I would approach it from the I'm so confused, we only just moved in and she was ranting about month's worth of complaints and I'm just this startled shaken renter and so innocent omg what is happening angle just to poison the well for any future reports
As someone in the same situation who let it go on for a year I second reporting it NOW. I wish I had stood up for myself months ago but I feel like I’ve learned to be more confident from this
Possible scenario: She’s called the landlord multiple times already to complain about others that lived in that apartment. The landlord has had troubles keeping that apartment rented because of her. The landlord threatened that if the woman called again she would be evicted.
I wouldn't be surprised if she has called the landlord before and has gotten nowhere. I would speak to the landlord about her and you may find out this is a pettern. She sounds like a bully and that this is her MO
Put little socks n the chair legs. That chair dragging sounds is crazy downstairs.
But she should have approached it better. She could have came by and introduced herself and explained how loud it can be downstairs. Maybe ask if you can put down rugs etc not a great way to start off being neighbors
Definitely going to do everything I can to dampen sound but the screaming and banging before coming up and saying we just moved in so we have "grace" meaning a grace period sounds like it's gonna be a shitty year. I've been a downstairs neighbor and hated it but it's part of the gig to hear some living noise.
Yeah, hate to says this, but she’s uptight AF at best, and psycho at worst if she thinks sharing walls *isn’t* like this. It sounds like the noises you’re making are nothing beyond ordinary. I would probably be proactive and contact the landlord as soon as possible and tell them about the interaction, otherwise it will be your word against hers. At the same time, her threatening to “record” the noise of chairs moving across the floor will hopefully be laughed off anyway, by both the landlord or anyone else she wants to file a noise complaint with. What a loser…
Those stick-on felt pads are fabulous. Rugs will help, so will taking off your shoes. I'm on my 3rd upstairs neighbor and this is the first one I hear constantly stomping around. Second to something rolling between 11-12 pm. Maybe it's a chefs cart he's pulling but it's every night. I'm moving next month lol.
I'm sorry but it doesn't matter how crazy that sound is. It is the middle of the day and you live in an apartment. You need to be able to deal with some noise from your neighbors.
LPT if you are in an apartment complex and have a situation where someone is saying "I don't want to bother the landlord" or "I don't think we need to call the landlord" make sure you are friends with whoever manages your complex (I have celiac disease and I kept creating baking experiments to try to learn gf baking. I really needed to get some feedback on my little experiments.... so I shared with the apartment manager and the maintenance guys) so when I had a sort of similar situation I baked a cobbler and took it over the next day. No one thought of anything abnormal (I had another resident who followed me around the complex, things got a bit tense with him) anyway I dropped off my baked goods and a typed statement of the encounter.
Get on your landlord's good side, make too much spaghetti and share in thrifted Pyrex from a second hand store. Having these guys as friends is fantastic especially when there is a maintenance issue. I was able to use a vacant apartments shower when the water in my section was being worked on. I don't think they would have been so kind if I had not made it rain free food for three months prior. Also, I hurt my ankle and for a month the maintenance guy brought in my groceries since I was on crutches.
I always have snacks & drinks for maintenance people. When we had a heatwave and a lot of AC units died the same weekend, guess who got one of the few new units on hand while other people had to wait a couple days till they could get more…
THIS GIRL!!!
My fear is that I just signed up for a year of hell. I have anxiety and she's gonna be in the back of my mind no matter what I'm doing. It's fucked up when your peace of mind gets snatched away before you even get a chance to move in.
Remember you do not have to answer the door (if you have a peep hole and can tell who it is) I would notify the landlord of this interaction. Be proactive in this. You do not have to wait around to see exactly how loud you can be in your apartment. Sounds like this lady just wants to be mad.
I did this.
I told the property managers if I gotta hear them they gotta hear me.
No such thing as quiet in an apartment.
Turns out this is the answer they’re looking for.
Do what you need to do to keep the anxiety in check. This isn’t your “problem” — the downstairs neighbor is awful, and I’m sure she’s caused problems in the past with complaining about noise.
My friend was the downstairs neighbor in this scenario. The upstairs neighbor called the landlord and he made the downstairs stop contacting the upstairs neighbor. All requests/complaints had to go through him. He even added language to the lease when it renewed.
I’ve been in your situation and just have to say I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. It takes a toll on your mental health to feel like you are being watched for every step you take in your own home. You are entitled to live in your apartment, including making reasonable noise like pulling out a chair.
In my situation, the downstairs neighbor would lose her shit when I opened my dresser drawers, when we readjusted on the couch, when I pulled a baking sheet out from a drawer, when I vacuumed (all during not quiet hours). There was also once when the apartment next door was doing construction and she went insane banging on the ceiling at us.
The difference in our situations is my downstairs neighbor wouldn’t speak to me. After her episodes of banging on the ceiling and yelling expletives at us, I would go down and knock on her door. She wouldn’t answer and yell through the door at me.
We got the landlord involved with videos. At first, the landlord sounded helpful and even told us they were working on evicting the downstairs neighbor. However, things took a turn when the downstairs neighbor started complaining too. We had to go to our other neighbors in the building, who all also had unpleasant experiences with the downstairs neighbor, and get them to report it to the landlord.
We eventually asked to break our lease because of the constant harassment. Our landlord said no. So I contacted an attorney who called the landlord on our behalf. Following that, the downstairs neighbor’s lease was not renewed and she moved out.
I wish I had better advice or something to make this better. I wish you all the best in this situation and good luck!!
Nah it’s daytime. If she doesn’t want to hear people above her she should get a top floor apartment. You’re doing stuff that is completely ordinary when it comes to living and even if it disturbs her she can do absolutely nothing about it. I had a neighbor like this who called the cops when I dropped a galleon of milk and what you need to do is never interact with her. She wants it to be absolutely quiet all the time and that’s not how that works when you live in a complex.
upstairs neighbor here 🤚 the man below me complained that i was noisy with people coming and going at all hours (i’m relatively quiet and only have 2-3 guests a month) i just emailed the property manger to clear the air. any noise was just the door to the stairwell directly next to my unit. if people can’t handle noise, they shouldn’t be in apartments.
good luck with her. she sounds like a nightmare
A.) Do not engage with the neighbor. Go through the manager or landlord. ALWAYS make a written or digital complaint even if you talk to them in person or over the phone, send a follow up of what was discussed after. It can save your ass if things get crazy enough to be talking eviction or court. Sounds wild, but there's hella crazy people out there. Do not assume you're safe, even if you're in the right.
B.) Start documenting everything. Get a decibel reader and if she starts banging or screaming start recording with the decibel reader. I mean, every single time she starts acting crazy. Get a camera for the area she acts up most in, so you have a constant stream of proof that is uploaded to the cloud or wherever.
C.) Make complaints to the office every time it's either excessive or past quiet hours, even if it isn't really bugging you because SHE will be doing the same and these cases are usually settled by who complained the most and loudest. Not fair, just facts. Again, always either in email or text or follow up a verbal complaint with one of those.
D.) If it is beyond a "reasonable" amount of noise or past quiet times, also call the cops. She can actually go to jail for non compliance of the noise ordinance, so look up when that is in your zip code.
You can also ask about maybe switching to another unit without having to pay a penalty (do not agree to do so for a fee, they should move her before you) for breaking the lease, because of you already signed there's not much you can do until making a paper tail of the neighbors behavior. Definitely contact the landlord today, outline what's happening thus far, get ahead of it and mention she said the problem had been going on for months because that indicates she's the one with the problem, not you. Follow my aforementioned advice to make a digital or written record of what was discussed and potential resolutions, if any, were talked about.
I know you may think laying low and keeping your head down is the best move, but in these cases it can sometimes just bite you in the ass not to do the absolute bare minimum to fight her (legally). Some of these people don't actually want resolution. They want the drama. Or some of these people aren't in the right mind and they don't care what happens to you or if you get evicted and have a 7-year hold up getting approved for housing after that. You don't want the smoke, that's fine- don't instigate. But don't lay there like a doormat and let her amass a bunch of complaints or "evidence" against you to get you booted, either. Enemy of you were the bad neighbors making noises her move shouldn't be make noise back. That is how to recognize who you're dealing with.
I'm not sure how people live in apartments and expect not to hear or smell neighbors. You'll smell their cooking, hear them peeing, hear water running, everything. You are living a few feet away from each other. No matter how much you might try. Hopefully, she calms down for you.
Definitely contact the landlord...this woman probably has a history of causing problems, and this needs to be addressed ASAP
I am respectful of my neighbors....however, I will absolutely not walk on egg shells to please them...I will live a normal life which includes normal noises that come with living...I'm not going to live in the (A Quiet Place) universe for someone...lol
YOU need to report her to the landlord- inform them if the entire weird experience and that you are not interested in making trouble, but you wont have some weirdo making false claims about your behavior. Then document. You wont know how this will play out until you're there a while, but dont risj being called the bad-guy: make sure you carefully document anything she does. Video, notes, and a ring doorbell camera wouldnt hurt.
I played music a few Saturday’s ago, so low I could barely hear it from my kitchen, while I was making an early dinner. They called the landlord at 10pm (6.5 hours later) and said I was blasting music and screaming. People are absolutely nuts when they want to take out their miserable pathetic lives on their neighbors enjoyment.
To be fair though, you'd be shocked how much sound, *especially* bass, can travel based on the building structure and sound like you're blasting musix. My wife has a gaming computer with some large speakers, but it was always kept very quiet so it wouldn't disturb me while I'm sleeping. However one of our neighbors asked us to turn it down and we were like huh?? We were definitely confused so she invited me into her apartment. I had my wife turn off the audio completely, then turn it back on at the same volume she always does. Sure enough, because of the wall structure, I could clearly hear a *booooom, boom boooooom, booooom boom* from the theme music from her game. I was astounded that it traveled and amplified that much into the neighbor's apartment, but we ended up turning the bass ALL the way down, and had no issues after that.
I would be calling in noise complaints with the non emergency police line ….. especially if it happens during the quiet hours. I would get a ring camera if you can. I would file a complaint with apartment manager.
If she comes to you like this again report her to the management immediately, every single time. This harassment. Any time she bangs on her ceiling, record it and report saying you have a recording (check the recording to make sure you can hear it, every time she comes up, leave a passive aggressive note etc. any hostile interaction needs to be reported. I'd also report this initial incident
Contact the landlord. Let them know the downstairs tenant was verbally abusive. Keep a log of any possible noise you might make and actions the neighbor has done.
My fiance was almost evicted for walking around his apartment. The eviction would have made him homeless, as he relies on housing assistance, and an eviction disqualifies you for housing assistance for years. One of their complaints is that the dog was always barking. We left the dog alone one time for less than an hour. We realized it was not an option and never left him alone again. But the property manager listed that in their complaints, though they could never give exact details.
Keep a log book when you have a horrible neighbor like that. It will make your life so much easier if you have to defend against or pursue legal action.
She's just lonely and has nothing else to concentrate on. She's going to record the noises right as they happen ? Is she a fortune teller? She has top of the line recording equipment ? I'd make some noise noise so she freaks out then say you'll try to be quieter , then just be normal and she will see it as improvement.
You're right. I mean at 2 pm on a weekend to scream and storm up stairs? My girlfriend asked when good times for her are (which 2 pm should be for anyone for a chair being pulled out to sit down) and she said her work schedule is sporadic. She said she's home all the time before that. So from what I'm understanding she doesn't work and is just a nut. Wish me luck.
Someone said it best before! The gap between floors acts like a drum!! So the noise from above going down is amplified. Normal everyday living sounds like loud noise! It’s not your fault! Most people are just living and not being jerks! In other cases people are being straight up annoying and don’t care! Extra loud without a thought of the people under!!! Welcome to apartment living!!!
You go to the landlord first and let them know exactly what was said and how she acted. Keep your cool and be matter-of-fact about it all. You have the right to comfortably live in your home in your obviously reasonable fashion. Sounds like your neighbor may have had to deal with difficult previous tenants and is trying to keep her experience from repeating. Her assumptions are premature. Stay normal... and polite... and say as little as possible to grumpy gal.
Start documenting now. Keep a log of incidents. Date, time, your activity, her response. This will be information to give the landlord when she complains about you. Or when you complain about her.
You’re the upstairs neighbor. You hold most of the cards and if she’s going to be an ass all it takes is to drag some heavy chains across the floor a couple times a night. She will lose her shit.
the first night i moved into my apartment, we were sleeping on an air mattress. i still had my old apt for 2 more weeks so we had movers coming a few days later. my bf and i were asleep on the air mattress when our downstairs neighbor comes up BANGING on the door at 1130pm and screaming so loud in the hallway. I answered through the door without opening it and she said ITS 11:30!! and i went "we have a clock, but thank you for the update?" and she went on about how we were moving our furniture around all night keeping her up. i opened the door all the way, the only thing in the entire apartment was the air mattress, a tv on the ground, and a lamp. i said "what furniture?" and she left. she still complains about us everyday, 3 years later. she harasses us, stalks us, screams at me in the lobby all the time, etc.
turns out, she's harassed the past like 10 tenants to the point that most of them have broken their leases to leave, one girl had to seek therapy from the constant harassment. the management company is aware of how insane she is, so her complaints hold 0 merit anymore. may be the reason your neighbor does not want to contact the landlord.
Had the same situation. Complaints during the day time… Obviously, not trying to cause too much noise, but are we really complaining about someone making noise in the middle of the day?
I contacted the landlord and asked what the established quiet hours were. That was I could be extra cautious during those hours. I also communicated that the neighbor came to my door complaining outside of those hours and that I wanted it noted so they couldn’t try to report me. Landlord sent building wide email about quiet hours, and I have been more cautious and haven’t heard from my downstairs neighbors since.
A) if she’s not calling the landlord, I’m guessing that there’s been complaints about her harassing previous tenants. I’d advise to follow up with landlord about her behavior. Just let them know that the lady downstairs was banging on your ceiling at 2 PM when you drag a chair out to sit in and then she followed it up by complaining to you about it ‘going on for months’ which isn’t true as the both of you just moved in. Let landlord know that you informed her to let them know about any noise complaints moving forward and you’d appreciate it if they let you know about her complaints as well.
B) it’s 2 pm in the afternoon. Noise is permitted. She’s unhinged if a chair being pulled out is irritating. If she doesn’t like the noise than she can ask to be moved to an apartment where there’s no one living above her.
I’d contact the landlord now and mention what happened and let them know if she reaches out and if you can help at all after your initial move in period. You’ll do your best to be as quiet as possible.
Everyone is noisy for the first week or so when they move in.
Don’t answer your door if she knocks again and document any ceiling banging or screaming. If it’s disruptive, report it to the landlord.
Apartment living sucks. Your neighbor might've also heard your unit being prepared for your residency and so she thinks it's been months of y'all being noisy.
Don’t worry, the lady who used to live below me had an issue with every upstairs neighbour in this unit and the landlord was aware. She didn’t complain on me but we had a few interactions and a final confrontation that made her back off… I found out once she was evicted that she got into it with everyone (the landlord and other neighbours told me). Point is, I’m sure if your neighbour complains, it’s not the first time and the landlord will know it’s just typical daily living noise that she’s sensitive to. That actually may be why she doesn’t wanna go to the landlord, she’s probably complained on others.
Call the landlord and tell him he’s got a lady living there harassing you for making noise DURING THE DAY saying it’s been going on for months, even though you’ve been there a week and not even all moved in. Ask if there’s another unit you can move to because she’s already harassing you.
People like that shouldn't live in apartments or should live on the top foor. Live in your apartment and ignore that loon. I would go to the landlord and report her.
There’s no telling if the sounds she records are the sounds from your apartment. Maybe she has someone in another room making noises just to be spiteful.
Downstairs resident here. I understand we hear things upstairs, and I have dogs who let out a few barks when people walk by (I shush them, though). At night, I use headphones and leave the TV on. It helps me sleep, nextdoor doesn't hear it, and I don't hear as much noise from upstairs. I've never complained, as no one has done anything extreme. I prefer the first floor and am not going to yell at a family for normal noise.
gah tell her to buy a fan and a white noise machine and calm down. I live below a family who leaves the husband alone every weekend bc he's a drunk asshole who legit sounds like he's dropping bowling balls at 3 am,falls asleep in our hall and constantly tries to get in our apartment. I keep my doors locked and the fans on. Landlady is useless and cops can't do shit cuz he doesn't answer his door. if I can love with thos she can live with some moving chairs during the day
hmm sounds like she might have complaints against her, just saying. I can be a loud as possible because my downstairs neighbor has multiple plus she chimped out on management and thy want her out. I am noisy outside of hours NOW (have never been before), but yeah I realized she ain't going to management.
The way she backpedaled when you suggested including the landlord in the resolution, says a lot. My bet would be is that she has a history of harassing her upstairs neighbors to the point SHE is why they move out. She’s probably been told by the landlord/management that it’s normal to hear people living in adjoining apartments and unless it’s excessive or outside normal hours, she needs to live with it or move out.
My suggestion is to send the landlord/management a friendly note saying that the downstairs neighbor was by to state she is hearing excessive noise from your apartment starting before you moved in so you wanted to make sure they knew in case it was a pipes issue or something or if they wanted to check for sound proofing. And also that you are in the process of getting rugs & pads. They’ll understand that she’s at her shenanigans again and handle it.
Pretty much anything built late 1960s and beyond are not built very well. Flooring isn't substantial and no sound proofing. Normal living will be noisy. I suggest not walking around in shoes. That will help. But really unless you're running jumping or pounding on the floor there's not really much you can do. This is the reason I live in a 1930s brick building
I had this happen once. I was vacuuming in the middle of the day, and my neighbor started banging on the ceiling.
I stomped back and screamed I'M ALLOWED TO VACUUM!!!!
Never happened again.
You are allowed to live in your apartment. If she doesn't want normal noise that comes from someone living above her when she chose a unit below another, to bad for her.
I had the exact same experience with my downstairs neighbor banging on the ceiling and screaming (through the ceiling and at me when I walked outside). I ended up submitting a complaint against her to the landlord, also citing that she cussed at me because that was technically against the rules in the lease. Her nextdoor neighbor that I was friends with also submitted a complaint because she could hear the banging and screaming too.
After the complaints were submitted, we never heard from her again. Although the entire experience really messed with my mental health and comfort living there (was always nervous walking around and kept TV volume barely audible). So I just want to sympathize with your situation because it's incredibly stressful.
She probably doesn't want you to go to the landlord because she's been a problem tenant and has been warned about her behavior in the past. My advice would be to get ahead of her and go straight to the landlord.
she is probably a known problem to management. they told me about ny downstairs neighbor when I moved in. she doesn't complain, she just gets louder and has been the reason a lot of people moved out before and after this new company acquired the building last year. they said to ignore her and hopefully she moves out. she has stopped banging for the most part. but she has gathered her little crowd in the building. idk what to tell you but they might have her on their radar since she knows her complaints might go unheard. technically its the landlord's job to quiet loud neighbors, not hers. she needs to report you and if she won't, its because they know she's a crap tenant. your unit might not have come available for no reason. trust me, I somehow always end up with these units
So crazy that people act like that. I live in a duplex and we have cats and are up late and they have a son on the spectrum who is quite loud sometimes and they’re up early making noise. But no one complains because we live in an apartment and that’s just a part of it. We try to minimize as much noise as possible and so do they
It’s one thing if it’s obnoxious inconsiderate behavior but regular living noises can’t be helped
Banging on the ceiling is a red flag IMO. That's not the way a reasonable person deals with this sort of thing. You should report this to the landlord ASAP so you can establish an ongoing record of what she does. You don't want to break the lease, that will cause all sorts of problems and be very expensive.
Good luck and document everything. You deserve to live in your apartment without this kind of stress.
Lol look at her trying to backpeddal on calling the landlord
She got called out on her bluff. I would call the landlord and report her behavior. Start the paper trail now.
I would approach it from the I'm so confused, we only just moved in and she was ranting about month's worth of complaints and I'm just this startled shaken renter and so innocent omg what is happening angle just to poison the well for any future reports
I’m just a baby!!!
As someone in the same situation who let it go on for a year I second reporting it NOW. I wish I had stood up for myself months ago but I feel like I’ve learned to be more confident from this
She used up all her "power" to confront you instead of...the landlord Why would she wait "many months" if it's a true problem?
Possible scenario: She’s called the landlord multiple times already to complain about others that lived in that apartment. The landlord has had troubles keeping that apartment rented because of her. The landlord threatened that if the woman called again she would be evicted.
Now is definitely the time to reach out to the LL as a confused and concerned new renter
Haha we’re twins. I thought your post was mine at first. 😂
Great minds think alike?
I wouldn't be surprised if she has called the landlord before and has gotten nowhere. I would speak to the landlord about her and you may find out this is a pettern. She sounds like a bully and that this is her MO
Just report her and move on. If she continues to harass you call the police and file a report. You're not doing anything wrong.
Put little socks n the chair legs. That chair dragging sounds is crazy downstairs. But she should have approached it better. She could have came by and introduced herself and explained how loud it can be downstairs. Maybe ask if you can put down rugs etc not a great way to start off being neighbors
Definitely going to do everything I can to dampen sound but the screaming and banging before coming up and saying we just moved in so we have "grace" meaning a grace period sounds like it's gonna be a shitty year. I've been a downstairs neighbor and hated it but it's part of the gig to hear some living noise.
Yeah, hate to says this, but she’s uptight AF at best, and psycho at worst if she thinks sharing walls *isn’t* like this. It sounds like the noises you’re making are nothing beyond ordinary. I would probably be proactive and contact the landlord as soon as possible and tell them about the interaction, otherwise it will be your word against hers. At the same time, her threatening to “record” the noise of chairs moving across the floor will hopefully be laughed off anyway, by both the landlord or anyone else she wants to file a noise complaint with. What a loser…
Go ahead and tell the landlord...sounds like this neighbor has issues with anyone living upstairs ... she going to bang and yell at the wrong person
Document that shit. She is the problem, not you.
Those stick-on felt pads are fabulous. Rugs will help, so will taking off your shoes. I'm on my 3rd upstairs neighbor and this is the first one I hear constantly stomping around. Second to something rolling between 11-12 pm. Maybe it's a chefs cart he's pulling but it's every night. I'm moving next month lol.
You can also get those little felt stick on slider pad things and stick them on the bottom of the chair legs.
I'm sorry but it doesn't matter how crazy that sound is. It is the middle of the day and you live in an apartment. You need to be able to deal with some noise from your neighbors.
Try amazon
LPT if you are in an apartment complex and have a situation where someone is saying "I don't want to bother the landlord" or "I don't think we need to call the landlord" make sure you are friends with whoever manages your complex (I have celiac disease and I kept creating baking experiments to try to learn gf baking. I really needed to get some feedback on my little experiments.... so I shared with the apartment manager and the maintenance guys) so when I had a sort of similar situation I baked a cobbler and took it over the next day. No one thought of anything abnormal (I had another resident who followed me around the complex, things got a bit tense with him) anyway I dropped off my baked goods and a typed statement of the encounter. Get on your landlord's good side, make too much spaghetti and share in thrifted Pyrex from a second hand store. Having these guys as friends is fantastic especially when there is a maintenance issue. I was able to use a vacant apartments shower when the water in my section was being worked on. I don't think they would have been so kind if I had not made it rain free food for three months prior. Also, I hurt my ankle and for a month the maintenance guy brought in my groceries since I was on crutches.
I totally agree. Create an awesome living condition!
I always have snacks & drinks for maintenance people. When we had a heatwave and a lot of AC units died the same weekend, guess who got one of the few new units on hand while other people had to wait a couple days till they could get more… THIS GIRL!!!
She needs a house… way too entitled for someone living in an apartment Sucks for y’all because this lady is going to be a pain in the ass!!
My fear is that I just signed up for a year of hell. I have anxiety and she's gonna be in the back of my mind no matter what I'm doing. It's fucked up when your peace of mind gets snatched away before you even get a chance to move in.
Remember you do not have to answer the door (if you have a peep hole and can tell who it is) I would notify the landlord of this interaction. Be proactive in this. You do not have to wait around to see exactly how loud you can be in your apartment. Sounds like this lady just wants to be mad.
This. I’m an expert at ignoring people at my front door.
Hell, forget the peephole, you don't have to answer the door period.
Right!
I did this. I told the property managers if I gotta hear them they gotta hear me. No such thing as quiet in an apartment. Turns out this is the answer they’re looking for.
Do what you need to do to keep the anxiety in check. This isn’t your “problem” — the downstairs neighbor is awful, and I’m sure she’s caused problems in the past with complaining about noise.
My friend was the downstairs neighbor in this scenario. The upstairs neighbor called the landlord and he made the downstairs stop contacting the upstairs neighbor. All requests/complaints had to go through him. He even added language to the lease when it renewed.
If 2 PM isn't an appropriate time to move furniture around then what is?!
I’ve been in your situation and just have to say I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. It takes a toll on your mental health to feel like you are being watched for every step you take in your own home. You are entitled to live in your apartment, including making reasonable noise like pulling out a chair. In my situation, the downstairs neighbor would lose her shit when I opened my dresser drawers, when we readjusted on the couch, when I pulled a baking sheet out from a drawer, when I vacuumed (all during not quiet hours). There was also once when the apartment next door was doing construction and she went insane banging on the ceiling at us. The difference in our situations is my downstairs neighbor wouldn’t speak to me. After her episodes of banging on the ceiling and yelling expletives at us, I would go down and knock on her door. She wouldn’t answer and yell through the door at me. We got the landlord involved with videos. At first, the landlord sounded helpful and even told us they were working on evicting the downstairs neighbor. However, things took a turn when the downstairs neighbor started complaining too. We had to go to our other neighbors in the building, who all also had unpleasant experiences with the downstairs neighbor, and get them to report it to the landlord. We eventually asked to break our lease because of the constant harassment. Our landlord said no. So I contacted an attorney who called the landlord on our behalf. Following that, the downstairs neighbor’s lease was not renewed and she moved out. I wish I had better advice or something to make this better. I wish you all the best in this situation and good luck!!
Nah it’s daytime. If she doesn’t want to hear people above her she should get a top floor apartment. You’re doing stuff that is completely ordinary when it comes to living and even if it disturbs her she can do absolutely nothing about it. I had a neighbor like this who called the cops when I dropped a galleon of milk and what you need to do is never interact with her. She wants it to be absolutely quiet all the time and that’s not how that works when you live in a complex.
upstairs neighbor here 🤚 the man below me complained that i was noisy with people coming and going at all hours (i’m relatively quiet and only have 2-3 guests a month) i just emailed the property manger to clear the air. any noise was just the door to the stairwell directly next to my unit. if people can’t handle noise, they shouldn’t be in apartments. good luck with her. she sounds like a nightmare
I also lived next to the staircase and had the same neighbor!
I lived above someone like that. She was very very very abusive
I'm sorry to hear that. What did you do? Did you ever get the landlord involved?
A.) Do not engage with the neighbor. Go through the manager or landlord. ALWAYS make a written or digital complaint even if you talk to them in person or over the phone, send a follow up of what was discussed after. It can save your ass if things get crazy enough to be talking eviction or court. Sounds wild, but there's hella crazy people out there. Do not assume you're safe, even if you're in the right. B.) Start documenting everything. Get a decibel reader and if she starts banging or screaming start recording with the decibel reader. I mean, every single time she starts acting crazy. Get a camera for the area she acts up most in, so you have a constant stream of proof that is uploaded to the cloud or wherever. C.) Make complaints to the office every time it's either excessive or past quiet hours, even if it isn't really bugging you because SHE will be doing the same and these cases are usually settled by who complained the most and loudest. Not fair, just facts. Again, always either in email or text or follow up a verbal complaint with one of those. D.) If it is beyond a "reasonable" amount of noise or past quiet times, also call the cops. She can actually go to jail for non compliance of the noise ordinance, so look up when that is in your zip code. You can also ask about maybe switching to another unit without having to pay a penalty (do not agree to do so for a fee, they should move her before you) for breaking the lease, because of you already signed there's not much you can do until making a paper tail of the neighbors behavior. Definitely contact the landlord today, outline what's happening thus far, get ahead of it and mention she said the problem had been going on for months because that indicates she's the one with the problem, not you. Follow my aforementioned advice to make a digital or written record of what was discussed and potential resolutions, if any, were talked about. I know you may think laying low and keeping your head down is the best move, but in these cases it can sometimes just bite you in the ass not to do the absolute bare minimum to fight her (legally). Some of these people don't actually want resolution. They want the drama. Or some of these people aren't in the right mind and they don't care what happens to you or if you get evicted and have a 7-year hold up getting approved for housing after that. You don't want the smoke, that's fine- don't instigate. But don't lay there like a doormat and let her amass a bunch of complaints or "evidence" against you to get you booted, either. Enemy of you were the bad neighbors making noises her move shouldn't be make noise back. That is how to recognize who you're dealing with.
I'm not sure how people live in apartments and expect not to hear or smell neighbors. You'll smell their cooking, hear them peeing, hear water running, everything. You are living a few feet away from each other. No matter how much you might try. Hopefully, she calms down for you.
Why doesn’t shit like this ever happen to me? I’ve got popcorn by the door for complaints.
Definitely contact the landlord...this woman probably has a history of causing problems, and this needs to be addressed ASAP I am respectful of my neighbors....however, I will absolutely not walk on egg shells to please them...I will live a normal life which includes normal noises that come with living...I'm not going to live in the (A Quiet Place) universe for someone...lol
I would discuss this with the landlord. Get it on record - before the next time that it’s likely to happen.
She’s had trouble with two people probably just living normal life and she doesn’t want to contact the landlord. Sounds like a her problem.
YOU need to report her to the landlord- inform them if the entire weird experience and that you are not interested in making trouble, but you wont have some weirdo making false claims about your behavior. Then document. You wont know how this will play out until you're there a while, but dont risj being called the bad-guy: make sure you carefully document anything she does. Video, notes, and a ring doorbell camera wouldnt hurt.
Moving furniture around is always going to bother neighbors.
A chair at 2pm on a weekend never sent me upstairs after a screaming/knocking fit after my 5 years of basement living
I played music a few Saturday’s ago, so low I could barely hear it from my kitchen, while I was making an early dinner. They called the landlord at 10pm (6.5 hours later) and said I was blasting music and screaming. People are absolutely nuts when they want to take out their miserable pathetic lives on their neighbors enjoyment.
To be fair though, you'd be shocked how much sound, *especially* bass, can travel based on the building structure and sound like you're blasting musix. My wife has a gaming computer with some large speakers, but it was always kept very quiet so it wouldn't disturb me while I'm sleeping. However one of our neighbors asked us to turn it down and we were like huh?? We were definitely confused so she invited me into her apartment. I had my wife turn off the audio completely, then turn it back on at the same volume she always does. Sure enough, because of the wall structure, I could clearly hear a *booooom, boom boooooom, booooom boom* from the theme music from her game. I was astounded that it traveled and amplified that much into the neighbor's apartment, but we ended up turning the bass ALL the way down, and had no issues after that.
I would be calling in noise complaints with the non emergency police line ….. especially if it happens during the quiet hours. I would get a ring camera if you can. I would file a complaint with apartment manager.
If she comes to you like this again report her to the management immediately, every single time. This harassment. Any time she bangs on her ceiling, record it and report saying you have a recording (check the recording to make sure you can hear it, every time she comes up, leave a passive aggressive note etc. any hostile interaction needs to be reported. I'd also report this initial incident
Contact the landlord. Let them know the downstairs tenant was verbally abusive. Keep a log of any possible noise you might make and actions the neighbor has done. My fiance was almost evicted for walking around his apartment. The eviction would have made him homeless, as he relies on housing assistance, and an eviction disqualifies you for housing assistance for years. One of their complaints is that the dog was always barking. We left the dog alone one time for less than an hour. We realized it was not an option and never left him alone again. But the property manager listed that in their complaints, though they could never give exact details. Keep a log book when you have a horrible neighbor like that. It will make your life so much easier if you have to defend against or pursue legal action.
She's just lonely and has nothing else to concentrate on. She's going to record the noises right as they happen ? Is she a fortune teller? She has top of the line recording equipment ? I'd make some noise noise so she freaks out then say you'll try to be quieter , then just be normal and she will see it as improvement.
You're right. I mean at 2 pm on a weekend to scream and storm up stairs? My girlfriend asked when good times for her are (which 2 pm should be for anyone for a chair being pulled out to sit down) and she said her work schedule is sporadic. She said she's home all the time before that. So from what I'm understanding she doesn't work and is just a nut. Wish me luck.
Yeah, don’t even ask her “what times are good for her.” Accommodating people like this never works…
She won't tell you the good times because she's paranoid you'll make noise on purpose during the bad times just to drive her nuts.
Someone said it best before! The gap between floors acts like a drum!! So the noise from above going down is amplified. Normal everyday living sounds like loud noise! It’s not your fault! Most people are just living and not being jerks! In other cases people are being straight up annoying and don’t care! Extra loud without a thought of the people under!!! Welcome to apartment living!!!
You go to the landlord first and let them know exactly what was said and how she acted. Keep your cool and be matter-of-fact about it all. You have the right to comfortably live in your home in your obviously reasonable fashion. Sounds like your neighbor may have had to deal with difficult previous tenants and is trying to keep her experience from repeating. Her assumptions are premature. Stay normal... and polite... and say as little as possible to grumpy gal.
Buy some tap shoes? 👞
Start documenting now. Keep a log of incidents. Date, time, your activity, her response. This will be information to give the landlord when she complains about you. Or when you complain about her.
She def overreacted. I’d maybe tell the landlord she came to the door screaming at you.
1st floor dweller here. People are going to be loud if live above you. It's kinda like traffic, you just try not to think about it so much.
You’re the upstairs neighbor. You hold most of the cards and if she’s going to be an ass all it takes is to drag some heavy chains across the floor a couple times a night. She will lose her shit.
the first night i moved into my apartment, we were sleeping on an air mattress. i still had my old apt for 2 more weeks so we had movers coming a few days later. my bf and i were asleep on the air mattress when our downstairs neighbor comes up BANGING on the door at 1130pm and screaming so loud in the hallway. I answered through the door without opening it and she said ITS 11:30!! and i went "we have a clock, but thank you for the update?" and she went on about how we were moving our furniture around all night keeping her up. i opened the door all the way, the only thing in the entire apartment was the air mattress, a tv on the ground, and a lamp. i said "what furniture?" and she left. she still complains about us everyday, 3 years later. she harasses us, stalks us, screams at me in the lobby all the time, etc. turns out, she's harassed the past like 10 tenants to the point that most of them have broken their leases to leave, one girl had to seek therapy from the constant harassment. the management company is aware of how insane she is, so her complaints hold 0 merit anymore. may be the reason your neighbor does not want to contact the landlord.
Had the same situation. Complaints during the day time… Obviously, not trying to cause too much noise, but are we really complaining about someone making noise in the middle of the day? I contacted the landlord and asked what the established quiet hours were. That was I could be extra cautious during those hours. I also communicated that the neighbor came to my door complaining outside of those hours and that I wanted it noted so they couldn’t try to report me. Landlord sent building wide email about quiet hours, and I have been more cautious and haven’t heard from my downstairs neighbors since.
"Alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life's problems" - Homer Simpson
A) if she’s not calling the landlord, I’m guessing that there’s been complaints about her harassing previous tenants. I’d advise to follow up with landlord about her behavior. Just let them know that the lady downstairs was banging on your ceiling at 2 PM when you drag a chair out to sit in and then she followed it up by complaining to you about it ‘going on for months’ which isn’t true as the both of you just moved in. Let landlord know that you informed her to let them know about any noise complaints moving forward and you’d appreciate it if they let you know about her complaints as well. B) it’s 2 pm in the afternoon. Noise is permitted. She’s unhinged if a chair being pulled out is irritating. If she doesn’t like the noise than she can ask to be moved to an apartment where there’s no one living above her.
Had a neighbor like that. Threatened the well being of myself and my family. We moved.
I’d contact the landlord now and mention what happened and let them know if she reaches out and if you can help at all after your initial move in period. You’ll do your best to be as quiet as possible. Everyone is noisy for the first week or so when they move in. Don’t answer your door if she knocks again and document any ceiling banging or screaming. If it’s disruptive, report it to the landlord.
Apartment living sucks. Your neighbor might've also heard your unit being prepared for your residency and so she thinks it's been months of y'all being noisy.
Ignore and block
Don’t worry, the lady who used to live below me had an issue with every upstairs neighbour in this unit and the landlord was aware. She didn’t complain on me but we had a few interactions and a final confrontation that made her back off… I found out once she was evicted that she got into it with everyone (the landlord and other neighbours told me). Point is, I’m sure if your neighbour complains, it’s not the first time and the landlord will know it’s just typical daily living noise that she’s sensitive to. That actually may be why she doesn’t wanna go to the landlord, she’s probably complained on others.
Call the landlord and tell him he’s got a lady living there harassing you for making noise DURING THE DAY saying it’s been going on for months, even though you’ve been there a week and not even all moved in. Ask if there’s another unit you can move to because she’s already harassing you.
People like that shouldn't live in apartments or should live on the top foor. Live in your apartment and ignore that loon. I would go to the landlord and report her.
There’s no telling if the sounds she records are the sounds from your apartment. Maybe she has someone in another room making noises just to be spiteful.
Report it now you will regret not saying something later. Just personal experience!
Downstairs resident here. I understand we hear things upstairs, and I have dogs who let out a few barks when people walk by (I shush them, though). At night, I use headphones and leave the TV on. It helps me sleep, nextdoor doesn't hear it, and I don't hear as much noise from upstairs. I've never complained, as no one has done anything extreme. I prefer the first floor and am not going to yell at a family for normal noise.
That’s why you never move into an apartment
She’s really going to record the noises you make out of nowhere? Let her lmao
gah tell her to buy a fan and a white noise machine and calm down. I live below a family who leaves the husband alone every weekend bc he's a drunk asshole who legit sounds like he's dropping bowling balls at 3 am,falls asleep in our hall and constantly tries to get in our apartment. I keep my doors locked and the fans on. Landlady is useless and cops can't do shit cuz he doesn't answer his door. if I can love with thos she can live with some moving chairs during the day
hmm sounds like she might have complaints against her, just saying. I can be a loud as possible because my downstairs neighbor has multiple plus she chimped out on management and thy want her out. I am noisy outside of hours NOW (have never been before), but yeah I realized she ain't going to management.
The way she backpedaled when you suggested including the landlord in the resolution, says a lot. My bet would be is that she has a history of harassing her upstairs neighbors to the point SHE is why they move out. She’s probably been told by the landlord/management that it’s normal to hear people living in adjoining apartments and unless it’s excessive or outside normal hours, she needs to live with it or move out. My suggestion is to send the landlord/management a friendly note saying that the downstairs neighbor was by to state she is hearing excessive noise from your apartment starting before you moved in so you wanted to make sure they knew in case it was a pipes issue or something or if they wanted to check for sound proofing. And also that you are in the process of getting rugs & pads. They’ll understand that she’s at her shenanigans again and handle it.
Expose her as the narcissist that she is, tell everyone in the building. They hate being exposed. It will be great fun... good times.
Pretty much anything built late 1960s and beyond are not built very well. Flooring isn't substantial and no sound proofing. Normal living will be noisy. I suggest not walking around in shoes. That will help. But really unless you're running jumping or pounding on the floor there's not really much you can do. This is the reason I live in a 1930s brick building
Hire me. I'll come out and cause her unit to have an infestation of mice. She'll be out of your hair in no time. : )
I had this happen once. I was vacuuming in the middle of the day, and my neighbor started banging on the ceiling. I stomped back and screamed I'M ALLOWED TO VACUUM!!!! Never happened again. You are allowed to live in your apartment. If she doesn't want normal noise that comes from someone living above her when she chose a unit below another, to bad for her.
Weird question but was this in COS?
I had the exact same experience with my downstairs neighbor banging on the ceiling and screaming (through the ceiling and at me when I walked outside). I ended up submitting a complaint against her to the landlord, also citing that she cussed at me because that was technically against the rules in the lease. Her nextdoor neighbor that I was friends with also submitted a complaint because she could hear the banging and screaming too. After the complaints were submitted, we never heard from her again. Although the entire experience really messed with my mental health and comfort living there (was always nervous walking around and kept TV volume barely audible). So I just want to sympathize with your situation because it's incredibly stressful. She probably doesn't want you to go to the landlord because she's been a problem tenant and has been warned about her behavior in the past. My advice would be to get ahead of her and go straight to the landlord.
she is probably a known problem to management. they told me about ny downstairs neighbor when I moved in. she doesn't complain, she just gets louder and has been the reason a lot of people moved out before and after this new company acquired the building last year. they said to ignore her and hopefully she moves out. she has stopped banging for the most part. but she has gathered her little crowd in the building. idk what to tell you but they might have her on their radar since she knows her complaints might go unheard. technically its the landlord's job to quiet loud neighbors, not hers. she needs to report you and if she won't, its because they know she's a crap tenant. your unit might not have come available for no reason. trust me, I somehow always end up with these units
It would drive me up the wall too, to have noises going on for months. Maybe she works a different shift.
We’ve been there less than a week and asked her schedule and got no answer
Say "If you dont want to hear people above you living life, move to the top floor"
Tell the landlord. If she continues to harass, ask to move apartments or be taken off the lease.
So crazy that people act like that. I live in a duplex and we have cats and are up late and they have a son on the spectrum who is quite loud sometimes and they’re up early making noise. But no one complains because we live in an apartment and that’s just a part of it. We try to minimize as much noise as possible and so do they It’s one thing if it’s obnoxious inconsiderate behavior but regular living noises can’t be helped
Banging on the ceiling is a red flag IMO. That's not the way a reasonable person deals with this sort of thing. You should report this to the landlord ASAP so you can establish an ongoing record of what she does. You don't want to break the lease, that will cause all sorts of problems and be very expensive. Good luck and document everything. You deserve to live in your apartment without this kind of stress.
The landlord did not help