Neighbors that don’t honor the social contract or rules for noise levels in apartments can be a nuisance or even destructive- noise can keep our quality of life down in the dumps, it can lead to sleep deprivation, and can be really destructive to someone who’s just trying to live their life. Most residents aren’t aware of how much sound travels in their apartment home and how that may affect the people around them. If your neighbors are noisy, here are a few ways that you can properly address them:

1. Consider Normal Apartment Living Noise

   Before you raise your hackles, consider the time of day and the type of noise that you’re hearing. When you’re living in an apartment community, some noise is unavoidable and very often, it’s unintentional. Use your best judgement- heavy walking traffic during the evening and loud music in the middle of the night are not typical apartment noise.

2. Block Out Unwanted Noise

   So you have noisy neighbors, but it’s all ‘normal apartment living’ noise. Use a ceiling fan or a sound machine to drown out the noise of every-day life with your neighbors. With a sound machine, you can often choose what type of noise you’d like to hear and they’re all much better than your neighbor’s footsteps!

3. Don’t Ignore The Problem

   Dealing with the issue promptly can eliminate any bad feelings or further problems. Don’t make the situation worse by directly confronting your neighbor– stomping on the floor or banging on the ceiling will just make someone feel defensive. South Parc’s office staff is available to assist you with noise complaints. Simply call our office during business hours to discuss excessive noise so we can assist you in properly handling the issue.

Strategies to Avoid Noise Altogether

1. Aim for the top floor

   If noisy people were considerate human beings, they would volunteer to live in the lowest units of any given building. They’d understand that dirt has no feelings and doesn’t care about high heels and loud music. However, if they were considerate, they probably wouldn’t be noisy neighbors. Most of the time, the people who are loud like having balconies and a view. Aim to balance your distance from the ground and the quality of your neighborhood and building.

2. Whenever possible, deal with property managers or landlords and not real estate agents.

   Your realtor has no skin in the game when it comes to showing you an apartment. Real estate agents dive in to show a place and make whatever promises they feel like to prospective tenants. Their commitment ends the second they get their commission. Once they’re paid, they’ll often tell you to take up any issue with your property management company.

3. If peace and quiet is important to you, tell your landlord in the beginning.

   Your landlord isn’t a yes/no machine. They’re people and as such, feedback is crucial to tap into their resources. If you want a quiet place to live, say so. When you tell them, pay close attention to their reaction- are they relieved? Do they suddenly look suspicious?

   You can tell a lot by the little things that people say that would seem otherwise innocuous. Things like “This is a city. There’s going to be some noise.” Or even better, “This is a really young community.” These are all red flags.

   Ask questions about your upstairs tenants. Do they have kids? Are they single? Young? Pets? Become a detective and ask good questions. There is not yet a renter’s rights law that adds stipulations to leases for opt-out if your neighbor has hardwood floors and two peg legs. By making your preferences clear upfront, you put the ball in the landlord’s court. If they recommend that you apply, you’ve set the expectation that you can approach the landlords about once you move in.

4. Don’t take up your neighbor’s offer to swing by their party.

   There’s an unspoken rule among noisy neighbors: the best way to keep a neighbor from complaining about your party is to invite them to the party. Don’t do it! The next time you complain, the noisy neighbor could mention that you didn’t have a problem when you were over knocking back beers a few days ago. Be polite, but keep your distance.

5. React strategically to noisy neighbors.

   You have to approach noisy neighbors with an action plan. For the first offense (make sure it’s an actual offense like a late-night party) you should talk to the neighbor themselves or go straight to the landlord. Keep in mind that this puts a damper on your neighbor relationship from the beginning, but who cares if they’re stuck on icy? You didn’t move here to be their friend, you move to sleep, eat, bathe, and hang out with people you already know.

   If this doesn’t stop the noise or the neighbor disagrees that they’re causing a problem, deal only with management going forward. It’s now become a battle over where your neighbors’ rights end and yours begin and this is really a job for a mediator. Send emails when the problem is happening to establish a paper trail and become well-acquainted with the language in your lease.

   Don’t call the cops on your neighbors over noise. It’s a poor use of police resources, but not only that– it basically escalates your negotiation into a war.

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