and you choose to go on living there.

seriously- if it's a 'loud' building, leave.

some places tend to attract quiet, sendentary people. some places tend to attract kids just out of college. some attract single mothers...

you can't change people- and if you're hemmed in on every side by people that you can't stand-paint the place, and make a better choice next time.

And if the building is thin enough that you can hear the guy's drumming in every room two apartments away, the construction of the building is a problem.

Time to move!

To those who suggsted that Poster moves, she has already stated:

"Soon as we can move, we sure will."

Thank you SunRochy.

"and you choose to go on living there."

It sure would be nice if I had all sorts of money and I could just pick up and move wherever I wanted. However, I wasn't born rich. I don't make a lot of money currently, thanks to loosing my job. Moving takes a lot of money. However, as I stated, I plan to as soon as I'm able.

"make a better choice next time."

You also didn't read the part where I said I not only asked if it was a quiet place, but every time I visited before moving in, it WAS quiet. Nor the part where I mentioned that it was pretty quiet for 3 months after I moved in. Excuse me, so how did I not make a good choice? I'm not psychic, but I guess I should be next time.

Jumping all over someone without fully reading their post. Not a friendly place at all. My mistake for thinking maybe it was. Guess I'll make a better choice next time.

vandora
i am sorry you've gotten such negative comments. i guess some people have never had to deal with the neighbors from hell. unfortunately i have and i sympathize with you.
for those who havent had to deal with this--consider yourself lucky.
i make informed choices and check out places before i consider renting them. but its not like landlords let you sit in a potential apartment for a week to gauge how quite/noisy it will be.
in my last apartment i had no idea the nice considerate couple upstairs would move out and the apartment would be rented to 3 college kids who partied all weekend long. nor did i know the guy upstairs from me now had no carpeting but has a girlfriend who walks around on the bare floors with clogs ("but doesnt make any noise when she walks"). nor did i know his idiot loser teenage son would be moving in with him. he likes to stomp around the 1 bedroom apartment with boots on. i did politely talk to them about the noise issue and at least they stopped moving furniture across the bedroom at 4am and 5 am.
i really think the issue is that many people have lost all sense of simple common courtesy. they dont want to be told what to do in any way. and most apartments are built like crap so in effect, your neighbor becomes your roommate. i dont care what anyone does in their home--i just dont want it altering my life.
moving is an option but a costly one.
it would just be nice if building tenants could be considerate of considerate of those around them.

Vandora, I fail to see where anyone is 'jumping all over someone', nor do I see a log of negativity in the replies. And, for the most part, I do find this a pretty friendly place to be. If someone truly and wrongly beats up on someone, they hear about it. From the viewpoint of the reader of your original post, it was long (not that it is too long), but due to its' length, it does make it difficult to remember everything that was written the first time around. Most everyone who comes to this forum likes to offer advice - it is a natural thing to do, because when someone appreciates the advice, it makes the giver feel good about themselves. If, however, you expect that everyone who reads your post must agree with you, must feel sympathy for you, and must assume that you are always making the right choice, well, this isn't the place to come to then. Forums thrive on people offering advice and assessing a situation based on limited information. Perhaps you should have started your message with "I know I'm in a bad situation that I cannot change right now, but I just wanted to rant for awhile to get this off of my chest. No advice needed."

Hi Vandora,

You said that your landlord is very nice, and that he owns other condos.

Why don't you give him a call and tell him about most of the problems then ask him if there is any way you can move to one of his quieter buildings when a space opens. The worst he could do is say no but you never know. He might have a family with kids looking for a place and not want to put them in one of his quieter buildings. He might welcome you moving to the quiet building so he can put them in your noisy building.

I would not complain about people walking on the floor above you. No one can help that and though annoying, it sounds kind of nit picky. I also wouldn't tell him about the old lady who yells on the phone. Odds are she has to yell so the person on the other end can hear her. I have to yell when I talk to my parents on the phone, mostly I yell "put your hearing aid in" and "what do you mean you both lost them, I am still paying for them!" lol

Well, I would consider calling someone else a 'neurotic little bird' evidence of 'jumping all over someone.'

Chinacat, why do you bother to answer, if you can't give helpful advice? All you're doing is bringing negativity and hurt to people on this forum.

Vandora, my heart goes out to you! I read your thread because you said up-front that is is a rant--"My condo neighbors from hell - A rant"
The last apartment I lived in seemed quiet when I visited, the older landlord very nice, & a nice neighborhood.
Turns out his spoiled 40-something daughter lived right beneath me - would turn up her TV then leave her apartment to visit her boyfriend in another unit. What a racket! And no recorse to the landlord.
As another noise-sensitive person, I appreciate your problem with high-heeled shoes across hard floors above you - I had an efficiency apartment where a graduate student lived above me, set her manual typewriter (MANY years ago) on a wooden table which made contact with her wooden floor so that it sounded like a machine-gun going off when she typed into the wee hours of the morning (which was often) AUGH!!!
Someone at work is trying to get rid of bat (literally) in her apartment..taking rabies shots as we speak...
The 'joys' of apartment/condo living are without number!
I have lived in some nice apartments/condos - so keep hoping for a better place next time. Hang in there...

HELP!!! My neighbor has a washing machine that he refuses to have hooked up properly by a plumber. Instead he CUT A HOLE IN THE WALL and drains his water into the wall which leaks into my kitchen and the person next door to me's kitchen. I've been contacting the Management company since August 2004 about the leaks (6 leaks total that I know of). I've called the police, the Board Members .... no one wants to be involved!! HELP!!!!

Laura, I hope you don't OWN in this building--because that water damage is going to be expensive to fix!

I'd send a registered letter to both the Board and the management company pointing out the permanent damage to the building. And then move if you can

Ranting is good.
It's the silent people that keep it inside that blow up Micky dee's and the post office.
Rant away my friend.
:)

Laura, report this immediately to the building inspector in your town. Provide copies of letters you've sent (if you have them) and/or actual dates of phone calls you made to the folks you mentioned. This is most surely a building violation. Take photos of damage, also. Have you paid for a plumber to fix these leaks? Provide copies of receipts.

Sometimes I think I can't be shocked any more at the appalling and flagrant disregard of some people, but I still am.

Laura -
You want to call the HEALTH department, and the WATER department ... illegal discharge of wastewater is a serious offense.

And you can sue him for the cost of repairs to your place.

Vandora, it sounds like you really are living in an entire block that is hell. Or should I say you are unfortunately living in a community that does not share the same lifestyle values? If most (or many) of your neighbours are socially retarded, they may not be able to empathise with your position. It's true that some people can respond well to a polite request to stop a disturbance - they genuinely may be unaware of their actions. I bought an apartment in a nice block...well, I thought it was nice until the woman and her two teenage sons moved in next door. Aaaaaaagh! I can hear one of the sons shouting and swearing at his Mother in such a way that I think he must be a psycopath. And bangs, thuds, crashes almost every day. Other teenagers come to visit and listen to rap 'music' until 3 or 4 in the morning. One day a window on the stairs was smashed and the shards just left there until I asked them to sweep it up. The Mother is submissive - and not that bright - and tells me she is afraid to call the police. I could go on but I won't. I expect to have a peaceful life in my own home but it's true that if people live like this and don't seem to think of others then there is very little you can do to alter their habits of a lifetime. If you can, its better to find somewhere else to live (as I intend to) than try and deal with the continual stress of hoping that they will start to think like you!

Hope springs eternal: these inconsiderate animals will be punished. Not in this life, but in the next.

I can totally sympatize with this post. I recently quit smoking also and have found that stuff annoys the heck out of me much sooner than before. You might want to keep that in mind that it may be the withdrawls from nicotine.

I so totally am with you on this. I recently moved again to a new apartment and the neighbor beside me has vulgar rap music so loud i can hear over my t.v. and radio and i have two small kids that i cant let them go outside when they play the music because the idoit faces the radio outside the screen door when he is not outside and it echos very nasty stuff. I HATE APARTMENT LIVING. Just one more year and it will be over. I will move to country or something i dont want neighbors. I am from arkansas and moved to florida and the people here do not care about the people beside them. i am sooooo tired of it and i am so glad that i am not the only one!!! Hope it gets better for you.
Oh yeah and not to forget all the lovely people that own pets and do not clean up their messes. THANK YOU MY KIDS LOVE STEPPING IN IT WHEN THE PLAY OUTSIDE. DO YOU KNOW YOU CAN GET DISEASES FROM POOP!!!! OWN A DOG CLEAN UP OR DONT HAVE A DOG!!!!

I can sympathize completely. When you have a small space you expect some privacy, when you have noise around you it feels like you're living in a phone booth.
I am trapped in a similar situation now. I thought I was being clever and bought a top floor unit so I wouldnt have anyone clomping above me. Was great until summer hit and I realized that I had 4 floors worth of a/c units on top of my unit.
It sounds like theres a nuclear power plant on the roof when I try to go to bed. Theres an industrial *Whhhhrrrrrrr* sound everytime someones A/C kicks on.
I have a homosexual living on one side who has grunting sex on many a day.
On the other side I have a loudmouth rich kid whose idea of normal conversation is what I would consider screaming.
I went out and found a girlfriend who had her own place just so I could escape this madhouse. She thinks i'm codependent or something but I just want to escape my condo. I barely spend anytime at my own 'home'.
Property prices are falling and I'm going to take a huge financial loss when I unload this dump.

Oh well I just keep telling myself things could be worse I could be trapped in a prison camp or something.

Duncan36, what is the reason you feel compelled to point out the fact that your neighbor is a homosexual? It really shouldn't matter who it is that's making loud 'grunting' sex noises, it's beyond rude, straight or gay.
But besides that it sounds like your place is a nightmare. I have had problems with my neighbors as well (see the rant called 'doors slamming') but at least the conversation I hear from neighbors is kept to a minimum.

I had neighbors once that were potheads and somehow the weed smoke got into the building vent system and my teens thought I was the one smoking weed while they were at school.The neighbors finally bought a house and moved so no more smell! Yipee!

I am new to this site, and just read the condo neighbors from hell. I can sympathize. I, too, live in a condo, but it is more friendly here with the exception of my neighbor from hell downstairs. I bought here in 1999 not knowing that the previous owner had moved because the people downstairs made his life a living hell, banging on the ceiling, slamming doors, playing the music loud, or calling the police when he walked on the floor, flushed the toilet or even used the garbage disposal. They once told him they could hear his sh_t going through the pipes. I found out what they were like one day when I used the garbage disposal and started my dishwashing machine late at night. I got a nasty call from them and apoligized, stating I had no idea their bedroom was located under my kitchen. I only have company seldom because everytime I do they make nasty remarks to them like "are you people going to be up til midnight" or if they walk past her patio door they slam the door in disgust or threaten to call the police. At other times,its just me and my mother here. We walk with no shoes on, but they don't even want us walking to the bathroom. They say it sounds like a freight train up there. I recently put my condo on the market,(bad timing) but now I'm thinking why should I move, she's the one with the problem let her move. I am also looking into the possibility of putting insulation in between the joists of the floor when I get new carpeting for the living room. After that, if they have a problem with noise they will have to insulate their ceilings in the other parts of their house. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good squeaky floor solution? Thanks in advance

Oh GOD you don't want to live in an apartment building that attracts single mothers - Sarcasm if the person with the previous post doesn't get it.

I can totally sympathize. My upstairs neighbors installed hardwood floors. I have to be up at 5:30am...last night they woke me up 4 times between 11pm - 1am. HOA refuses to be involved in noise disputes. I am hoping to put my condo on the market by the end of the month. I thought these people sucked before the hardwood floors - I had NO idea.

I totally understand what the OP is going through. I moved into my condo in Summer '08, and everything was going fine until the idiot neighbors next door decided to have their kid learn to play drums. I went over to talk to them and immediately I knew they'd be assh*les, as they claimed their son needs to play for school and he has a right to play. I told them no, your son does not NEED to play for school, and no, he does NOT have a right to play. I gave them more than a month to find some sort of arrangement about the noise, but nothing helped. Finally I went over there and told them if they didn't do anything within the next week, I was getting the police involved and that I would take it to small claims court. That finally got them to buy drum mute pads (was that so hard?), and now even though I can still hear the drumming, it's a lot softer and they're mostly just dull thuds.

What really gets me though is that this past weekend I was moving some stuff around in my bedroom, and they start banging on the wall about the noise. So, I should be fine with their playing drums at 9am on a Sunday, but when I move furniture at 10am on a Sunday for all of 5 minutes, I'm the one who's out of line? I just wish inconsiderable people like that would just die in a grease fire.

And you are renting? Can you imagine if you owned the place? Only then would you would know my hell.

Jason,

What kind of situation do you have?

I started to browse through this website forum since I needed to gather data on the issue of noise on condo complexes and hear what the current and/or past tenants of condos) have to say about their actual experience when living in a condo.

Although I found many comments to be appropriate and suitable for the subject matter that written/posted by Vendora, I found quite a few commenters� posts simply to be offensive and inappropriate such as the one posted by Mike_Pam, chinacat_sunflower, GammyT, and so on! Just simply look and listen carefully to their tones and motives that they have written behind their comments. So, is it really true that their intent is good, pure, and positive or rather is the opposite�meaning trying to take control and show pride of themselves or their egos to others whether they realized it or not?

For example, how is it that Vendora was making a poor choice in moving into the condo complex when she obviously did not foresee nor knew in advance that there would be such horrific noise issue inside her condo unit right after she moved into her condo unit as what chinacat_sunflower clearly and inaccurately stated? How is it that Mike_Pam trying to help the nature of the issue when he obviously distorted his true intention in the forum as if he was giving the right and appropriate advice to Vendora when what he said and posted on his comment clearly is an insult and mental assault not only to Vendora, but to the nature of the subject matter and to the forum as a whole? Then, the next commenter (GammyT) after Mike_Pam posted his comment even aggravated the assault to Vendora and reminding that she ought not complain about the people above her and that is nothing she could do, etc.!

As you all can see and understand, these commenters obviously get the kick out in deliberately saying untrue and destructive things to people, especially to the subjects (i.e. Vendora and other similar condo tenants) who are undergoing the torments of noise issue from neighbors�to even make the nightmares to be much worse and more intense than ever before!

It is one thing to give advice�meaning the right and appropriate advice; but it is another to insult, assault, and annoy others (i.e. Vendora) simply because that commenter wants to show off his or her ego and would say and do anything to put others down and make others look bad when these showoff people are the ones who needed help and needed to take a good look at themselves and to cleanse their unhealthy self-esteem and self-image once and for all!

In addition, simply because a person raised an issue on certain subject matters; it never meant that this person is asking nor looking for advice nor meant that anyone could say anything and do anything to inflict unnecessary and additional pain to this person as the way some commenters had done to Vendora! This is called maturity, human respect for your fellow human beings and for yourself!

Sincerely,

Newlifestar

Newlifestar-"It is one thing to give advice�meaning the right and appropriate advice;"

This post was started in 2004 and until 2011, nobody has posted.

Newlifestar, Why are their funny characters in some of your sentences? Did you cut and paste these?

Did you get what you expected from this thread?

Perhaps you might consider starting a new one and talk about what your looking for in a rental situation.

I hope the OP has moved on and has found a place with the peace and quiet she deserves.