I have the best luck with this nonsense, don't I?




So here's the situation:


The roommate and I moved into this apartment January 1st of this year, with a year's lease. It's an apartment in a converted older house split into four units. Below us lives the landlord.

In the time we've lived here he's raised a stink on three separate occasions about the noise coming from our apartment. The first two times he actually served formal noise complaints, and the second time with an official government "1 Month to End Tenancy For Cause" form. Both times we had some people over, and it is possible we were noisier than we realized. Though we both personally feel he was being unreasonable as even in the public hallway not a lot of noise transfers out of the apartment, and we had actually been making an effort to ensure our guests were more or less quiet. Couple that with the fact that even when we know he is making a lot of noise, not much sound comes upstairs to us. Something doesn't add up IMO.

The day after we received the second complaint letter (the one with the form) we spoke to him in person to apologize for the noise and to try to clarify matters. He seemed to accept our apology and we thought that would be the end of it.

But last night, there was more. The roommate was out, and I was home alone. Though yes, it was the wee hours of the morning, I was watching a movie quietly. I sat on that couch for two hours without getting up once. Around 3 am he called my cell phone to angrily let me know I had woken him up with all the banging and stomping and hammering I was doing. He (again) said, this "wasn't working out for him" and refused to believe me when I said I'd been sitting quietly all evening.

I asked if I could speak to him today and he agreed, but I haven't been able to reach him yet.

We have not gotten any noise complaints from the other adjoining unit, and the roommate is on speaking terms with that tenant. Neither of us have ever before received noise complaints, and both of us have been renting for a few years now, including suites and apartments near landlords.


So what do you guys think? Should I consider this harassment and look into what my legal options are? The situation isn't too bad yet but his complaints have not really been warranted.

Do you think there's another issue at hand, like he's looking for an excuse to get rid of us for some reason?

meow85 said:

Maybe the house is haunted ...


and yes




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[Edited 3/16/10 10:56am]

meow85 said:

How old is this man? If he's older, he might have "issues" especially since he claimed you were banging and hammering and you were sitting quietly on your sofa. Or he might want you out for dubious reasons, like wanting to rent to a friend or someone willing to pay higher rent. Call Judge Judy!

Is the building really quiet? Maybe this person is more sensitive to noise than your neighbors, so he reacts stronger than they do.

the dude is schizophrenic psycho. Move

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

At some point it's not worth figuring out who's right & wrong. I'd never want to live where I wasn't wanted--even if I was right.

NDRU said:

Right. Plus you have been made to feel like you have to walk on eggshells to appease this fool. When I had an apartment I was on the first floor and had hardwood floors. Management demanded that main rooms be carpeted to reduce the noise from foot traffic. Since, I was on the first floor with no one below me, I never had any complaints. Plus I'm a quiet person anyway, but if I had to put up with nonsense such as yours, I'd work on finding another place to live.

seems like he's trying to an early eviction on you so he can post this apartment as available.
many landlords do this so they can collect extra money---via 1st-last month deposit, plus a damage deposit.
seems like is complaints is a ploy to force you out.
does your city have a *tenant/landlord mediation office. the county i live in does and they solve problems like yours.
also, have you documented the dates and times of the landlord's complaints?
this is very necessary.
most of the time the police department has a listing of tenant landlord mediation offices. "get help fast."

good luck

Time 2 bounce.

Shyra said:

He's in his late 30's/early 40's.

If he wanted us gone so soon, why would he have us sign for a year's lease?

NDRU said:

I had to move twice last year already. The reason I agreed to a lease was so I'd be able to stay put.

Thanks, everyone.


I'm going to keep trying to contact him today, but I'm also going to look into the residential tenancy office to see what my options are.

meow85 said:

He had you sign the lease so he could possibly keep your deposit on then charge you for the remaining months of rent once he gets you out. I guess it depends on the laws in your state, but it is obvious this guy is nutzoid or shady or both.

meow85 said:

why'd you have to move twice last year?

NDRU said:

Yes. Inquiring minds want to know! Were you bad?

Maybe he's jealous because u didn't invite him to your little get togethers.....or maybe he just wants to bone ya and you're not givin him the time of day.... Either way....I'd get the hell out. Who the hell wants to be harassed all the time?

Shyra said:

No.

The first time was because I was leaving a place that had a 6 month lease and since the owners were planning to sell the property there wasn't an option to stay on longer.

The second time I left because of crooked, cheap landlords.


I do NOT want to have to move again.

Get letters from other tenants to back you up.

(1) Either the landlord does not like you and is trying to get rid of you; or

(2) He figures you guys are the trouble makers when it's some other tentant(s); or

(3) The landlord has a screw loose upstairs

I would put a formal complaint into your tenant advisory board, or whomever.

luv4u said:

just to play devil's advocate

4) she's louder than she realizes

NDRU said:

Remember my control freak thread. That's all this is. Some obsessive freakish old man.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Probably, I just theorize that many people who make noise don't think they're being annoying--at least I hope they think they're not being annoying

NDRU said:

I'd buy that as a possibility except for the part where she's watching a movie all alone and he's yelling about her stomping and hammering.

He would have to provide evidence of the noise levels. If he can not then he has no case.

PunkMistress said:

yeah that's true

I don't mean to suggest she's wrong & a bad neighbor, but maybe she has a subwoofer surround sound? DVDs get super loud during car chases & gun fights. And what seems normal volume really carries farther at 2am when the world is quiet.

I am playing devil's advocate not because I don't believe her but because I've lived next to my share of loud neighbors. I know they exist!

NDRU said:

co-sign.

luv4u said:

NDRU said:

Still, he sounds extremely reactionary about it.

Meow85, PLEASE contact a local housing organization for information or Google tenant rights in your area. You need to protect yourself, and you need to know your rights. It's very common for landlords to provide official-looking Notices to Quit Property that aren't legally binding whatsoever, and people obey them because they never knew any better. There's a legal process he has to go through before evicting you, and at least here in the US it's a hell of a lot more complicated than just handing you a paper.

I'd still look for a new place in the meantime, but I know sometimes that's just not feasible. So know your rights before you let him kick you out on the street.

I had neighbors call the cops on me while I was asleep. Seriously. There was a knock on the door and I came to it with my hair wrapped and looking a hot mess rubbing my eyes. He saw me and the dark quiet apartment and he told me there was a complaint, but don't worry go back to bed.


Buttholes...whoever they were. Fucknuts.

luv4u said:

All things considered I'm strongly leaning toward the third option. He's actually a nice enough guy, but something about him is off.

Maybe he's hallucinating when he thinks we're being noisy.

PunkMistress said:

The first two times I can accept that we were probably being louder than we realized. But the other night not only was I not making any noise, as far as I could tell there was NO noise coming from anywhere.

What a spaz.