Apartment problem from a friend- neighbor constantly complaining of noise

[Gordman]

Im going to be short and to the point because I need to get to bed and I promised a friend of mine that I would do my best to help her out.

She lives in a side by side duplex. She has a couple of kids and a husband. She is being accused by the person on the other side of the duplex that they are being too loud...even during normal hours (meaning at least within noise ordinance hours)

I know my friend is not that loud, and at least she does her best to be quiet. She has kids and of course they can be loud at times, like any kids. She does her best to keep them quiet. The whole family of 4 feels like they are walking on eggshells for fear of pissing off the neighbor and/or the landlord. The landlord hasn't actually heard any of this alleged noise but has received a few complaints from crazy lady next to her.

This lady has apparently even logged/noted exact times throughout the days to which her family was allegedly being too loud. I know my friend well enough to know that she and her family arent going to be that irresponsible and inconsiderate to their noise levels and the people around them


I am wondering if anyone has experienced issues similar to this and am trying to figure out what her solutions might be. the other person has obv been proactive and written down a log and given it to her landlord. My opinion on my friends neighbor is that she is blowing shit overboard bigtime. At this point though, my friend feels as though she has the cards stacked against her and is afraid of being evicted.


any advice?




I will post more details as they become available


EDIT: apologize in advance if im not giving enough details etc. To be honest im seriously loaded right now (like at least: 3/4 liter of Jaegermeister in jaegerbombs, multiple beers, and 1/2 bottle of Midnight Moon), but again I made a promise that I would try to help someone out.

[4Dragons]

Play the liberal card and complain to the landlord that the neighbor is a racist bigot homophobe that hates women and small children, is a terrorist and is holding the families well being hostage with his complaints.

[Deal]

Tell her husband to step up and get a job so they can afford to live in a detached house somewhere else.

[BCR]

This is one of those need more information type questions. Who has been there longer? If your friend, were there previous complaints from past neighbors? Which one does the landlord want to appease most? I would guess with a family, he foresees them as more likely to go buy a house if the neighbor is some little old lady on a fixed income. If the neighbor is in a similar predicament, who is more financially secure? All the landlord really gives a fuck about is keeping the rent checks rolling, and keeping the peace. If he thinks he's going to lose the more steady renter, he'll get rid of the other. Without some noise ordinance issue involving police, it can be hard depending on state, but he can simply not renew her lease when the time comes, or raise the rent to a point they can't afford. How to deal with it would be correlated directly to who I think the landlord wants to keep more. If I thought they wanted me more, I'd simply start blowing up his phone every time the neighbor irritates me in the slightest, and even file some bogus shit. If I thought the neighbor was the more desirable renter, I'd basically start planning for a move, because they will eventually be gone. I'd argue for diplomacy, but some fucker making a timeline and repeated complaints isn't in the mood for diplomacy, and it would be futile. The reality is, your friend's kids are probably noisy and a pain in the ass. You don't have to be inconsiderate to have noisy kids when there is a few of them. You get used to the noise and don't think it's bad, but it's really annoying when it isn't your kids. Simply renting to a young family, and putting them next to a stickler is a recipe for disaster that the landlord should have saw coming.

[ShadyJ]

This shit happens all the time when you live ina condo or apartment or side by side. She should only change anything if the police get involved and tell her to.

When I lived in a 4 family I actually chased the guy next door when he ran from me like a bitch, but it was much more serious then noise and put my kids health in jeopardy.

[sonatine]

Tell her husband to step up and get a job so they can afford to live in a detached house somewhere else.

im sorry but this.

like seriously.

kids have no fucking place in a side by side duplex with paper thin walls.

[Hockey Guy]

Tell her husband to step up and get a job so they can afford to live in a detached house somewhere else.

im sorry but this.

like seriously.

kids have no fucking place in a side by side duplex with paper thin walls.

Sounds like the builder cheaped out & didn't insulate the interior separation wall for sound-proofing. I did this in all my bathrooms & furnace room & it makes a huge difference.

[JimmyG_415]

This shit happens all the time when you live ina condo or apartment or side by side. She should only change anything if the police get involved and tell her to.

When I lived in a 4 family I actually chased the guy next door when he ran from me like a bitch, but it was much more serious then noise and put my kids health in jeopardy.

Exactly, this lady really has no say, (I'm pretty sure the landlord hasn't shown up as he can't do shit, you can't kick someone out for non malicious noise)
He knew there were kids when the lease was signed, (I'm assuming).

She should be happy your friend is doing what she can to keep the noise down.
Tell that lady look, STFU, we've done all we can, if YOU don't like then YOU need to move.

I lived in a place for 6 years, all of a sudden this lady moves in above me, woke up at 6 AM and would just walk in circles, never left the house, and was still walking around at midnight. I went fucking crazy. She'd wake me up in the AM, and keep me up at night.
My landlord loved me, I lived there for 6 years, rent always on time, not one noise complaint, so he knew it was valid.
But, he could not do shit.
I moved.

[Alvin Finklestein]

There is a legal concept regarding rental property called "quiet enjoyment".

Quiet enjoyment does not just refer to noise -- it refers to the ability to live normally in your rental property without interference from noise or maintenance problems.

Noise ordinances exist for purposes of law enforcement. That is, when someone is making excessive noise (outside or inside) outside of the city's noise allowance hours, you have the right to call the police, and the police then have a right to force that person to stop making noise.

But that's not what applies here, because this is a civil matter -- one tenant feeling the other is too loud, during normal daytime/evening hours. That's where quiet enjoyment comes in.

Note that quiet enjoyment only has to do with items within the landlord's power to change. If the neighbor is doing noisy construction during normal business hours, you cannot claim a quiet enjoyment violation, even if it's super-loud and driving you up the freakin' wall. (The only exception is if the neighboring property is ALSO owned by the landlord!)

But let's get back to this case.

If the tenant is making unreasonable noise (such as blasting loud music) or making noise outside of normally expected hours for people to be awake (such as the kids playing loudly at 3am), the landlord would have a reasonable claim to either force you to quiet down or evict you. This would be accomplished first through a warning (though not always), and then a 3 Day Perform Covenant or Quit Notice.

But that's not what's happening here.

It appears that your friend's family is making a normal, expected amount of noise for a residence with children. The problem seems to be the thin walls of the complex, which is not your friend's problem.

If it is a rent control building, your friend could NOT be evicted based upon these complaints, and could continue normal noise levels between normal waking hours.

If it is NOT a rent control building, your friend needs to watch out, as the landlord can simply give your friend notice to vacate once the lease is up. The landlord CANNOT evict your friend based upon "noise" under these circumstances in the middle of the lease, but they CAN refuse to renew the lease for any reason.

Therefore, it is probably in your friend's best interest to do the following:

1) Video the household during hours when the neighbor would consider it "noisiest", and narrate the beginning of the video with the date and time. This way, when the neighbor presents her "logs", she will look stupid.

2) Once you have a few of these, contact the landlord, discuss the situation, and explain that there is absolutely no way to keep the neighbor satisfied, given the lack of sound insulation between the units. State that your family has never caused excessive noise, and that the neighbor has unrealistic expectations. Also state that you will do your best to continue to keep the noise down as much as possible, but you are afraid that the neighbor will never be satisfied with you or any other tenant there.

Hopefully the landlord will choose to get rid of the complainer rather than your friend.

Good luck.

-Alvin

[sonatine]

im sorry but this.

like seriously.

kids have no fucking place in a side by side duplex with paper thin walls.

Sounds like the builder cheaped out & didn't insulate the interior separation wall for sound-proofing. I did this in all my bathrooms & furnace room & it makes a huge difference.

Ive only seen this in modern apartment buildings, and by no means all of them. Id tag the chances of a landlord soundproofing these apartments at approximately zero.

[Sanlmar]

Alvin Finklestein crushes it.

Can you say "retainer"?

[simpdog]

Invite them over for dinner

[rickastley]

is the neighbour of african american descent?

[JimmyG_415]

I rarely agree w/Druff, yet, I always agree w/Alvin.

There is a legal concept regarding rental property called "quiet enjoyment".

Quiet enjoyment does not just refer to noise -- it refers to the ability to live normally in your rental property without interference from noise or maintenance problems.

Noise ordinances exist for purposes of law enforcement. That is, when someone is making excessive noise (outside or inside) outside of the city's noise allowance hours, you have the right to call the police, and the police then have a right to force that person to stop making noise.

But that's not what applies here, because this is a civil matter -- one tenant feeling the other is too loud, during normal daytime/evening hours. That's where quiet enjoyment comes in.

Note that quiet enjoyment only has to do with items within the landlord's power to change. If the neighbor is doing noisy construction during normal business hours, you cannot claim a quiet enjoyment violation, even if it's super-loud and driving you up the freakin' wall. (The only exception is if the neighboring property is ALSO owned by the landlord!)

But let's get back to this case.

If the tenant is making unreasonable noise (such as blasting loud music) or making noise outside of normally expected hours for people to be awake (such as the kids playing loudly at 3am), the landlord would have a reasonable claim to either force you to quiet down or evict you. This would be accomplished first through a warning (though not always), and then a 3 Day Perform Covenant or Quit Notice.

But that's not what's happening here.

It appears that your friend's family is making a normal, expected amount of noise for a residence with children. The problem seems to be the thin walls of the complex, which is not your friend's problem.

If it is a rent control building, your friend could NOT be evicted based upon these complaints, and could continue normal noise levels between normal waking hours.

If it is NOT a rent control building, your friend needs to watch out, as the landlord can simply give your friend notice to vacate once the lease is up. The landlord CANNOT evict your friend based upon "noise" under these circumstances in the middle of the lease, but they CAN refuse to renew the lease for any reason.

Therefore, it is probably in your friend's best interest to do the following:

1) Video the household during hours when the neighbor would consider it "noisiest", and narrate the beginning of the video with the date and time. This way, when the neighbor presents her "logs", she will look stupid.

2) Once you have a few of these, contact the landlord, discuss the situation, and explain that there is absolutely no way to keep the neighbor satisfied, given the lack of sound insulation between the units. State that your family has never caused excessive noise, and that the neighbor has unrealistic expectations. Also state that you will do your best to continue to keep the noise down as much as possible, but you are afraid that the neighbor will never be satisfied with you or any other tenant there.

Hopefully the landlord will choose to get rid of the complainer rather than your friend.

Good luck.

-Alvin

[VegasJim]

From my own experience with living in an apartment.... It is extremely difficult to get someone evicted. I was on the other side of this and It takes a lot for me to get upset with neighbors, but I had a group of college kids living next to me who made a huge mess in garbage room and wouldn't put bags down shoot and had beer bottles/cans all over the place. They blasted the radio ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT! I first started off asking nicely to just lower it, and have it off by 11pm. The just yes me 2 death every time and said sorry etc. They continued though and it got to the point where I would bang on the walls and scream obscenities at top of my lungs. They got a laugh at out me getting mad and would leave the radio on during the day 2 piss me off even more. I complained several times along with other neighbors and all that came from this was letters passed around to everybody's door saying respect your neighbors etc. I called the cops a few times and every time the kids saw them and obv shut the radio off and never got caught red handed. I finally had enough and went to the office and said either you get them out of here or I'm leaving! I pay $1700 a month for rent and didn't need that bull shit. They management gave me the option to move to a new apartment and they would wave my garage fees for 3 months and I took that which worked out great thank god.

So my advice for your friend is to firstly flip the script and start complaining about them having TV loud all day etc. And ask to be moved.

[BeerAndPoker]

If you can get multiple people in the complex to complain then that is your best chance to get them evicted otherwise the landlord will look the other way as long as that person is a paying tenant.

My advice if your alone in trying to get something done is to document all their disturbances logging the date and time. You can record video/audio to prove your point which if this neighbor is extremely out of line and your landlord refuses to do anything you possibly can get out of your contract with them if your locked in one to move elsewhere by going to court but I believe the laws on this vary in different states.