Noisy Neighbors in the Apartment next door
By Kyle Thomas Haley

As long as people have been living in apartments, there have been problems with neighbors. Maybe the people upstairs have kids that jump up and down a lot. Or the college students next door play loud music late at night. Whatever the issues, you do have options.

First, before approaching any neighbor with a complaint, make sure you are doing everything possible to be a good neighbor yourself. Keep in mind there might be things you do that disrupt the people living around you on a daily basis and you might not even be aware of it. Do not talk to your neighbor about any problem until you are certain the response won’t be a counter complaint.

When you are ready to launch your protest, begin with some positive feedback. Delving right into the problem will surely put your neighbor on the defensive and will unlikely lead to a resolution. Consider not even bringing up the disturbance during the initial communication. You might have to deal with the nuisance a little longer, but a friendly approach will be more successful. Once you have laid down the groundwork, any complaints should be met with apologies rather than retaliations.

If this best-case scenario does not take care of the problem, the landlord might be able to assist. Continual violation of apartment rules will lead to eviction. Chances are this individual is disturbing others as well, and the landlord will need to address the problem to keep his tenants. But keep in mind that the neighbors won’t be too pleased and the original disturbances could become the least of your problems. If all else fails, tell your landlord you cannot live in those conditions and look to move.

About the author:

Kyle Thomas Haley of Durham North Carolina has been creating and administering Apartment Renting Sites for STANZEEKAY Inc. since 1999.

Copyright © 2006 STANZEEKAY Inc.

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Updated 6/12/2005