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My partner and I have only been living in our new apartment for a week and have already had enough of the place. We are both in graduate school and I also work from home a few days a week. We had told the leasing agent this when looking for our current apartment and how important quiet and privacy is to us. She showed us three units, two of which were gutted and renovated from the studs up and better insulated. She recommended the unit we are living in now (newly renovated) since the on-site maintenance lives upstairs and he is not usually there and it's on an end, meaning that it would be the quietest unit of the three shown.
However, unknown to us until our first night, the maintenance staff has a woodshop in the basement behind a door that we were told was storage and there is not any insulation below our floor. Every morning, including weekends, three maintenance men enter the basement through an outside door, slam doors, talk loud enough for us to clearly hear what they're saying, and shuffle tools around. All of which can felt through the unit. The floors are thin to the point where I thought someone had keyed into the apartment and were talking in the next room over. On weeknights, usually between 8pm and 10pm, the maintenance staff uses the woodshop and run saws, drills, and hammer. All other walls and ceilings have proper sound insulation and it's very quiet other than the basement work noise.
Last night I noticed light coming from one of the air return vents and I can see into the basement and work area meaning that not only is there a complete lack of insulation, but the unit is not entirely sealed. It's turned into an issue of not being able to relax and not having privacy because if we can hear them clearly, they can hear us.
Is it appropriate for us to make a formal complaint with the landlord stating that we would either like to switch units, terminate the lease, or have maintenance not work in the basement? The lease states that no tenant or employee shall make or permit disturbing noises in the leased premises, common areas, or grounds...that may disturb other tenants or create a nuisance. I should also add that all three maintenance workers live at the complex. It's a grey area but I take it that they are breaking their lease since they're also tenants.
One positive of this is that the maintenance man and landlord mentioned that if the maintenance man, who lives upstairs, was not out of town the weekend we moved in, he would have offered to take our unit and have us move into his, which is also a renovated end unit. Perhaps this "move" can still be done.
Is it appropriate for us to make a formal complaint with the landlord stating that we would either like to switch units, terminate the lease, or have maintenance not work in the basement? The lease states that no tenant or employee shall make or permit disturbing noises in the leased premises, common areas, or grounds...that may disturb other tenants or create a nuisance. I should also add that all three maintenance workers live at the complex. It's a grey area but I take it that they are breaking their lease since they're also tenants.
Making a formal complaint isn't likely to gain you much as there is unfortunately nothing illegal about the situation as illegal noise issues generally relate to excessive noise during "quiet hours" and not to daytime activities. There is also no legitimate legal ground to allow you to break your lease without penalty.
However, you should certainly bring the issue to the attention of the landlord and ask what can be done to solve the problem and make your life easier. See what he's willing/able to do but it's usually better not to jump in and make demands about anything at the onset, and I'm sure you appreciate the logic in that. Good luck!
The not-sealed vent may be a safety hazard. What if they are using chemicals and a respirator but you don't know that? I would definitely complain about that.
My leases require a RLOPDS -- Residential Lease Owners Property Disclosure Statement -- in which I have to disclose any negative issues.
One of the questions: Are you aware if the property is subject to any present or proposed effects of any of the following: airport noise, traffic noise, rail line noise, neighborhood noise, landfill, odors, nuisances, toxic waste disposal, sand/gravel operations, other:_____________.
However my situation is houses in Arizona, so your situation may differ.
And not complain? How can that be an option? You want to live like that for a year or more? And the vent is a serious problem!!!
My leases require a RLOPDS -- Residential Lease Owners Property Disclosure Statement -- in which I have to disclose any negative issues.
One of the questions: Are you aware if the property is subject to any present or proposed effects of any of the following: airport noise, traffic noise, rail line noise, neighborhood noise, landfill, odors, nuisances, toxic waste disposal, sand/gravel operations, other:_____________.
None of which apply to the OP's situation where the distraction is from maintenance people doing work on the premises in a basement area no doubt fitted out for that purpose. Hopefully the OP will be able to reach a favorable compromise/resolution with the landlord.
Thank you for the advise so far. I should have mentioned that the work being done in the basement is also for other rental complexes. The rental agency owns and manages a total of four properties, which the maintenance team who lives at my complex is responsible for. Two of the complexes were built by them in the past few years so I don't understand why they didn't build a dedicated work area/storage on each property.
I understand that the work is being done during hours that are not considered "quiet hours" but the work is done on weekends and during the evenings/night when everyone should be able to relax. It's at tricky situation because each person from the maintenance staff has a "normal" day job and do maintenance related tasks during off hours, which happen to be early morning and late at night.
Both my partner and I do feel that we should have been told about the situation and not that the unit is one of the quietest. I am also meeting with the landlord tomorrow to discuss the situation and hopefully we both arrive at a happy medium.
I had a sort of similar problem at an apartment complex being built in phases. Me and GF rented an apartment right next to a on-ramp of the Ventura Freeway. Whatever were we smoking??? It sounded like diesel trucks were driving right under our bed! So I contacted the lease office and they said, no problem, you can move into one of the units being completed in the next phase, and a month or two later we moved to a nicer and bit more expensive unit farther from the freeway -- far enough we couldn't even hear it. No charge except the increased rent for the larger apartment. We were happy there until we decided to move to a different apartment building just for a change of scene.
If it were me I would talk to the LL because what do you have to lose? They may be willing to have you move to another unit though I do wonder why they told you below was storage and not a workshop.
If it were me I would talk to the LL because what do you have to lose? They may be willing to have you move to another unit though I do wonder why they told you below was storage and not a workshop.
Too bad they don't have that in writing. Right there IMO would be grounds to void a rental lease. Misrepresentation.
But let's assume the landlord is friendly and not hostile. If it were me I'd ask to move to another unit.
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It sounded like diesel trucks were driving right under our bed! So I contacted the lease office and they said, no problem, you can move into one of the units being completed in the next phase, and a month or two later we moved to a nicer and bit more expensive unit farther from the freeway -- far enough we couldn't even hear it. No charge except the increased rent for the larger apartment. We were happy there until we decided to move to a different apartment building just for a change of scene.
