OT: Fighting Apartment "Neighbors"..

[Galadriel]

Has anyone else who has lived in an apartment had this problem? Here it is 6am and I have to get up in 2 hours for work, and the couple in the floor below me and hubby are yet again yelling and shouting at each other, stomping around, ect. This isn't the first morning they've done this, and they do it throughout the day too. This is getting REALLY aggrivating. We hesitate to get involved tho. The people on the bottom floor are being evicted, so we are hoping they will move a floor lower, but who knows? There isn't much way for telling the landlady and having it be ananymous, because she would know right where the complaints came from (us). Personally I kinda wouldn't mind if they evicted her too.

[tcsarah]

I sure know what it's like living with noisy and problem neighbours. I've lived in several flats and my very first one, which I lived in alone after I first left home in my early twenties, was terrible for noise. I had neighbours below that were noisy and btw, moaned incessantly about me being noisy when I was just going about living (the old man came up stairs and told me off one day for hoovering in the afternoon and disturbing his afternoon nap! - He said I should do housework in the morning like normal people!!!). Those flats were a nightmare cos they were not sound proof at all. Then I had problems with the guy above who got so very attached to me and ended up stalking me, and harassing my then boyfriend, it was a nightmare- had to get the police involved! I had so many problems, I did report it to the housing authority, but it meant I had to have somebody come and stay with me on and offto witness everything and I had to write every incident down. In the end I decided to move in with my boyfriend to escape it all!


Some people might suggest going and speaking with the people who are causing the problem, but I think this very rarely helps as problem neighbours aren't usually the kind to be reasoned with! You'll probably just get a "F**k Off!" and they may even try and create more noise. If you think they are decent enough people though, by all means give it a go, as it may be that they don't realise just how their noise travels.


There are quite a few rules and regulations about nuisance neighbours and what you can do about them, but I only know the ones that apply here in UK. What I would suggest is doing a search on the net to see what info it brings up. I've tried googling but it keeps giving me info relevant to UK, but there is loads of info, so there should be in US too.


Good luck, hope things work out!


Tracey

[Galadriel]

Hi Tracey!


Ugh it sounds like you've really had your share of problems with noisy rude neighbors. I just don't see why they can't argue at a decent hour of the day? I hesitate to talk to them or have my husband talk to them, because she seems the type to say just that, "F* off!" or something. I just don't get how people can be so inconsiderate. I mean she has to know her yelling and shouting and thumping around down there is waking up the entire house. I mean it sounded like a WWF match earlier. Sheesh! It really sucks tho because me and husband both end up being worn out during the day and of course this doesn't help at all at work. Argh!

[bexcelica]

i was in that situation, except we were the loud ones ehe... me and
my girl lauren lived together for a year and a half while going to
college. the girls below us would always bang on the ceiling with
brooms and stuff like that. i knew them too, which droveme even more
crazy. it wasnt even like we were loud, its like if the tv was on we'd
get bangs, if we were walking around too much past 11, we'd get
bangs....



im sorry you have to deal with this. i mean i think its different with
me because it was a sort of college house if you will. but that sucks,
i mean the thing is that i know how the people downstairs feel. they
shouldnt be fighting so loud late, but they do pay rent too. i think
you should say somethign to them thugh, if you havent already. because
you pay rent too.. so you should be able to enjoy your time there. you
know what ims aying? anyways, that stinks.. good luck

[SimplyMe]

Oh, man, that sux! Where I used to live I had neighbors who thought talking right outside my bedroom window till all hours of the night/morning was acceptable. Now there are people who live behind me that think it's nto a party w/o drunken laughter and loud annoying music. Mind you they do this OUTSIDE. Stupid @$$es. Anyhow, call your non emergency police number and ask about noise ordinences. If they are w/in the shut up times you can call annonymously. They wouldnt' assume you I wouldn't think surely there are people beside and below them that could have as easily called. Good luck!

[babygap5]

Just call the police and tell them it's domestic disturbance and they'll come and then the people will realize just how their voices carry. When you call the police, just tell them there is a domestic disturbance and give them the address and apartment number and just hang up. You don't have to give your info to them, I did that a few times and after awhile the neighbors fought much quieter. Good luck.

[Galadriel]

Good idea about calling about domestic disturbance. I mean heck we could probably even call for domestic violence, because she was yelling and shouting at him, and it sounded like one of them was throwing the other around because the house was shaking. She was hollering at him again when I got home from work for a good few hours on and off, stomping up and down the stairs, swearing at the top of her lungs, and slamming her door. She seems to be the one who starts it, its like the guy arrives and within minutes she is shouting at him. They have 2 little children too, one is a baby, and ugh to grow up in that environment. My parents had a lot of shouting matches and such, so its not fun. Uh oh sounds liek they are at it again.


I think either talking to the landlady, or just plain calling the cops would be a good idea. I just get afraid tho they (being the immature people they are) would feel the need to "retaliate" (tho of course they sure as heck shouldn't be shouting when people are in bed!) and do something nasty back.

[wing]

Oh! That happens where I live as well. We just moved into a new area and there are these people living next door. This guy rides his motorcycle at night. (Can you imagine that noise?) Then sometimes when he is not riding, he is fixing his cars and banging things. He sometimes comes home drunk, I think because he stands outside and yells his lungs out (Dont think someone coherent will stand outside at one to two AM and yell... )(He cursed at my mom...=[) He also used to let his dog run all over our grass and the dog would use the bathroom on our property and he didn't care. ..My mom told him to stop letting his dog run all around. (That's why he was cursing... -_-'') Heh...so my parents built a fence around. =] ..Dont want to get started with the neighbors on the other side. x_x...


Oh yea, I know all about those noisy neighbors. I wish my parent's would call the cops! If you guys can go ahead. I think it would solve things. Take it up with the landlady first and I guess cops second since the latter is more drastic? Ehehe. Good luck!

[*mandi*]

I cant say I know what it is like to live with loud neighbors underneath you...but I do live in a big loft that is on top of a business. And let me tell you...they are very noisy! They talk on intercoms bright and early in the morning. The garage doors open and close all morning!


To top it off. There is a family that lives in a hosue next to our building and their kids are always slamming their basketball against our walls!!! So Ill be sitting here reading abook and hear "wham" from that D*mn basketball hitting our walls! Nearly gives me a heart attack each time! not only that. They have a yappy dog that just barks all day long. I dont think they let in the house b.c I hear it all night long too! Sometimes I wish I could live on my own provate island!

[tcsarah]

You could always try retaliating by playing some loud music, see how they like noise - hey at least it would drowned out their arguing [img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]


How awful for those kids to have to grow up with their parents at it hammer and tongs. Why do couples even stay together if they are continually arguing - beats me.


My fiance and I live in a flat at the moment and sometimes have problems with noise, so I bought one of those sound machines that play different relaxing sounds like sea waves, rainforest, white noise, babbling brook etc to drowned out other noise. They are really good.


I think what has been suggested about calling the police about a domestic disturbance is a good idea. Then if the neighbours get nasty about it, say something like you were concerned somebody was getting hurt and what sort of neighbour would you be to ignore that.


I wonder if the woman is suffering from something like post natal depression at the moment, if you say she is the one who seems to be causing it all.


Anyway I hope you manage to get a quieter life soon [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


Tracey

[chicajojobe]

HAHA. I live in a dorm so believe me I know exactly what you're going
through! The guys who live above my room are very loud. For the first
week or so there was this thudding that sounded like they were doing
construction, but it always happened at like 3 in the morning.





Do you have good relations with your landlady? If you do then maybe you
could report it to her but ask her not to mention who reported it since
you're worried they might be offended and try to retaliate. I'm sure
that she would understand the concern, so that might be a way you can
get someone who will warn them to quiet down without them knowing who
it was that complained. If they're really that loud then I'm sure other
neighbors of yours have noticed too and are annoyed by it just like you.

[kel12347]

My friend and I lived in the same apartment complex. I lived on the right side, first floor, she lived on the left side, second floor. The guy across from her, and directly above me, played his guitar all night long, which annoyed the hell out of us. One day we walked into the complex and was struck by the overwhelming odor of marijuana, coming from this guy's room. The smell was so strong it had seeped into both of our apartments. We called the landlord, and he was evicted. The landlord actually thanked us for bringing it to his attention.


Simply and Babygap's idea about calling the police re: nuisance noise and domestic disturbance is wonderful. If the police do ask for your name (they can track your phone number already), ask that they not give your name to the loud people to protect your safety. Most cops are pretty good about those things. They would just say, "We got a complaint about blah blah," and that's it. Good luck!