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I moved to a new apartment Nov. 1st and since then have had several maintenance issues that have made it virtually impossible to get even one night of decent sleep. On top of that the family above me, who I recently discovered are section 8 housing, have way too many people living in that unit, possible illegal aliens, extremely filthy, and they make so much noise I'm about to lose my mind.
My building management has been notified, several times, and today I was told that there was nothing they could do about the people upstairs, they would try to fix the maintenance issues, and if they could not, they could offer me another unit/building to move to. I have to find a roommate, they knew that I would in order to pay the high rent. The state of the apartment at present, has made it impossible to even attempt to find someone who would want to live here. They have not cashed my 1st month's check yet, they will not give me any compensation for this month's distress, and they will not assist with additional moving expenses if I have to relocate. I am completely frustrated and need to know my rights here. This apartment is nothing like it was presented to be. I was only showed the unit during business hours while the tenants upstairs were at work or school, so I never heard this noise. I can deal with the usual apartment noise, but this is constant banging, slamming, stomping around in work boots at 4AM. Aren't there rules and regulations with low income housing? Those tenants have five mattresses against the walls of theor family room, it's obvious something is going on. There are at least 5 kids up there and 4-6 adults. It's possible they may even be running a daycare type operation. The management company has "their hands tied" when it comes to them? Can't they even go inspect their unit and toss them based on violations? Help, please.
My recommendation - just walk away and break the lease. If they give you any issues with leaving early, threaten to report them about the upstairs problem to authorities.
I moved to a new apartment Nov. 1st and since then have had several maintenance issues that have made it virtually impossible to get even one night of decent sleep. On top of that the family above me, who I recently discovered are section 8 housing, have way too many people living in that unit, possible illegal aliens, extremely filthy, and they make so much noise I'm about to lose my mind.
My building management has been notified, several times, and today I was told that there was nothing they could do about the people upstairs, they would try to fix the maintenance issues, and if they could not, they could offer me another unit/building to move to. I have to find a roommate, they knew that I would in order to pay the high rent. The state of the apartment at present, has made it impossible to even attempt to find someone who would want to live here. They have not cashed my 1st month's check yet, they will not give me any compensation for this month's distress, and they will not assist with additional moving expenses if I have to relocate. I am completely frustrated and need to know my rights here. This apartment is nothing like it was presented to be. I was only showed the unit during business hours while the tenants upstairs were at work or school, so I never heard this noise. I can deal with the usual apartment noise, but this is constant banging, slamming, stomping around in work boots at 4AM. Aren't there rules and regulations with low income housing? Those tenants have five mattresses against the walls of theor family room, it's obvious something is going on. There are at least 5 kids up there and 4-6 adults. It's possible they may even be running a daycare type operation. The management company has "their hands tied" when it comes to them? Can't they even go inspect their unit and toss them based on violations? Help, please.
If the owner and or management company is aware that more than the lease holders are occupying the government subsidized apartment, they are legally obligated to report it.
I would recommend sending certified letters to the management company advising them of this fact (you can look on hud.gov site for find the local section 8 department to obtain the exact verbiage before sending the letter). Make sure you include in the letter to the landlord, if they do not rectify the issue, you will be contacting the local section 8 office to report your complaint on the illegal apartment in their building. You can also call section 8 and make a complaint yourself, they will most likely either contact the renters via mail or send out an inspecter.
As for the repairs, also document via certified letters your complaint in the event you have to walk away from the apartment and they come after you for damages. Good Luck
just a question, how can you prove that the all 5 kids and 4-5 adults live upstairs? Even if an inspector checks it out the tenants can explain that the extra people are visitors.
has anyone besides you complained about the noise? See if they are willing to offer you another unit but its not a guarantee since you may have another pesky neighbor.
I think it would be tough to make a case for the loud noise. That's the price you pay for living in an apartment. There is always going to be some level of noise, and it's up for debate on what level is considered acceptable or normal. I have lived in several apartments and have heard loud footsteps, people running up/down stairs, constant dog barking, door slamming, loud voices, vacuum cleaners at 1am, you name it I've heard it. If someone was cranking up the stereo at 2am you could probably call the police and make a noise complaint and then give that complaint to your landlord. But for things like loud footsteps there is probably not much you can do other than to request another apartment. But you'll probably run into the same issues elsewhere. At least try to see if there is another apartment available that is on the top floor of the building. That definitely helps.
Thank you all so much for your suggestions and help. I had no idea that anyone had responded until I got an email from citi-data, today. I apologize for not showing my appreciation sooner...
At present, I have been in contact with the Senior Vice President of the management company, who flat out denies any assisted living in my building, but assures me that they are still working diligently to fix the maintenance related noise. I know for a fact, 100%, that most of this building is on some sort of assisted living program, call it HUD, call it section 8, bottom line, she's lying. She has also said that the tenants above, will be called in the office for a "meeting" to address their noise violations. I'm sure this will help 0%, as they seem to get worse when contacted about this. I have been offered four other units to move to if the noises cannot be remedied however, the units offered are either much more expensive or about the same, but I would be losing a 1/2 bath, a bedroom, 24 hour laundry, and location. That's a lot to lose for $50 less a month. It's obvious that they are trying to make it as unfavorable as possible for me to move. Plus, they still refuse to compensate for any moving expenses and my second month of full rent is due without any reduction. Again, I CAN NOT find a roommate to rent this place at it's current state. I cannot afford this on my own. They knew from day one that I would be finding someone to sublet one or both of the additional bedrooms. The also know my financials, but because my parents graciously signed as guarantors, they don't care, they know they will get their money. This is insanely unfair to my family. I have supported myself entirely since graduating school, several years ago, but because of my occupation, I had to have a guarantor. I never intended to actually have to relay on their monetary assistance.
I have contacted the city of Hoboken Director of Human Services and he quickly replied and asked for the address. I haven't heard anything else from him since, it's been over a week. I will follow up with him today, but I'm afraid that he's backing off due to the high status of this particular management company. Apparently the owners are on all sorts of housing boards and are extremely charitable throughout NJ. I would hate to think that this would be cause to just sweep this under the rug, but at this point, nothing would surprise me.
I have been trying, to no avail, to find contact information for the owners to send them certified letters as recommended, but they are very well protected. So, this leaves me with emails, phone calls, and several videos to document the noise issues. I will keep you posted and in the meantime, any other words of advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Thank you all so much for your suggestions and help. I had no idea that anyone had responded until I got an email from citi-data, today. I apologize for not showing my appreciation sooner...
At present, I have been in contact with the Senior Vice President of the management company, who flat out denies any assisted living in my building, but assures me that they are still working diligently to fix the maintenance related noise. I know for a fact, 100%, that most of this building is on some sort of assisted living program, call it HUD, call it section 8, bottom line, she's lying. She has also said that the tenants above, will be called in the office for a "meeting" to address their noise violations. I'm sure this will help 0%, as they seem to get worse when contacted about this. I have been offered four other units to move to if the noises cannot be remedied however, the units offered are either much more expensive or about the same, but I would be losing a 1/2 bath, a bedroom, 24 hour laundry, and location. That's a lot to lose for $50 less a month. It's obvious that they are trying to make it as unfavorable as possible for me to move. Plus, they still refuse to compensate for any moving expenses and my second month of full rent is due without any reduction. Again, I CAN NOT find a roommate to rent this place at it's current state. I cannot afford this on my own. They knew from day one that I would be finding someone to sublet one or both of the additional bedrooms. The also know my financials, but because my parents graciously signed as guarantors, they don't care, they know they will get their money. This is insanely unfair to my family. I have supported myself entirely since graduating school, several years ago, but because of my occupation, I had to have a guarantor. I never intended to actually have to relay on their monetary assistance.
I have contacted the city of Hoboken Director of Human Services and he quickly replied and asked for the address. I haven't heard anything else from him since, it's been over a week. I will follow up with him today, but I'm afraid that he's backing off due to the high status of this particular management company. Apparently the owners are on all sorts of housing boards and are extremely charitable throughout NJ. I would hate to think that this would be cause to just sweep this under the rug, but at this point, nothing would surprise me.
I have been trying, to no avail, to find contact information for the owners to send them certified letters as recommended, but they are very well protected. So, this leaves me with emails, phone calls, and several videos to document the noise issues. I will keep you posted and in the meantime, any other words of advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Sorry to hear about your situation, however it sounds like your making excuses for this building management and yourself. One thing I could say about NJ is that outside of NY that have one of the strictest tenent/landlord laws around.
Read your lease on noise levels and disturbance, use that to your advantage. Also, if they are offering you a different apartment, they are actually trying to alleviate your disturbance, you are choosing to turn this down. You have to stop making excuses, you should have had your roomate lined up before signing the lease.
Documentation is the key to everything. You can send a certified letter and address it to the Management of the building (your building address). You can also call the police whenever the noise is unbareable after 10pm.
What this would do is provide you with police reports that you could use in civil court, thats right civil court. When i rented an apartment about 10 years ago, i had a downstairs neighbor who would continuously blast her music all hours of the day and night, i took her to court twice, this forced the landlords to evict her or suffer a fine or potential lawsuit.
I had a problem with a landlord once long ago when I was younger and certainly poorer. I went to see a lawyer at legal aid and they helped me. Here's a link to find one in your area:
Document everything and keep notes. Just wondering, when they offered you another unit did you ask them if they would rent it at the same price you are paying now or at least a reduction? It never hurts to ask. This situation sux - good luck.
Okay, so shortly after posting my follow up with you today, the Senior VP of the management company emailed me and infuriating little note. She accused me of denying access to the maintenance crew several times, thus prolonging the issue. This is insane, I have repeatedly given my permission to enter without my presence. Furthermore, I just flew back to town last night and have been gone for the past week. If they were trying to gain access while I was away, all they had to do was call and I would have welcomed them in graciously! Why on earth would I deny access to the people who could potentially fix the maintenance related noises that have been driving me crazy for weeks!?!
But wait, it gets worse...
She then accused me of having a roommate move in over the weekend! She claims that the Assistant Property Manager had a conversation with this mythical being as she was moving into my apartment on Saturday! She said that because I did not have this imaginary roommate apply for residency through management, I am in violation of my lease. She will be taking legal action to have me evicted if I don't rectify the situation by Friday! I was on my way to work when I got this gem so I had my mother, my guarantor, answer this email and explain that she had been seriously misinformed.
I received another email from the SVP minutes later saying that she did not care what my mother had to say and that she knew for a fact that I had someone move in. Furthermore, she told me that she refuses to communicate further with my mother, who is a real estate broker, regardless of her being my guarantor. My parents are ultimately responsible for the rent as well as all other monetary issues regarding this apartment. They both are well within their rights to speak with management especially when it's their savings on the line! I am livid at how the SVP just dismissed my mother's clarification.
Also, the Assistant Property Manager has requested to come as assess the noise for herself tomorrow. Honestly, I think the numerous reports from the maintenance crew should be sufficient enough to prove a point. I think she's just using this as an excuse to get in my apartment and snoop. She was the one claiming to have had a conversation with this "roommate", after all. I will be seeking legal aid tomorrow.
Thank you again for all of your great suggestions and concern. I'll keep you posted!
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