It’s 4AM and our upstairs neighbors continue to have a loud, loud party where they stomp on the floor (our ceiling) causing the whole house to shake. After a polite request to keep it down earlier this evening, and some more vitriolic shouts later on, I’ve finally called the cops. (This is perhaps the 4th time calling the cops this year). Seeing as they are flagrantly violating the noise ordinance in my town as well as the peaceful enjoyment clause of our leases, what would be the ramifications of flipping a couple of the switches on the fusebox which is in my apartment? (Standard disclaimers regarding legal questions apply; I will not acting on any posted comments, but I’m curious because it’s tempting).
Did the cops show up?
As tempted as you are to shut off their power I don’t think you have the legal right to do so.
I’d probably do it anyway, but thats just me.
Document every time you have an issue with them. It will help getting them the boot or give you an excuse to break your lease early.
Good luck
90 minutes later and two more phone calls to the dispatch, and nobody’s showed up. They say it’s a busy night in this town, and I’m sure it is, but parties like this are one reason for it.
That sucks…If you cut their power off you better be ready to go to war…You are in a shitty spot.
You are probably best off waiting for the cops and confronting the upstairs assholes in the morning.
They need to know that this shit will not be tolerated ever again.
Flick their power on and off every twenty minutes or so. That’s something that isn’t easily traced to you but disruptive to a party.
The cops finally came (5AM) and shut them up, although it was winding down by that point anyway. I asked them to issue a noise violation fine, and I think a ticket of some sort was written. Kills my whole day tomorrow though, sleep wise.
Now that the party is over they are now most likely trying to sleep themselves it’s time for you to take the offensive and ruin their sleep as well.
Crank up the Sunday morning gospel music station and go out for breakfast.Next time they have a party (EVERY time they have a party) call the landlord as well. If you wake the landlord up everytime they wake you up, that should help your situation a bit.
Our new upstairs neighbors started out like that. I dusted off the camcorder to document their behavior. They’ve calmed down, fortunately, but our maintenance guy (who was partying with them the last time I called the cops) hasn’t spoken to us in over a month. Wah! 
If someone in that apartment is on some kind of electrically-powered medical equipment, even if it’s just a vaporizer for a baby with the croup, the legal ramifications of you cutting off their power could be unpleasant. For both of you.
What has your landlord had to say about the repeated noise violations?
An aside to the main issue-unless the upstairs noisy tenant has access to those circuit breakers, it’s an installation which isn’t compliant with NEC.
You sound like you need an active noise control device.
I second the suggestion to call your landlord when it happens. It will probably only take a couple times before your landlord shuts them down.
You’re going to make iwakura43 wear headphones or sit in one place all the time?
Also, active noise control devices will do nothing about bass and foot stomping that you can feel. I don’t think active noise reduction is a useful suggestion.
That’s probably a good way to get your ass kicked. Because I know if I were having a party and the dude downstairs kept flipping the power on and off, I would confront him, especially if I were drunk.
BUT, I wouldn’t be doing such a thing as having a party until 4am with neighbors, because I’m not an asshole and I am very courteous towards others.
Answer to the question is, no, I’m pretty positive that would be illegal.
Your neighbors fusebox is in your apartment? What does he do if he blows a fuse and you’re not home? Or for that matter, even if you are home he still has to either call you or go downstairs and knock on your door to get the burnt-out fuse changed.
Not certain of the legality of you messing with it, though most main breakers are property of the power co., so they might be able to get you on trespassing or criminal mischief or some stupid minor crap like that. Not that I have ever done anything like this, nor would I ever suggest to do this, buuuuuuut. 
If the breaker is on the outside of the building, you can cause quite the interruption by pulling the breaker, and zip tying to the breaker box, then use a cheap padlock and lock the box. MOST places will have to wait for an authorized employee to come out and remove the lock and restore service. Since the noisy one’s did the reporting any further tampering to restore service before then will obviously fall on them.
Of course that is all highly hypothetical and not something that I would ever do.
More than three times anyway.
Are you sure this guy doesn’t live upstairs? He has a good excuse if it is. 
I can say pretty certainly the main breaker does not belong to the power company. The only things that belong to the power company on a standard service is the wire going from the grid to the house(not even that on an underground service) and the meter that is socketed into a meter socket that belongs to the owner. As an electrician(or home owner depending on state) I can walk up to the meter socket cut the power companies ‘seal’ off and remove the socket as needed. The power companies can and do complain about people cutting their seals but have no authority on the matter. If they feel it was done for a wrongful purpose, such as theft, they will bring it up with the police or allow the electrical inspector to handle it.
Overall the power companies don’t care what happens to power at a residence they only care that the power gets to the residence and is paid for when consumed.
Regarding the legality of shutting of your neighbors power it can depend on state and season. If you cut power to a residence in MA during the winter there are specific laws to address that. I’m sure anywhere in the country if you were shutting off someones power with malicious intent(even if you feel their party justifies it) the authorities can find some way of charging you or at least waste enough of your time resolving it that it wouldn’t be worth the trouble.