Are they stupid... or just inconsiderate??

**Lady_V** · 11-30-2008, 06:39 PM

I live on the bottom floor of our condo complex. Usually I never hear noise from the neighbor across the hall from me or even the neighbor who shares the kitchen/bath/master bedroom wall... the people upstairs... totally different story.

They moved in 1 Oct. of this year. She is very young (19, 20) and he is a little older (24, 25). When they moved their stuff in I overheard someone say something about this being their first apartment.

When the stomping serenade occurred every other weekend in October, I chalked it off to 'moving in and getting settled'. So, being the good older (owner) neighbor... I said nothing.

Last week I did go upstairs (in my jammies and my hair pointing in more directions than I could count) at 8:00 in the morning because it sounded like my ceiling was about to crash down on me while I was trying to sleep.

They have kids visiting every other weekend (stomping serenade mystery solved). Having a child of my own, I know they can't be quiet all the time. It wasn't the fact that the kids playing that bothered me (although there were days the noise went from 10am-10pm) it was the window rattles!

When she opened the door, I said "Good Morning... could you please have the children try not to jump as hard? I am not asking that they don't play... just not jump as hard" She told me they were her nephews visiting and they weren't use to having people under them...

Thats it... she didn't apologize for waking me up, not that I was looking for one. It did quiet down some... not totally, but I think having Medusa at the door scared her some

Fast forward to today... I had been tolerating the occasional bumps and thuds since I ascended the stairs... and am thinking about nailing the door closed so I don't go back up there tonight until I have cooled off.

Around 3:30pm, 3 guys carrying a few cases of beer walked by my patio and announced "Party at xxx's house".

Just what I needed... For the last 180 minutes I have watched my slider door vibrate because they are up there watching the football game. The game is suppose to be over in about 30 minutes... but I don't don't know how much more of this I can take.

They MUST know they are making a lot of noise!!! If 3 KIDS jumping would make an otherwise quiet neighbor complain, what the heck do they think 4 grown men stomping their feet will sound like down here?

I am seriously thinking about just filing a noise complaint with the association. I have gone up there once before and I don't think it is my responsibility to confront 4 drunk men who are taller and stronger than I am. We do have quiet hours from 11pm to 7am, but we also have a Good Neighbor ordinance in place for this very reason, to keep noises at a reasonable level.

So... Are they stupid or just inconsiderate???

**StaceyS** · 11-30-2008, 06:55 PM

They are very inconsiderate! They don't know what it's like. I've lived on both the top floor and bottom and I try to be a very considerate neighbor. I just got new neighbors (luckily I live in a duplex, no second floor) and they are SO noisy. Our duplex is seperated by the garages and I can still hear them slam their doors!

**madhen** · 11-30-2008, 06:56 PM

Sorry to hear it, Lady_V. I've had my share of crappy neighbors (although my worst were downstairs), and the only thing that ever resolved it was one of us moving. In answer to your question, both. And it will probably not get any better. If the first time had been accidental, you would have gotten a lot more apologizing.

You might try talking to them one more time, and not in the middle of a party, when you can explain your concerns to them and how in apts, everyone has to be aware of their impact on others. If you get a lukewarm response, expect more noise.

This is part of the reason I looked for land when I moved. Apartments were bad enough, but then I moved to a house, and ended up with "guy with the incessantly barking and neglected dog and noisy and neglected children" on one side of me and "guy who likes to tune up his sand rail and doesn't believe in setting a bedtime for his children" on the other. That's when I decided on ten acres.

(And, as it turned out, that wasn't enough space, as my current neighbor also falls into the "idiot" category.)

**Durgan** · 11-30-2008, 07:06 PM

MOVE posthaste.

Never live in a condo, or apartment if this can be avoided.

**mandi0808** · 11-30-2008, 07:23 PM

We have the same situation with our upstairs neighbor.
He gets drunk every night and cranks up the music so loud that we can clearly hear it down here.
BF has constantly asked him to turn it down, even at 4 in the morning.
Thanksgiving we had a blow out!
He was loud, drunk, obnoxious, and threating us.
He even spit all over our porch!

I called the Police and it's been quiet ever since.
They took his speaker wires from him and threatend him with jail.

Can you contact the police if it's too loud?

**jamie79** · 11-30-2008, 07:24 PM

This is why I will never live in an apt ever again. Sorry you are having to deal with this

**many houseapes** · 11-30-2008, 07:33 PM

I think they're both stupid & inconsiderate.GGRR...we have a neighbor like that....we only know him as "the moron next door"

**Lady_V** · 11-30-2008, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by Durgan

MOVE posthaste.

Never live in a condo, or apartment if this can be avoided.

Can't move, don't really WANT to move because of this renter...

I have over 10 years of mortgage payments made, guaranteed heat, hot water and cooking. The units on the market here have been listed for over a year or foreclosed on and still unsold even though they are offered at 70K less than reasonable selling prices. We rented this unit out in the past, and after 5 years, still trying to repair the damage done in the 12 months they occupied it.

Update -- the game ended 30 minutes ago and the noise did not stop... in fact it sounded like a herd of elephants were doing a tap dance

the Old Man went upstairs and said "Can you hold it down a little? It's been over 4 hours now"... the reply "Ya whatever, we were just playing around"... two seconds after the Old Man walked back in our unit one last wall thumping thud...

**MommaStumpf** · 11-30-2008, 07:53 PM

If dealing with them directly is not working. And it doesn't seem to be you need to complain to the appartment association. Do so quickly and as often as need be to resolve this matter.

**Mavourneen** · 11-30-2008, 07:55 PM

I'd march into the rental office tomorrow morning and inform them. You've been a good renter for 10 years. They are young and brand new.

It will at least notify the office there is a problem. Repeated problems will be documented. Enough of a pattern of disregard will have them removed from their unit. End of story.

Good Luck!

**Lady_V** · 11-30-2008, 08:01 PM

I'm not a renter... I'm an owner

It pulls a little more weight when it comes down to owner/occupier vs. renter. Nothing makes a owner/non-occupier madder than having to pay fines because of their tenants... for the majority of the 10 years... it's been quiet upstairs.

I will contact the office tomorrow because enough is enough and I really don't want them crashing through the ceiling during the SuperBowl

**madhen** · 11-30-2008, 08:13 PM

I had an HOA when I lived in southern California. I would call while the noise was going on and they could hear it on the telephone. That seemed to have more of an impact that just reporting it. Once, when I lived in an apt, I recorded the sound of my neighbor's stereo through my wall. Evidence is always better than testimony!!

(I would still try to approach them when it is quiet and they are being relatively "normal" and try to reason with them. If nothing else, it looks better when you do file a report; i.e, I asked them twice to keep the noise down, and I tried to talk to them about my concerns on one occasion, and they said, "Blah, blah, blah" and the noise continued.)

**Luv2BeFrugal** · 11-30-2008, 08:19 PM

Stupid AND inconsiderate... I'd report them to the condo people...you can't live like that. They sound like

.

**Gardengal18** · 11-30-2008, 08:25 PM

Yep, contact the Condo Board. When they get enough complaints the owner of this "rental" will not be too happy to be getting letters from the Board. Unfortunately these kind of things happen in Condos/Apartments. I own a Townhouse and I've had my problems with the "morons" next door and their dogs *shitting* all over my backyard. After repeated "requests" and getting an extremely *snotty* response from the Witch next door I finally put a fence up in between our property lines. And a few good "thumps" on the wall and blasting my stereo when their kid was napping (they obviously didn't like that too much. Gee I wonder why??? heh!), got them to turn down their "surround system" GOOD now they don't talk to me (or any of the other neighbors for that matter). And to think she had once mentioned when they first moved in that they didn't get along with their previous neighbors! Hummmmm I wonder why??? Yep, definitely inconsiderate people out there in the world!

**vigilant20** · 11-30-2008, 08:34 PM

Filing a complaint is a good idea. I had a neighbor like that at my last place. It turned out they were gangsters and I was too afraid to say anything about it. And I really felt like I was going slowly insane trying to pretend my walls weren't rattling at 11 because they were blasting their stereo system or that I couldn't hear the shouted fighting word for word (which is how I found out about their gang affiliation).