#4502016 - 12/30/19 10:50 PM
Should I call the Police?
|
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 6,529
NoFlyBoy
Hotshot
|
Hotshot
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 6,529
|
My neighbor upstairs is noisy.
When he walks it sounds like the ceiling is coming down.
It sounds like he is not walking, but jumping and hopping from living room to kitchen or from bedroom to dining room, etc.
Some days you can hear him run to the restroom and then run back out again.
Who runs to the restroom and not use it and then runs back out?
The only time I have to run to the restroom is if I was sick and it's an emergency.
This been going on for 4 months.
The noise also happens at night like 2 am, 5 am, 7 am.
We have asked him nicely a couple of times before and he apologizes and it gets quiet for a day or two:
you can hear the sound of his footsteps that are caused by a person walking normally but then it starts back up again.
We have never called the Police on him.
There is no management here. These are condo units, each unit with different owner.
I had called his owner once before about 2 months ago by finding the guy's info from the County online appraisal district website.
He just shrugs and says if he is too loud, go talk to him.
He doesn't get that it's been going on for months and talking to him hasn't helped.
About 1 hour ago, not only is he making noise by jumping around again from room to room, it also sounds like he is picking up something heavy and then dropping it in different parts of his unit:
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Over and Over!
Ceiling sounds like is coming down each time and I can feel the walls shaking with each BOOM.
After 20 minutes of listening to it and me thinking and hoping it will stop but it didn't, I've had enough.
I went upstairs and knocked on his door.
No, I didn't bang on his door like I am going to break it down, I knocked normally.
He opens the door and says: hey what's up?
I ask him: is everything okay? For the last 20 minutes my ceiling sounds like it's going to fall on me with your jumping and the loud noise from something heavy dropping.
He answers: me? no I wasn't doing anything.
I says: I didn't imagine it. If you weren't doing anything, I wouldn't be up here right now and we had this conversation before.
He gets upset and says: if you think it's that loud, then call the Police then.
To me that's an ADMISSION on his part that he was doing something.
He slams the door in my face.
Who the heck dares someone to call the Police on them? That just makes no sense to me!
|
|
#4502019 - 12/30/19 11:19 PM
Re: Should I call the Police?
[Re: NoFlyBoy]
|
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 67
Ranger5
Junior Member
|
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 67
CA, USA
|
He's doing it on purpose. I say call the cops. I had a problem with a noisy neighbor(LOUD bass) below me (2 story apartment) complex. Manager talked to him. Still continued. Manager suggested I call the police the next time with her blessing. Happened another time. The police told him if they had to come out again he could be fined( $1000 +). Might want to check with the police department about any consequences(if any) for multiple noise complaints. People can start to change their behavior if they know if they lose a chunk of money. This was in Southern California about 8 years ago. Good luck.
Don't know if there are restrictions on noise levels in regard to condos. There were and probably still are noise level restrictions regarding apartments in Southern California where I still live. S
Last edited by Ranger5; 12/30/19 11:25 PM.
|
|
#4502032 - 12/31/19 12:18 AM
Re: Should I call the Police?
[Re: NoFlyBoy]
|
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 24,029
oldgrognard
Administrator
|
Administrator
Lifer
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 24,029
USA
|
Find out what the laws and procedures are for where you live.
Go to the local police office and ask them what your options are. If you do that you will make it more likely that if it comes to shove, they will view it your way.
Keep a journal of times and type of noise. Record examples.
The local police will have other suggestions on what steps are in order.
It is a shame how these kind of jerks can make our lives miserable.
If the police option doesn’t work, you will have to determine how far you are willing to go. I am talking about his truck, his door, phone calls at all hours, etc. It may require making his life miserable. There is some risk in doing so. Be careful of evidence or proof against you. It may take levels of escalation over time. You must be willing to prove your ability to be harsh exceeds his willingness to endure it. May take a little time. You have to make sure that you can commit to seeing it through if you go that route. Don’t talk to anyone about what you are doing. Absolute black.
Good luck.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
|
|
#4502040 - 12/31/19 12:56 AM
Re: Should I call the Police?
[Re: NoFlyBoy]
|
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 7,747
Ssnake
Virtual Shiva Beast
|
Virtual Shiva Beast
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 7,747
Germoney
|
Create a log for at least a week or two. Time and date of incidents, duration, type of sound. If you have witnesses, even better, note their names, maybe have them sign the entry.
It's probably difficult to make a sound recording that holds up in court without a sound engineer using calibrated equipment, but at least if you create a log and submit it as evidence his lawyer will have a hard time getting a lawsuit tossed out on grounds of "he said, she said". He'd either have to admit that the events are real, or prove that his client couldn't have been "it". The latter is difficult, so it'll come down to a dispute whether his actions cross a certain noise level threshold that a judge would deem "disturbing". But wehat you can do is to make a video of his sounds while your TV is running at slightly lower than normal volume. Document the volume level by pressing the remote once to adjust it. That way there's at least a rough comparison that operates with somewhat objective figures. The key is to let as much subjectivity out of your reports as possible.
Have a look at court rulings over the matter. I don't think your chances are very good, but then again I don't know the law and the court rulings in your country nor have I personally witnessed it, so what do I know. No matter what, you will appear less as a cranky nutcase neighbor if you can provide evidence. The police won't like to be forced to intervene, the court will hate having to deal with a matter like this, so they all have every interest to drop the matter. The only way how you can force them to actually deal with it is by creating a log. At least in German courts when it comes to civil lawsuits, such a log will have the power of hard evidence unless the opposing party can prove that it's not. As soon as they don't debate a submission such as a log, they implicitly admit that it's true. So no matter what, you're in a better position if you don't operate just from memory.
Then call the cops. Give them a copy of your log. Keep writing the log until you have the first court date, if it comes to that. Once that your neighbor realizes that you keep track of his actions for posterity, maybe he'll start behaving - problem solved. Or he doesn't. Then the judge will see that it wasn't an episode of just two weeks. That he kept doing it even after the police came, even after you files the lawsuit, right to the day of the first court session. Also note every time that you try to have a conversation with him. Write down especially if he gets all passive-aggressive and asks you to call the cops if you don't like his activities. Don't escalate verbally, don't start a physical aggression. And at some point, hand it off to your lawyer. That's what we have them for, so we don't have to fight personally.
|
|
#4502070 - 12/31/19 10:38 AM
Re: Should I call the Police?
[Re: NoFlyBoy]
|
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,760
BD-123
Old Scroat
|
Old Scroat
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,760
Naunton Beauchamp Worcestershi...
|
Sounds to me as if the chap has some mental health issues judging by his bizarre behaviour and denial. Not had such an experience since flat-renting in my youth, but there is nothing more draining than not being able to be peaceable and relaxed in one's own home.
|
|
#4502114 - 12/31/19 04:26 PM
Re: Should I call the Police?
[Re: BD-123]
|
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
vonBaur
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
|
Sounds to me as if the chap has some mental health issues judging by his bizarre behaviour and denial. I agree. I used to work at an apartment building on Hollywood Blvd ( not the nice part) and we had a few resident crazies as well as one who would frequent the area occasionally. Most of what you describe sounds very much like what I witnessed from them, NoFlyBoy.
SALUTE TO ALL!
|
|
#4502132 - 12/31/19 05:45 PM
Re: Should I call the Police?
[Re: NoFlyBoy]
|
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
vonBaur
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
|
Keeping my fingers crossed for you, NoFlyBoy. I'm pretty sure that Dante never had an annoying neighbor or he would have described another level of Hell. Makes me glad that my nearest is several hundred yards away and separated by either a hilltop or thick woods. Or both.
SALUTE TO ALL!
|
|
|
|