Neighbor with subwoofer nightmare (apartment complex, illegal, landlord, management)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Oh man, I feel for you. I'm surprised that a property management company would be so unprofessional, I thought those were the buildings that should make better landlords. I hope that's not in Chicago where I live because I would hope I never rent from one. But in any case, I can imagine that the low base is sending you that annoying sound and the vibrations you are feeling and probably slowly will vibrate breakable objects off your shelves.
I too have lived in an apartment that I thought was great, but when I lived there, it was then I discovered how much of a hell hole it was, and I moved out, losing lots of money in the process.. But when I moved even though it cost me lots of money, it feels so good to get out.
In the meantime, you can choose to call the police, if your landlord/property manager wont cooperate, but if you are afraid of retaliation from your ghetto neighbor, since he already threatened you, I don't know if you would feel it is worth it to put up with it and then move out at the end of your lease. or it could be your ghetto neighbor has gotten away with this bad behavior and no one has challenged him, so perhaps a visit from the cops could change that.. I don't know, its up to you. Its not a good choice either way, but its what you want to do.
I'm sorry you have found yourself in a bad apartment. I've been there, but for other reasons, and its hell on earth.. believe me.
... but if you are afraid of retaliation from your ghetto neighbor ... your ghetto neighbor ...
Maybe you should both look up the definition of "ghetto" before generally ascribing the term to someone whose poor behavior goes against the social norm. A "ghetto neighborhood" is otherwise described as a "slum" but neither does that mean that everyone who lives in an impoverished area is therefore a hoodlum. Paperwork, this would mean that simply by living in a "ghetto mess" you're a lowlife and I'm sure you're not!
I understand what your going through. When dad bought this property ,it was way in the sticks quiet and peaceful, eventually neighbors bought property and moved in . Homes are generally 100+ yards apart around here.
One neighbor brought their teen kids out here with their band so they could practice with out being hassled by the city cops.
Totally disregarding the rest of us that came here to be away from that noise.
They had parties all the time and throughout the night and dad wasn't getting any sleep with his windows rattling continuously .
Being a generous person and to gain some sanity ,he gave them material to sound proof the garage they were using to play in. This did no good they simply turned up the sound and left the doors open and the window rattling continued.
Finally after the numerous times of calling out cops after mid night , I guess the parents finally got tired of paying the fines and curtailed the noise and eventually the kids moved out.
All this took about 5-6 years.
That's not the end of it.
This was orange groves 15 years ago but they are being taken out and wineries are all over the place , You might think this is a good thing nope ,
I now have 5 wineries with in less than a mile, 3 are with in 500 yards, and when you get all of them having their own band going at the same time, and kicking up the volume to drowned out one another, the noise is indistinguishable as music ,and talk about the window rattle .
My bedroom window is single pane glass and large so it is like a diaphragm literally amplifying every sound .
I think that others in the area finally put the screws on and at least the noise is over with by 9PM but when theres's a wedding it still goes to midnight.
Many whom live here have jobs and not always shifts that are compatible with this, which is why they moved out here to begin with, and these are not rentals these are private homes.
If that's not enough ,a new housing tract is being built less than a mile away or so, and you can hear the heavy equipment through the night .
What rights do people have to the peace, they paid dearly for, when they moved here? None.
The city sees it as revenue ,new money and growth.
Many I know are picking up and moving out further away .
Those staying can't afford to move, or they depend on this influx invasion.
Here we are being hammered by industry, and it ain't gettin any better.
I just think some sound systems they have today are not meant for apartments/condos where you share walls. We just purchased a new "smart" TV, and the thing is so damn loud...I have to keep it on the lowest volume to keep from feeling like I'm disturbing people. My old TV never had this problem. So you couple inconsiderate people with the new "technology" (surround sound etc) and you make for a really bad combination.
I lived upstairs from someone who thought it was ok to come home from work at 11:30 at night and blast action movies on his surround sound TV. That was fun. Several notes and no difference until he moved out. Landlord no help whatsoever. When I saw him moving, I was so happy! I never heard a peep from the woman who moved in after him.
Now you know not to trust all reviews you find online. IF theres ONLY good reviews and not a single neutral or bad, theres something not right. Even the worlds best place will have at least 1 bad review.
If I'm looking for apartments, I drive through the parking lot at different times of day and night to see what goes on around the property. They don't have to advertise that they accept Section 8 vouchers, so if I'm seeing rent-a-rims, vividly-colored metallic paint jobs, old cars with purple tint, etc., would have steered me away from that complex.
Jeez you guys would have hated to live the places I've lived. The first apartment I lived in was mostly hardwood floors. My neighbor above me rollerskated in their house at 3am above my bed. When they werent skating, they stomped and they weighed a pretty considerable amount. The neighbor across the hall listened to rap music all day all night.
The next time i rented a duplex. I had the upper half. The lower neighbor had loud sex nearly every day.
Then i moved into a house, fed up with noise, and a few months after we moved in, a bunch of college kids who had a band moved in next door. They practiced their crappy music every day and threw loud parties.
Then we moved to florida, mostly quiet neighborhood except when the back neighbor decided he needed to use his power tools at 2am outside.
Maybe you should both look up the definition of "ghetto" before generally ascribing the term to someone whose poor behavior goes against the social norm. A "ghetto neighborhood" is otherwise described as a "slum" but neither does that mean that everyone who lives in an impoverished area is therefore a hoodlum. Paperwork, this would mean that simply by living in a "ghetto mess" you're a lowlife and I'm sure you're not!
yeah but I use "ghetto" generically as the same as "trash' like what people say "white trash" kind of thing. Ghetto is a state of mind and behavior. I know it has meanings for other people. I do agree with you that not all people who live in a ghetto neighborhood are ghetto (trashy people). But the OP's neighbor IS ghetto because of how he is acting coming from his ghetto trashy POS character and values.
hope that exsplains it.
The OP is not ghetto - he seems nice to me and just wants what we all want
With the potential for legal or arbitration down the road I would be taking steps to support my contention that the bass is penetrating through to my side of the wall. If permitted, I would attach a shelf to the common wall and make a recording of items vibrating on/off the shelf as the bass operates. Perhaps a glass of water to show the vibrations.
Since it sounds difficult to prove the noise level is high or blatantly disturbing, the visual of the vibrations would go much farther in proving your case. Physical damages from items being shaken by the bass vibrations may be actionable in court whereas the "pain and suffering" may not if it comes down to that.
With the potential for legal or arbitration down the road I would be taking steps to support my contention that the bass is penetrating through to my side of the wall. If permitted, I would attach a shelf to the common wall and make a recording of items vibrating on/off the shelf as the bass operates. Perhaps a glass of water to show the vibrations.
Other than the OP saying in the first sentence of his post that, "The first day I moved in, my living room and kitchen area were vibrating/rattling from the neighbor's subwoofer...", he's made no mention at all of anything on shelves actually vibrating or moving and my interpretation of his complaint is that it's a subdued incessant bass noise alone. It takes BIG amplification to actually make things rattle and vibrate (this I have experienced!) and this doesn't sound the case here at all.
A couple points I wanted to provide some clarity on:
1. When I first moved in the bass was much worse than it is now. I was actually feeling vibration on my wall -- but since I've spoken to the neighbor next door, it has definitely been turned down, and is a lot less of a problem, but the problem still exists.
2. It isn't just my neighbor next door with a subwoofer, the neighbor directly below me has one as well. Between the two, I can't really go anywhere in my apartment without hearing the subtle "boom, boom" sound, every day, all day. This isn't just a "boom boom" sound .. it's a continuous off and on occurence that i feel in my body when it's on. Some parts of my apartment are louder than others, but it's still there.
Hearing a band play next door for a few hours on the weekend, hearing kids play outside, hearing construction workers doing their thing, hearing the car wash right outside of my window that makes a beeping sound everytime a car is finished, is all very "acceptable" forms of noise to me. It's extremely loud here (I'm right in the middle of a busy city). But there's something very different and disturbing about super low frequency sound coming into your apartment throughout the day. "boom boom [pause] boom boom [pause] boom boom [pause]" that you feel in your chest....
..again I can't describe it ... I'm not some over-sensitive old lady ... those very low frequency sounds cut right through into your space and they are impossible to ignore/get used to.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
