My own free (and worth every penny of it!) advice would be to try the sweet, reasonable approach.
Visit the offending household. Explain calmly and quietly how the loud noise early in the mornings is disturbing your peaceful enjoyment.
Be nice.
Be VERY nice.
Take them some homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Ask them ever so politely, humbly, saccharine sweetly if they could just gosh, please, ask their rides not to honk their horns early in the morning.
Then, as you are leaving, drop strong hints about high-powered sniper rifles and mafia connections.
Didn’t Alfred always throw in a bit at the end of the episode about how these people, having committed the perfect crime, got caught anyway? It struck me as the TV equivalent of a “square-up reel”, trying to inject some kind of weak “crime does not pay” message so some bluenose wouldn’t accuse them of promoting crime.
This is good. Alternatively, if you’re up to that, put up a big no-honking sign with a plate stating ‘between 21:00-9:00. Please use your cellphone or the doorbell instead.’
I think the choice of wardrobe when discussing the issue is the key. I know that in the past, whenever I had to discuss their lack of manners with noisy neighbors, if I was casually dressed they tended to slough off my concerns. Yet, on the other hand, when I wore a magenta satin g-string, silver cowboy boots, crossed bandoliers of tampons, and a lot of eye make-up, I had their undivided attention. Remember, Eve, dress for success.
So, just come down as I’m usually dressed around the apartment, then?
I tried your link, Hal, but it doesn’t work for my county in NJ (I tried the second one)—you need the owner’s name.
I’ve tried the polite approach; I’ve tried shrieking like a demented fishwife. I wonder if calling the cops would accomplish anything (except the cops putting me down on their “Annoying Crank” list)?
By the way, I went to bed at 9:30 last night and jumped three feet in the air at 10:15 when the HONKING commenced.
Is there a curfew where you live (and I just noticed that “curfew” could stand for “curse the few” who distrub all of us)?
Is there a noise ordinance?
Chances are they are breaking both.
We have a safety officer in my town-he deals with stuff like this. I don’t suggest clogging up 911, but maybe a call during business hours to the cops would help.
good luck-I feel your pain. Once every summer, my neighbor gets drunk and rides his lawn tractor around his backyard at 0300. I attribute this to Vietnam.
“You smell that? Do you smell that? Cut grass, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of cut grass in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill mowed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn’t find one of ‘em, not one stinkin’ blade of grass. The smell, you know that cut grass smell, the whole hill. Smelled like - victory.”
In all seriousness, I lived across the street from a car dealership that had amazingly punctual car alarms that went off every night at 2am. I called the local police switchboard and they said yes, go ahead and call the non-emergency number and if nothing else the property owner will get a longer and longer list of police calls to their property listed. I’m sure the land lord would not particularly like to have their building listed as a trouble spot with the cops.
Just make sure to use the non-emergency number and to be perfectly reasonable and articulate with the cops. (I’m thinking drunken belligerence to 911 probably will get you the “Annoying Crank” label, especially if your complaint involves aliens and black helicopters…)
Young college-age tenants … middle aged drivers picking them up at odd hours … honking, not using a cell phone (because its not a number you’d dare want on your cell phone history) …
Okay, there’s not much you can do about people who just don’t give a shit. However, there’s nothing stopping you from hedge trimming, mowing, and jackhammering on the weekend when they’re dead to the world. I realize you rent. But you can borrow these tools just to piss these people off. I think getting even is your only choice.
The legal and moral thing to do- after trying to get a hold of the actual Property owner- is call the police (non-emergency number) every single time they do this. After a number of times (be sure to records th eincidents 7 calls0- then write your Chief of Police and your Coucilmember.
If the landlord/owner does nothing- and the police accrue enough calls (encourage your neighbors to call, too!), the building can be declared a “public nuisance” and shut down. Be sure and tell the Prpoerty owner about that, if you do get a hold of him. Send a certified letter- if you can’t find his real address (the County hall of Records has it), then mail it to across the street, addressed to him.
To make myself more clear- call your County Hall of Records, and ask “I’d like to know who the owner of record is for 1234 Mockingbird lane is, and his address of record. Thank you”. You may have to go downtown (or to the County Seat) and go through Microfiche yourself, or you may get the info on line even. Every State & County is different, but that info is Public. It is possible they won’t release the mailing address; if so- do as i said above- address a certified letter (and a 1st class copy- BOTH) to “I.M. Landlord, 1234 Mockingbird lane”.
Mention "public nusiance’- there is very likely a Code section you can cite. Record every police call & incident. After a month, mail a copy of the record to the owner, the Police and your City Council person. Rinse, lather, repeat.
Hmmm, that sounds like it might be a plan. I wonder if I should call the Nice Policeman in my neighborhood first and just explain the problem to him in a polite, non-crazy old crank manner and ask his input, too?
