# Neighbors from hell **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 24, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127 "2019-02-24T18:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/21 "2019-02-25T01:47:38Z")
> [@digs](#): > > 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… “Free dog to good home. Small terrier type. Barks a lot. If you want it, give me a moment until i can jump over my neighbors fence and get it for you.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/22 "2019-02-25T01:49:06Z")
> [@K2500](#): > > That’s legal? I mean, I’ve heard of disallowing children in special purpose housing, but in general? They have seniors only apt, but I dont think child free is legal. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/23 "2019-02-25T02:04:34Z")
My B-I-L was forced to install carpeting in his apartment when the downstairs neighbors took him to court to address the floor-stomping sounds of his wood floors and his heavy walking. This was in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/24 "2019-02-25T03:13:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > They have seniors only apt, but I dont think child free is legal. If it’s private property it is legal. That means no HUD assistance or other government subsidies. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/25 "2019-02-25T03:18:04Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > If it’s private property it is legal. That means no HUD assistance or other government subsidies. Nope: > **[Can Landlords Refuse to Rent to Families with Children? - RentPrep](https://rentprep.com/blog/legal/landlords-refuse-rent-families-children/)** > > Ever thought about denying an applicant because they had children and felt they may become a problem? Learn what the law says about renting to families. \*However, it is illegal for a landlord to refuse to rent to someone with children. Federal Laws on Renting to Families The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal for landlords to discriminate against prospective tenants with children under the age of 18. Familial status is a protected class according to that law, along with national origin, race, religion, disability, sex or handicap. From the application process through terminating a lease, the Fair Housing Act outlaws any overt discrimination by landlords toward tenants with children. There are limited exceptions to the law. One instance might happen when a family has so many children that occupancy would exceed the municipal fire code regulations for residents per room. Another exception is if the landlord has been granted permission for a senior residential complex specifically geared toward citizens aged 55 or older.\* ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/26 "2019-02-25T03:23:31Z")
I feel lucky that the only time I had a bad neighbor, the tenant above me, that management was fairly prompt in throwing the guy out. I am sure I was not the only one complaining about him. But when his apartment had to be fumigated after eviction I got some refugee cockroaches that I had to go to war against. Short battle though, I found their point of entry and since it was early days they lost the battle. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/27 "2019-02-25T03:32:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nope: > [Can Landlords Refuse to Rent to Families with Children? - RentPrep](https://www.rentprep.com/legal/landlords-refuse-rent-families-children/) > \*However, it is illegal for a landlord to refuse to rent to someone with children. > > Federal Laws on Renting to Families > The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal for landlords to discriminate against prospective tenants with children under the age of 18. Familial status is a protected class according to that law, along with national origin, race, religion, disability, sex or handicap. From the application process through terminating a lease, the Fair Housing Act outlaws any overt discrimination by landlords toward tenants with children. > There are limited exceptions to the law. One instance might happen when a family has so many children that occupancy would exceed the municipal fire code regulations for residents per room. Another exception is if the landlord has been granted permission for a senior residential complex specifically geared toward citizens aged 55 or older.\* I just looked on a web site. In Little Rock there are at least 3 complexes advertising to age 55 and over tenants. Adult communities with the amenities geared toward that age group. I get that it’s discriminatory to to turn down families with children. But it can certainly be implied and priced above families ability to pay. Especially lower income families who need rental assistance. They will never qualify for those apartments. You know it, I know it and those families know it. Sad but true. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/28 "2019-02-25T04:12:06Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I just looked on a web site. In Little Rock there are at least 3 complexes advertising to age 55 and over tenants. Adult communities with the amenities geared toward that age group. I get that it’s discriminatory to to turn down families with children. But it can certainly be implied and priced above families ability to pay. Especially lower income families who need rental assistance. They will never qualify for those apartments. You know it, I know it and those families know it. Sad but true. We’re not yet old enough to live in such housing. I just wonder where the kids came from. They are certainly not infants or even toddlers. They’ve been here too long for a weekend visitation, and it seems like a weird time of year for a long-term custody swap. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/29 "2019-02-25T05:18:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > There are child-free apartment complexes for this very reason. Where do you live? I thought it was illegal to do that unless the apartment complex or building is designated as seniors-only. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/30 "2019-02-25T05:20:35Z")
Might have been a nowhere else for them to go swap. Were they constantly srcreaming before the months before the children arrived? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/31 "2019-02-25T05:21:38Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > 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. Yours actually tops all the others. Every night? I could see once a week, or on weekend nights, but didn’t these people have jobs? ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/32 "2019-02-25T05:51:00Z")
I have nothing to offer but compassion. I hope your neighbors decide to move out soon. I once lived in an apartment that was so poorly insulated between the floors that when my neighbors below turned their ceiling light on – my carpet above it got hot. ☹ When the guy below me snored, it literally sounded like he was in my bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/33 "2019-02-25T06:02:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Where do you live? I thought it was illegal to do that unless the apartment complex or building is designated as seniors-only. It is discriminatory everywhere. It’s not illegal to out price low income people. Or designate it Senior. Management company’s have many loopholes, IMO. Poor families have little choice but deal with it as best they can. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/34 "2019-02-25T06:43:27Z")
Then there are the wonderful good-hearted (?) tenants who rent a place. Once the rental agreement is signed, they move in the population of a small country. Oh, the war stories I could tell! We used to own rentals. I swear, they were always taken over by alien pod people! ~ VOW ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/35 "2019-02-25T07:04:30Z")
^^^Yeah, I hear you. My Daddy had rentals. He had some horror stories involving potbellied pigs. Drug trafficking. Non-existent family members materializing. There are bad actors on both sides. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/36 "2019-02-25T07:26:03Z")
When my wife and I were first married, we lived in an apartment, on the top (third) floor of a three-story courtyard apartment building. It was a lovely old building, but the apartment directly below ours was a revolving door of loud. - First, we had the young couple who had screaming arguments late at night at least once a week. We had to call the police several times, because there were threats of violence often exchanged, at loud volume. Management did not renew their lease, and we got… - The middle-aged woman with a pre-teen daughter. They were nice, save for the fact that the woman’s bedroom was directly below ours, and she made a habit out of falling asleep to the television in her room (which she had turned up, as she she was somewhat hard of hearing), and then leaving it on all night. They moved out, and we got… - The very nice gay couple. One of the couple aspired to be a Broadway singer. He’d practice in their bedroom, well into the late evening. And he was flaaaaaaaaat. He’d stop when we’d come downstairs to ask him to stop, but then, a few nights later, he’d be at it again. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/37 "2019-02-25T13:57:48Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Yours actually tops all the others. Every night? I could see once a week, or on weekend nights, but didn’t these people have jobs? I should have said “most nights.” It only seemed like every night. This thread has reminded me of another upstairs neighbor I once had, a young, very preppy, professional couple. Their bedroom was right above my den. Once a week, like clockwork, they would have sex. For about a minute and a half, the woman would go “uh uh uh” at regular intervals, until they were done. More amusing than annoying. When they moved out, they were replaced by another couple, and the guy was a chef from New Orleans. Man, did the hallway smell great when I got home from work at night! So, they’re not all bad… ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/38 "2019-02-25T16:43:07Z")
I have very nice neighbors. HOWEVER they decided that working at an auto shop wasn’t for him so he opened his own. In his garage\*. (Yes, there is always a bunch of non running and client cars all over the street.) That wasn’t big enough, so he put in a quonset hut- like building made of shiny aluminum. We can see it from our back yard.It’s ugly. Just last fall, they decided that their little shed on the property line between us wasn’t big enough, so they built a two story barn there. With an aluminum roof. A shiny one. It looms over my yard, dominating it. we’re planning on planting a bamboo hedge along the fence. (Clumping variety, in pots so it doesn’t spread.) They’re very nice people and we’re on good terms with them, but damn, they sure fill up a neighborhood. \*It’s technically a mobile shop. He has a large truck to run around town and do repairs. He mostly works in his shop, though. Mind, I can’t complain too much; I frequently need a mechanic and he’s good. On top of that, I do a lot of woodworking in my garage and driveway, so I can make lots of noise, but only during the day. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/39 "2019-02-25T16:49:46Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > … The idiot who manages the building decided hardwood floors on the second floor is a good idea, … I had a landlord who did this, and prior to that my upstairs neighbors and I got along just fine. I’m sorry to say that my only relief came when I moved away. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127/40 "2019-02-25T17:02:43Z")
I worked in rental property management for 26 years. The worst tenants we had were a family who paid the up front fees, moved in, and then refused to give us any more money. We took them to court three times before they moved. We later found out they had done this before, using different names and ss#'s. When a friend happened to mention that she was considering renting to the same couple, I told her the whole story. She refused to rent to them, and they came back and threatened us for giving them a “bad reference.” We had to call the police and file a report against them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-from-hell/830127.md?page=3)