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devonca

10 People in 2 Bedroom Apartment?

devonca
16 years ago

Hello all...

I've noticed in the past couple of months that the tenants in the unit next to me (I live in a fourplex) have moved in another family. There's now about 10 people living in a 2 bedroom unit.

I am hesitant to notify the landlord. It's really none of my business (who knows, the other family could have fallen on hard times and I don't want to be the one that gets them kicked out). But the increase in noise and disturbances have increased since they're move in.

Ex: slamming the door, conversations late at night right outside the door (once, at 1:30 am waking me up!), running up and down the stairs making it feel like an earthquake, hogging up the only washer and dryer for the fourplex, leaving trash outside their unit for days at a time, shoes all over outside their door (which is very near mine, so sometimes the shoes are right in front of my door).

I could go on an on.....so, my question is - what should I do? Should I notify the landlord or just grin and bear it?

Comments (11)

  • mdoats
    16 years ago

    Just my two cents worth, but I would not call the landlord. While it sounds like there are some annoyances, most of them sound like typical apartment living. The only one that I might complain about is that they are leaving trash outside the unit. But I would talk to them about it first before I complained to the landlord.

  • talley_sue_nyc
    16 years ago

    I think you have every right to call the landlord.

    The landlord has installed laundry units for a normally-occupied fourplex. And other services are predicated on the wear and tear that a normal occupancy level creates. (for example, noise--the landlord is expecting that people will have their conversations inside their homes and not come outside in order not to disturb sleeping family members or to get privacy from 8 other people)

    If you are really reluctant, you could contact the original tenants in that apartment and say, "These extra people are impacting the rest of us. They need to remove that impact. They need to never have a conversation out in the hallway; walk normally; keep their shoes inside bcs that's a fire hazard to have debris in the hall; worry about whether they are disturbing us. They need to take their laundry to the laundromat."

    Perhaps even warn them, in a friendly way, that if those people don't *want* to get kicked out they will need to do something to minimize the impact their arrival is having on all the rest of the people in the building. Because if they don't modify what they're doing, SOMEBODY is going to complain to the landlord. I won't necessarily be you--I can't imagine that folks in the other two units aren't disturbed and p.o.'d.

    If they get snotty about it when you talk to them, call.

    Frankly, since they're not even making any attempt now to be good neighbors, I think I might call anyway.

    (It may be a violation of CITY ORDINANCE to have that many people in a 2-bedroom apartment. Usually it's 2 people per bedroom, maybe 3, no more. They've got 5 people per bedroom)

  • over_n_under
    16 years ago

    If I owned the building, I would want to be called. Mostly because I would be charging rent at a rate where I could provide the proper maintenance, yet earn a profit. When there are many more people in the building than was planned for, things will wear out (or break) quicker, resulting in an increased cost for me. Which I will have to then pass down to the tennants. Devonca, if you don't want to see a rent increase, you may wish to let your landlord know what is happening.

  • devonca
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks, everyone, for your advice.

    I have contacted my local code enforcement department and they told me the "limit" is 3 people per 100 sq ft, so they just fall into that.

    However, the inspector did tell me that she will contact the LL to notify him. She suspects the LL doesn't know and every adult living in a unit MUST sign a contract. The inspector will update me in a week.

    I feel sorry for the young kids the new couple have. The seem to come home late at night (and my window is above/by the carport) and I hear them coming home. And I feel sorry for the people living BELOW my neighbors!!!

    Thanks again, everyone. I'll keep you updated!

  • devonca
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I just heard back from the code enforcement inspector. She told me she didn't notice a violation. She couldn't confirm with me how many people are living in the unit though. She did make sure to mention to my neighbors that "someone" had complained about the noise.

    The inspector didn't tell my neighbor that it was me who complained. I hope they don't know it was me.....maybe they'll think it is their downstairs neighbor.

    The inspector told me that she suggested to my neighbor that it'd be a good idea to not stomp up/down the stairs, slam their door and leave their trash out for days.

    Hope there's no drama following this....

  • amanteitaliana83
    16 years ago

    10 people in a 2 bedroom apartment is definitely a violation of the standards set by HUD about occupancy. 2 people per bedroom is generally the maximum, which would make these people over by at least 6 people. HUD set the standards for many reasons, health(that many people sharing a crammed space is far from healthy), maintenance, etc... The wear and tear on an apartment that is over occupied is insane. Trust me, I know first hand. I work for an apartment community and have seen the effects when we had a lady move into a 1 bedroom apartment, and then proceeded to have 4 more people live there, unauthorized. They were only there for a year. The carpet was only 1 year old and desperately needed replaced already(generally carpet can go without replacement up to 7-10 years), there was a horrible odor that permeated the walls and floor of the unit. I can't even describe it other than just being completely disgusting, not to meantion the smell traveled down the hallway outside the apartment too. The bathroom definitely showed the effects of 5 people using it and it was apparently NOT cleaned at all over the course of the year. And I'm not even going to get into what the kitchen looked like... It looked like a slob lived there for 10 years and never cleaned. In reality, it was 5 people and they only lived there for 1 year.

  • bonnie_2006
    15 years ago

    The law where I live is 4 people to a two bedroom.

  • privateperson
    15 years ago

    Why are you responding to a thread that is 9 months old, with the last comment being in January?

  • coffee2010
    13 years ago

    I live in wayne county new york and i have been in the same place for over a year now my landlord is a slum lord arent they all now days but anyways i have neighbors that live down stairs and theres 5 kids and 3 adults down there and there noisey as hell they shake my apartment all hours of the night the kids dont go to school and the landlord aint doing nothing about it at all but if i play my music or have a party they call the landlord and he gets on me but when i call him on them he dont do anything thats not fair what should i do its not fair to me ive been here the longest

  • speck_cmgcharleston_com
    13 years ago

    @Coffee2010: Seriously? since you've been there the longest you're more special and your noise is more tolerable than the family down stairs?

    Noise is noise. Call the city non-emergency police number in your municipality and ask if they will come listen to noise problems to see if there is really a nuisance. Apartment living is what it is - humans make noises when they talk, walk, use doors. Music and party noise is much more preventable and more a genuine nuisance than what ou describe coming from the neighbors.

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