Upstairs Neighbors (Kinda Long)

Updated on October 22, 2011
A.J. asks from Tacoma, WA
12 answers

I have been in my current apartment for 3 years. I live on the 6th floor and there is one floor above me. The guy above me passed away two months ago and they just re-rented the apartment. Well a woman around my age just moved in with a friend and kids. During the day there is a lot of noise because the kids and that doesn't bother me, because I know how loud little ones can get. What bothers me is that it never stops and then every night at from 7pm to 7am they party. Loud music, jumping on the ground, dropping stuff.

The first weekend they moved in the woman came down and apologized for the noise. I told her no problem that I know how loud moving can be and getting how hard it is to get kids back on schedule. Flash forward to the weekend. It was like a frat house up there. At about 2 in the morning that sunday I had had enough and went up stairs in my pajamas and asked them to please turn the music down because it was very hard to sleep. I didn't demand that they turn it off or yell. I was really polite and she apologized once more and it got a little quieter for maybe 5 minutes and then she kicked up the volume and bass on her stero and stomped all over the floor. It's an older building and I could hear them laughing. I was very upset at this point, but I didn't go back up there.

Flash forward to this week. I am on good terms with my manager and could have complained but I didn't. I told myself that I would let them adjust to apartment life. My manager approaches me in the lobby while I am waiting for a friend to show up and asks me about the noise, because the woman up stairs told him that I had asked her to keep it down. I explained the situation to my manager and he explained to me that she was reminded that the lease says no excessive noise after 10pm.

I am going to lose my mind. It is now 2 am and they have been parting since 11pm. I woke up at midnight and banged on the ceiling. Her and her friends responded by jumping up and down on the floor, turning the volume up even louder, and laugh. I just couldn't imagine being that rude to a neighbor.

I called the managers office and left a message at 1 am. I am at my wits end. I am not noise phobic. My next door neighbor loves to listen to music loudly all day long, but he always makes sure he turns it down in the evening. I already know that I am in for a weekend with out sleep. What would you all do? I don't want to be rude to her or get her in trouble, but I am not getting any where either.

What can I do next?

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Featured Answers

A.M.

answers from Kansas City on

I'm going with zero respect means zero tolerance.

You have respectfully gone and asked her to keep it down, she's "said sorry" but didn't really mean it...

She tried to head you off with the manager and make it look like you're the issue...

No tolerance...tonight if it's after 10PM and there is noise...I would be calling the police and every time they get loud, stomp, I'm dialing...thuse zero respect = zeror tolerance.

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L.U.

answers from Seattle on

I would call the police. You already talked to the manager, the manager talked to them, now they are being snarky bitches and keeping the music loud. I am SURE you are not the only tenant that can hear the frat party upstairs. Call them, tell them to come out. They are disobeying the law.
L.

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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

O. sentence: "..the lease says no excessive noise after 10pm" PER your building manager.

If there is noise after 10 pm, call the building manager. If it is "after hours" and no manager is on call-call the police. Call every time there is noise after 10 p.m. They are in clear violation of the rules and have shown you ZERO respect so far. You've given fair chance and warning.
Time for the big guns.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

Geeze Louise.

She SHOULD be gotten in trouble for the way she is acting.

That's not being rude. That's being step one of the consequences of her actions.

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G.T.

answers from Redding on

Write a written complaint to your manager. I evict people that make noise continually betweent the hours of 10pm and 8am. We all have a right to the peaceful enjoyment of our rented dwelling. Look in your lease or rules, find that certain clause and bring it up to your manager (in writing) verbal complaints get nowhere with me.
Try talking to your neighbor one more time, letting her know that it's getting to you.
Living in an apartment can be hard sometimes. Some people like to complain about everything, they dont want their neighbors flushing the toilet at 2 am. That's when I have to let them know that our lawyer says "If you choose to live in an apartment rather than a rural dwelling these noises are an acceptable part of the environment in which you live". If you arent happy, sometimes it's best to move rather than make yourself sick with stress. I live under an obese family, they are very noisy. However I did get them to start being quiet at night finally. I bring cookies and cake up to her fat kids on a fairly regular basis and let her know how annoying they can be... witha smile.... she got the hint and now I can live with the normal noise during the day.... and there's generally none at night now.

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P.B.

answers from Austin on

I've had the same problem over the years & had to call manager with good results.

In the meantime, I strongly recommend silicone earplugs, Mack's brand + there is a new one on the market. Target sells them as well as local grocery. I'm pretty sure Walmart has them too. They block noise effectively. Just to help you over the rough spots until this gets resolved...

Best of luck to you!!

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

She's not following the rules set out by the complex. It's rude for HER not to abide by the rules. It's NOT rude to point out to the manager about her breaking the rules.

When we lived in Germany, we lived on base and the apartments, I swear were bomb proof! But we had neighbors across the hall that partied until dawn...my ex husband was a shift worker and it was hard...we asked them several times to be quiet at night - NOT during the day as that would've been wrong on our part...finally people across the street - yes across the street heard them partying at 3AM and came over and asked them to stop...the MPs were called...it was not fun.

Call the management office. If you can record the noise - like a video tape that shows date and time, its further proof that they are breaking the rules of noise and they need to be stopped. It's just plain rude!!

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H.M.

answers from Denver on

time to call the cops

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L.J.

answers from Louisville on

Maybe you can get the manager to come over one night with his wife and listen to the noise. Feed him and her a late supper. If he shows up at her door at midnite telling her that she isn't allowed to do it, she might listen to him.

J.S.

answers from Hartford on

Getting her in trouble for excessive noise isn't rude. She's the one getting herself in trouble for excessive noise after hours. You're not sleeping and they're not making any effort to quiet things down. They're violating their lease and noise ordinances. MAKE THE PHONE CALL EVERY TIME.

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L.S.

answers from San Diego on

I don't understand this neighbor apologizing to you about the noise and then turning around and laughing about it and kicking up the noise. I agree with everyone here that you should talk to the manager and leave the manager a message every time. Also, I suspect that you aren't the only one hearing this noise even though it is above your apartment. Have you spoken with the other neighbors? Clearly this new tenant is violating the lease and the manager should pursue this. Good luck!

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

In my town there are city ordinances against sound made by machines. It is different than the noise ordinances because it is mechanical noise, trucks, jack hammers, stereos, car horns, etc...it is a 24 hours per day ordinance, there is not a time frame on it. That means that a construction worker has to stop the noise they are making if it is bothering someone and they complain it is too loud. It you can google you city ordinances and find a similar clause you can call the police and, they usually don't have a clue about these ordinances, hand them a copy of the ordinance and ask them to enforce it. They have to enforce it, every time you call them hand the officer another copy. Tell them you have called before and the times, keep a log, and if they do not enforce it or arrest them after the 2nd or third time then start calling their sergeant during the day and complaining. It is an ordinance that is enforceable by law, they must enforce it.

Tell your apartment manager each and every time they do this, it would help if you do it when the noise is on so it can be heard in the background...that gives you credibility. He can evict them for lease issues if others are complaining too. Get your neighbors to help in the calling the police and stuff. The more that complain the more weight the complaints have.

We have done this numerous times when Walmart decided to do construction during the nighttime hours. The manager gets all sassy with me when I call and tell them to turn off the jackhammers at 2 am, they have their permits and there is nothing I can do...I call the officers and hand them a copy then ask nicely if they'd please enforce this city ordinance. They look at it, then the go tell the manager to stop the noise. The manager doesn't like it and says no, the officer asks them if they'd like to ride in the back of their car, the noise stops. They can't start it back up either. During the day when we're not home they can do all they want, but at night time I am going to complain and get it stopped. I also gave each of my neighbors a copy of the ordinance so then could call too. Walmart has not done any after hours construction in about a year.

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