Save the message. If you do find a new apartment before your current lease is up, you might need it to prove that he was being unreasonable and effectively asked you to move out.
Your landlord is definitely being unreasonable. However, if you really would like to stay, you might consider shoving towels under the door leading into the common hallway and seeing if that helps. Our house is pretty well insulated but sound from the living room carries all the way up the stairs via the hallways. When my kids have slumber parties, we’ve discovered that simply putting towels underneath the door alleviates most of the noise. Also if you have wood floors, consider getting area rugs. Nothing carries sound like hard floors.
To this I can attest. I reside primarily in my parents basement ( that is where my computer/ television is and where I am right now) and every step, every kick, every noise, everytime the dog jumps, the floor sounds like the movie Stomp is performing above me. Something about this is just terrible. I never said anything to them about this but one day my dad, The Surb came down and said “Damn, thats loud. Is it always this loud down here?” He’s pretty funny about that.
On a side note, I’m moving into a place soon and I’m SOO glad that we won’t be sharing the residence with the landlord. Sorry for your luck though Eve.
I think Seven "s suggestion was right on the money.
Save the phone message, compose a nice letter simply pointing out you were unaware of the restrictions NOT mentioned in the lease. Propose he include them, with rent reductions as calculated, blah, blah. Point out your many virtues as a tenant and that you are only seeking resolution. Send it registered and cc like it’s gone to your lawyer and the housing association. Be ever so polite, pointing out you are only wishing to not upset him any further.
You are a gifted writer and, I believe, could easily swing this and avoid an ugly confrontation with him.
New Jersey law states that if the landlord is the other occupant of a two-family that he owns, he pretty much can do anything he wants about the other tenant as long as it’s not against the law. My office won’t deal with this situation because of that stupid law.
I almost didn’t take my current place cause the owner lives downstairs, but fortunately I lucked out. My only complaint is the location being off the main bus lines, but the layout and especially the price (1BR for $640 and that includes heat and hot water) is great.
Well, that kinda goes without saying, that someone can do stuff that’s not illegal. Do you mean to say that tenant protection laws in New Jersey do not apply in this specific situation?
Its none of my business (and you probably don’t want to hear from me anyway) but the above is a good idea.
Hell, I’d see about getting that answering machine message recorded into an mp3 format and start thinking about who has a website where it could be uploaded. Also, all those fights you can’t help but ‘over-hear’: can you start recording them? Start each recording with your name, date, time and a short title. (eg “Eve, 1/2/07, 10pm, typical landlord screaming match, sounds like he’s killing her. Hoboken police dispatched.”) If you have an email address for them, try sending them an email response to any additional silly noise requests he makes with some well placed sarcasm and a few of these mp3’s attached. It might make him think twice about trying to evict you.
Note: in hindsight, I would have only included as a quote the very last line of Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor’s post, where he refers to keeping written and recorded records of events as they unfold.
While telling a landlord to fuck off might feel great (and in many cases including this one be richly deserved), I don’t honestly believe that it will help your case/situation in the long run.
{My New Year’s Resolution is to proof-read more and to stop trying to hit ‘Submit’ quickly when a co-worker pops around the cubicle wall.}
I also think that Seven had a good idea, and documenting everything to prove to your next landlord that you’re not a bad tenant is good too.
In the meantime, give your current landlord a copy of the movie Pacific Heights and tell him it’s become your favourite movie since you saw it last month, and you think that the Michael Keaton character was greatly misunderstood and maligned.
I think she’s trying to say that many of the usual New Jersey tenants’ rights laws do not apply if it is an owner-occupied unit like the one Eve is in.
For example, (and please correct me if I’m wrong) it is illegal to discriminate against potential tenants on the basis of race. If you’re renting an apartment in your own house, however, you may discriminate on the basis of race.
Federal law requires only that one party to the phone conversation consent to recording. So, if you want to record your conversation without informing the other party, that’s OK. The majority of states either defer to federal law, or have drafted state law in accordance with the federal guidelines.
But some states require consent of all parties. In such states, recording your own phone conversation without the consent of the other party/ies can lead to a civil suit as well as criminal prosecution. My own state, Maryland, is one of the dozen or so states that requires all-party consent.
A grey area is the case of interstate calls. If i call someone in a one-party-consent state, which law applies: Maryland’s law or that state’s law?
This guide for journalists offers the following advice:
That website also has a state-by-state guide to the laws regarding recording telephone conversations. The OP’s state, New Jersey, is a one-party-consent state. So Eve could, if she wanted, record her telephone conversations with her landlord, “so long as no criminal or tortious intent is present.”
