Why would my act cocky after I gave him a formal letter stating my intent to sue?

Question

My neighbor downstairs from my apartment complex has been playing his music loud for the past 1 1/2 months. I have spoke with the manager many times and have tried to work something out with the tenant. So far nothing has changed. On the lease it states that the manager must take care of the noise and he has the right to fine and evict the noisy tenant. The police have noticed the noise and so did several witnesses. I plan to take the property owner to court if this is not resolved. This is my letter. When I spoke with the manager he said that I was supposed to sue the tenant and he acted very cocky towards me.

Dave Maestas

Subject: Disturbing neighbor ( #304 )

Dear Dave Maestas,

Please resolve the on-going problem at (#304 ) as soon as possible. This neighbor continues to play his music very loud, especially at night. I have trouble performing my duties at work and trouble concentrating with my schooling due to the emotional stress I have experienced by his loud music. I have addressed this problem with you for more than a month and I am expecting this inappropriate behavior to end immediately.

This is the signature of my visitor who noticed the loud music and you can contact the Pueblo Police Department for further verification.

It is your responsibility to protect your tenants’ well-being and quality of life, which is stated on line 7 of the Rules and Regulations Section on the back of the lease.As a common courtesy and by the rules stated in the lease, quiet hours of 10pm-6am should be enforced at the Woodhaven Apartment Complex. If this problem is not resolved by 09/13/2008, I will seek for a civil action against the landlord and the Woodhaven Apartment owners for failing to provide an adequate living environment

Answer 1

  refuse to pay rent.  Besides the manager you should contact the owner of the apartments.  When I had a problem with a manager I went above him and informed the owner.  It was quickly resolved.  Ask for the owner's home phone number and if it is a group that owns it ask for their number.  State that since the problem can not be resolved you will not pay rent until it is taken care of.  Less money in their pockets will get it taken care of.

Answer 2

Personally, if I were in your place, I would try to resolve this issue without taking it to court just yet.

First of all, I absolutely understand your frustration and I do believe you have a right to expect the manager to enforce the rules as stated in your lease. I myself had an extremely rude family that lived above me many years ago. The husband worked 2nd shift, 3-11pm. The wife stayed at home with the children, 3 youngsters all under the age of 5. Since the Mom and children had no work or school obligations and the husband worked 2nd, the entire family kept his schedule.

That meant that from about midnight until 8am, when the whole rest of the residents at the complex (and most of the city for that matter) were asleep, this one family was up and active in their apartment. This was a very small building, older with thin walls. Right about the time I was sound asleep and comfortable, the wife would be vacuuming, the husband had the tv blaring and those children were running all over the place. To add to the noise, they actually allowed the children to ride their big wheels and tricycles in the apartment--on wood floors. It was intolerable.

I tried speaking to the family, who could care less. I tried the landlord, who again, wasn't concerned. They had been there longer than I and they paid their rent on time (as did I) and the owner made it quite clear that it was difficult to find renters who paid on time. He had talked to them, and they denied any excessive noise and so I felt helpless.

Then I came up with a really great idea, I taped the noise. I set up a recorder on my nightstand and let it record the noise. A few days later I dropped the tape off with my rent check. About a week later, I heard back from him, he had listened to the tape, and agreed it was quite loud. When he confronted the family, they stated that I must have recorded it during the day. When he told me what they had said, I said, "Well, I guess the only way you will ever know for sure and be able to resolve this, is to come to my apartment after midnight and listen for yourself. You can either do that, or expect my notice."

Of course he didn't want to lose a decent tenant, so we made arrangements for him to come over the following week. He could hear the noise from the hallway, before he even got to my door. Regardless, he came in and stuck around for a half hour. He got to enjoy it all, even the bike riding.

He apologized and promised to take care of it, and he did. Right then and there he went upstairs and caught them. That was the end of it.

So, sometimes as frustrating as it is, you have to stick it out and come up with creative ways to get the manager to understand what you are going through before you take it to court. The last thing you want is to be harrassed by the management.

How about getting the rest of the tenants to sign a petition, and taking that to the apartment owner?

In the end, if all else fails, you have to address it in court, as you are absolutely right, you shouldn't have to tolerate that kind of disturbance. I just think you should try to avoid it if you can.

Good luck!  

Answer 3

Letter sounds good but you might just ask him first then follow up with a 2nd letter on filing civil action if the problem doesn't get resolved.

Reference it as your second request.