Feeling Harassed by Downstairs Neighbors
storybrook
11 years ago
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camlan
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help! I am being harrassed by my downstairs neighbor.
Comments (10)Contact your landlord about this harrassment, just so he/she knows. Ask if there is anything you can do to reduce the noise coming from your unit. There probably isn't, but this will show that you are willing to work on the problem. Then keep a log of everything the downstairs neighbor does, and what you did that caused her reaction. You drop a fork, she calls police. Cat jumps from couch to floor, she bangs on ceiling. Record the day and time as well. In fact, document everything. Every contact with your landlord, if the police come, etc. It can't hurt. And look up any laws or ordinances for your town/city about noise. Make sure you are following them--you probably are, but just check to make sure. Same with your lease. Make sure you know if there are any clauses about noise or quiet hours. Again, I personally don't think you are violating them, but in a case like this it helps to know what the rules are. That way, if she does convince the police to show up, you can inform them that quiet hours are 10 pm -6 am (or whatever), and you were moving your kitchen chair across the floor at 7 pm, well within the time limit. What did the police say/do when she called them? Did they come out? Did they speak to you? In order to take you to court, one of two things needs to happen. The police will need to determine that you have broken a law. Or the neighbor will need to find a lawyer willing to take on the case and bring a suit to court. The chances of either one happening are slim. This woman needs to be in a top floor apartment, but I doubt that she'll ever move. Keeping my fingers crossed that the landlord will let you move to another unit. I don't think it needs to be a downstairs unit, unless you want one. I'd hope that other people in your building are more understanding of normal, common, everyday noise....See MoreMy downstairs neighbor complains about my walking
Comments (3)Well, my suggestion would have been to try and get along with him, but the letter you wrote probably made doing that harder, not easier. Talk to your landlady again. Tell her that you are trying to be a good neighbor, but that you cannot stop walking in your apartment. Is there anything you can do to cut down on the sound of your footfalls? Putting down an area rug, even over carpet, can help to muffle the noise. Make a case to your landlady. You have purchased the slippers, you are putting down an area rug. Does she have any other low-cost solutions that you can put into use? If he still complains, you can point out to your landlady that you have tried the slippers and the area rug; now it is his turn to try something, perhaps ear plugs or a white noise machine. There has to be give and take on both sides. Frankly, I wouldn't want to have to deal with this guy. If my landlord offered me a different apartment, I'd probably take it. I doubt that you can turn the situation around at this point. You will be dealing with this neighbor until one of you moves. Why not move now and be able to relax in your own home?...See MoreNoise complaint/harassment issues from downstairs neighbor
Comments (20)Wow. I feel bad for you. I am having the same issues with my next door neighbor. I'm only 6 months into my lease and he complained twice to the office, probably 3-4 times by knocking on my door and pounding on the wall. Which I'm starting to feel like he is harassing us. I cannot believe the things these other peeps are telling you. I agree with you that it is an apartment and there are going to be noises regardless of the time of the day. If you cannot handle the noise, do not live in an apartment. My neighbor works from home and I'm guessing he works at night. But I shouldn't have to quiet down just so he could focus on his job. I'm paying for rent just like everybody else, why should I try to please my neighbor or follow his rules. I respect my neighbors and never make noises intentionally. I'm just having my normal conversations with my fiancee and sometimes I do have family and friends over, but we are usually quiet before 10pm. We do our weekly cleaning and vaccuming. We also noticed that the neighbor is bothered by the way we open and shut our doors. The doors in our unit likes to snap-in shut when its like an inch away from the lock. This neighbor just don't want any kind of noise. I am not going to shut up and be quiet like a mice. I'm not being disruptive or disrepecting my neighbors. He even had the audacity to say he never had any issues with his next door neighbors until we moved in. After numerous complaints, we had to go and ask our neighbors around our unit including the ones downstairs if they can hear us and if we were ever too loud. They all said we are fine and they don't hear anything from our unit besides normal things like walking around and dropping things. Sometimes I feel like he is delusional. We even spoke to the management team and they agreed with us that IT IS an apartment, there are going to be noises. If this neighbor renews his lease then thats too bad, hes going to have to deal with us. You just keep doing your thing girl....See MoreDownstairs neighbor is unreasonable
Comments (10)Sell. Or, lodge complaints against HER with the condo association. But what, really, can they do? In my co-op, we could kick her out--pass a bylaw that says that any resident who bangs on the ceiling can be evicted, and then document and evict. We can even force her to sell her shares/apartment, even if she doesn't want to. I know; my co-op did it to someone. We'd gotten fed up; he'd done the last-straw sort of thing, so we said, "here's a condition; if you break it, you're out." Fortunately for us, he did. But what can a CONDO association do? Do they have any muscle? I guess they coudl issue a fine, but it would be hard for them to enforce, because they'd just have to take your word for it. I doubt it, and I doubt that even if they do they won't want to use it, given that her son is on the board. So I'd see what you can do to sell. Crummy, huh. The only other thing perhaps would be to preview the noises for her--she doesn't sound like she'll be amenable, but perhaps if you could say, "my little nephew will be coming over, he's so cute as he learns how to walk, I hope he won't be too loud for you." Then, she knows what the noise is, which sometimes helps people. And she's been warned, so she can't be a problem. One time I had a "bang on the ceiling" neighbor (the guy that got kicked out of the condo), he got hysterical bcs I was vacuuming--for the first time in (seriously) 4 or 5 months. I think that because he seldom heard us, he thought it was extreme. If I'd been vacuuming twice a week, he would have been used to it. I say this because the apt over OUR heads was vacant for a while after being inhabited by an ill and elderly woman. When her sister took over the space, she vacuumed every week, and it was really noticeable! Because we weren't used to it. Maybe you need to HAVE some parties--mention them to the co-op board first (in fact, invite some board members!!), warn her politely, and go ahead. Then she'll have an idea of what kind of noise she COULD have over her head, and maybe the change would make a difference. Or, call her and call her son every SINGLE time she bangs on the floor. Not to complain, but to sweetly, politely, and cloyingly apologize: "oh, your mom just banged on my floor, I'm SO sorry; we'd finished dinner and I pushed my chair back. I'll try harder next time not to make so much noise. You're on the board, and I know you're a good son, so you must surely want to know that her neighbors are truly trying to be considerate." Keep it up, and pretty soon he'll be telling her to please stop banging on the ceiling, because every time she does, you call him to apologize. Call her, too, and she'll lose the satisfaction of sitting down there and thinking evil thoughts about her. and she'll hear that each time, you're not being rude, you're just living your life. Another idea: invite a few board members over just for the evening--conversation, a glass of wine, dinner. Try to do the sorts of things that get her to bang on the floor, and point it out to them when it happens. If you could get her son there without her knowing, it would be even better. Then you could perhaps ask those board members to have a word with her and assure her that they HEARD her complaint, and saw the offending action and that she's being unreasonable, please would she stop. But she probably won't, so the easiest thing might be to figure out how to move....See Morevnw232
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonutty1
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agocamlan
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agonutty1
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agocamlan
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agonutty1
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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