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File your own complaint with the HOA against your neighbors. You can't be forced to lay rugs in your own home. If the owner wanted carpet, then he should've put carpet. If the HOA wants carpet, then they should require the owner to put in carpet.
If you are walking in your home and they are pounding on the ceiling because they can hear you WALK..the issue is with the insulation and construction of your building and you have nothing to do with that. We were able to break a lease without penalty because of this very issue. We could hear our upstairs neighbor pee, walk, talk on the phone, and other 'things'. It was the worst 4 mths of our life. We filed a complaint, had the agent come out, at night, to listen, they let us out of lease the next week. ( this guy worked until midnight and the noise would go on from (0030-0300)
Ask the owner and HOA to vist both homes at night ( after 9 pm)..have one stay downstairs and one go upstairs. Walk around your place just you do normally..they can't cite you for walking in your own home. Their work schedules and sleep times are none of your concern.
You have a right to live there and walk and pee and drink water. Playing loud music or blasting your tv or screaming and yelling? Yeah...they can cite you for that. But walking? No.
If they continue to bang on the ceiling, document it, ignore them and file complaints with the HOA and your landlord or their LL. If you're feeling a bit snarky, bang back. That way they know you heard them and well...quite frankly, you don't give a damn.
The OP can't file a complaint with the association. The unit owner has to do it.
ETA: The tenant CAN file a complaint, but they have no standing. The owner of the unit must do it.
The OP can't file a complaint with the association. The unit owner has to do it.
ETA: The tenant CAN file a complaint, but they have no standing. The owner of the unit must do it.
I have the HOA rules and any resident CAN complain about the neighbors. The rules are for all the residents, otherwise the quiet hours wouldn't apply to us either. The owners cannot file a complaint, they are not residents. The difference is regarding the procedures about noise, as tenants are not allowed to be present at a board meeting. If we file a complaint, the owners should go to the hearing. Quite useless, if they don't care about us.
I actually realized the complaint shouldn't be with the HOA. This is not excessive noise like TV, but this is harassment i.e. intentional disturbance vs neglect. Probably, police, just a little talk what we should do if they go any further, since neither our landlord nor their property management company is willing to protect us. The guy is an angry type, I've heard him angrily yelling at somebody outside a few times. He probably doesn't even realize what he's doing when smashing his ceiling. We've overheard his lady saying to him: "hey, meager, what you're bitching at?" Nice family.
Last edited by whiterabbit2; 06-18-2011 at 01:35 AM..
We are renting a condo from the owners over a managements company. In the beginning of our rent the neighbors downstairs sent us a letter demanding us to put rugs because they go to sleep at 9pm. Our lease doesn't require rugs, the HOA rules don't require rugs from anybody else, and in addition the insulation in the building is very good. We didn't put any rugs (we don't keep any as we're allergic) but we were nice to them, bought soft slippers and promised not to have any activities after 9pm. We don't throw any parties, don't have kids, watch TV at night and go to sleep. A couple of months ago we got a letter from HOA (a copy, as the letter was for the owners) that we make excessive noise at 2:30am. We replied that we're asleep by this time, and they're hitting on us for probably using bathroom. We asked to provide additional details if they believe we make excessive noise, never got any reply. Now, the owners (who seem to disregard it with HOA until now) got a letter from HOA that they should attend a noise hearing and they want to meet us (urgently and very inconvenient time).
We've got enough of all of them. The neighbors bang into their ceiling at night (like 2 weeks ago, my husband was in bed and I got up to get a glass of water - after I made a few steps, we heard angry banging - they were not asleep, nobody wakes up and reaches for a tool that fast). The property management tried to talk us into installing rugs in the sink area as if by going there we make excessive noise. We even agreed as a courtesy, but asked for guidelines, as due to the floor plan, it wasn't safe not to trip over. Never got any guidelines. Now the owner wants to discuss the measures we took to eliminate the noise. Like nobody accepts the fact we don't make any excessive noise at 2:30am, but instead they want us to "fix" it. Interesting enough, that we live next to rail tracks with very noisy honking at night, nobody would ask a question why noise sensitive people would buy a condo in such a noisy place.
We are going to take the following steps:
1. We will meet with the owners outside the unit, unless they insist to observe the noise level. In such a case, they should provide us with a written conclusion where both parties sign and we get a copy. We don't want any more allegations.
2. We will require the conversation to be recorded. Otherwise, no meetings and all in writing.
3. I was thinking if I should write another letter for this hearing. Probably not, the hearing should't be our problem.
4. Should we file a complaint with HOA that our neighbors make intentional disturbance by banging into our floor during quiet hours?
5. Where would somebody complain about HOA harassment? The neighbors seem to get an upper hand about their petty claims, like they can allege anything and it's never going to be checked. I was thinking of calling the sheriff's office and asking what to do.
6. Can we break our lease since those things are happening and on what basis?
7. The HOA quiet hours are 10pm - 8am. My husband got an idea to play loud music 9-10pm...
Any other comments and ideas? Thanks for reading till the end.
Uh...you don't own the condo, you rent it. Tell both the HOA and the owners that any flooring improvements are their responsibility, not yours and any improvements need to be done at your convenience.
k
Uh...you don't own the condo, you rent it. Tell both the HOA and the owners that any flooring improvements are their responsibility, not yours and any improvements need to be done at your convenience.
k
The topic is called "harassed", not "condo improvements".
The continuation: the owner wants to meet us. We offered to come and check the noise level, otherwise meet at a coffee shop. Guess what, she preferred the coffee shop! Also, ignored our request to do the recording. If she doesn't confirm it, we're not coming. This is not about any noise at all! (and I like it in the complaint: there was squeaking noise heard from you at 2:30am - from Merriam-Webster: "I can hear the mouse squeaking", this must've woken up somebody).
Last edited by whiterabbit2; 06-19-2011 at 11:54 AM..
This is a very good example of picking your battles. Only pick battles that you can win. If you are a tenant, and the downstairs people or owners, it's hopeless. I personally would ask my LL if I could just be released from the lease within so many days, no harm no foul. Be sure that the LL or owner, as in your case, is PHYSICALLY present for your move out inspection and make him sign off on something regarding the condition of the condo and the return of your deposit.
Then find a better insulated building and if you have kids, a ground floor unit might be a good choice.
This is a very good example of picking your battles. Only pick battles that you can win. If you are a tenant, and the downstairs people or owners, it's hopeless.
Then find a better insulated building and if you have kids, a ground floor unit might be a good choice.
Like a bomb shelter? It's a very well insulated building as I said right in the beginning... (sure, many people here are not readers, but writers)
No way. The owner may lose to the HOA, but they cannot win from us, we don't have lease violation and we are not under any contract with the HOA. They may only be stupid enough to cause some trouble. We just wanted to use the situation as an excuse to get out of the lease, but only if we feel like it and ready. BTW, there were already some minor lease violations from the landlord's side.
(won every single battle over my money for the past 5 years - just being literate with the law and not being insecure)
The most likely story behind it (as I just realized yesterday) is the following:
The owner (the husband) promised the neighbors that the lease should include putting rugs (they actually kind of stated it themselves, and also called the owners "friends"). The actual lease didn't include any rugs. Then once the neghbors figured out we didn't have rugs (we were moving in front of them), they were banging and wrote us a letter. We took it as they were disturbed by our footsteps at 9pm and did everything else to make them comfortable, but responded "we're allergic to rugs". They called their friend the landlord and got another promise about the rugs. We talked with the property manager about a different issue, when he mentioned that the owner offered to BUY US rugs, but we said no, we're allergic. He said, no problem, but after that he was reluctant to call the owner for a while because the other issue wasn't resolved. Then everything was very quite for another 3 months, no letters, no complaints, no banging. We thought that it was resolved. Then finally everybody communicated that we didn't put any rugs and we got the banging back and the complaint, while nothing changed in the apartment. They are like a little kid who didn't get their way and then started crying "I want it, I want it, I want it!". Then they got another promise from their friend, and we got another suggestion from the property management to put a rug in the bathroom. Like, it's for your own comfort, soft and absorbing moisture. They forgot about it as we agreed but mentioned it's not a secure installation. Then we got contacted by the owner (the other one, the wife) who sounded scared of the coming hearing and expecting that somehow we will be for their salvation...
It's like we're a tool in the promise game of the owner with his friends (or whatever relationship, with board members, or just plain silly "being nice"), and everybody is like a baby.
Last edited by whiterabbit2; 06-20-2011 at 12:11 PM..
The most likely story behind it (as I just realized yesterday) is the following:
The owner (the husband) promised the neighbors that the lease should include putting rugs (they actually kind of stated it themselves, and also called the owners "friends"). The actual lease didn't include any rugs. Then once the neghbors figured out we didn't have rugs (we were moving in front of them), they were banging and wrote us a letter. We took it as they were disturbed by our footsteps at 9pm and did everything else to make them comfortable, but responded "we're allergic to rugs". They called their friend the landlord and got another promise about the rugs. We talked with the property manager about a different issue, when he mentioned that the owner offered to BUY US rugs, but we said no, we're allergic. He said, no problem, but after that he was reluctant to call the owner for a while because the other issue wasn't resolved. Then everything was very quite for another 3 months, no letters, no complaints, no banging. We thought that it was resolved. Then finally everybody communicated that we didn't put any rugs and we got the banging back and the complaint, while nothing changed in the apartment. They are like a little kid who didn't get their way and then started crying "I want it, I want it, I want it!". Then they got another promise from their friend, and we got another suggestion from the property management to put a rug in the bathroom. Like, it's for your own comfort, soft and absorbing moisture. They forgot about it as we agreed but mentioned it's not a secure installation. Then we got contacted by the owner (the other one, the wife) who sounded scared of the coming hearing and expecting that somehow we will be for their salvation...
It's like we're a tool in the promise game of the owner with his friends (or whatever relationship, with board members, or just plain silly "being nice"), and everybody is like a baby.
This topic is called 'HARRASSED'...not home improvement, right? I think we're a bit off topic.
K
This topic is called 'HARRASSED'...not home improvement, right? I think we're a bit off topic.
K
I don't understand, what's "home improvement" here? If they put a new sink or install new carpet, then it is, because it's an addition to the place. They can do it, it's their property, as long as they don't render it uninhabitable. They even couldn't done it before the rental, since we're their first renters. They could've easily fixed the floor squeak but it wasn't even discussed. But they cannot tell us what furniture, mats, rugs or kitchenware to put here, and we can live with bare walls if we wish, it's not on the agreement. This rental is unfurnished.
BTW, it sounded kind of strange to me when we came for a viewing and the property manager asked: "Is it just 2 of you to live here?" (in a big 2 bedroom apartment). Sounds like they were picking tenants with no kids.
Last edited by whiterabbit2; 06-20-2011 at 01:19 PM..
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Yeah, I have a thought...
Well, now, just remember...
