Hi Erin,

Nice letter. I tried to read all the posts in here. I don't seem to have read anything about a noiselevel test.
My collegue had the same. She had two unemployed naggers above her in an appartment complex. They have made her life bitter with complaining, calling the police, throwing letters in her mailbox and banging. They even threw letters in her mailbox complaining about noise when she was on a holiday
After a while she was very stressed and fed up and took an attorney and had someone measure the noise level. I can't remember precisely but I believe noise shouldn't be more than 80dBA. For that test she had to vacuum, talk, put her radio and tv on etc. The outcome was that she didn't cross the permitted level. These buggers had to pay her attorney costs and the costs of that noise test and because they didn't have any money to pay they even had to move out. So for her it turned out good.
That landlord isn't going to help you, you can read it from his reaction. I would seriously think about getting some good help because I don't think it's healthy with a full time job and your kid, I think you have stress enough from that only.

JustErin said:

i thought the same thing about my neighbors under us!

You're absolutely right to do this. It's much better to do it this way instead of getting into it with the people themselves, it's obviously moved way beyond that. It's a civil letter with specific times noted and that exemplifies several times that it's during normal hours when people are up and about and have to be allowed to do that. People exist and that's it, like you say you don't live in a retirement home. If they want to do that, they can move the fuck out.
Go for it.

I would just go up and politely ask them to please stop banging because they are making too much fucking noise and it's bothering you

errant said:

I think they're way beyond that unfortunately.

Lammastide said:

That letter was perfect. And jeez, you have a son, there is going to be noise.

JustErin said:

That explains everything

JustErin said:

And here I thought he was singing "Love Shack"

So here's the evil in me.

I had a friend who's brother had a neighbor (I know sorry! It has a point) who insisted on having a rooster.

Each property was on at least an acre of property, so it's certainly not the closer quarters you are experiencing.

If you've ever heard a rooster crow it is LOUD and rooster do not just crow at dawn, they crow any time, day or night.

My friend's brother would call his neighbor about the noise, but the neighbor was unsympathetic to the fact that his rooster was keeping his neighbor from getting a decent night's sleep.

So my friend's brother took a different route. Every time the rooster would crow, he would get up and call his neighbor. "If I'm going to be woke up...so are you."

What's my point? Again, my evil is showing.

Your neighbors want to complain about very the reasonable noises of living? Buy yourself a couple of airhorns and every time those mother fuckers bang on your ceiling, blow that airhorn for like 20 minutes.

If they're gonna complain, give 'em something worthwhile to complain about and have a little fun doing it.

Okay, don't do that. It's bad.

Sorry you have to live with that.

JustErin said:

Just a thought....is it possible that maybe your landlord moved these friends of the family into the house knowing what kind of neighbors they'd be, to get YOU to move?
[Edited 1/25/09 14:01pm]

reneGade20 said:

No.

Well, I got a response.

Hey Erin, I did speak to the folks upstairs and asked them not to bang on the floor if there is noise, which they will do. They asked me to communicate a couple things to you that hopefully will make things a little less tense. First the noise, they understand noise's during the day and the house isnt that sound proof, but if you could be careful with noise late at night. After 10:30 they are in bed and any noise in the house can wake them. Understanding that you can do as you need to in your own place, just to be aware. Also it seems that there is another dog left in the apt during the day with yours and the two dogs apparantly make quite a racket, not sure if this is the case and I know you are not home during the day.

Anyway, I hope you both can try to do your parts to get along, it is not really something I can do anything about. I would just ask that each of you try to be considerate of the other and to avoid thinking the other is doing something out of spite so you have to return it. I am sure you both want to be happy in your own places.


Thanks

I was so pissed after I read it my response is a bit more emotional than the last one.


Hey xxxx,

A couple of things. My son is in bed by 9pm so there is literally no real noise after that time. I do need to be quiet so he doesn't wake, so if it's quiet enough for him to sleep, I would guess that it's quiet enough for people living in another unit. As well, I hear them up walking around late into the night - or at least one of them so the claim that they are in bed by 10:30 is simply not true.

The biggest shock to hear is that they claim that there are 2 dogs in my apartment. This is a flat out lie. I have my one little dog and he is confined to the kitchen and does bark when I am out. I have actually tested this to make sure that he is not a problem when I am not there. He used to bark for a couple of minutes when I left but we are in such a routine now that he just quietly goes into his bed when we leave.

It is now very apparent to me that these people are not only being unreasonable but they are willing to lie to you to try and make it look like I am being disrespectful towards my neighbours. This is extremely discouraging to me.


I want to make this very clear - there is simply nothing else I can do to make my home quieter to appease them. They have banged when I was simply talking in my living room at 10:45pm. So in order to make them happy, I am not supposed to have a conversation because they don't like to hear a slight murmur coming from downstairs while they are up as well? It's ridiculous and I am starting to lose patience with this whole situation. I feel like I now live in an old folk's home and that I just can't live my life there anymore because they want complete silence at all times.

I have never retaliated in any way so even the slightest implication from you (or them) that I may do that is insulting to me. I also have never indicated that I thought they were doing things towards me in spite. They are just being very unreasonable with their expectations of me and my household.

I will be monitoring this very closely and will probably start documenting this with video as it seems that this will be the only way to show you that they are being unreasonable. I'm also seeking legal advise on harassment issues.

I do really hope that your talk with them wakes them up to the fact that I do not take this lightly and that they will be more respectful of the fact that they are not the only ones living in that house and that I do not need to abide by their rules. The last week has been fine and I certainly hope it continues that way.

I know you're in a he said/she said situation at this point but I have been at this address for over a year now and have not heard about any complaints about me from you - even the new people never said anything to you until I complained about them.

As well, I wanted to let you know that we are getting hammered with 25cm of snow today. I will need you to make arrangements to have the snow cleared so that I can park in the driveway tonight.

You can certainly give me a call at any time to discuss these issues.

Thanks

Erin
[Edited 1/28/09 7:50am]

JustErin said:

Lawd. Time to get serious. They're obviously a couple of complete cunts with nothing better to do. Why have they got it in for you? I feel for you, I really do. Why do some people just not want to get along with others?

Fauxie said:

I dunno man. I'm not saying that they have it out for me but maybe they do. I just think that they live in silence in their home and are pissed that I don't do the same. I've listened, really listened and I never hear a tv, or radio playing - nothing. I never even hear them talk to each other - and I've listened friggin' hard. Maybe they are just miserable people who hate each other. I know that they sleep in separate rooms cuz I can hear them thumping at night.

Fuck, I just don't know. I just really hate this situation. As much as I know I shouldn't fucking care about them it really bothers me and I can't help but always 'shhhh' my son all the time now because I am paranoid.

And the sadest thing about this is we are not even home from 8:30am - 6pm - its quiet during the day. So really we are only making 'noise' from 6pm-9pm - 3 fucking hours.


Ugh.

JustErin said:

I almost wish this was a paragraph in your reply to the landlord letter!

Try calling the police on them when they bang on the floor and complain about how much noise they are making? Or just ignore the banging... and do whatever you want?

I have a male couple upstairs that gets into screaming/shouting/crying/raging fights (that have sometimes woken me up). I own my condo and they own theirs, so there is no landlord in between. But basically I just ignore them, and they ignore if I am watching a surround sound subwoofer movie in the am hours or have incredibly loud friends over at any hour.

CJanssen said:

wow, that account is awesome! Justice was served.

ufoclub said:

I'll ignore it - just like I always do and not retaliate but if they continue banging or pounding on my door, then I'll call the police.

JustErin said:

Time to move to Hawaii

kpowers said:

I wish.

Your letter was really well written, but you've got some awful neighbors!

I agree that you might want to consider calling the police on them if you all can't come to a compromise

Are you sure they don't just have a big dog that thumps its tail on the floor?

NDRU said:

I'm pretty sure they do not like animals (based on what I have seen from them), so no.

It's just them walking around. I'm not upset about them walking around all night or that it makes noise because they walk heavy - just don't lie about what's really going on.

JustErin said:

But (and forgive me for not reading this entire thread) didn't you say they were banging the floor? So it's not just walking, right, but a complaint about your noise?

It's weird, too, because the upstairs neighbors usually bug the downstairs neighbors much more!

thekidsgirl said:

Better yet Stacey and I will kick their asses

NDRU said:

Yes, yes. The bang when they feel I am making too much noise but they also thump around when they walk all day/night.

Try reading the thread.

JustErin said:

try shutting the hell up! I read your letter just not all the irrelevant stuff that came after

Aren't people confusing? They probably make more noise than you when all is said & done, but they stomp & bang, deliberately making more as a protest to your supposed loud ways.
[Edited 1/28/09 13:35pm]

JustErin, I just love that you have the brains to write such concise letters. You've really got everything going for you!

Cinnie said:

I don't know if it was concise, but it was convincing

re read your lease. does it mention that a certain percentage of the floor has to be covered/carpeted? (some places it's as much as 80%. Perhaps your neighbors are in violation of their lease.....