My Neighbors Just Called The Cops on Me!

I wasn’t having a go at you - I just would cut people some slack when they’re moving in, because it’s a stressful occasion. I hadn’t realised they started moving in at 10pm - I was thinking about the times I’ve moved (or helped others move) and still been building furniture, etc. into the early hours…

I’ve moved in late at night. I was moving about 150 miles, had to do it all in one day, and due to various circumstances beyond my control, (including some last minute cancellations of people who were supposed to help me load up) I didn’t arrive at my new place until 8 pm or so. I didn’t finish unloading the truck until 1 AM. Yet after that night, I doubt the neighbors ever heard a peep from my apartment.

Of course you have the right to sleep, but acting as if only the worst dregs of society would dare move in at night is ridiculous. What should I have done in the circumstances above? Leave all my worldly possessions on the street, pay an extra $75 I didn’t have to keep the truck for another day, sleep on the floor, and miss my first day of work at my new job the next day?

“We’re justified to send missiles into Israel! They keep playing Stairway to Heaven real loud at 3 in the morning!”

I was with you until there. I personally wouldn’t move at 10:00pm, but I can imagine that people might have valid reasons for doing so. I certainly wouldn’t assume that one loud evening indisputably forecasts a future pattern of bad behavior. And I definitely wouldn’t go scolding them until a pattern had been established.

If you assume that anyone who’s existence inconveniences you is “trash,” I don’t think that apartment living is really for you.

When I was living in a studio apartment in Queens, one of my neighbors left a long note on my door saying that they heard loud music and tv all night and they’d tracked it down and knew it was coming from my apartment. There was no signature, no apartment number and no way of figuring out who left it there, but there were threats to all the cops on me. But the noise wasn’t coming from me. I am a morning person, I’m unconscious by 10pm and I don’t sleep with music or TV on. The noise probably came from my downstairs neighbor, who liked to play polka music at all hours, as loudly as possible (I think he had insomnia and was a little deaf). But how do I explain that to an anonymous person?

So I left a note on my door telling all of my neighbors that the cowardly anonymous person was incorrect, and if they had just knocked on my door, I would have told them so. The note disappeared from my door that day, and no one ever bothered me about noise again. It was very weird.

norinew - Your story reminds me of a special or article on bad neighborhoods. One women told that the neighbor came out, ripped out the plants she put in the front yard, and yelled at her. Something like “You ain’t no better than me bitch!” That’s right don’t plant flowers because your flaunting your wealth bitch.

It’s hardly about their existence inconveniencing me. It’s more about respect for others and consideration late at night. And I didn’t go up there that night to scold them- I merely let them know (2 hours later at midnight) that I do get up early, I do need to sleep, and I hoped that in the future they would respect that. I don’t see a problem with talking to neighbors and asking them to have consideration. Adults should be able to talk to other adults about problems or to prevent problems. I didn’t know that they were trash then, but I sure do now.

Maybe most other people can get by and still work after 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night, but I cannot. I need 8 hours to function properly. I’ve lived in a lot of apartments and have never had a problem before this particular complex.

Trublmakr - I think you were justified. I’ve only lived in somewhat small apartment buildings (6 apartments, max) and if I HAD to move in late at night then I would have introduced myself to my immediate neighbors to give then the heads up and let them know that it’d be a one time thing. I remember an apartment I had and the people below me didn’t pay rent in over 3 months and finally got evicted. About 3 weeks later a family moved in. They were Mexican (father spoke broken english, wife a bit more, it seemed, and their 3 teenage sons more or less capable). Oh, did I mention it was a ONE BEDROOM apartment. The first day, no noise. Then, so much freak’n noise I wanted to die. I talked to the mother, who came across as rude, and mean, but who made the kids turn down the blaring music that could be heard litteraly down the road as I pulled in. The husband was very nice and hard working. The first weekend we had a snow storm and he shovelled all the stairs after doing his own, which made me think maybe they’d be good neighbors. Unfortunately the noise kept up, with the kids having friends over and cranking up the music until just before midnight. I shovelled their stairs after another storm to repay the husband, and hoping that he’d make things right (and I did a damn good job, too- even sweeping after to get every bit of snow off so ice didn’t form!), and the father seemed greatful, but damn, his kids got worse and worse. I finally just said the hell with it and moved out. I never called the cops. I met with the mother twice, and the kids at least twice. I feel like once the police are involved then any neirborghly attitude is gone for good. Did I mention that it was a family of 5 in a one bedroom?

shrug

The expectation of having your own bedroom is a rather modern one. One hundred years ago, people often shared a whole bedroom with their family and it was common to share your bed as well. In many countries it’s still that way.

Growing up, my mother shared a bed with her sister-and the room they shared with their brother as well. (In fact, I inherited the old twin bed he had).

My dad, until he was a teenager, shared a room with his FOUR sisters. Then my grandparents had their attic remodelled into two bedrooms up there.

Is that the one where the flower-planter became the town’s mayor and found a box of antifreeze-laced cookies & Coke on her porch the next month?

I feel the OP’s pain. The last apartment I lived in, I had neighbors both above and below who were very loud and extremely rude about it. In my seven previous years of apartment living I’d never encountered people so disrespectful and self-righteous. My home is my refuge, and after the first year I began to dread going home – the stress even started to affect my health. One Sunday afternoon the downstairs lady was playing her gospel music so loud that I couldn’t hear my TV (at a “normal” volume), and when I knocked on her door and politely asked her to lower the volume she immediately got defensive and nasty and told me that if I wanted her to lower her music I’d have to call the cops.

That’s when I knew I needed to move, ASAP.

I wound up taking out a loan so I could break my lease (it cost 2 months’ rent), but it was the best money I ever spent.

No.

I believe it was a couple years ago when some youths as a gang in Milwaukee, beat a youth to death in the neighborhood by Summerfest. It may not have been that program on gangs and low income neighborhoods. The woman interviewed was telling how you couldn’t improve the conditions, because anything you did was destroyed by the have not neighbors. Trash and weeds were the accepted norm for the yards.

One thing that’s always irked me about “communal living” aka apartment dwelling, is the absolutely craptacular construction materials used, at least here in the U.S. Maybe sound deadening materials are expensive, but it’s not hard to see how folks get riled with paper thin walls and floors acting as a soundboard. Trying hard not to sound elitist, it’s been my experience that folks who slam doors (why is this strictly necessary?) are generally a bit lower on the cognitive testing scales.

The neighbor whose apartment is on the other side of my bedroom wall likes to play his (?) stereo at any and all hours. Loudly. Industrial metal. And plays his bass guitar along with it from time to time.

I haven’t felt it necessary to head over to the other apartment for a little chat. Nor have I contacted management nor called the police.

But when my alarm clock goes off at 5:45, I feel no qualms about letting it buzz for a while…then hitting snooze. Repeatedly.

I had a downstairs neighbor who used to leave his stereo on, but only when he wasn’t home, to keep his dog company. Enormous speakers + hardwood floors = very loud vibrations into my apartment. I never complained because I figured if I did, his response would be something along the lines of “Oh yeah, well sometimes the entryway smells like marijuana!!!

But I also made sure my alarm clock was as annoying as possible, especially when I’d heard him bring home some club junkie at three in the morning. (With accompanying intimate noises directly underneath my own bedroom.)

What pissed me off most was that he always left the stereo on the crappiest station he could find. :frowning:

My downstair neighbor has been waging a steady campaign of harassment against my “bouncing”, “jumping”, “slamming”, “stomping” for my great sin of going to the bathroom, getting a glass of water from the kitchen, & occassional wandering to the computer during bouts of insomnia. He also has been complaining to the HOA about the noise I make at “unreasonable” hours such as 6 AM. I sure hope you aren’t one of them.

Good Og, people, what kinds of apartments do you live in? Are the walls made from cardboard?

I’ll admit I’ve only lived in a handful of different apartments in my life, but I never had the experience of being able to hear my neighbor’s alarm clock or being able to hear them walking to the bathroom. Yeah, I’d hear people on occasion, but they had to be making a mild ruckus in order to be audible. (Couldn’t hear them talking, or fucking or hear their TVs unless they were at top volume.)

I’m wondering if these places are newly built and that they “don’t build 'em like they used to.” All of the ones I lived in were built around the 1970s. Maybe newer apartment building have thinner walls.

nope–they actually build them better. Your best bet is to live in a building with concrete floors–wood framing is probably the worst.

If you will permit me a slight hijack…most new units have a huge STC rating between them. Code minimum is something like 45 STC–most condos and higher end apartments have an STC rating of 56-60.

Actually most acoustical walls have really advanced since the 70’s. Now the walls tend to be isolated from the adjecent wall, use resilient channels, use acoustical sealant around outlets, etc. Piping is isolated from structure to avoid vibration, etc.

Trust me–water and acoustics are my enemies :slight_smile: As an Architect those are two biggest complaints I hear from owners.

The average wall I use for between apartments/condos is a two layers of 5/8" gyp bd, a metal or wood stud, 1" air space, another metal or wood stud and the other side has either one or two layers of 5/8" gyp bd. Usually the cavity on one side or the other has batt sound insulation.

However all it takes is some simple screw up and you have totally compromised the sound. For example in the wall above–say someone decides that instead of putting the second layer on the one side, the will put it between the walls in the air space. This will drop the acoustic capacity of this wall significantly. Developers might do this because they want the square footage of the two units to be the same–but the wall as detailed would have one unit 5/8" smaller then the other–so they get ‘creative’.

They reason the wall still has three total layers of drywall–but now they have created a drum that transmits the noise–and I have seen this happen!

now back to the scheduled bitching about crappy neighbors :slight_smile:

I’m moving out this weekend and paying rent for the first time (hooray me!), and boy am I glad it’s a house and not an apartment.