddam dream! I really feel that Saturday’s noise was a kinda retaliation of my complaint. Okay, no prob, I’ll get the police involved as many times as necessary. And, what really irks me are wanna be rock stars who attempt to play an instrument with no clue, like this guy on the bongos. I’m just too old to have patience with the immature 20 something set. I guess I need a cottage in the middle of nowhere…one day, one day…
bowl-of-dicks | 13 years and 4 months ago
Ugh, I experienced a very similar situation in my last apartment. Noisy, inconsiderate (bratty female roommates) tenants below me. I was fortunate to be on the same “schedule” as them so the noise didn’t keep me up at night, but the waking hours were really really difficult and caused excessive anxiety. Loud TV, loud music, fighting, etc. I spoke with them personally twice, which was not effective. I tried to talk to them more, but then they simply refused to answer the door. I got the super involved about a dozen times, which worked only temporarily. I loved the apartment otherwise but I made the decision to cut and run when the lease expired. After I gave my 90 day notice, I decided to be as loud as possible….especially with the radio speakers laying face down on the hardwood floor. Believe it or not, they did not get the hint. That’s when I realized I definitely had to go. Good luck, I feel your pain.
wholesalerbill1 | 13 years and 4 months ago
I went through a very similar circumstance when I first got married in 1987\. I started by asking the tenants above us nicely to tone it down. It didn’t last long. It got pretty nasty for awhile.I contacted my landlord who was pretty much useless. We wound up breaking our lease and moving out. My landlord took me to court for breaking the lease. He tried to sue me for utility bills after we moved. I wound up just forfitting our security deposit(1 months rent). It was all such a hassle to get anyone to do anything about the noise that it was just easier to get out of Dodge. It sucked, but after moving I finally got a good nights sleep. Good luck, and hope your outcome is pleasant.
Bklnite | 13 years and 4 months ago
If you want out, ask your landlord for a lease surrender agreement. LL may agree, and you’ll have a clean break, or may be more motivated to get your neighbors to quiet down. You think the LL is being passive-agressive, but he isn’t there to hear how loud it is … your side is the neighbors are out of control noisy and the story from the other side may be that you’re unreasonbly sensitive to sound. You can call the police if it’s really that bad. You can also try 311 – DEP noise code regulates maximum sound levels, but if they send an inspector and your neighbors aren’t making enough noise to exceed the 45db max (or whatever it is) then it won’t do much good. If it’s downstairs neighbors, then more carpets and padding in your apartmant may help.
FishieFishie | 13 years and 4 months ago
I’ll start by saying that I always appreciate it when, if someone asks for suggestions, he’s taken the time to include details. I’m a big believer doing everything in writing. And keeping copies. It sounds as if you’ve only talked to the neighbor once. I’d do it one more time. The trick is not to be at all apologetic, and not to make any reference to the time of day. Because, really, there shouldn’t be a racket at 3pm any more than at 3am. Meanwhile, check with any other neighbors to see if they’re bothered, because it would help if you could band together, giving your complaint more force. Also, start a log of the noise, if you haven’t already. Then I’d write to the landlord. Tell him that you’d like an update on what he’s done, that the problem continues, but that you feel that rather than your taking such an extreme action as the police, you feel that he should be doing more (like sending them a threatening letter). But then, after all that, yeah, call the police. I’d hate to see you driven out because of their bad behavior.