Horrible Neighbor/Landlord Offers No Help! I am in dire need! Please Please Help.

[ajskydiver]

Hi Guys,
Basically, my neighbor is hell to live next to (Four months and counting)...last weekend was too much--the stereo was blaring through the walls from 11 pm Sat night til Sunday morning 10 am (which she admits to doing)...I finally called and complained.

The landlord put a nice note on their door and now the neighbor has freaked out and it's even worse than before. The noise has gotten worse, she swears and cusses at me through my front door (hers is literally right next to mine) while on the phone, she accosts me on my way to my front door...it's ridiculous. The environment is super hostile and aggressive--completely on her part.

I've asked the landlord to be moved to another building or let out of the lease and they refuse...and they won't do anything to the witch next door. What can do? I've tried looking under Florida law about Landlord's responsibilities and can't really find anything helpful.

Legally, what are my options? I'm at wits end and just want some peace and quiet.

Please please please help--if i had enough money I'd hire an attorney, then again, I wouldn't have to live in this apt if I could.

Thanks for reading,
AJ

 

[iamwiz82]

call the police, disturbing the peace is worth $250, i believe

 

[poop]

Yup, call the cops. She is both threatening you and disturbing the peace. You could press charges if she is bad enough.

Then again, you could get a nice 15" forward firing sub and point it at your neighbors. I had a downstairs neghbor who refused to turn down the music. I once turned all my speakers against the floor and turned my reciever to 50% (too loud for my tastes). They kind of got the picture. Soon enough, they starting playing loud music again, so I just stomped at 6 in the morning when I was getting ready for work. They would ask me to stop, and I would refuse. That got the message across.

 

[Emulex]

dude some peepz are crazy. my neighbors write us nasty notes cause we hump too loud at night. I'm like dude, sorry but a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do.

hehe.

Shut off your neighbors power, that tends to quiet them down for a while. trust me i've done it!

 

[rocmonster]

Document EVERYTHING that happens with time, date, witnesses, This will come in handy and give you and your story credibility if you take the legal route.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Have a few friends around for witnesses to the general situation, then call the cops next time she leaves the stereo on all night. If she claims that it was an isolated incident in an effort to get out of the citation, get your friends to back you up that it has been a recurring problem. Alternately, you can do what I do when I'm at home and my little sister cranks her stereo, which is to buy a louder system and blast your own music back at the other apartment. That's what I do in the dorms, it's pretty effective at getting people to turn down their music. One night everyone really got on my nerves because their music woke me from sleep at 2am, ("quiet hours" are from 8:30pm to 8:30am), so when I got up to shower at 8:30 (9:30 class) I turned my stero up all the way. They couldn't do anything about it since the "quiet hours" had expired, and they weren't happy, but I haven't had music wake me at 2am for a while.

Zenmervolt

 

[StageLeft]

There was a show on sally about this yesterday...there wasn't much they could do - but in your case disturbing the peace at night you can get the cops to come if they turn it up loud. They'll probabaly get a warning first time and then they'll get a nice fat ticket. The b*tch will still hate you and what not but at least you can get some sleep.

 

[ajskydiver]

Thanks guys....I wish I could retaliate...but I can't--don't want to sink to her level and I don't want any justification for her to complain about me. I just want to move/get out...

I have documented dates/times of the really bad days...but the landlord doesn't care so far.

What more can I do?

~AJ

 

[Doggiedog]

Get a Pesce Canari (sp?) dog and start walking around the front of her apartment

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Really big speaker+3-8Hz sinewave (adjust until something else resonates)==sub sonic annoyance

Oh yeah, JB Weld+door lock==big fun

 

[Azraele]

I agree with the others. Call the police and file a report against them. It will probably make themeven madder at you, but it may just do the trick in stoping them. Good luck.

 

[Dee67]

I had a similar problem years back. Really the only thing you can do is call the police after a certain time of night. If it happens in the afternoon or whatever, there's not much the cops can say or do since (don't know about in your area) but in my area they couldn't say anything until after 10 or 11pm (can't remember which). Documented police warnings will be the only 'proof' that will be acceptable. [or at least in my case it was]
Writing down incidents as they happen or having people 'witness' it didn't do anything for me.
If nobody seems willing to do anything (even though it's kinda childish [but I resorted to it eventually]) is fight fire with fire. For instance, if they're up until 4am blasting music and such, wait for about and hour or two after it stops for them to get to sleep, then return fire.
Just be CAREFUL if this woman seems unstable, she may attempt to damage your property (car) in retaliation. In such a case you'd have to sleep with one eye open and try to get photographic proof that she did it. Then you have something to go to the police with.

 

[Stark]

Call the cops. if she keeps it up, call the cops again. any time she makes a racket, call the cops. If you smell any funny smoke, call the cops. The landlord doesn't have to do anything, so they won't.

Get a paper trail started in case she does anything to your property (car). The more warranted calls the cops get, the better your case before any judge. Chances are, she may have other stuff going on inside her apartment than just loud music. And remember, this isn't about being a nice or rude neighbor... she's already made the choice for you with her actions.

did i mention you should call the cops?

I always knew that watching judge judy on lunch breaks would come in handy some day.

 

[cxim]

Landlord can't do anything unless terms of lease are violated.

Landlord leases, that is it.... LL is not a law enforcement agent.

subwoofer against wall, low frequency only, not loud audible sound, leave it on when you are not there, maximum pwer output....

 

[Maetryx]

Maetryx here,

Since your stated goal is peace and quiet, ignore the replies that tell you to crank *your* stereo. Wouldn't work in her case anyway, it sounds. Calling the police is the best option, because the seriousness of her transgressions will become glaringly obvious when the men in uniform show up all pissed off because they don't want to be bothered by her stupid sh!t.

But a warning when dealing with cops: they are another breed of human. Usually good, IMO, but different. They will be on *your* case about the situation as well as her's. It's the way it is. They shake down everyone knowing that the bad apple will be appropriately lectured, but just in case *you're* the real asshole, they'll lecture you about being too sensitive or whatever. It's because they don't assume EVER. They learn that on the job after just a few weeks I think.

But when the little bitch next door gets The Man down on her, she's probably going to get real repentant. Because the cops are going to let her know EXACTLY what fine she is looking at paying if she gets them dragged away from patrolling to deal with her stupid sh!t again.

Good luck. Stay your course as the good guy for now. Let us know what happens. We'll get cyberpunk on her ass if she doesn't straighten out. After all, you probably know here name, address, phone number, license plate number, etc, and we're all basically a bunch of caffeinated hackers in here.

 

[ajskydiver]

Thanks for all the replies so far...isn't the landlord legally required to provide a safe, peaceful environment?

From what everyone is saying, legally the landlord doesn't have to do anything at all? That just doesn't seem just. I will call the cops if I have to, but I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that.

I'll keep the updates going as more happens.

Thanks,
AJ

 

[ajskydiver]

I found this website: http://www.rentlaw.com/floridarentlaw.htm

I also found the Florida statutes they mention...but can't find anything that may help (most likely due to my lack of understanding the material I am reading--I knew I should have gone to law school)

"The tenant's rights are specified in the Florida Statutes at chapter 83 part 2. A tenant in public housing has rights under federal law, as well. If there is no written lease, these laws regulate the tenant's rights. There may also be a written lease which could affect a tenant's rights. If there is a written lease, it should be carefully reviewed.

A tenant is entitled to the right of private, peaceful possession of the dwelling...

A tenant also has responsibilities, which if not observed can lead to eviction. The tenant must pay the agreed upon rent and do so on time. The tenant must comply with building, housing and health codes. The tenant must maintain the dwelling without damage, keep the dwelling clean, and maintain the plumbing. The tenant must not violate the law or disturb the peace, nor allow guests to do so.

In trying to evict a tenant, a landlord will try to prove the tenant violated a tenant responsibility. However, the landlord may not seek to evict a tenant in retaliation for legitimate complaints about housing conditions to proper authorities. No eviction can occur, though, until the landlord first gives the tenant notice of the problem, and then gets a court order. Without the court order, the landlord has no power to interfere with the tenant. The landlord cannot, for instance, lock a tenant out or cut-off a tenant's utilities. A landlord engaging in this type of prohibited practice may be liable to the tenant for damages in the amount of three months rent. The landlord must get a court order of eviction before he or she can interfere with the tenant's occupancy. If a tenant is served with papers seeking eviction, the tenant should immediately seek legal assistance. The tenant may have legal defenses. For instance, the landlord cannot try to get even with a tenant by evicting him or her when the tenant has not violated tenant responsibilities. To raise defenses in an eviction proceeding, a tenant normally must pay into the court registry past due rent if any is owed and rent which comes due during the proceeding. If the tenant disputes the amount of rent claimed to be due, he or she may ask the court to determine the correct amount, but the tenant must show why he or she believes the amount is wrong. In an eviction proceeding, a tenant has very little time to respond, so quick action is extremely important."

It seems that evicting a tenant is a difficult, lengthy process...but it seems that the woman and the landlord aren't living up to their full responsibilities--her disturbance of the peace/the landlord failing to do anything.

I guess calling the cops to get them to document it is my only choice.

~AJ

 

[PG]

When I was in college I called the cops on my neighbors once. I was told by a friend that the landlord would get into big trouble if the cops got called too many times. Maybe this isn't true, but call the cops anyway.

 

[AndrewR]

Landlord doesn't really have an obligation to do anything. The LL can evict someone for violating the terms of the lease but isn't obligated to do so because they are disturbing you.

Your only course of action is through the police department. I have called them many times for noise complaints (mostly at our old apartment complex, damn glad to be out of there), and they were always very friendly and helpful -- not sure what Maetryx is referring to because that's NOT true here (Fulton County, Atlanta).

The way it works here, obviously may be different where you are, is that the first time the police are called, the people get a warning. The second they are called, they break up the party (if there is one) or remove non-residents. The third time results in a fine of $500-1000. They combined two on one trip when the morons turned the radio up before the cop had even left the building -- he was flipping his lid at how brazen they were (on Christmas Eve, no less -- it was shaking our walls it was so loud).

LL at that complex refused to take any action and directed us to civil court. The police may ask if you want to file a complaint against your neighbors, which I said I would a couple times, but when they relayed that information to the offending parties, they shut up rather quickly.

Ask to speak with the officer when they come out as they can tell you what they expect to do and tell you how to handle it in the future. Get the officer's name just so you know who responded and can pull a report if need be. When I've talked with them, they have always told me to call back immediately if I heard anything more, and they would come back out and straighten out a little further.

I used to have so many problems with my neighbors that I had the police on speed dial! Good luck.

 

[LadyNiniane]

I'll just add another vote to the "call the cops" brigade. The only way to prove that your peace and security are being disturbed requires that you (or someone) must contact law enforcement personnel to report the disturbance and get it documented. If the landlord can't (or won't) do it, you will have to make the call.

Actually, the speakers against the wall routine works pretty well, also. I used to live in a small apartment building that had a couple of musicians (including myself), several accountants and lawyer-types, and one major a$$hole that moved in long after the rest of us did. He complained bitterly about us practicing (string quartets, mostly classical music - didn't like our choices, I guess), and claimed (wrongly) that we kept him up all night. His weapon of choice was a poor excuse for a stereo, playing bad hard rock until 2 in the morning, every night.

Landlord gave us the same "can't help" story, but told us privately that he had no objections to us "responding in kind" as long as the police didn't get involved. Musician friends and I talked with accountants/lawyers, came up with an idea, set it off early one Friday evening (to avoid late-night disturbance calls).

My speakers laying face up on as high of a table as I could put together - got them about a foot from my ceiling, directly under their bedroom. Friend's speakers in the storage closet out in the hall (they lived across from the jerk - the storage closet shared a wall with his living room). Someone else contributed speakers aimed from the upstairs apartment. All with bass turned up high, volume about halfway up.

All playing the same thing - "Also Sprach Zarathustra" aka "2001 - A Space Odessey" - the old Von Karajan recording with the 16-cycle "C" note at the beginning and end of the chords.

Jerk moved out the following Monday

Lady Niniane

 

[monckywrench]

When explaining your report to the police let them know you are doing it to establish a paper trail, and apologise profusely for bothering them but tell them you have no choice. Probe them to find out options you may have. Also, how good are the tweeters in your stereo? An old trick to give co-workers headaches when I worked Comm/Nav backshop was to hook an audio oscillator set at about 28 kilohertz (set just above hearing range)to a speaker and crank it. Most folks can't sense hearing it but it bothers them quite a bit. I'd do this before leaving for work, since you won't want to stay in the room.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Aj_UF You are right, Tenant rights are protected by state laws. You have already read that in Florida, landlords are required to provide for a peaceful environment. Clearly, this is not happening. That means that your recourse is to MOVE. Your landlord cannot sue you for breaking your lease because he has not kept up his end of the deal. Most cities have a tenant resource center.

They will tell you to notify all persons invovled in writing and if the problem isn't fixed, then you can break your lease. Of course, your landlord may try to bluff you and keep your security deposit, at which time you inform him that you are going to sue him.

I do not know if you file any claim against your neighbor. Probably not, other than calling the cops. That might help, or it might make it worse. I would just go ahead and move. Look for a tenant resource center for sure...they will have sample letters and a list of good attorney specializing in tenant law.


EDIT: Its true that the landlord doesn't have to evict, but if he isn't providing a private, peaceful environment then he is breaking the lease contract.

 

[palad]

For legal matters, check with a lawyer. Many will give you a consultation over the phone to let you know where you stand.

Other than that, I once had a college professor who said that he had a similar problem when he was in college, living in the dorms. Turned out that an outlet in his room was on the same circuit as most of his neighbor's room, so he made a homemade breaker tripping device. Basically, he cut a cord off a lamp, looped it back on itself, insulated the exposed wires, and whenever his neighbor would crank the stereo up too high, he would plug it in. Poof! Off goes the power to the neighbor, and he could get a little peace and quiet.

 

[Viperoni]

Aj_UF, $1500, and you'll have 2 18inch subs that'll ANNHILATE your whole building
Muhahahahahah!
Notice the 2inch excursion, 20lb+ magnet, 4inch voice coil, 800watts RMS powerhandling EACH

Otherwise, the advice that others gave is excellent.
Make sure you have friend that can prove it's not an isolated incident if you need to!

 

[sharkeeper]

Rent an electric chipping hammer and get a 2x2 foot square (quarter inch thick) diamondplate and hammer on that in the middle of the room at 1:00 AM. A blunt chisel on a 55 gallon metal drum works too!

Be sure to wear hearing protection!

Cheers!