My daughter has a studio apartment in a well-managed building near Boston.
The building is mostly occupied by young professionals – the cost of rent and location are such that it is not filled with students.
She has a neighbor who has been playing loud music at 3am. She pounded on the wall, and he only turned it up higher. She complained to the management company, and they gave him notification of violating the terms of the lease, which caused him to respond by aggressively playing loud music for hours into the evening.
The management company told my daughter to call the police if the disturbance is outside business hours, but given his aggressive behavior, she is reluctant to do so as she feels it will only escalate the situation.
Does anyone have recent experience with this type of situation and any examples of how it can be successfully addressed?
Her neighbor is a jerk. What is wrong with people?
I hear there are lots of vacancies in Boston, I think I’d ask the landlord if he can’t change the situation, that he let her out of her lease. Without penalty
Also get some objective evidence. Perhaps get a sound meter or sound meter app and log the volume so that you can show it violates ordinances and person can’t complain that D is oversensitive. Report findings to management and/or police.
What your daughter should not do is attempt conversation with this guy. He’s showing her that he’s lawless and will retaliate. She can tolerate the situation, relocate, or call police each time he violates. Maybe she should get the guy’s identifying information from the building owner/manager and give it to you just in case.
If you’ve seen the movie Neighbors, that was our life for 2 years. I would call management and/or the police every single time it happens as it happens. Do not bang on the wall. Do not ever engage the person. Just let the police/management do their job.
I don’t think she should have to move, but if that is a better option, then perhaps that would work.
As for us, it took lots of letters from the City and the local uni (who was aware the owner was illegally renting to way too many people per code for a single family home in a residential neighborhood) for the owner to give up and sell the place.
Noise issues with neighbors can escalate into dangerous situations. If the landlord is unwilling to take action, then either call the police or consider moving out.
This is an example of why so many communities have homeowners associations with restrictions, rules, and covenants.
After rereading the original post, it seems like the management company is encouraging your daughter to call the police in order to get documentation that may enable them to terminate his lease.
Regardless, domestic situations and neighbor difficulties can escalate so I recommend against engaging with / confronting the neighbor.
P.S. Your daughter should ask the landlord to allow her to move to a different unit that does not adjoin the noisy neighbor’s unit. Might be wise to put this request in writing in addition to calling.
Otherwise, look into soundproofing the wall that abuts the neighbor’s unit.
Most communities do have noise rules, eg, no playing loud music or partying after some hour, depending on weekday or weekend. That’s where the police can come act, do their official thing, then it’s on better record than calling the mgt co, which isn’t on site and not likely to show up at 3am.
Not good to bang back on the walls. Though I’ll admit, as grad students we had a couple upstairs who made loud intimate noises that woke us in the middle of the night.
Do other adjoining neighbors have the same issue with this guy?
Surely she is not the only one complaining to the landlord? I agree that she should call the police and the landlord every single time, and eventually the problem will solve itself.
Call the landlord at 3am when the music is blasting so he can hear it in the background. Repeat every time the music is blasting. Calling the police at the same time also a good idea so the dispatcher can hear it too.
No, don’t call the landlord at 3am. The landlord cannot do anything about removing the tenant without some sort of proof in the form of police reports, preferably from multiple people. It is quite difficult to remove a tenant without a solid case against him/her. The landlord cannot make a police report because the police are unlikely to accept a complaint from a third party who doesn’t know exactly what is going on at the moment. Call the police and make a report and get a case number to provide to the landlord so he/she can take action to remove the offending tenant. In addition, encourage other tenants to do the same, in order to provide the landlord with the information needed to make a case to remove the problem tenant.
My daughter is having a neighbor problem in an apartment in Boston also. The building has a new tenant who is smoking pot every single day stinking up the building. My daughter can’t get the smell out as it is coming from the hallway and also her windows - since she is above their unit. It has been making her physically sick (it is triggering an allergic reaction).
We have been in contact with the landlord/management company and they have been cooperative. They even offered my daughter a switch to another open unit in a different building. Seems like the new tenant is a student and the parents are paying the rent. The landlord spoke to the parents and it has not been daily since then.
Because of this, my daughter is shopping for a new apartment. She has lived in this one for 4 1/2 years and feels like these new people have ruined the good thing she had. The good news is that rents are down and she can get more for her money. But getting a new apartment is a process and she has already seen 8 or 9, without finding one she wants. I think the landlord will be cooperative and not penalize her when she breaks her lease.
My advice is to work with the landlord - see about another unit, call the police if they ask you to (will provide needed documentation) and sleep with earplugs. If it is really nightly and you call the police nightly the problem will get resolved.
I had gotten advice to have my daughter talk to the tenant and thought it was a bad idea. Why put yourself at risk for a confrontation, too many crazies in the world.
Look at another unit the landlord can offer, buy a white noise machine (probably ineffective for this), or move.
Technically she can call the police if noise occurs after 11 and before 7, and accumulate a record But that can turn into a war. I advise my daughters that personal safety is most important.
She can probably get out of her lease due to this problem. Leases promise a peaceful existence (I forget the exact language).
Keep it friendly with the landlord. You can also get a letter from a doctor saying that it would be in the best interests of her health to move.