Any good suggestions on how to handle a bad neighbor?

[beat mania]

Rent the top floor when you're living it up next time.
Actually, do that even if you're broke.
!top floor=suck

 

[Geekbabe]

You need to get a lawyer good with tenant law in your area,you have a lease? so do your neighbors and the landlord is obligated to enforce the lease across the board to all tenants. A lawyer will help you get the proper documentation needed to go to court if need be.

 

[gnumantsc]

Well you do NOT have livable conditions and you could break the lease. You should also record the music and document that as your proof. You could also go to the police and file a complaint and see if that does anything.

The more evidence you got the better you are in getting let go from your lease.

 

[Chaotic42]

I've got a downstairs neighbor like that. He pounds the bass from 9am to 2am. It doesn't sound nearly as bad as yours though. I can usually sleep through it with enough white noise.

I hope it all works out for you. I'm a quiet-freak, so I hope something bad happens to them...

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: brunell8

Originally posted by: thereaderrabbit

Originally posted by: Injury
You want action on part of the landlords? Wake their asses up in the middle of the night when they are playing their music.

I've called them in the middle of the night a few times. The first time or two they called the neighbors upstairs and the music got turned down. While this worked at first, more often recently they have not been in town or are not answering their phone. I can understand why they don't want to encourage me on calling them in the middle of the night when they already loose sleep due to their three boys.

That's not your concern. A comfortable place to live is, and your landlord should be providing that based on you giving them your hard earned money every month.

Exactly. Withhold the rent until he deals with it and see how fast it gets done. If it has to do with tenants, then if you have a problem, HE has a problem. You aren't paying him to do jack shit. Like I said, if you really want action on the part of the landlords, keep on them. This can go three ways that I can see... either they stop caring and you are no worse off than you are now, he evicts the neighbors and you win, he gives you the option of breaking your lease without penalty... and while you're put out for a bit... you win.

 

[KingGheedora]

$50 a day = $1500/mo. You can hardly find a studio for $1500/mo. in Brooklyn, let alone an entire floor in an "expensive part of town". Doesn't make sense.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: thereaderrabbit

Originally posted by: Darwin333
First thing I would do is go down to your district police station and ask to speak to the Captain in charge. Call the police EVERY night they are being loud to the point of violating law/code. Captains don't want to be bothered with nonsense everyday when there is a relatively easy solution.


If that doesn't work giving your Councilman a call is worth a shot as well.

You have a PHD and live in an expensive place so they will assume you are fairly wealthy. Exactly the people who local politicians want to impress and be on their side. Bonus points for getting into a side conversation with them (don't want to be to forward) and doing a little subtle asskissing.

Say what you want about asskissing but when dealing with politicians it usually nets great results and a little asskissing sure beats the pain and expense of taking it to civil court, which is the next step.

I've backed off on the political and police angle because while I do plenty of community work (and have met a lot of people through it), I don't see myself as getting too far ahead of an army recruiter in the world of public opinion.

Who cares about public opinion? You're only worried about the opinion of one or two people who can actually make things happen. To a local politician you are a potentially large campaign contributer. An Army recruiter probably isn't even a blip to him. Get yourself a sound meter so that you can prove they are actually breaking the law/code when you call the police. If he doesn't do anything go to an actual council meeting and raise hell. It is entirely to easy for them to make your relatively minor issue go away instead of listening to you bitch/make waves.

Or lawyer up.

Yup, keep calling the Police til they show-up and do something about it. Talk to the Police Captain, call your councilman, call the housing inspector, call your landlord, keep bugging people til something gets resolved.

 

[Phokus]

I vote 'stop paying the landlord' option. He's not delivering the goods, so why pay for it?

 

[Oceandevi]

Originally posted by: Flammable

Originally posted by: sandmanwake
Set the place on fire

only logical thing to do as of now

Or he could just gun them all down.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
$50 a day = $1500/mo. You can hardly find a studio for $1500/mo. in Brooklyn, let alone an entire floor in an "expensive part of town". Doesn't make sense.

... uhh... he's far enough away from the city that $1500/mo is a bit more than a shithole.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: thereaderrabbit

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
Get an extremely loud stereo, and set it on a timer to go full blast when they sleep, which is probably in the morning if they party all night.

If I put my stereo on during the days to fight back I'll be pissing off all the businesses on the floors below.

Interesting .... I wonder how the landlord would deal with his business tenants making threats regarding the noise problem?

 

[ProfJohn]

Keep asking for a police report number every time you call.

From my limited experience with the police here in Orlando:
If they give you an 'incident number' it is just a number off the 9-11 call.
But if they give you a 'report number' it makes them have to do some work and write up a report.

Start to pile up police reports and see what happens.

BTW I have a similar problem with the people below me, every Saturday they open a disco it seems.

 

[MyThirdEye]

Originally posted by: newb111

Originally posted by: sandmanwake
Set the place on fire

:thumbsup:

 

[Red Dawn]

Contact the local chapter of the Ching A Lings and offer them a couple of grand to deal with your neighbors, problem solved.

 

[thereaderrabbit]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Keep asking for a police report number every time you call.

From my limited experience with the police here in Orlando:
If they give you an 'incident number' it is just a number off the 9-11 call.
But if they give you a 'report number' it makes them have to do some work and write up a report.

Start to pile up police reports and see what happens.

BTW I have a similar problem with the people below me, every Saturday they open a disco it seems.

Thanks ProfJohn- that's some very good advice!

 

[thereaderrabbit]

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
$50 a day = $1500/mo. You can hardly find a studio for $1500/mo. in Brooklyn, let alone an entire floor in an "expensive part of town". Doesn't make sense.

... uhh... he's far enough away from the city that $1500/mo is a bit more than a shithole.

Yup, that's exactly the situaiton.

 

[thereaderrabbit]

Originally posted by: Phokus
I vote 'stop paying the landlord' option. He's not delivering the goods, so why pay for it?

Not paying the landlord would be putting me squarely in the wrong (something I would like to avoid).

 

[Gunslinger08]

Start withholding rent. They'll get the point.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: KLin

Originally posted by: thereaderrabbit
Any further suggestions?

If the cops and/or landlord won't do anything about the noise problems, then it's time to move. How long is your lease?

Or simply tell the police that they want to speak to their supervisor right now.

 

[pontifex]

you sound like a whiny baby. stfu and mind your own business.*













* Standard ATOT response.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: thereaderrabbit

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Where do you live that in the expensive part of town, it's common for people to rent entire and/or multiple floors of a building?

I'm just temporarily living it up. Right now I'm using my Ph.D. in materials science at a high paying semiconductor company based in New York. This lifestyle will not last, but felt needed after paying back all of my student loans in the first year out here and after living the thrifty life for so long. When my lease ends I'm planning to move to a smaller less expensive place.

if you're so rich, why not buy a house? then you don't have to worry about other tenants...

 

[thereaderrabbit]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: thereaderrabbit

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Where do you live that in the expensive part of town, it's common for people to rent entire and/or multiple floors of a building?

I'm just temporarily living it up. Right now I'm using my Ph.D. in materials science at a high paying semiconductor company based in New York. This lifestyle will not last, but felt needed after paying back all of my student loans in the first year out here and after living the thrifty life for so long. When my lease ends I'm planning to move to a smaller less expensive place.

if you're so rich, why not buy a house? then you don't have to worry about other tenants...

I didn't say I was rich. I'm not rich.

Housing prices anywhere near a NYC train line have gone through the roof since 9/11 and are out of my reach while I'm saving for a down payment. I'm also planning to leave the area in the next few years in search of a teaching position, so there is little motivation to buy a house.

It was about 50 posts before you came out with the 'whiny baby' bit, so I would suggest that this is not the standard ATOT response. I could care less with what people do with their own lives unless it f*$ks with mine or people I care about. I make it a point to enjoy my life- doing what I want without being a burden on the rest of society. This might sound self centered, but doing what I want also involves giving back and doing volunteer work. I try to avoid showing disrespect for people when they are not deserving of it.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Install a high-power contactor/solenoid in the wall in series with their main circuit breaker. Cut their power when you feel it is prudent. If you get really pissed, pulse it at 20hz or apply 15kv from a neon transformer. Spray their cars with a fine mist of brake fluid. Sign them up for Jews for Jesus mailings. Get a camp stove and burn some hot peppers in front of their HVAC intake. Fill their mufflers with Great Stuff. Put guar gum in their gas tanks. Steal their rims. Get their cell phone number and write them in restrooms prefixed with "for a good time call..". Contact their parents and express concern that they're failures at life/becoming neo-nazis/hooked on cocaine. Call them in as resembling someone on the FBI's most wanted list. Let wild animals into their apartment. Throw a brick through their window, followed by glass jars of boiling honey. Break their car's window and fill it with trash. Steal their valve stems. Glue goatse to their windshield(facing in). Put bumper stickers on their cars.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

move out.

 

[Modelworks]

I'm sure your aware that its possible to generate an RF signal that is strong enough to interfere with a power amplifier like the one in there stereo, regardless of how far away it is from the signal source.

Having there stereo start playing a ton of RF garbage would be really annoying .
Only problem is that they would legally have a legit gripe with the fcc, although they wouldn't probably know where the source of the problem was.

You could use a ham radio with a directional antenna.

Probably would replace the amp, thinking its defective.
Of course the problem with the RF noise you transmit would persist