About a year ago I moved into an apartment in a duplex. I was excited, super stocked for the place. The rent was great and the place was great. It all came tumbling down after a few days.


My neighbor in the duplex has a set of speakers against the dividing wall that play bass. For those that don’t know, sound is essentially vibration, and bass only increases that vibration to an insane amount.

This is the type of person my neighbor is.


So while the actual noise from his speakers may not be “loud”. The vibrations are. After many sleepless nights, I talked to him repeatedly and was more or less met with a “fuck off.” So I went to my landlord and reported him three times, and finally it stopped. This was from around June-late August last year. And after it stopped, it stayed stopped for a while.


In that very same August, I got a job that more or less allowed me to work evening shifts, so I left for work right before he got home, I got home as he was asleep(and was very quiet myself), and he left for work as I went to sleep. It seemed like the perfect system, as we only really had to share weekends together and he was quiet.


Cut to about two weeks ago and when I get home at night I start noticing multiple cars in our driveway. Different cars, every single night. Never once the same vehicle, except for one that has a tag thats from out of state. I had started developing a suspicion that he was throwing parties while I was at work, and over the weekend I found this to be true. As while all was quiet Saturday, Sunday night it was like the video posted above.


I told myself that if it was just this one time, I would let it go, and put on my headphones. It was loud, like someone banging on my walls, but I tried to drown it out thinking that since it’s Sunday, and my Neighbor leaves for work at 5am, it would stop soon. It did not, it ran till 12:30 AM and he, along with everyone else at the party stayed the night and didn’t leave till Monday afternoon.


Since I work evening shifts, I go to sleep around 3 and wake up around noon. This works when my neighbor is at work, but not when he takes the day off, so I am woken up to bass playing at 9am. To make matters worse, while he has indeed been going to work everyday, the other car with the out of state tags is still here 24/7, and all they do is play bass. From 9am to 2am. It has been at a tolerable level so far until this morning in which I woke up to my entire apartment vibrating.


I contemplated calling the police, but too my knowledge the local police will not do anything for “vibrations” as they don’t consider then “loud noises” and local ordinance only goes from 6am-11pm. I contemplated walking over there and beating on the door and yelling, but my neighbor is 19-20, and the type of college kid who’s a know it all asshole that will tell you to go fuck off, and so I presume all his college buddies are the same.


So instead of doing those things, I ran the washer. My washer is loud, I usually only run it while my neighbor is gone but with someone in the house 24/7 I have no choice. And to my surprise, that pissed whoever my new neighbor’s roommate is off, as they very loudly slammed every single door the used and for in their car and left for the first time in 7 days.


But I can’t this anymore. I know it will resume tomorrow. I text my landlord Monday about the party the night before, but he refuses to respond. I am about to quit my current job and starting working normal hours during the day, which is only going to put us both home and awake at the same time. I want to move out, but from where my own work has cut my hours, until I get a new job I can’t afford it. My lease is monthly so I can go at any time, but it’s going to be another three months or so before I can save up enough money to both afford rent and get a down payment.



I understand this thread might come off as more of a rant, but I am asking for help. Three nights this week I have gotten only 4 hours of sleep and I don’t know what to do. The police don’t want to solve it, my landlord is ghosting me, and my neighbor won’t change shit. I am almost at a point where I am considering putting all my belongings in storage and living in the spare bedroom at my Grandma’s until I can financially get back on my feet and find a new place, but everyone in my family tells me I’m not doing enough to fight it.

 

The problem with apartment living is what you're experiencing right now. It would help if you had a decent landlord, that's what makes the difference. To be fair to the cops, especially during the pandemic, a noise complaint won't bring them out unless other neighbors complain as in the neighbor is having a block party and it's driving everyone insane. Then, and only then, will they come out and do their job. It doesn't make it right that you should have to change jobs or move or any of those things, but look at it as a sign of some sort. You yourself say that your job cut hours and that you can adjust your schedule. (More or less.) This might be what you need to make it happen.

I'm sorry you're going through this, I know it sucks. We lived in a converted house that was split into two apartments and we had the bottom one due to wheelchairs and a ramp and the upstairs neighbors were college girls who LOVED to throw a party...until 2:30-3:30 in the morning. Called the cops multiple times on them and surprisingly they did come to assist us and it was a pretty ugly scene, actually. The girls kept screaming down the stairs at us for being snitches (I'm not joking. You hear that in mob movies, not reality and it was so stupid to hear.) and then they started throwing stuff down the stairwell at our door and the cops actually removed them from the premises. Landlady caught wind of the whole thing and threw 'em out in record time. (Not sure how she got around eviction processes, but she did. Guess it helps to know a judge, which she does.)

I do hope it gets better, really.

 

I hate to say it, and this might not solve the issue, but when diplomacy fails, fight dickdom with equally being a dick. When they start playing loud music, play your music just as loudly and drown them out. They may get the message. If nothing else, this will hopefully get other people in the complex to respond and force the landlord to take action.

I live in a house, but have asshole neighbors who throw wild parties leaving their beer bottles and trash on the street and they sometimes play Banda and Mariachi until 3am. People call the cops, but they won't show unless a violent crime is being committed.

 

The walls were AWFUL in my old apartment complex, I put sounds machines in all the rooms. It did help. Didn't do anything for the smoke and weed smells seeping into our unit.

 

I strongly recommend seeking help on the Prorevenge subreddit. The ways people have gotten back at other douchebags like the one you're dealing with, in perfectly legal courses of action...it's Bond Villain level material.

Use the tactical earworm nuke.

The Baby Shark theme song (Baby Shark do do do do do, Baby Shark do do do do do...). On repeat. Full blast. 24/7. Maybe change it up with some Rebecca Black Friday or Tiny Tim's Tiptoe Through The Tulips. And if you're particularly sadistic...The theme song to It's a Small World.

Buy some of those noise canceling Bose headphones and you're good.

 

One of the many problems with apartment living. Glad I was able to finally get into a house. Unfortunately, with the cops, in my personal experience, they won't come out for noise complaints unless they're getting multiple people complaining. The best advice is to do what Sylent says.

Yep, I had a neighbor like this at my last apartment complex before we finally moved into a house. The landlord was no help, cops were no help, I had talked to the neighbor politely and been told to fuck off, etc. Finally, at one of my brother's suggestions, I started either playing music or watching tv loudly whenever or doing something loud that would drown out my neighbor's bullshit. Suddenly he was willing to talk. To be honest, though it was everything I could do as a thirty-something adult not to snap this little college kid like a twig. His attitude was pretty shitty even before I started fighting fire with fire.

 

I'm sorry this is happening Purple. Hope you can get this resolved, even if it means stooping to their level.

 

Fight vibration with vibration. Build a sarcophagus that vibrates at the same frequency as your neighbor on an atomic level, and place him in it. The vibration frequencies will increase as they resonate. This will shatter the neighbor.

 

Leave a burning paper bag in front of their apartment door.

Or play Safety Dance as loud as possible.

 

Cut your losses and move, there are plenty of quiet places to go, you dont need to put up w/DeathMetalPalooza every night.

 

I got home tonight around midnight and was mer with bass again. I called the police and they showed up, talked me, knocked on the door and when he didn’t answer, left saying someone might come by tomorrow when he’s home.


Is this standard protocol or do they just not care? I am sitting at the opposite end of my apartment and it is shaking the building still. The thumping is constant, and it started at 9am this morning. So it’s been here all day.


I just can’t live here anymore. It’s 1:30am now and it’s only gotten louder.

 

I would go leave with your grama. Sounds like the smartest and cheapest thing to do instead of spending god knows how much on rent

 

Look into noise ordinance laws in your area/town/state. At this point it's almost certain that this asshole is in violation of them. And THAT will get the cops to notice.

 

You need to make some noise with your landlord until he gives in and gets on your neighbor's ass about the noise complaints. And dont text your landlord call his ass. If your neighbor is raising hell at 2am you call up your landlord at 2:01 and let that phone ring until he picks up.

 

Couple things from someone who dealt with this years ago:

1 - All communications with the landlord need to be in writing. EMAIL, and print them out, along with the responses. If no replies within 72 hours, your best backup legally is sending Certified letters.

2 - Inside noises that are not violence-based are typically not under noise ordinance law, but they ARE under "peaceful and calm living conditions" that are typically granted in apartments. Failure to provide this puts the landlord at fault for not correcting in a certain timeframe. Look over your lease, and your LOCAL resident laws, as they differ everywhere. But if you have vibrations and then hear a bottle break, don't be too proud to not call and mention it sounds like a domestic disturbance. In our state, 3 police visits for domestic violence calls means landlords can evict much faster and easier than normal, and at that point the landlord also becomes liable in more ways for more things. (This is how I got my one neighbor booted right the fuck to the curb, I found the fine print and only used the phrase "it sounds like someone is crying and being slammed around the house" or similar. Cops showed up REAL fast, even if they didn't do anything. Plus they have to record the complaint!

3 - Document every occurrence with as much info as possible. Videos, times, dates, what cars are in the driveway, ANYTHING pertinent.

4 - Look into small claims and escrow, where you may be able to file, pay your rent to the court, and since your landlord won't get paid until resolved this will get his attention plenty fast. Gotta utilize everything above to make a solid case though, and the "peaceful" law or whatever they call it where you are is a tough one, but they still gotta provide it. They may have some low to no cost legal advisors available through local programs.

Otherwise, move out if you can. As soon as you know when you will be gone (or your stuff is secured elsewhere) and won't be in violation of your lease, have some fun with the neighbor at least lol. Also you can always drop a line to non-emergency police lines about out of state or potentially uninsured vehicles. Even parked inside a barn, a car has to be registered and insured here, even if the metal is melted off and there's no engine. Little things like that can lead to big problems for assholes. And most states require people to get new plates and registration within 30-60 days of becoming a resident.