Fsbo

Noise is an inevitable part of urban living however sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you feel your neighbor is making inappropriate levels of noise.

So you bought a house or a condo and you’ve moved in… home sweet home. Then you discover the reason why the previous owners might have sold the house cheaply…. You’ve got noisy neighbors; the kind of noisy neighbors that stay up all night, playing music loud enough to shake your walls. What do you do?

Sure it’s tempting to take revenge. But keep in mind, the noisemaker may strike back, turning up the music even more, or doing something even meaner, like keying your car or harming a pet.

Also, you shouldn’t ignore it if it is a real problem. If you are generally quiet, the noisemakers (who never hear a peep out of you) may not realize that their noise is breaking glasses in your house. Besides, trying to ignore it will make you cranky from lack of sleep and maybe give you an ulcer.

You can call the police, but they’ll be more sympathetic if you’ve tried to talk to the neighbor first.

1. Start by finding out if other neighbors are bothered. Chances are, they are upset too but don’t know what to do.

2. Maintain your composure, and go knock on the door of the noisemakers. Explain how the music affects you, such as, it keeps you awake until 3am and you have to get up at five. If you doubt you can keep your cool, wait until you can.

3. If the noisemakers insist they are doing nothing wrong, you might suggest using a mediator. Most cities have low or no-cost mediation services. Look in your yellow pages. It may help to let them pick the mediation service, and both of you need to agree to abide by what the mediator says.

4. Next step, get a copy of your local noise ordinance from city hall or the library. Noise regulation is usually very specific, naming types of noise, and the times when you must obey.

By Teresa Ambord

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under FSBO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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