Homeless Because Of Horn-Locking Vehicles!

[Fallen]

If you indeed “just received” something, I’d check your lease carefully for termination notice provision. Just because you’re in a monthly tenancy doesn’t mean the landlord isn’t obligated to give a certain amount of notice as mentioned in that lease despite it’s initial term having expired. I know of no state in which a week’s notice would do the trick in a month-to-month tenancy. [Belated note: you mention “11 days to find a place” later in your post.] (There are a couple of states where less than a rental month’s notice is all that’s required; in WA, it’s a 20-day notice on a monthly tenancy, and I think it’s 15 or 20 days in FL.) Were your lease of simple fixed term variety and ended as of December 31 – and that’s unusual these days – then neither the landlord nor you would need to give any notice about termination; if no new lease arrangement made, you’d be expected to be out at the end of the lease term.

It’s always best to approach a tenant whose behavior is bugging you directly, or at least by direct polite note (in this case, if you didn’t know where they lived, you’d leave a polite note in an envelope on the car; here, it seems you know where they live because you asked manager to convey X).

“The apartment manager refused to do anything and also said if I put this document on theirs cars it would be “harassment” and she would call the police.”

I’d have immediately written to the head of the property management company or the owner; that’s nonsense. I also wouldn’t attempt to resolve something over the phone v. in writing. (That said, for all I know, you made one too many calls or left one too many messages instead of waiting for someone to get back to you. One to many of either is a sure-fire way to ensure someone never gets back to you)

Please note that no one can “kick [you] out”. Even if you were given proper advance notice of termination, they’d need a court order of eviction.

“I think the auto companies are trying to control the media and keep their disturbing products out of the news. They also may be putting pressure on the apartment management corporations to “hush” tenant’s noise complaints about this issue.”

Right here is where you went entirely off the rails. I’d approach it from a purely contractual standpoint, and that of your unnamed state’s landlord tenant laws.

[BoBettie]

I have sympathy, I’ve spilled coffee while walking past a car where some a-hole hits the lock and it blares a HOOOONK! Cripes, that’s obnoxious! When I bought my new CRV I made them disable it before I drove it off the lot. Now my options are exactly as JR describes them. One caveat though; I lost my car in a parking lot and discovered that the panic button doesn’t work- I assume it got turned off when the unlock noise got turned off.

I am smart enough to hear click and see the lights flash so I don’t need some stupid horn HONK to let me know it’s locked. I hate that feature almost as much as alarms.

[Lord_Feldon]

@TriPolar

No it is not something to expect when a car is locked. The sound of the locking mechanism clicking, or a subtle fart like Ranger Jeff’s car might be expected, but honking the horn is not a necessary or expected part of locking the car and if your car was doing that and waking me up at night I’d sue you and win. If I lived in the next town over I’d call the cops and they’d cite you if you did it again, and hopefully my town will soon have a similar law about noise.

I’m personally very skeptical that routine car noises made by many cars, that happened because someone was doing something routine like locking or unlocking a door (something you’re supposed to do in parking areas, not something like revving the engine or doing burnouts), would be sufficient to win you a lawsuit or result in a citation.

Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing is another issue, and not really relevant. This is something lots of cars do, so therefore it’s something to expect if you live near an area where other people are supposed to park their cars.

[JRDelirious]

@enipla

Not all cars give you the option of the chirp at all. The only noise is the horn. I find this extra annoying in parking lots. Having a car honk at you as you walk by it just because the person is locking the door. It’s startling.

Yeah, that is why I was very happy to find that my car had a no-horn mode available to me. I’ve had a bunch of rentals in recent travels, though, with the always-horn thing – and it’s usually the ones with the loud blaring horn – and now I know I’ll be deliberately trying to avoid it in a future purchase.

[TriPolar]

@Lord_Feldon

I’m personally very skeptical that routine car noises made by many cars, that happened because someone was doing something routine like locking or unlocking a door (something you’re supposed to do in parking areas, not something like revving the engine or doing burnouts), would be sufficient to win you a lawsuit or result in a citation.

I’m talking about a full volume horn honk, not the sound of a door lock or unlocking. If it’s loud enough to wake up a reasonable person, and done night after night it’s actionable. It’s no different than just honking the horn for no reason, it disturbs people in the peaceful enjoyment of their home. If you can’t disable the feature, park somewhere else or don’t lock your car.

ETA: If you’re still skeptical go blast your horn at 2AM every night and tell me how it turns out.

[Octarine]

@Shodan

Unless he is being stalked by persistent, invisible car-honking gnomes, I suspect that this might be a case of “no matter where you go, there you are”.

I resent how you portray America’s epidemic of invisible honking gnomes as something humorous or unlikely. This modern scourge is far from funny - I’ve lost a great friend of mine to the honkers. Frankly, with the gridlock in Congress, this is going to get worse before it gets better.

NoiseNatzi, keep fighting the good fight.

[NoiseNatzi]

Good evening Forum,

Sorry I haven’t got back to this thread sooner but as you can imagine I have been just a bit busy packing up all my stuff and moving it to a storage unit. Taking pictures of all the stuff I need to sell ASAP.

I appreciate all your comments and I will try fill in the missing details of my life situation at the moment.

I was offered a new 12 month lease in September and at that time because of the noise problem I elected to go month-to-month a pay a very high rent. This type of lease just renews every month and I had plans to move but NOT in December.
I visited at least 10 complexes before I chose this one. The reason I moved here was because the lease and their website stated that they didn’t allow disturbing noise. Also I talked to all the front office support personal and made sure they knew that I was a light sleeper and I had just left a complex in another state where the horn-locking tenants out-numbered the people that were disturbed by honking. So the disturbing tenants got their way and got rid of me. After that I suppose all the folks that I knew that hated the honking were leaving also. This is sort of like how ghettos develop.

Anyway I had a verbal contract that the community manager would be on my side if I had car horn complaint before I signed the lease and moved in.
The first 2 years were great. I thought I had found my new home for life. Then all the front office employees that I knew and liked were all gone and replaced. Then we had a different apartment manager every time I went to the office. Then students starting moving in and almost all had laud honking cars like Honda, Jeeps and Escapes and they love this stupid feature and are always returning home half drunk at 02:00 A.M. So now the horn-honking problem had followed me to my new home in Florida.

I will try to keep this short and still hit the highlights of my notes.

I could buy a house but I don’t need or want a house. This is a fairly high crime area and I like a gated apartment community with a lot of eyes to prevent bad things from happening. I sometimes travel for 5 months and I do not want to worry about my stuff back at home.

I have very good Panasonic noise cancelling head phones but I can’t wear them all the time or sleep with them on. I have tried ear plugs and white noise and neither work for me. I have installed noise limiting material over my bedroom window and it doesn’t always work for horns greater than 70 decibels. If I get woke up after 3:00 A.M. I can’t get back to sleep and it seems to ruin my whole day from lack of quality sleep. Then I sometimes fall asleep on the couch and the same car returns home for lunch and wakes me up again. After that I am a very unhappy camper!

For a monthly lease the Florida Statue requires the landlord to give at least a 15 day notice of non-renewal and they gave me 19 days by mail. Also nothing in the Florida law requires the landlord to tell you why they are not renewing your lease. The law favors the landlord and not the renters.

I feel it is very important to learn from every mistake in life. This is the reason I now never talk to people that are disturbing me with their cars. They are nice meeting a new neighbor until you bring up the horn problem and then nice turns to nasty quickly. Been there, done that. They take it personally because they think you are putting down them or their car. The problem is if you talk to them you have now identified yourself and here come the hate! The next night after talking to them they will go out of their way to sound the horn multiple times just to show you they think they have a right to do it and you are not going to try to tell them what to do. I usually have to hide my car so that horn-lockers don’t damage it.

No one likes the NoiseNatzi and especially if what he is saying is true. All I am trying to do is get a good night’s sleep.

The only reason I brought up being a veteran was to stress how importance personal freedom is to me since mine was taken away early in my life when I was drafted into the military. I joined the USAF only because I was drafted into the ARMY. The military is the ultimate experience of having to listen to things you do not want to hear and do things that you do not want to do.

Today I do not want to hear these car horns. I feel that it takes away my freedom live where I want to live in America. Today these horns for convenience are everywhere you go in public and sometimes unfortunately in private.

Sorry I didn’t have time to make this prettier got to go now.

It may be a day or so before another update.

Again, thanks for the comments.

Thank you for reading
NoiseNatzi

[TokyoBayer]

@NoiseNatzi

I think the auto companies are trying to control the media and keep their disturbing products out of the news. They also may be putting pressure on the apartment management corporations to “hush” tenant’s noise complaints about this issue.

Many people mock, but I’ve got inside information that this is true. Nissan, alone, employees over 7,000 people full time on this, with a staggering 6 MILLION informers nation wide. The pales in comparision to the 14,923 people (current as of October 31, 2014) who work for GM in their Silence The Complaints (STC) Department. GM has a little less than 13 MILLION informers. They are reported to have 15 full time hitmen (hit people, since two are women). Ever wonder why there are so many apartment “fires?”

The only reason I’m able to openly discuss this on a public message board is that I’ve taken the precaution of posting from a mental ward, hence when they trace it back, they can show that I’m crazy.

I’ve got a lot more to post, but there’s a knock on the door. I’ll answer it and come right back.

[elfkin477]

@JRDelirious

Just so we are all on the same page:
Upon pressing the remote lock, either to open or close, the car can give you feedback in one of the following ways:
[ul]
[li]Nothing except the sound of the locks setting if you’re close enough[/li][li]A flash of the lights[/li][li]A chirp or toot of the warning beep system [/li][li]A short burst or two of the actual main horn.[/li][li]A combination of the visual and aural.[/li][/ul]

I have a Nissan like the OP’s neighbors. The default is what I fondly call asshole mode, which is option #5 on this list. If anything, the honking that it produces while locking the car is louder than I’ve managed to make it honk on purpose (my model, at least, has a stupid horn placement so I often don’t get it to honk because I forget it’s not in the center like every other car I’ve ever owned.) But anyway, it’s definitely not a polite chirp, and I was glad I found a way to get only the lights to flash instead not long after I bought the car. Having startled people in parking lots turn to look to see what I was honking at every time I locked the car was too embarrassing.

[guizot]

@TokyoBayer

Nissan, alone, employees over 7,000 people full time on this, with a staggering 6 MILLION informers nation wide. The pales in comparision to the 14,923 people (current as of October 31, 2014) who work for GM in their Silence The Complaints (STC) Department. GM has a little less than 13 MILLION informers. They are reported to have 15 full time hitmen (hit people, since two are women). Ever wonder why there are so many apartment “fires?”

You can joke all you want but the fact is that children who grow up in horn-locking families are 83% more likely to become Floridians as adults.

[Smeghead]

I’m seeing a lot of posts arguing about exactly what kind of noises can be reasonably expected upon locking ones’ car. It should be noted that that is one issue that the OP directly addresses. He looked up exactly how the car owners could change their cars’ defaults so that they do not make any noise at all and offered to help them do it if need be.

[simster]

@Smeghead

I’m seeing a lot of posts arguing about exactly what kind of noises can be reasonably expected upon locking ones’ car. It should be noted that that is one issue that the OP directly addresses. He looked up exactly how the car owners could change their cars’ defaults so that they do not make any noise at all and offered to help them do it if need be.

Just because you can do a thing, it does not follow that you must.

I, for one, like the audible feedback - of course, I have a small chirp, not a loud horn.

While I am certainly empathetic to the OPs plight and desire for quiet - that does not give them the ‘right’ to dictate to others the rules or requirements.

a self proclaimed “noise nazi” is not a reasonable individual, by title alone.

[Suburban_Plankton]

@needscoffee

The co-worker whose parking slot is next to mine has the same setting on her car. Every morning as we get out of our cars, her behemoth SUV does the honk. But it’s about 20x louder than any other vehicle I’ve ever heard, and it jolts me every fucking time, even when I remember it’s coming. I think I’ll mention to her that she can change that setting. I too can be a Natzi.

Eh, I doubt it’s really *that *bad…you probably just need a cup of coffee to calm your nerves.

[Mr.Miskatonic]

Yeah, maybe some people should just live far away from other people.

Seriously, call me when it is one of those cheap car alarms going off at 2 AM. Not the light beep of a locking car.

[Procrustus]

@Mr.Miskatonic

Yeah, maybe some people should just live far away from other people.

Seriously, call me when it is one of those cheap car alarms going off at 2 AM. Not the light beep of a locking car.

This. When I lived in a city, there were many things more annoying then a beep of a locking car. I don’t get the OP’s outrage over this particular noise. There are drunk people whooping it up when the bars close, there are car alarms, there are police and fire sirens, and early morning garbage trucks. I’m a very good sleeper, and can get back to sleep in seconds if I do wake up. If I had more trouble with nighttime noises, I’d get a real quiet, well insulated, or remote, place to live.

[Whatever4]

@Seanette

And how would one hear an alarm clock through these to do such frivolous things as get to a job on time?

One could acquire an alarm clock that either flashes the room’s lights or vibrates the bed or a pillow, a system my hearing-impaired friend uses. I know, from experience:eek: that it is very effective.

[Senegoid]

I’m not seeing a whole lot of comment in this thread about what serious assholes that apartment management seems to be (assuming we can take OP’s descriptions at face value). Why would you want to live in an apartment complex managed by such jerks?

[Namkcalb]

I’m a light sleeper too, and can understand your pain.

You’ve said your noise cancellation headphones aren’t comfortable. Have you tried noise cancelling earphones? I have a pair of Bose QuietComforts 20, and despite living by an airport, they make it totally quiet. They are $300, so if you are looking for a cheaper but less effective compromise; I’ve heard good things about Sony’s earphones.

[enipla]

@Senegoid

I’m not seeing a whole lot of comment in this thread about what serious assholes that apartment management seems to be (assuming we can take OP’s descriptions at face value). Why would you want to live in an apartment complex managed by such jerks?

Or with neighbors that beep their horns at 2am. That’s really, really inconsiderate.

[Hilarity_N.Suze]

I’m kind of with the OP here. There is no earthly reason why a car would need to make ANY noise upon locking or unlocking, other than whatever noise the lock mechanism itself makes. Why, why do we need “feedback” that our cars are locked? Was this ever a problem? Did somebody push the button and then wonder, “Oh, did I lock that car?” Or unlocking. “Well I have clicked the thing but is it REALLY unlocked? Oh how can I tell?”

It doesn’t have to honk, chirp, flash its lights or anything at all.

The car I mostly drive has a very annoying habit of suddenly going into honk-when-locked-or-unlocked mode. It goes into this mode–get this–when I use the horn for anything else. Yes. That shifts it into NOISE mode.

As a result of this I will not use the horn for anything short of preventing GBH. You’re turning the wrong way onto a one-way street? Oh well. If I’d honked at you you wouldn’t have known what I was honking about anyway and probably would have just given me the finger.

Turning it off is a lot harder. Well okay, not hard. I have to disconnect the battery. Then I have to reset the clock and all my radio stations. It’s only hard for me because I am not the kind of woman who’s intimate with my car’s greasy little secrets and I don’t really even know how to get the hood up. It’s a two-stage process. The first stage I’ve got. The second one, I don’t even know.

HOWEVER, on the other hand, OP, this is not exactly your landlord’s problem. It’s like, I live in a house. If my neighbors had honking horn-locking cars, and some of them do, it’s on them. Or on me to tell them it really bothers me. For the most part everybody’s respectful. I wouldn’t lay this on the landlord, though, because they have enough to deal with.

And on yet another hand, this doesn’t seem to be a very good reason to kick somebody out, at all. I would think that, absent any other complaints about the OP, this is kind of unreasonable. But he’s said he’s month-to-month by choice here, so I guess that’s just how it goes.

It’s the cars’ fault. OP keep up the good fight against noise pollution.