Neighbors from hell

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The tenants upstairs have subjected us to constant noise, all day and all night for weeks. They didn’t have kids when they moved in a couple of months ago, but now we have children running back and forth in the apartment, screaming and crying/screaming every time they fall down. We hear the game shows they watch, the “music” they listen to, their phone conversations (foul language and subject matter included). The idiot who manages the building decided hardwood floors on the second floor is a good idea, so we hear every step (better described as stomp) every item dropped, and much, much, more.
Twice they have dropped their trash bags in front of our door instead of taking them out to the dumpster. One of them smokes right next to a sign that says “No smoking in this area.”
They are constantly screaming at each other, so I am not going to knock on their door and try to ask them to have some respect for their fellow tenants.

I’m venting, but it’s not relieving my stress.

Got any similar stories? Worse ones, so I don’t feel so bad? Suggestions for dealing with this? (Contacting management about their lease violations hasn’t yet had any effect.)

2

To be blunt and honest, you have only two choices. Move, or get the neighbors evicted.

These people are inconsiderate and nasty. They will not change.

You only have power over yourself.

Too bad housing cannot be zoned for jerk-free.
~VOW

3

The guy that lives next door to my neighbor plays music real loud at all hours of the night, drinks beer all the time, has a bunch of cars and crap in his yard, barking dogs, shoots at invisible coyotes over his back fence.

A real asshole.

4

My local poker game was getting out of hand until I took a page from the Dope and instituted The Don’t Be A Jerk rule.

Just have to broaden that to all aspects of life, including people’s lease agreements…

5

For that to work in real life, you need moderators.

6

So we start a Kickstarter to fund “Pit Mods On Call”, an elite swat team ready to helicopter into any war zone… as deemed so by any contributing Doper.

It’s SO well funded that these Mods will make great money “re-educating” your neighbors, and relocating their barky dogs to be trained by a nice old couple on a farm upstate…

7

At least it’s good music ;).
And for Christ’s sake those invisible coyotes are everywhere. :).

OP, go to the management and tell them you will not be renewing your lease. If you are a good payer and don’t break parking rules they will try to accommodate you. Tell them why in no uncertain terms. At least they may try to move you to another apartment. It’s worth a try.

8

Management are obviously idiots. If the OP moves, they will (a) have to go to all the trouble and expense of finding a new tenant, and (b) the new tenants, unless they are deaf, will have exactly the same problem and make the same complaints. If management lacks a working brain, they obviously need someone to walk them through this simple logic.

9

I’m fairly certain Managements highest priority is keeping all apartments leased. Use that to your advantage. If you can.

10

I can’t match your story, but here’s mine. I lived in an old-fashioned, very well built, 4-story building in suburban Boston. Pretty soundproof, however, I had an upstairs neighbor directly above me who I nicknamed “Thumpy.” Starting around 10 pm every night, and going on into the wee hours, loud thumping noises emanated from the premises above.

Upon finally visiting him to complain, I discovered that he was hosting 5-6 people who took turns bouncing and rolling around the floor on an immense inflated ball. I think this is some kind of “therapy” or something. I told him to knock it off or I’d complain to the landlord. If that didn’t work, to the police. That worked pretty well.

11

There are child-free apartment complexes for this very reason.

12

I’ll try to help make you feel a little better by telling you about the neighbor I had for the few years that I rented a house. My wife had just died and I decided to sell the house and rent for a couple years while I decided what to do. I found a house in a convenient location near where I worked. I did not have any kids, but I rented a 3BR because I had some stuff from the house I needed to store. I was working full-time.

What I didn’t realize was that the guy across the street was retired and didn’t have a lot to do.

He didn’t like the way I mowed the lawn. It wasn’t just that I didn’t mow it often enough (i.e., every Saturday), it was that I didn’t bag the grass. I also didn’t treat it for weeds and fertilize it like he thought I should. A couple times, he came over and mowed it on Thursday when I had every intention of mowing it that Saturday. I mean, it was a rental house…I’m not going to do expensive lawn treatments and re-seed every year.

He didn’t like the fact that I raked the leaves only twice a season. He thought I should do it at least every two weeks.

He didn’t like the shows and movies I watched, since he could see them on my TV through the front windows. It wasn’t porn or anything…just typical R-rated stuff on cable.

He didn’t like that I sometimes left the front porch light on all night.

He didn’t like that I didn’t paint the house when it needed it. (Remember, it’s a rental.)

He didn’t like my cat (who had a collar and tags) roaming around.

He didn’t like it when I turned my stereo up a bit on Saturday afternoon. (Never did it on a weekday or after 6:00 PM.)

He didn’t like my pick-up being parked in the driveway. I mean, I’ve got two vehicles. It’s not like it’s in the street, or parked on the lawn, or up on blocks. They’re both licensed, registered, and used regularly.

And so on and so on. He would come over and complain to me. He would complain to the neighbors. Finally, he would complain to the rental management company. I heard from him or about his complaints every single week. My rental company sent someone over every month until they figured out that the guy was grossly exaggerating things. They finally told me that he was also calling the absentee owner in another city to tell him about how bad I was.

He was one of the major reasons I didn’t renew my lease.

13

This nasty old building is underinsulated and massively expensive to heat (I ranted about electric baseboard heating in another thread), has a very small and awful laundry room, a very cramped parking area and unsecure garages, and worst of all, roaches and rats.
Our lease is up at the end of April. Unfortunately, our finances are a wreck, so coming up with a deposit for a new place will be very difficult. The real problem is the effect on my health. Lack of sleep and stress are wearing me down.

Any dopers who are inclined to pray for us will receive prayers and gratitude back.

14

Oh, man. You are really in a quandry. I feel for you. Good thoughts. Maybe you could run a fan at night to drown out some of the noise.:frowning:

15

I had a very similar neighbor when I rented a house many years ago. His wife came over and raked the (relatively few) leaves on our lawn for fear they’d blow over on their yard. At least she did this until Mrs. J. caught her and told her to take a hike.

This sounds like the old joke about the woman who complained to the police that her neighbor was roaming around his house naked. When cops came out to investigate they couldn’t see anything but she insisted she could see the neighbor perfectly well with her binoculars.

This is a legit complaint, especially if the cat is crapping on his property and/or eating the birds coming to his feeder.

16

I refer to my current upstairs neighbor as Stompy McStomperson.

17

That’s legal? I mean, I’ve heard of disallowing children in special purpose housing, but in general?

18

My husband would, but I just don’t like the buzzing. We often play “sleep music” on youtube, but not experiencing any silence for weeks is draining. I have terrible problems with insomnia, so the best environment for me to sleep would be very, very quiet, which we can’t get.

19

Go to a pharmacy, and ask for the squishy sleep earplugs. They are like Silly Putty. You roll them with your fingers to make a cylinder that will fit in your ear canal, then you mash it against your ear. Your body heat will soften it to fit, and it will stay in place until you remove it.

My husband tried damn near every ear plug on the shelf, and that worked the best!

He worked nights, and he screamed obscenities about doorbells, telephones, and that Goddamned ice cream man!
~VOW

20

He must be cousins with Thumpy.

You can also try the kind of earmuffs that construction workers use when operating a jackhammer. Make sure they’re at least 30db. Double up with those and the squishy earplugs, and it may shut out most frequencies.