Accused of being a noisy neighbor, but it's not me

16 years ago

I have a problem. I am being accused of being a noisy neighbor. The noise my downstairs neighbor is complaining about is not the normal loud music/TV or stomping. He is claiming that my b/f and I are having very loud arguments with yelling and things being thrown. They always seem to happen on the weekends and very early in the morning (4AMish). He ever claimed that one time, I threw ice and my b/f and it hit him.

My problem is that this is not us. We rarely fight and never like that. Furthermore, we have never fought at my apartment or in my bedroom, where he claims it comes from. I have tried explaining to the land lady that there is no way it is us fighting. Besides that we donÃ¢ÂÂt fight like that, I have been sleeping over at his place for months and have been there when the Ã¢ÂÂargumentsÃ¢ÂÂ at my place happened.

Since being warned, I have been sleeping at my place for the last two weeks. Last Friday night I slept in my bedroom and did not hear a thing all night. I got up about 8AM and went over to b/fÃ¢ÂÂs for a few hours. I came back about 11AM and was picking up around the apartment when the land lady knocked on my door and asked if we had been fighting because the neighbor and just called in and complained. I said no, I have not heard anything and that he is not here and that she could go check his apartment (which is a few doors down and on the ground floor). She said that she already had and that he had answered the door (he told he we had not been fighting and he was just waking up.)

I do not know what to do. I have been quieter since his first complaint (not playing music, keeping TV down.) Since I have slept at home, I have never heard anything. The complaints seem to have started in September, but I have not changed anything in my life for months. The land lady listens to my defense, but does not seem to believe me. She keeps saying she does not know what to do about the problem, but it seems she will be ready to kick me out if it happens again.

Any advice??

Comments (3)

lucy
16 years ago
Really what you need is some kind of engineer who understands how sound can travel in buildings (not always in a straight line!) but possibly if you even just explain that to your landlady and neighbours they'll at least consider other tenants, or even someone who plays TV too loud.
angel47630
16 years ago
If you can figure out what night this mysterious fighting is supposedly occurring, set up a cam corder in your apt and then leave for the night..........if your neighbor complains you have physical evidence you were not even in your apt at the time of the complaint.

Do you think anyone is really doing this fighting or is the guy underneath of you just saying this because he has a grudge to bear?

Good luck
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talley_sue_nyc
16 years ago
The landlady sounds like she'd work with you.

I wonder what it would sound like when it IS you and him yelling.

Would it be worth it to do an experiment, that the landlady and your complaining neighbor stand in his apartment, and you and BF go in YOUR apartment, and yell really loud at each other (not mean yelling, of course; say stuff like "you're the coolest guy I've ever dated!" or "I really love the Red Sox!" or stuff).

Bcs I'm wondering if the neighbor would say, "wow, that's much louder than what I'm hearing" or "that's not the same voice."

You might also say to the landlady that, since you KNOW it's not you, you weren't even home, you can't keep your eyes open at 4a.m. to HAVE a fight, you are WORRIED ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBOR'S HEALTH. His mental health, and his physical health. He may be hearing things that don't exist. Is he dreaming very powerfully, or something?

Or could the landlady insist that, the next time your neighbor hears "you" yelling, he should go and stand outside your apartment door, to see if it sounds the same right there.

Maybe if he went out in the hallway, he'd realize it's coming from some other direction.

It would be hard to tell when the neighbor is going to hear stuff before he hears it, but you could also just make it a policy to set up your camcorder or something each night to spend away from home.