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I know it Annoying.... Tenants are suppose to put up with bad neighbors. Bet if they lived in the apts under a Noisy neighbor they go get those eviction notices!
It depends upon what the noise is. No judge is going to evict a tenant for walking around, closing doors, or flushing the toilet. Kids are going to be allowed to run, jump, and shout. It's legal for people to watch tv and play music.
If a judge won't kick them out, it is a waste of time and money for a landlord to try to evict them.
I might point out that since this is a reoccurring problem everywhere you live, perhaps you are too sensitive to live in an apartment and might consider a different type of housing.
Living near other people is loud. Period. I hate it. It exacerbates my medical conditions. But it's not like you can evict everyone around you just because you don't like the sounds of other people living. Get some ear plugs and a white noise machine. It doesn't solve the issue, but it can help
We've always lived in apartments and never had a problem with neighbors until this last place we were living in. What a nightmare! I couldn't get any sleep and it was totally affecting my health. The landlord did nothing but offer to let us out of the lease so we could move out. We ended up by getting even and playing our stereo 24 hours a day with music they didn't like and making loud noises, etc. This went on for 2 days and they called the police on us. We knew the police would do nothing because we tried calling them on the neighbors when the landlord did nothing. The loud neighbors left and we now have peace and quiet and wonderful new neighbors upstairs.
We've always lived in apartments and never had a problem with neighbors until this last place we were living in. What a nightmare! I couldn't get any sleep and it was totally affecting my health. The landlord did nothing but offer to let us out of the lease so we could move out. We ended up by getting even and playing our stereo 24 hours a day with music they didn't like and making loud noises, etc. This went on for 2 days and they called the police on us. We knew the police would do nothing because we tried calling them on the neighbors when the landlord did nothing. The loud neighbors left and we now have peace and quiet and wonderful new neighbors upstairs.
I wish I could do that on the guy downstairs, but the problem is, he'll never move. His noise is more of the constant, all day "I use speaker systems for everything noise", hence police won't get involved. He knows the laws, even bullied property management out of a fine I had issued against him for months of noise.
Honestly, I'm convinced he's a drug dealer or something as it costs real money to live in my area but he seems to be a very sporadic worker. What happend over the 6 years he's been here is that others have moved out around him. So he's prepared to go to "stereo wars" if need be, knowing he's won before. I also want to spare my neighbors (this is a condo building and there's just too many neighbors around me. Otherwise, I'd put speakers face down on the floor playing old country like Waylon Jennings and Conway Twitty 24/7.
I know it Annoying.... Tenants are suppose to put up with bad neighbors. Bet if they lived in the apts under a Noisy neighbor they go get those eviction notices!
Agreed, they refuse to sympathize with us, and it's no use complaining. They stick to dumb laws that don't apply to situations like constant, 6 hours of bass thumping from morning till evening. Who cares if it's not 10 PM? Live with that hour after hour and see if you don't lose your mind. Quiet enjoyment means not unreasonable levels or prolonged duration of noise, even for remodeling/ renovations (I'm in a condo so we have to put up with that at times but no one's been unreasonable).
Problem is, like with my neighbor, he believes he has to be "super loud" in order to be a nuisance, otherwise he has a right to pump his bass to where he wants it. I disagree, hence we fight. And management is of zero help.
Maybe there should be a sub-forum for all these apartment/condo noisy neighbor complaints with a sticky message stating the obvious suggestions that get repeated over and over and over again.
Agreed, they refuse to sympathize with us, and it's no use complaining. They stick to dumb laws that don't apply to situations like constant, 6 hours of bass thumping from morning till evening. Who cares if it's not 10 PM? Live with that hour after hour and see if you don't lose your mind. Quiet enjoyment means not unreasonable levels or prolonged duration of noise, even for remodeling/ renovations (I'm in a condo so we have to put up with that at times but no one's been unreasonable).
Problem is, like with my neighbor, he believes he has to be "super loud" in order to be a nuisance, otherwise he has a right to pump his bass to where he wants it. I disagree, hence we fight. And management is of zero help.
I have been in your shoes, and I've been an apartment manager.
Unless you have really horrible management, they probably want to get rid of the noisy, person, too. And for other reasons. People who are rude about bothering their neighbors, probably are bad about other things, too, like paying their rent on time - basically, they are probably a pain for management to deal with, too, and so management would probably be happy to get rid of them, if they can.
Your best bet, is to get other residents to complain about the bad tenant, too. Managers don't want their good tenants to move out. They'd rather get rid of the bad tenant.
But, they might not be able to do it until the lease is up. Your job is to make sure management doesn't want to renew their lease.
Management may just decide you are a lone complainer, if you're the only one who complains. And if you are also someone who complains about other random stuff, your complaint about the tenant won't be very strong. You may be labeled as just a generic complainer.
What you need to do, is make sure management would rather get rid of the bad tenant - and deal with that hassle - than keep them. In other words, it must be more of a pain to keep them than to get rid of them.
So, I suggest you get other tenants to complain, too - and regularly. Write up a petition and have other tenants sign it. Get other tenants to email management - it's harder to ignore anything in writing.
If it's a corporate property management company, you might consider going over the manager's head. I've done that in the past and it didn't improve my relationship with the manager - LOL - but, it got me what I wanted ( a different apartment in the same complex that was in a quieter location).
I have been in your shoes, and I've been an apartment manager.
Unless you have really horrible management, they probably want to get rid of the noisy, person, too. And for other reasons. People who are rude about bothering their neighbors, probably are bad about other things, too, like paying their rent on time - basically, they are probably a pain for management to deal with, too, and so management would probably be happy to get rid of them, if they can.
Your best bet, is to get other residents to complain about the bad tenant, too. Managers don't want their good tenants to move out. They'd rather get rid of the bad tenant.
But, they might not be able to do it until the lease is up. Your job is to make sure management doesn't want to renew their lease.
Management may just decide you are a lone complainer, if you're the only one who complains. And if you are also someone who complains about other random stuff, your complaint about the tenant won't be very strong. You may be labeled as just a generic complainer.
What you need to do, is make sure management would rather get rid of the bad tenant - and deal with that hassle - than keep them. In other words, it must be more of a pain to keep them than to get rid of them.
So, I suggest you get other tenants to complain, too - and regularly. Write up a petition and have other tenants sign it. Get other tenants to email management - it's harder to ignore anything in writing.
If it's a corporate property management company, you might consider going over the manager's head. I've done that in the past and it didn't improve my relationship with the manager - LOL - but, it got me what I wanted ( a different apartment in the same complex that was in a quieter location).
Oh, I tried everything you mentioned. I'm pretty good w/ research, and I work for lawyers, so i had advice but none of it worked. The management here is Howard Koval- 3 syllables: HOR-RI-BLE. Run, not walk when you see these people as the managers in a building. They all hate this jerk but nope, won't get rid of him. Why- precisely like you said, I'm the only one willing to step up. I've talked to several people, the only ones who'll open their doors. The ones who are home enough (very hard working business owners here) are 1) limited English speakers whom I had to communicate with in my halting Korean; 2) are only gonna stay a couple of years, so whatevs; 3) hate management so much that they'd rather not start drama.
in short, this guy's gotten away with it for 6 whole years. His landlord is his friend, so the one time I got them fined, they bitched and threatened legal action, and guess what, spineless management dropped it and didn't even tell me. He smugly told me weeks after when I went down to complain again (I'm a tough lady; I know he hates my guts b/c I'm not a meek, submissive bimbo). This is after I did what you said- go to upper level management. Who referred me right back to the first office after reviewing my complaint, noise logs, formal letters, etc. So all your steps are dead on correct but didn't work for me.
Oh, they offered to come here to hear the bass system, but the first time, they didn't get here fast enough, i.e., hours later. Second time, the tenant's like, get em over here I'd love to show them you're overreacting. Nice try- so you can have it shut off all day, right? So I told them forget, it, it's like when OJ's attorneys redid his house during the murder trial, right before the jury walk-through, with all these family photos instead of the trashy white girl pin up posters.
At this point, I'm the nuisance for even trying and they've dropped my claim so I'll just fight with this guy when I feel it and work on moving. You can't win against a soulless sociopath, right? Thanks for your post tho- your tips may have others.
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