Neighbor below us is constantly complaining about us. What can we do?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rochelle
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Rochelle

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The thing is, the neighbor directly under our apartment moved in about 2-3 months ago. Immediately after, we heard pounding on the ceiling under us because of "noise". We were playing monopoly in our dining room at 8:30 pm, being quiet or so we thought. It kept happening, whether we ran our dryer right up to 10pm (quiet hours are 10pm-8am) or shutting a cabinet in the kitchen. The apartment managers have called us 6-8 times about complaints from downstairs. we are not loud people, or so we thought. we offered to meet the neighbor, and talk things over to come to a mutual understanding. a month later, finally a call back from the office, saying she did not want to meet, and that we were being loud again, even in our bedroom (me and boyfriend share the apartment) at 10:30am. Did we miss the part in the lease that says we are not allowed to walk or breathe or even enjoy intimacy (albeit, purposefully quietly!) in our own apartment? the managers even asked if we would move to another apartment. we have lived here for over a year. if the neighbor below us complains about small things, and it is inevitable to hear noise in apartment living, she will just do the same thing to the next person that takes our place. we feel she should be moved to a 3rd floor apartment where nobody will live above her. We are worried these complaints will never end and that we will get the short straw in this situation. so, what next? any advice? anybody been in this situation before? how did you handle it? thanks!
 
I live in a ground floor unit. It is inevitable that she is going to hear noise from upstairs, that is just the way most complexes are built. The people above me are pretty ok, but I can hear them when they just walk around. If you are being your best to be quiet, she will have to deal with it or move. You were there first. Your manager knows that all noise cannot be avoided. She should just tell the woman that. Believe me, I get angry too, but I also know it isn't their fault.
 
She can move -- you guys shouldn't have to.

I used to live below someone and the heels being driven into the ground was the worst. Maybe walk lightly -- see if that helps.
 
Don't even try and fight this. Just pack up and move. These people always get to stay. It'll only get worse.
 
Have you tried knocking on her door and asking her if you could talk? That would be the most direct way to address it. Don't be aggressive, but just say that you want to come up with a solution to the problem that all of you can live with. You have a right to the quiet enjoyment of your premises just like she does. You should not have to tiptoe around.

If that is not an option, you have to go to the managers. Has anyone else who lived below you ever complained to the managers? If not, then you have a good case to present to them: "We have lived here __ years and no one has complained that we are noisy. That leads us to believe that the neighbor is the one with the problem, so we think it makes more sense for her to move up to the third floor than for us to move. Furthermore, it doesn't seem fair to make the tenants who have been here longer move instead of the new tenant, who is not even willing to discuss this with us." If you have a lease, I would read through it to see if there are provisions about noise and/or quiet enjoyment of premises so you can discuss those with the manager It also would be a good idea to ask the manager to go into the neighbor's apartment and listen for himself/herself while you two walk around, talk, play Monopoly and otherwise behave in an ordinary fashion. This way the manager can experience the noise level first-hand and it will no longer be a she-said/we-said situation.

If that doesn't work, I would ask the building managers what procedure they have in place when mediation is needed. Even say that you have consulted "an attorney" (who shall remain nameless) and you were advised that the managers either need to sit down with all parties themselves or bring in a professional in order to work towards a resolution. Good luck!
 
Im a landlord and building noises are common. YOu can try talking nicely with the person and if that goes nowhere I would ignore them. You can even talk to the landlord and see what the specific problem is, although I am sure he wont get in the middle. If you do try to be quiet and the guy below keeps pounding on the ceiling, I would poound back on the floor.

Unfortunately, thats how it is in apartment buildings.

GL
 
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