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I've lived in my apartment in a large complex for three years now. I've been a quiet tenant who pays my rent on time. Just recently the family that lived above me that was a little noisy but tolerable moved away and now three college-age roommates have moved in above me. The noise and disruption after only a couple of days has been terrible - way more than normal moving in noises. More like throwing bowling balls at the floor noises. I already have made an official complaint to management and for the last couple of hours it has been better, but I'll be amazed if that is the end of it.
But my question is....do I have any ground to stand on to be angry that my landlord knowingly put these people above me knowing I'm a good and quiet tenant? It doesn't take a genius to know that there would be conflict here. Why not put them next to a another apartment with similar aged and style people? I know there are laws about discrimination in renting so perhaps there is no way to deny an apartment to someone who meets the minimum requirements. I just don't know. I feel really let down because I thought I had a good relationship with the management here and I feel sold out. I may have no choice but to move out at a time when my finances and health can ill afford it.
I've lived in my apartment in a large complex for three years now. I've been a quiet tenant who pays my rent on time. Just recently the family that lived above me that was a little noisy but tolerable moved away and now three college-age roommates have moved in above me. The noise and disruption after only a couple of days has been terrible - way more than normal moving in noises. More like throwing bowling balls at the floor noises. I already have made an official complaint to management and for the last couple of hours it has been better, but I'll be amazed if that is the end of it.
But my question is....do I have any ground to stand on to be angry that my landlord knowingly put these people above me knowing I'm a good and quiet tenant? It doesn't take a genius to know that there would be conflict here. Why not put them next to a another apartment with similar aged and style people? I know there are laws about discrimination in renting so perhaps there is no way to deny an apartment to someone who meets the minimum requirements. I just don't know. I feel really let down because I thought I had a good relationship with the management here and I feel sold out. I may have no choice but to move out at a time when my finances and health can ill afford it.
Are you serious? Your LL can do whatever they want.
....do I have any ground to stand on to be angry that my landlord knowingly put these people above me knowing I'm a good and quiet tenant?
There are many ways to answer this question...
1) You can stand to be angry on just about anything, really. Try it. Although i wouldn't over do it, because the stress is just not worth it.
2) There is no way to tell how people live their lives from meeting them for a few minutes and signing some paperwork. There is no way to know which tenants will be loud or quiet. Maybe your landlord's psychic took a sick day when these new people went in to sign the lease. Maybe the new tenants forgot to check the box marked "I'm loud as a mofo!" on the application.
For example, the people below me are a couple of with two small children. I have never even heard a squeak out of their apartment. Heck, my dogs make 10x times more noise than they or their kids do. And my dogs are pretty tame. On the other hand, the single, older guy down the street who lives alone often blasts his music, and yells at his cell-phone outside in the middle of the night.
3) Learn your lesson, and learn to ONLY rent the top floor.
Your LL has no idea how noisy or quiet people are going to be. You can't just assume all young people will be loud and old people will be quiet. What would you have posted if an old couple moved in and made the same amount of noise?
I agree with the original poster in some ways. Obviously the LL is going to put people in empty units but anyone with more than a few buildings would be successful if he or she made one for people with loud kids or smokers and the other with quieter people.
How hard would it be to say on the lease do you prefer a smoking or nonsmoking apartment building or are you more of a night person than a day person?
Any landlords willing to walk the walk and talk the talk and treat GOOD tenants decently would never have to worry about getting their rent.
A little customer service can really make a complex stand out!
Putting the 3 young men purposely next to "similar" people (age, sex) reeks of steering which your LL probably doesn't want to do.
I actually had a resident manager of a condo community tell me that "if you put people with kids in that condo, the downstairs neighbors promise to make your life miserable". <shaking head> What century are they from anyway?
I agree with the original poster in some ways. Obviously the LL is going to put people in empty units but anyone with more than a few buildings would be successful if he or she made one for people with loud kids or smokers and the other with quieter people.
How hard would it be to say on the lease do you prefer a smoking or nonsmoking apartment building or are you more of a night person than a day person?
Any landlords willing to walk the walk and talk the talk and treat GOOD tenants decently would never have to worry about getting their rent.
A little customer service can really make a complex stand out!
Thanks Chef.sunny, and you make a good point about LL's treating good tenants well leading to management over time retaining their best tenants. That's got to be worth something. I'm already making plans on how to move and it won't be within the same apartment complex. And yes there are enough buildings - my complex is huge with 20 buildings.
Konkat, I hear you about the steering....I know that grouping people so everyone is happier could quickly become grouping people in a way that becomes a way for an LL to act out prejudice. The dark side isn't too far over the line so I can respect why they don't do it even though it's unfortunate for me personally. I am plotting my escape.
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