July 10th, 2006
a resolution
Thanks to everyone who pitched in advice for dealing with noisy neighbors. I think I’ve decided what I’m going to do–I’ll start out polite, and play tit-for-tat depending on what sort of reaction I get. If necessary, I’ll invite them up to see what I mean when I say the floor vibrates and explain that I’m not being unreasonable. And if necessary, I’ll–nicely!–explain that I will officially complain if necessary.
I know a lot of people recommend playing nice and making friends but, given the interactions we’ve had so far, I don’t think that’s going to be all that successful. Only one of our downstairs neighbors has even bothered to say hi as we pass, when we pass, and the others seem to deliberately ignore us. So I’m not going out of my way to offer a beer or coffee to them.
And with all that, I’m going to get some more work done. It was a truly bizarre morning, and not a terribly productive one.
comments
I had this problem all year with three undergrads who didn’t think it unreasonable to be screaming off the balcony at 3:00 — and when they were made to address my complaints by the management association, they said, “We just have different schedules.”
Yah. Uh-huh.
I played nice with a very long time with them, but made sure they knew that I wouldn’t be backing down. I complained to management, and they were fined for being noisy. At one point, after one of them called me a “bitch” for pounding on the wall after they woke me up at 4:00, I called the cops. In DC, a noise violation issued by the cops can be a $250 fine, which isn’t chump change.
In the end, nothing I did got them to shut up, I’m sorry to say. But it did keep them from being able to renew their lease OR get another apartment in the building.
No matter how you go about it, you need to be sure you communicate that you aren’t going to roll over on this.
Good luck.
Yeah, my biggest concern is actually trying to make a complaint that has any effect. Our landlord is just a guy who owns a few buildings in the city, so he’s not really “management” and, if their lease is anything like ours, there’s no provision for fines, etc. I can always make a complaint under the local tenants’ ordinance, but I have to hope that he actually is willing to enforce that, or make the necessary threats of eviction.
So we’ll see. I won’t back down, but I am concerned about being able to follow through with any threats I make. Mostly, I just want to put the fear of God in them–and the law student card helps with that, since I figure they figure I know more about the law than they do.