Noise has plagued apartment dwellers since the dawn of flimsy drywall.
Diane Flynn has lain awake through it all. “I had one neighbor who blasted her TV at 5:30 a.m. Another argued loudly on the phone all the time. Another moved into the building and hammered picture nails into the walls for 3 days.”
Her sensitive ears recall, “one apartment I lived in where the doors had vents in them, and sounds that were normally considered private became very public. You could get off the elevator and hear people talking on the phone, or even having sex. I just thought it was really embarrassing, not to mention irritating.”
We’ve all experienced the noisy neighbor, but how do you react to it-and what can you do about it? The solutions may range from a simple, neighborly discussion, to intervention by the landlord-or the police.
What does Flynn do when another tenant is making too much noise? “I put up with it for a long time, then explode and go bang on their door.” That approach has worked so far, but she admits it has its drawbacks. Like a drunken neighbor may slam the door in your face-or worse.
People skills
Noise is ultimately a people problem, says Ed Sacks, author of “The Chicago Tenants’ Handbook.” “People don’t know each other, so they can’t communicate. What might be an unintentional disturbance makes you think your neighbor is evil or crazy.”
Unless you think he’s dangerous or involved in illegal activities, Sacks recommends approaching your neighbor at a neutral time (not at 2 a.m. in the middle of a party). Then be polite but firm, and offer concrete solutions and options. “Have an idea of what you want them to do, like lower the TV after 10 p.m. so you can sleep, or move the stereo so it’s not against your bedroom wall. Don’t just say, `Hey, knock it off,’ because then they’ll say, `Oh, yeah?’ That isn’t a problem-solving approach.”
You have to ask yourself, too, “in these tense times, when everyone goes crazy, am I being reasonable,” advises attorney Frederic White, “or am I going to go berserk because this person has one loud party? Ask yourself, `Do I have a stereo? Do I turn it on sometimes?’ “
Some offenders can’t help the noise they’re making. What can you say to the family upstairs? Their three kids have to play somewhere. Or the wheelchair-bound resident whose tires are constantly rolling over hardwood floors?
“These are normal noises that occur when people live in close proximity,” says Douglas Pensack, associate director of the Illinois Tenants Union, a private renters’ advocacy group. “Sometimes one person’s disturbance is another person’s existence. There’s not much you can do about it, because if a person rents an apartment, they have the right to use that apartment.”
Approach the resident anyway, and see if you can come up with creative solutions. Perhaps the neighbor who gets up eight times in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, shuffling over your bedroom ceiling, will agree to keep a jug by his bed instead. The music teacher next door might agree not to hold lessons from noon to 2 p.m., while your baby is napping.
Bring in the landlord
If you’re unable to work things out one-on-one, contact the landlord. Attorney Karen Walker recommends sending landlord a certified letter, clearly stating the level of noise and its effects on you. Be very specific: Include times and dates of disturbances. If possible, tape-record the noise, or have an expert record the decibel level for you. “Every piece of documentation will help if you decide to try to break your lease,” she says.
But, the landlord isn’t really obligated to respond to noise complaints. “The problem with noise is that the law is exceptionally deficient. There is no specific ordinance that obligates the landlord to provide the tenant with a quiet space. Even police don’t really know exactly what `disturbance of the peace’ means, so they deal with it arbitrarily.”
“Wait,” you shout. “My lease said that if I disturbed other tenants, I could be evicted. So my landlord has to evict the person who’s disturbing me, right?”
Look closer. In your lease, you promise not to bother others. The landlord does not promise to evict neighbors who bother you. The landlord has the right, but not the obligation, to evict them, Pensack explains. The law is very vague in the noise arena, agrees attorney Walker. “Because most cases are resolved outside the courts, there are few precedents.”
The landlord is naturally reluctant to evict anyone, because it means an empty apartment, Sacks says. “Or they say, `I don’t live there, it’s not bothering me.’ But that’s how they end up with a building full of scumbags. Every decent tenant will eventually leave, and all the noisemakers will stay.”
You can pressure your landlord to act by getting other tenants to complain, too. Your chances are better if you volunteer to assist the landlord in the eviction, by acting as a witness in court, during the eviction hearing, Sacks says, because this kind of thing is very hard to prove.
If your landlord does choose to take action, he can give the offender a 10-day notice, saying tone it down or take a hike, Sacks adds.
Call in the cops
Otherwise, the next logical step is calling the cops. “The problem is that it’s a non-emergency situation,” Sacks says. “It will take them hours to arrive, if they come at all, and by that time the noise is gone. Getting the person arrested is not an ideal solution, because he can file a counterclaim. Plus, if the noisemakers are used to this kind of stuff, they’ll keep doing it.”
So you’ll keep calling the police, right? “The police will come out once, but let’s face it: This is Chicago, and they’ve got a lot to do,” Walker says. “If you keep calling, they get impatient very fast. They’ll tell you it’s a civil matter, so take it up with your landlord.” Then, when the neighbor finds out you complained, he could make life tougher for you.
Most noise ordinances deal with horns and commercial establishments, not individual tenants who bother other tenants, Pensack says. Unless they’re putting on an air-raid siren, you’re at a loss with the police.
If you decide to sue your neighbor in civil court, Sacks instructs, “Go to a warrant officer at the branch court that serves your area, ask for a written complaint, and have a summons issued. But most of the time the court will assign you to mediation.”
If you want to bypass the process, call a mediator yourself. The Center for Conflict Resolution (312-372-6420) will provide the service free.
Moving out
The last resort is breaking your lease and moving out. “If it gets really bad, get out of there,” attorney White advises. “Sometimes it is better to run than expend a lot of energy fighting with somebody who is a fool and won’t change.”
“If the landlord sues you for breaking the lease, which is unlikely, you may be able to use the argument of `constructive eviction,’ which means your unit was unlivable,” Walker says. Of course, there is no guarantee you will win, she says, because “the law is wishy-washy on this subject. Ultimately these decisions are made by a judge.”
What can you do about noise problems that stem from the building, not its residents? Structural pitfalls, such as squeaky elevators, shooshing garbage chutes, and rattling radiators are common in older buildings.
“My radiator drives me crazy,” says renter Muneeb Saeed. “It grunts and squeaks. I wake up in a cold sweat, thinking a freight train is coming through my room. So all winter I have to choose between staying awake all night because of the cold or staying awake all night because of the noise.”
“You couldn’t pay me to live by an elevator,” tenant Flynn says. “The air compression from the doors opening and closing makes your door rattle. And besides, when people are standing in front of the elevator, they feel free to laugh, joke around and belch really loud. Nobody needs that.”
“Let’s face it, no one’s going to rebuild the building for you,” Pensack says. “Almost every problem has a solution, usually involving insulation, but in most cases the landlord won’t do it, because of the cost. Maybe you could offer to pay for part of it.”
If the structural problem only affects part of the building-you’re right over the boiler room, or across from the elevator-ask to move into another unit, Sacks suggests.
If the situation has no apparent solution, and continues to seriously affect you or your health, you can go to court and withhold your rent until it’s taken care of, White says.
In the meantime, try drowning out disturbances with a humming humidifier or a table fan. Special “white noise” machines are available at electronics stores for $100 to $200. Or muffle the noise by rearranging your furniture so you sit and sleep farther away from the source. Other suggestions: Plug the crack under your front door, hang a tapestry on the wall, or the old standby-don earplugs.
