Problem neighbors and being watched by them
NicholeN
10 years ago
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carolssis
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agonycefarm_gw
10 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 MoreTerrified of *BEING* a noisy neighbor, need advice pls
Comments (4)but don't make yourself too subservient and groveling before it's necessary--you DO have the right to play your guitar and sing; your kids DO have the right to walk around their home and to occasionally forget to walk for a few steps. Bcs your neighbor may also take advantage of you, or be really tough to establish some boundaries. Plus, you don't want to start mentally focusing on the noise from upstairs; she may start noticing (and minding) things that she would have simply not bothered to notice, before. Just say, "Hi, I'm the new neighbor, nice to meet you; please feel free to let me know of any problems." Then just live the way it's convenient for you. Don't assume there's trouble before it happens. For example--you said you wouldn't play in the mornings--well, int he mornings, above ME, you *could.* I get up pretty early on the weekday, and even on the weekend, I seldom sleep past 9; if I do, it's because I'm tired, and if you can wake me up w/ your guitar, then I ought to get out of bed anyway. And if you played in the LR, so as not to be over my bedroom, you could play acoustic guitar until 4am, bcs I wouldn't hear it. (I might hear it if I stayed up late int he LR, but I don't) I check in w/ my downstairs neighbors now and then as well; I've got 2 kids, a piano, and not particularly thick floors. Here's what they said to me: "I never hear anything to object to" and "If I ever do hear anything, it doesn't last very long." Both answers that indicate to me that, they hear us often. But that they don't object, bcs they understand that most of the time we're doing the best we can, and they believe an occasional awareness of your neighbors bcs of their living noise is just life. Don't make yourself too paranoid. You need to be able to enjoy your life....See MoreBeing A Good Neighbor
Comments (28)Sadly, I see this a lot when city people move to the country. Maybe it's because they don't know the meaning of being neighborly because they never knew their neighbors. Helping each other was reserved for emergencies only. They live in a cocoon. A number of years ago I lived in the Poconos of PA. The real estate boom was underway, and developers were advertising directly to New York city and New jersey. And they moved out in droves! And brought the city attitudes with them. A majority of them came with an "I'm better than you" attitude. We were the "hicks". They moved to areas they thought were beautiful because there was a farm across the road from the subdivision. Oh how quaint is that? That all changed when the farmer started work at 4 am. He had the audacity to drive his tractor on the road when they were rushing to the bus station to commute the 100 miles to their job in the city! And when the fertilizer went on the fields in may? That was the last straw for many of them. They went to the Town Supervisors demanding he cease and desist! They made his life so miserable he ended up selling his farm to another developer. Who built more houses. That brought more kids. That meant new schools. That meant skyrocketing property taxes. When I lived there, the local school had 1,200 students. When I left, the school had 7,800 students. There was almost a civil war between the "locals" and "transplants"! People were buying more house than they could afford, and when interest rates went up, they just abandoned the houses and moved back to the city. Monroe County, PA had at one point among the highest foreclosure rates in the country. I moved to Vermont and again I have nice neighbors who will lend a hand at a moment's notice, as will I. City people just don't get it when we say we don't have a clue where the front door key is....See MoreProblem with next door neighbor: The Bully & the Fence
Comments (176)Actually these threads do help others going through similar situation . May things like badmouthing, threatening, watching and recording everything seem to be common behaviors of these bullies. I stood down and let them even change my downspout on my house. Ignoring made them react more and more. I would say I learned deal with first issue first time. Show them you did noticenoticenoticenoticenotinoticenoticenoticenoticenoti...See Morekudzu9
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