Loud upstairs neighbors and stupid landlord!

[WindingRoad]

As my title says I am dealing with loud upstairs neighbors and a stupid landlord that won't do anything. These people were supposed to be gone in May and after I get back in July they are STILL here. They have kept me up many nights with their incessant stomping. It probably sounds ridiculous but these two walking has made my life really lame in this apartment. I spoke with my landlord in may after he allowed them to stay two more weeks which coincided with my finals. That sucked really bad. Now I finally get him to return my call bc I've been trying to find out why they are still here. He wouldn't hardly talk to me on the phone?!?! I had to pry any little response from this guy! I asked him why they were still here and he said their lease wasn't up until the end of August?!?! Yes you heard me right, he totally lied to me about them leaving the first time so now I can't be sure they will actually leave this time. I stay in my apartment with earplugs in 80% of the time and I can STILL hear their feet loudly. I'm kinda needing to rant but I also don't know what the heck to do at this point. My lease isn't up till January and all my other classmates who live here have no issues with noise! I am just so frustrated this has been going on since January the first day I moved in! Is there some organization to go to on this? I'm in school and honestly I can't afford a lawyer.

[Tri Girl]

That really sucks for you. I'm sorry.

I would simply tell him that if they aren't out by the end of August (which he says they will be), you will be terminating your lease and will not pay any penalty fees. I would write it in a letter, document EVERY time you have contacted him and what his response was each time (list it in the letter). In our state, there is a tenant/landlord agreement for each lease signed. You might not know about it, but it exists when you sign a lease. If you have filed complaints and he does nothing to address them, it may be grounds for you breaking your lease with no penalty to you.

Not that you want to wait until the end of August, or that you want to move... but it sounds like you are miserable there and that's simply no way to live!

[westtexas]

I understand how you feel completely. I unfortunately have an apartment facing the pool and there are several residents of my complex who like to get drunk and horse around in the pool in the wee hours of the morning (we're talking 3:30 a.m. on weeknights here). The pool closes at 10. There is supposedly a courtesy officer you can call, but despite doing this nothing is getting resolved.

I don't have any solutions for you at all. I've just been trying to run myself ragged every day so I am very tired and am not woken up (or kept up) by these idiots (must be nice to live off mommy and daddy's money and not have to work!).

I don't have any advice for you, unfortunately. I'm also very noise sensitive and it's hard. But, you're not alone!

[emily_in_nc]

This is exactly the reason we insisted on a top floor apartment when we downsized from our house to an apartment in 2010. But then we made the mistake of buying a first-floor condo here, thinking that since it was all concrete construction, the footsteps upstairs would not be noisy. WRONG! The concrete transmits noise like crazy!

Never, ever again...

I don't know what else to say, winding, except that I feel your pain. I hope the situation will be resolved very soon! This kinda stuff drives me batty!

[WindingRoad]

Thanks girls it does help to know its not just me alone having these issues. I wouldn't mind living upstairs if it wasn't for the bike (no elevator) and last time I did that in a building very similar to this my electric bill about doubled. I am hoping these jerks really do move out come the end of August.

[salsabike]

Does your school have a law school? If so, they may have a clinic where law students can help you with tenant-landlord stuff.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks girls it does help to know its not just me alone having these issues. I wouldn't mind living upstairs if it wasn't for the bike (no elevator) and last time I did that in a building very similar to this my electric bill about doubled. I am hoping these jerks really do move out come the end of August.

We lived on the third floor and hauled bikes up and down stairs for the 14 months we lived there. It was a bit inconvenient, but worth it to be on top of the noise instead of underneath it. Our best friend in the building lived on the first floor, and when we'd visit her, we couldn't believe the noise from the "elephants" above.

That said, we had to be careful not to make noise ourselves, especially after the very nice Asian lady living below us came up and said that our dog running and playing across the floor was super loud. We had to stop playing with her in the apartment.

Best rental situation is probably a townhouse so no one is above OR below you. End-unit preferably! It's true that the A/C runs a lot more upstairs too...