| Unless you're in a student ghetto or the like, this is absolutely unacceptable and you don't need to put up with it whatsoever. You don't just have a right to sleep, you also have a right to a reasonable amount of "quiet enjoyment" to the premises, which is probably a clause in your lease but always presumed even if it's not there. You have a right to be able to read or study or pay attention to a television show; not to mention to sleep. Follow these steps. If it stops at any point, you stop proceeding along with the steps. If it continues, you continue; between some steps you will want to wait a day or two (use your own judgement, but don't wait too long). Also: immediatly, start a log of disturbances; date, time, duration, type of disturbance. Helps if you can also get some witnesses to the noise (as many as possible) Step 1: Talk to the neighbours. Step 2: Send a letter to the neighbours; keep a copy. Be polite. Do not threaten etc. Step 3: Talk to your superintendant, if you have one. Otherwise skip. Also, talk to other tenants who might also be affected by the noise: those sharing walls or floors with the offender's apartment, as well as apartments facing outside areas where noise is taking place, or sharing walls with stairwells where noise is taking place. Chances are, someone else is also annoyed and just hasn't been sure about what to do. Tell the person what you are doing, and ask them if they would like to help by doing some of the same things or if you can at least mention to the landlord that they are also disturbed. It's best if you can get them to join you in the steps though. Step 4: Talk to landlord. Step 5: Send letter to landlord. Keep a copy. Important to wait several days at this stage. Step 6: Call police during late night violation. Hereafter, call police every time there is late night noise. Police will do nothing first couple of times. Step 7: Investigate laws in your area. You have now established all kinds of stuff; letters to the parties, police records, etc. You also have a log of the disturbances. Depending on where you are (I'm in Ontario), you can do all sorts of things; apply for rent rebate because landlord failed to provide quiet enjoyment, sue the tenant in small claims for disruption of quiet enjoyment rights, etc. Good luck! |
