Noise complaints are fairly common disputes handled by landlords. In my case when I receive a complaint from a tenant about a loud or noisy tenant, I do just what your landlord did and contact the tenant that has supposedly been “noisy” and ask them to be more aware of noise levels. Landlord/ Tenant noise complaints aren’t going to go away anytime… probably ever!
If you are getting complaints for being too noisy, worse case scenario, you could be evicted for violation of house rules specific to the quiet enjoyment of others. So, it should concern you a bit to be more aware of it. However, in my case I wouldn’t evict a tenant for noise complaints unless there was a continual habit of loud parties or something of the sort. If you aren’t doing anything other than walking around– I can’t see that being your fault. Noise ordinances go into effect at 10:30pm in most cities, but can vary per location. If the Cops are called be friendly and cooperative with the officers. Police won’t be able to issue a ticket unless there is a clear violation such as loud party or audible electronic device outside of your unit including, radios, TV’s, Etc.

I almost forgot to provide a suggest on how to protect yourself from complaints about noise violations.
So, how can you protect yourself from over-sensitive neighbors?
1) Be aware of your noise levels, be courteous.
2) Turn down TV’s / Radio’s after 10:30PM
3) Be a good neighbor! This is probably the hardest task, yet the most effective. Now that a complaint has been logged against you, be the bigger person and put your anger aside… instead go introduce yourself to your neighbor, provide a sincere apology and explain that you weren’t aware that your sound level was a problem and explain exactly what you have done to prevent future problems such as taking shoes off to walk around and turning the TV sound down at night. Then, provide your neighbor with your name and contact info and tell her to please call you directly if there are any future noise issues. Thank her for bringing it to your attention and tell her that you are sorry to have caused her any inconvienance and hope to be a good neighbor and that you will do everything in your power to reduce the noise levels.
(This approach is the best protection against noise complaints! It will prevent the landlord from getting involved and should prevent the police from ever being called. You can’t be evicted over something that the landlord is unaware of.)
4) Send a letter to the landlord with a sincere apology and explain that you weren’t aware that your noise levels were anything beyond reasonable. Explain to your landlord that you hope to be a happy long-term tenant and will do everything in your power to reduce noise levels. You can even explain what specific steps were being taken to reduce noise levels from your unit. Ask the landlord if they can provide any advice on how to reduce noise levels further so that you can also incorporate their suggestions. End your letter with a sincere apology and tell management that you appreciate their management policies and that you want nothing more than to be compliant with any request made by them. Don’t forget to provide your email / phone numbers with a simple comment like; please don’t hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions.
Alright, NG… I assure you if you do this, you will be fine. Yes, this does require you to take it a step further by actually apologizing even if you feel the complaint wasn’t justified. The worst thing you could do would be to ignore it, or get mad about it… neither will address the issue. By actively being aware of your neighbors wishes, she will inturn most likely be much more tolerant to your noise.

I just found this post asking the same or similar question I had. I too have been reported by my neighbor for being too noisy. I deserved it though– I’m a college student and have some loud friends that hang out. The police have been called twice on me and my landlord sent me a notice saying that if a 3rd noise complaint was filed against me that I would be evicted. I guess its a bit of a wake up call, I really can’t afford to move or be evicted.
Time for me to be a bit more respectful or I’ll be out. I don’t know if I can muster up the courage to actually apologize to my neighbor and landlord… but I guess I better! Thanks Richard for the advice, makes sense! Also, thanks NG for posting this question! I’m usually too lazy to post a question and wait for answers, thanks for doing it for me!
Its past midnight now, I guess I better turn off guitar hero and stop jumping around like a rock star!

Just to shadow what Richard was saying.. If a tenant shows me they are trying to cooperate when a complaint is made against them it earns huge brownie points. If I know a tenant is trying to avoid future problems, it makes me more lenient if a future complaint comes in. In fact, it can even make the tenant that is complaining look bad and come off as too sensitive. As a landlord we don’t “Really” know what’s going on all of the time. We can only make judgments off of what we think is going on.
If you’re the one making effort to resolve the problem, it will go a long way in the landlords eye’s. If the lower tenant is being too picky you can always turn it around on them and complaint that they are not allowing you to enjoy your unit due to fear of noise complaint. Although, that should only be a last option after you have tried to work it out fairly with your neighbor, yet she continues to be unreasonable.

My story is about the lady that lives below us she has complained on us because our kids who are 2 and 4 sometimes make a little to much noise ex: like when they fall or jump. The lady below us however instead of coming up here usually bangs on her ceiling which vibrates our whole floor. We asked for a bottom apartment because I knew that my kids could get roudy because my kids have a hard time sitting still and being quiet. It has become so bad that I am afraid to let them even play anymore because we can’t afford to get evicted. It is soo frustrating it makes me sooo nervous. Anyone have any suggestions

FYI to everyone that is renting and dealing with noisy neighbors, the landlord will not evict the offending tenant. My landlord is an attorney and I pleaded with him to do something with the tenant above me but in his words the only resolution is that there is no solution. Your landlord will not go through an eviction process as s/he threatens to do. It is too costly a process and the judges in New York State looks favorable on tenants rights. The most that will happen is the judge will ask the offending tenant if s/he promises to lower their noise level and give them a slap on the wrist but WILL NOT evict the tenant. The judges deem that too severe of a punishment to exercise for noise complaints.
I wanted to share that with all the tenants suffering from inconsiderate neighbors. Again, this is in New York so laws will differ from state to state. I’m sorry to say the only recourse is to move. I’m currently going through this with my neighbor so I speak from first hand experience.  I’m trying to save up so I can get out of this misery.

I agree with Sound Sensitive ~ noise complaints, if not handled right, can lead to ugly consequences.  I’m on the complaining side, and my LL has given ME notice, for no reason.  In a mo-2-mo tenancy this is usually legal, but…because I had to call the police and the tenants and the LL were cited, this is the only reason I am being asked to leave.

So, unfair and unjust…what can I do?  I did a lot of research on Wisconsin Statutes, as well as what is legal and not legal grounds in this situation.  It turns out that a Consumer Protection code (ATCP 134.09) PROHIBITS  the landlord from evicting when a tenant has exercised a PROTECTED action, such as complaining to the proper authorities for legitimate cause, when all othe avenues of solution have failed.

It seems, at first glance, that I am A-OK, now I don’t need to move and I will just go to court once the Notice Terminating Tenancy moves into a proper Eviction should I refuse to move based on this being a Retaliatory action.  WRONG.  Once the Eviction begins, now I have a public court record, regardless if I win and the case is settled in my favor.  Any future landlord will see it as a red flag.  So now what?

I considered staying, as who has endless amounts of cash to move after you just moved?  But, I do see where someone very poor cannot, and in these cases, you must engage your local Legal Aid office and use the Retaliatory Eviction as what is called an “Affirmative Defense” in your “Answer” to the Eviction Notice.  That is what all renter’s should be able to do, without damaging their public record, but it is not the case.

So, to make a long story even longer (I did a lot of research!), I have concluded thus far, that the superior option is to move first and then file an “Affirmative Cause of Action” which is a “Summons & Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief” for the LL’s action which is violative of ATCP 134.09.  Any LL found guilty will have to pay the tenant double damages when violating this particular code, as it violates the tenant’s rights.

I am writing this because it is a legal maze when you must assert your rights as a tenant and you seek to keep your own record unblemished for future rentals, but you have been egregiously wronged.  I hope that people seek the help they need quickly, and please know your state’s Statutes regarding Landlord-Tenant laws, and contact your local Legal Aid office.

I will be moving, and during the process, my attorney will handle the filing of the Summons & Complaint.  If I can help just one person by posting this, it will be worth it.  Good luck to all of us trying to just live in relative peace!

PLEASE HELP,VERY HEAVY NOISE ,DAY AND LATE NIGHT TIME ,THIS KIDS IS OUT CONTROL,VERY HEAVY JUMP EVERY DAY, I LIVE THE FISRT FLOOR AND I HEAR EVRETHING HAPPEN UPSTAIR . I MAKE SEVERAL COMPLAINT TO THE APARTMENT OFFICE BUT NOTHING CHANGE,.

RALEIGH ,NC
RIVER BIRCH APARTMENTS

I have almost the same problem except I live on the third floor and the kids and mother make noises 24hours a day. It sounds like the kids are jumping and slamming cabinets and doors all the time. During the day he kids play on their porch with basketballs and scream the whole time. This is really annoying because it shakes my apartment with every bounce and bump from downstairs. I purposely requested third floor so I wouldn’t have to hear people above me but instead the noise is coming from below. It is horrible since my boyfriend works third shift and needs to sleep during the day. I understand kids will be loud but it’s the mother’s fault for not controlling them better. We have put in several complaints to the office but nothing has changed yet. Unfortunately this apartment place does not allow for leases to be broken so we are suck for almost a year still.

Raleigh, NC – Providence at Brier Creek (nice enough community but paying too much to have to deal with noisy neighbors all the time)

Hello I have a huge problem and I don’t know what to do. Me and my wife live under a very very touchy neighbor. When just watching TV
She will pound on the floor. The other day my father ( whose almost 50) was over visiting and we were playing some country at a respectable
Level and she came out on her balcony and cussed us out. I have lived in apts for the past 9 yrs of my live and have never had a complaint
Until now….. Also I have hearing loss and tinnitus from the time I spent in the army and in Iraq. This makes it hard for me to hear. The only time
She is complaining and jumping on her floor above us is mid day.. I am sure to keep the TV way down at quiet hours even to the point I have a
Hard time hearing it.

What should I do I am trying to be respectful and reasonable but she won’t stop harassing me and complaining. Don’t I have rights to be able?To just sit down and enjoy a football game at a decent level without being harassed?????

Please help this OIF Vet out
101st airborne

Dallas23:

“Playing some country Music at a respectable level?” No such thing!! Okay, so that’s just my opinion. (not a fan of country music) Besides our disagreement on the country music thing, let me just say that you do have rights.

Most noise ordinance laws don’t go into effect until after 10:30 PM and end around 6AM. The noise ordinances deal primarily with running motors, or electrical devices. They were intended to prevent construction workers from being loud during normal sleeping hours. So, how does this apply to your situation? Well, you probably are well within your right. Some neighbors are extremely sensitive to noise, but that doesn’t mean that you are in violation of any law or house rule.

You might actually be the victim of harassment. This of coarse assumes that the noise level is standard and not overly excessive. Apartment complexes are notorious for having thin walls, thus allowing noises to penetrate easier.

So what can you do??

1) If there is any reason left in your neighbor, you can attempt to work out some type of mutual agreement. Approach your neighbor with respect and apologize for the inconvenience you are causing, then politely explain that you are not purposely being loud and you feel that your noise levels are reasonable; but that you are willing to cooperate with making further effort to minimize noise levels as long as it doesn’t impede your personal rights to enjoyment.

2) You can also take a more official approach and file a complaint with the RPA. (Requires $35 filing fee) This will document the problem that your neighbor is harassing you for normal noise levels that is causing you additional burden, stress and impeding your own quiet enjoyment rights. The complaint will be sent to your property manager and will provide you solid protection against bogus eviction or bogus noise complaints from your neighbor. It will also, most likely, get your neighbor to be more reasonable.

The first one to act, will hold the cards. If the problem is as bad as you say it is, I would do option 1 or 2 mentioned above.

Hope that helps… but please, for humanities sake don’t play that darn country music!! lol

My noisy 2nd floor neighbor has a boyfriend that comes in from work around 10 pm and they both stay up at the latest 4:00am walking, dropping things, talking loudly etc. and he isn’t on her lease. Only herself and her son are suppose be leaving there. Oh did I mention they are in there late 40’s early 50’s. At first I thought I was the only one that heard them every day and night but landlord asked other tenants and they have agreed with me. I actually had to knock on her door at 12:45am because of the noise. Her college age son whom was at home for the summer decided he wanted to put a desk together hammering until midnight on hard wood floors. I contacted my landlord and thank the lord yesterday I found out they will be going to court to try to evict her. They have left water on in the kitchen it has messed up my kitchen ceiling. And get this she is suppose to be a school teacher but of course she’s not working right now. She has lied to my landlord about not being at home when her & her boyfriend decide to come in after drinking and running through the house at 4am.

Hi i am very annoyed with the move i recently made into a cottage. I was thinking it would be much better and safe since how i do have two little ones who don’t go to school and I was trying to eliminate my issues in which i am dealing with now but i feel shouldn’t be. I have been getting complaints in a one moth period of noise and banging on the wall which i know is a little over board because my little ones i know do cry and they scream but do not be hitting the walls and especially knocking down pictures of the neighbors wall. I am just tiered of who ever it my be making these complaints and i don’t want to have them on my record because it really not fair its just a family enjoying them selves before going to bed and facing another hard day. So i want to look into options i may have to have this embarrising harassment to stop.

I have 4 more months left in my lease and am being evicted. Number one because i have a dog. Dogs are allowed in our building but a pet deposit is required. When i first moved there was different management and they bypassed the pet deposit for me to fit my budget. I explained this to the current property manager and she stated that i could come up and pay the extra fee to keep the dog and my apartment. The other reason is because she has “heard” i have someone living with me that is not on my lease and selling drugs out of my apartment. This is completely false and when i asked her where she came up with it, she stated “she’s just going on what she was told”. The police came and searched by apartment the other night and came up empty handed, as i knew they would. I know my cooperation with them will get back to her, which may help my case. The police officers told me it would be a civil case, but as i have no money for an attorney i need to know what rights i have and how to exercise them to get this LL off my back. At this point i’ve found somewhere else to live and will still be moving by the deadline she originally gave me. My only concern is her trying to make me pay 2 months worth of rent for breaking the leasing agreement, even though she was the one who evicted me under false pretenses. What can i do? btw i am in the state of north carolina.

“I’ve done nothing wrong.” said the moron. Most who don’t hear their own noise, are possibly “mentally retarded” by legal standards. The IQ under 80, inability to adapt to multiple social situations, and the unwillingness to change. Congrats!

thank you for this advice, it was very helpful, i am going through this mess right now with noise, landford made some dumb suggestion for me to move to another unit in their complex, instead of the offender. i will move when lease is up

Have a problem. Live in middle apartment(2nd floor of three floors). I get noise constantly. Until two weeks ago was mostly from woman below me who will pound on things with a hammer at all times of day and night-complained, she was given written notice to stop three and a half weeks ago but has continued anyway, and now upstairs neighbor who originally seemed responsive to his noise issues is now behaving similarly with him coming home at anywhere from 12-2:30 a.m. and then stomping around and banging on things-if i complain again i’m afraid that management company will try to do something to me. i live in CO, anyone have any advice because it seems if one is being quiet the other is being a jerk, or they both are, i suffer from migraines so it is very important for me to have a quiet environment. Thank you in advance.

Probably way too late to respond…………but……..I have also three children below ages of 6. Live on second floor condo and the lady below us bangs on the ceiling. She does it all the time even when kids are asleep. I was just given eviction papers and I would like to fight it because it is like her word against mine. When I rented the condo I had all my children. I work full time and we are usually only home also to sleep…..but as you said I am fraid to let me kids play.

kelley

We need help. We live in a second floor apt with two kids eight and almost two. The ppl below us complain constantly. My kids can’t play, or even walk around the apt without the ceiling being banged on and the guy below screaming up the hallway. Or the bottom two fighting which they scream and bang things around and we also can hear them walking around at all hours of the night. I feel like were walking on eggshells all the time. The landlord says ohhhh she wants it quiet around eight so that’s what were all supposed to do. Last night my kids were just watching a movie and walking around normally and they r screaming downstairs that its too noisy. We have tried to explain to them we have a young child and u really can’t control his every move or make him walk all over quietly. And also did I mention they lie to the landlord and don’t tell the whole story to what happens around here I pretty much just get from the landlord she’s been here fifteen yrs and what she wants goes. Really but Iam sorry u can’t live by somebody else’s schedule. My god I can’t even come home from work and make something to eat or take a shower without being accused of being loud. We have rights too. And r facing conviction. What can I do to fight this.

i live on the first floor the guy above me comes home anywhere from 10pm to 3am. the noise is unreal. he is always dropping things which sound like bowling bowls. the tv is always loud. he talks so loud we can almost join in his conversation. the neighbor above him has complained to the owner as many times as i have. 6 months later still no results. we have called the police to many times to keep track. they say there is nothing they can do its up to the owner. i get about 3 hours of sleep a night. my blood pressure is up and all i can think about is when is this guy coming home and how much noise he is going to make. we have to wear ear plugs to get any sleep. we dont know what our rights are . any one with any suggestions would be helpful.

I am a second floor renter with a 1 year old. I am also a stay at home mom… not by choice, but because I cannot find work. I am either over qualified or under qualified and its ridiculous. Anyway, our story is long and sordid, but to sum it up, the day we moved in we went to introduced ourselves to our downstairs neighbor, a retired older single woman. We were friendly and smiley and pleasant and it was very very clear to us from that moment on that she wasn’t, at least not to us. Our other neighbors seem to like us just fine so I had no idea what her problem was… until the 7th month we lived here. She had been up to complain once a month for various “noise” reasons, our son “walked all day” or “yelled too much” or “was dragging things across the floor”. It got to the point where I really was starting to dislike this woman, she wasn’t just a bitter mean old lady anymore, she was becoming harassing. I called the office and explained the situation, they said the same thing that I was telling her “he is a 1 year old…” I get that the situation sucks, but I can’t possibly restrict him any more than I already have. He is trapped in 1 room of the house all day (unless its nice and, then we go outside). I try to keep our movements as quiet as I can, but I can’t do anymore. So I asked the office if there were any units we can move into to get away from her, when asked what apartment we were currently in, the office attendant looked us up and sighed, saying “Oh her… she does that to everyone.” Apparently she has lived her for 7 years and tortured every tenant that has ever lived above her. So at least we knew it wasn’t personal… (scoff). It has now gotten to the point where if the baby makes more than a couple thumps in a row (and his bed time is 7:30, so its not like its ever at an inappropriate time) she BLASTS music so loud that my floors pulse with the bass. Yesterday it was 8 hours and 45 minutes of sustained noise. My ears throbbed from the low level sound and my head hurt and I can only imagine what my poor baby felt. She is retaliating against at 1 year old baby that is only just learning how to control himself and its madness. Just madness. I am so stressed all the time, I cry a lot these days. We can’t afford to relocate just yet (not that there are any units in our price range available anyway) but I cant escape this horrible woman… We haven’t filed a formal complaint yet (though she keeps threatening to file one on us…) because I wonder, since the office clearly knows about her and nothing has been done in the last 7 years, why would I have any reason to believe that a complaint filed by us would do anything except incur her wrath and cause more harassment? She is completely unreasonable… again I understand how much this must suck for her, but I am literally doing everything I can already to keep quiet.

Your use of CAPS hurts my eyes. I’ve made a complaint against you in this forum. You should move back to the third world country you came from… then go die in a fire. Thank you.

“she BLASTS music so loud that my floors pulse with the bass. Yesterday it was 8 hours and 45 minutes of sustained noise.”

Call the police mom… they’ll hear the music and write a warning. Three warnings and they get a mean ticket. The wench below you deserves that and more!

I’ve had a similar problem. If they continue to persist, do what I do and offer them some soundproof windows (CitiQuiet is my personal preference, http://www.citiquiet.com if you decide to go this route). That usually satiates them and makes them feel special.

First of all, your use of caps lock is annoying.

Now.. I have a 3 year old, and we live on a second floor. Any time a new tennant moves in below us, we make sure they are aware that we have a young child. Our floor is not very well insulated, and we hear everything from downstairs, and vice versa. Before you judge these people, maybe you should go get to know them and find out what’s actually going on up there. It may just be that the structure of the building makes things sound louder than they are.

After living in the same unit for 13 years, property management allowed a husband/wife and wife’s sister to move into an end unit that backed up to my inside unit. My bedroom windows were a few feet away from their master bedroom deck. Yeah, didn’t take months for them to carry on their late night talking/smoking sessions outside on their deck. It’s fair to say they were equal opportunity offenders as the noise wasn’t restricted to late night weekends. When I first moved into this community, we had to sign a very extensive rules/regulations document. Clearly, current management no longer provides these guidelines to tenants. For many years I enjoyed the designated quiet hours. And I was very tolerant of Friday and Saturday night parties up to midnight. But, if you work a Monday-Friday dayshift, you look forward to your rest and relaxation on the weekends. The property management wants to push the responsibility for policing tenants onto other tenants. I hate to bother the police with noise complaints and even if you did make the 311 call, it was a low priority issue for the police-as it should be. Until the tenants who were being complained against decided to act out by screaming through the walls and escalating the noise levels. They were warned and at one point, came over and apologized, but being younger kids that didn’t last long. I finally asked to be moved to another unit since property management clearly could not control the other tenants. I didn’t get any kind of break on moving units and even increased my monthly rent by moving to the larger end units. I mistakenly thought that if I got into one of those fabulous end units I would enjoy the new layout and hopefully not have to deal with college-age kids who really would be better suited over in ‘University City’ apartments. When I moved March ‘10, the neighbor upstairs had been here several years and I never heard a peep out of him. Neighbor below me downstairs, an elderly gentleman who really can’t hear any way haha. I eventually learned to shut out his loud TV volume and fact don’t pay any attention to it. Came home two weeks ago to find moving boxes outside on the breezeway. New neighbors. They managed to wait until their very first weekend to start the music. 130am on a Saturday. The very following day, the music resumed at 130pm and kept on until 530pm. My brother could hear the music over the phone while talking to me, Sent some emails to the property management and didn’t hear anything back. Came home today and guess what? 530pm and the music has already started for the weekend. I sent another email and got a rude reply back from the assistant community manager that she had not addressed the issue because she was on vacation last week and this week. I got the standard, call the police/call the office to make a complaint. I am contacting the office…via email…to make a complaint. I don’t think the ‘this is apartment living-get used to it’ thought process holds water. I no longer go knocking on doors to confront other tenants because you don’t know who is on the other side of the door. Oh wait, I do. People who moved in and thought we’d all enjoy their music level at all days and hours. Not to mention they move in with their out of state tags, but that is a whole other story. Why am I the bad guy here? I keep my TV low and if I can hear your music over my air conditioning, it is too loud. I really don’t want to have to move again.

ok, so i live on the first floor in a 3 level building. i also own drums. it was my understanding that i can be as loud as i want until around 10pm, until i have to turn the noise down. is this true? because everytime i play, my bitchy guardian constantly complains that the neighbors or office “allegedly” complain that my drums are too loud. i am pretty much 99% certain shes lying just because of the fact my drums annoy her, but i wanted to make sure just so i can call her out of her bullshit & play my drums in peace.

Generally, noise ordinances have separate sets of rules for during the daytime and the nighttime–where I live, from 7 am to 11 pm noises must be kept at a level which cannot be heard at over 100 hundred feet, and then from 11 pm until 7 am (the night time hours) the distance is reduced to 50 feet. So no, you can’t be “as loud as you want” during the day; not to mention, of course, that it’s just rude and inconsiderate.

DO NOT PLAY DRUMS IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING! If you are a musician – you should have a designated practice space. EVERY tenant has the right to complain about noise regardless of the hour if it is disruptive to normal living… a drum-kit most certainly is. I live above a god-awful electric guitar wannabe musician who rehearses the same 16 bars of music while attempting solos to a base track on repeat. There is NOTHING I can do but make complaints, and cops will just ask him to keep it down… when the cops leave, it happens again. SO, if you are a musician, respect the rights of others – who find practical ways to rehearse music without disrupting those in their buildings, and practice in an appropriate practice space. OR use an electric kit and rehearse in headphones. There is NO alternative to this without being completely inconsiderate. For all you know they have a sleeping baby, or a student studying for final exams – be kind!!

So I. Have a neighbor across the way from me who throws parties almost every night from 1am to sometimes 6am. So much yelling and trashing the sharred yard. We have broken beer bottles all over the place. Only one guy lives there but loads of people walk in and out all day and night long doing drug deals. We have ben scared to complain cause they trashed our upstairs neighbor pourch cause her kids had schol the next morning and they wouldn’t stop parting it was 4am.later thy threw glass onto their pourch. I was just yelled at yesterday for supposedly stealing one of the girls cats…she was deffinantly on something. Everyone on hear is saying you can’t get them evicted but they are horrible! What can I do they are mean and violent!

Here is my story. I live on a 3rd floor apartment and I have a 4 week newborn baby who is colicy at the moment. I don’t get much sleep at night. I also have a 2 year old boxer which my apartment allows. Everytime the baby cries, my dog gets up with me. She doesn’t bark; she just gets up and walks with me. I walk around with my baby trying to get her to sleep. Well, my neighbor underneath has complained to the office about the noise caused by my baby crying and my dog and me walking around at night. At first she would come up to my apartment and knock on my door at 2am in which case, she would wake up my daughter whom I just got back to sleep. She said my baby’s crying and my stomping was making her dog sick. I just recieved a formal complaint notice from my landlord. She told me that if she gives me 3 notices, she will have to evict me. I cannot help my baby has colic and cries. I am also not stompping. My dog is walking with me. I could understand if she was barking, but that is not the case. The neighbor also complains when my dog plays with her stuffed doll. I have recently took the doll away and the vet told me to give it back to her because she had become depressed. I don’t know what to do. I don’t play loud music or anything like that. I am worried about being evicted because of the “noise” that is beyond my control.

So love your reply, other renter that does not have kids have no idea, that is not as easy as it seem. Iam going throught the same w/ my apt place. doesnt matter if i accidentally drop something or my kids is playing the renter below will alwasy hear you. I can hear my downstair neighbors, they have no kids; but a dog lol my son is not even that loud but when he run or jump i do tell him to stop. But still and all his a toddler. Now I’m getting complaint, I’m hoping we don’t get kicked out and my lease hurry up and end!

I live in Raleigh NC also, I know Brier Creek area, and that is a pricey area to not be able to have control sound.

All of you who receive a justifiable notice of compliant should realized that your noise causes an unbelievable amount of stress on the lives on those filing the compliant against you. If I can be mindful and considerate of you as a renter, can you not do likewise? If you live in a apartment watch what you do, that’s what I do to be a good neighbor. If you choose to have children living in apartment than have control over your children or move to a house or home where your children could have more freedom. I play piano so I gave up my piano when I moved to this God shakened apartment. I now used a electric piano with headphones. This is what a decent person does while living in apartment. I follow the rules so you can follow the rules as well. I am going through living hell living in my apartment now. My story is like the many horror stories shared on this site. We need stronger laws to protect the apartment dwellers who follow the rules. Mangerment here is a joke, I have complained and documented all my complaints. I moved to another unit in the complex in less than a year they even had the nerve to go up on my rent when it was their failure in mangement to correct the situation. Love the new apartment but the tenants are the same trash they keep renting to. I put up with the daytime noise, a grown women above me running through the apartment all hours of the day and night. Do you have any idea what that sounds like? I get awaken on the hour most of time I can’t get back to sleep. I called the security firm the complex hires and that’s a joke! I need help and it sounds like many of you need the same help as well. I feel like starting a grass root organization to help fight for better laws to protect those of us who follow the rules as apartment renters yet can not get any help to resolve the noise issues from these non-caring landlords. All I want is to be able to sleep at night. I will put up with the noise as I mentioned in the daytime even though it’s rough at times. After 11:00PM we as renters should be allowed to be able to sleep where we pay rent. Lately, I pray each time I lay my head down hoping to sleep through the night. These people above me sound as if they are coming through the floor. I really don’t think any one has to walk that hard especially in the wee hours of morning. All night long this goes on bumps, thumps and really hard heavy walking even a slight run! Then the radio comes on and I can’t get back to sleep this is usually 4:00AM this is not right. I am not doing these things I’m mindful of others. If I can watch my noise level so can anyone else.

Ugh.. I can feel the pain of all of you. We pay rent and expect to have a good nights sleep. I am on the bottom floor of an apartment building. I am really patient when it comes down to noise. However, my upstairs neighbor is really pushing the envelope! She has a long distance boyfriend, who stays days at a time. When he is there they have loud, obnoxious sex at insane hours of the night, example 3am, 4am, 5am on weekdays! I find this highly annoying considering I have to be up early in the morning. The moans do not bother me as much as the head board and bed stand banging violently against the wall and floor.. Talk about annoying at 3 am!! I don’t mind her having sex, I just think it is a bit much being that LOUD at 3 am. It is not like she is a 20 something girl that can’t control herself, it is a middle-aged woman with no respect for others. I have complained to the rental office and they are going to bring up the matter with this triflin’ hooker of a neighbor. I would love to go upstairs and give her a piece of my mind, but husband wants to keep the peace in our complex. My next step is to call the police, but I have heard that the police do not take noise complaints as priority. So everything will be voided.. I am going to make it my mission to think of ways to make this hooker B**** uncomfortable. I know it sounds harsh, but this tramp has stolen many hours of my sleep that I will never get back. She is basically committing adultery, disorderly conduct, vulgar noise, and just being an inconsiderate person. Hoping to get some sleep at 3 am tonight.

uh hello?! these people who are making noise need to wake up and realize that THEY ARE THE PROBLEM! NOT!!! the complainers. you are living in an apt. building with other people NOT a house. other people live there, you are not the only ones living there. shut up! be as quiet as you can. a second floor apt. is NO place for children. do not move into a second floor apt. insist on a first floor. i have ZERO sympathy for people who make noise then want to not face the consequences. show some respect for other people!