Loud walking upstairs neighbor, what to do? (apartments, lease agreement, tenant)

[jd678]

Hello.

I live in an apartment, just moved in recently. My upstairs neighbor walks loudly around, like she stomps her feet hard on the floor everywhere she walks. She is a large woman but I feel it has nothing to do with it as many other large people walk just fine.

The stomping is so loud that is shakes glasses on the table.

Plus the floor squeaks, very loudly. I have lived in many apartments and this is the first one where it squeaks so loudly, when the upstairs neighbor walks around, the combination stomping and squeaking is driving me crazy.

I am only gett about 4 hours of sleep per day because of this, she gets up at 6:30am to start here day and then likes to go out at night and come back late or walk around constantly at night.

Seriously, she will walk around for 45 minutes straight without stopping, to and from the kitchen and bedroom, the apartment is only 700 square feet.

I tlaked to the apartment manager once, he said he will look into it. I went back today and he would not talk to me but had the secretary talk to me. She said there is nothing they can really do?

They said they could move us, but I am not the one at fault here so I am not moving unless they pay a company to move my stuff for me. They also said there is no way to fox the squaeky floor as well.

The regional manager will be in tomorrow so I am going to speak with her.

The floor is carpet over concrete, I do not see how it is squeaking, but it does. Plus the whole place shakes when the neighbor walks around and when she walks up and down the flight of stairs.

Does anyone else know what I can legally do? This is the first time I have ever had a problem like this. I have lived in many apartments and never had this problem nor an attitude from the apartment managers like here.

Ironically, this is the most expensive apartment I have lived in but yet seems to have the most problems.

Any advice would be appreciated, I am just tired of being tired, it is so loud that I can't sleep, think or anything and it seems the apartment managers could care less.

[SXMGirl]

Generally, the problems with apartment living are because of the neighbors. I once had upstairs neighbors who rollerskated. Another one who would wake me up at 3 a.m. when she got home from work to complain about the hot water--like I could do anything about it. My advice is to save your money and buy a house.

[aaauger]

If the noise is due to what is considered normal use, then you basically have two choices: endure it or move at your own expense. In the meanwhile, you might run a loud fan for white noise.

[jd678]

Its not normal, she stomps her feet, very loudly and the sqeaking floor is very excessive, so much so that a person sitting in my apartment can not hear the TV at normal volume levels sitting 10ft from it.

Its even louder in the bedroom.

Her mom (I assume) shows up quite a bit and we never hear anything from her. But when the neighbor shows up, its "stomp stomp stomp" all freakin night long and in the early mornings as she is getting ready for work.

It is really effecting us, we are getting about 4 hours of sleep because she is so noisy. I reviewed through my contract and I have found a few items to bring to the managements attention regarding this.

If I had money for a house I would never be in ana partment in the first place. But college does not allow for a high flying career and jobs around my area are hard to get anyway since the last two years of massive layoffs. Besides that, even though I can pay $800 a month for an apartment, I would never get a loan that had me paying $600 a month even just because I do not have a job.

[maggiekate]

if she is upstairs, could you just do a switch with her? Otherwise they do sell some real great ear plugs
or get a white sound machine. I did live in real quiet places where I was so used to city noise
I could not sleep, but I did. If you sleep only 4 hours why not be nice to her and then tell her your
problem. She may not know this. Honey works best! My brain on a real busy city street just got use to it all. Trucks, cars, planes ,garabage
barking dogs, then in the country it was so quiet. Look into a whit nois machine, or you need to move.

[Paula Lynn]

Some people walk on their heels - therefore, the nosie. You really can't ask a resident how to walk.

[Twinkle Toes]

Who was there first? You or her?

[jd678]

No, I just moved in six weeks ago, but I do not see how it is relevant to the situation.

The regional manager actually called me tonight and we have arranged a meeting tomorrow at lunch when the neighbor comes home. I also have a 30 minute CD with recordings of the noise at various times.

It is not normal noise, when she walks it shakes the whole place. My glasses on the coffee table move, the dishes clatter in the dishwasher, and one time a decoration fell over. Not that all of that is bad, but she gets up well before I need to be awake, walks around getting ready for work for an hour, she comes home for lunch for an hour, then in the late evening I get to hear her.

Then she has the habit of getting up at random times throughout the night and walk around. On the weekends she is always coming and going late into the night.

I have not slept hardly at all for six weeks, its driving me crazy!

I am having a friend at school show my lease agreement to a faculty member who I guess is well versed in matters like this or similiar and also looking into the state laws regarding this.

I have videoed the neighbor a few times and she is clearly just stomping her feet around, especially when she wears high heels.

If she has a disability and she has to stomp her feet, the apartment manager should have let me know before I rented the place. She is the one making the noise, not me. Plus it still does not explain the loud floor creak all over the neighbors apartment. That is something that should be fixed.

Now I am starting to wonder why the last renter left after two months living here.

[catfancier]

I feel your pain. My situation isn't as bad, but similar enough.
I've been in my apt. nearly six months and took a six-month lease, so I have to make a renewal decision very soon.
The problem neighbor just moved in last week. Still not sure if it's one person or a couple; there are no resident directories here and I always keep hearing about "privacy" issues when I ask any questions.

The previous neighbor, in hindsight, was a joy <g>...with him I heard some bedroom floor squeaking and 11 p.m. washer noise, but with this new person...it's as though he is dropping dumbbells on the bedroom floor or something! Very heavy-footed, and I also thought a wall decoration was going to come down. It's as though he always is carrying a heavy box and then dropping it -- a lot of "thud" noises!

I did speak to the property manager and assistant...the official response is that, unless the noise extends into the COMMON AREA of the building -- i.e. into the stairwells or can be heard outside nearby -- it is not their issue. In the event that the noise could be heard outside, a courtesy officer would pay the neighbor a visit. Otherwise, the "right to privacy" element comes up, they say. I ask if the neighbor can't be requested to put an area rug over the carpeting (also carpet over concrete) to help muffle noise. They say that would be "discrimination." In other words, they're not going to do anything. That I have been a quiet, non-trouble-making, prompt-paying tenant does not seem to earn me any points. If I moved out, they could get market for my one-bedroom unit; apparently we are in the high-demand cycle at this time.

I said I might contact the neighbor myself and nicely and politely alert them to the issue; the manager agreed that I might try that; sometimes these people simply aren't aware they're annoying others. Maybe...common sense ain't so common, I find. But I'm still irked that resolving this will fall to ME and not management. I'm 99% certain I will renew, for logistics and other reasons -- it won't be any cheaper anywhere else decent, and I'll have moving expenses to boot, plus financial review at a new place which I don't want to get into.

I'm in metro Houston, TX...(suburb, not city per se)...I would love to hear if there are rights _I_ have that are not being addressed. I just am reluctant to really make this adversarial with the manager; it's so hard to retrench.

I guess this is more of a fellow rant than anything else, but all input appreciated -- perhaps a sample opening conversation with the neighbor, for starters?

[Katie1]

Gees I moved here in March My upstairs neighbor was quiet as a mouse for 4 months..then he got mad cause I purchased a van instead of the pickup he offered me. And it been Stoop stoop Crash thinks dropping door banging ever since. I suggested to the LL to put him in a Downstairs apt...she said unless he was willing to move she could not make him. AND the others before me had the same complaints!! Hes quiet till you make him mad. So why doesnt LL just evict people like this??