This Redditor has all the right to tell his landlord, “I told you so,” after his noisy neighbor destroyed his apartment’s ceiling by going through the floor. His landlord should never have ignored him!
Soundproof Apartment
OP (Original Poster) moved into an apartment with a roommate the summer before this story was posted. The unit’s biggest selling point was that it was freshly renovated and “soundproof.”
When they got it, both OP and his roommate immediately fell in love with the place. They also wanted to be good neighbors, so they were “very careful not to bother anyone while moving in.”
Missing Information and Inaccurate Claims
However, OP and his roommate didn’t know that when they moved in, there were only two other renters. He shared, “Us on the floor, another family upstairs on the opposite side, and another one on the third floor, with one empty apartment between us.”
OP soon realized that the “soundproof” claim was only accurate in regard to the inside-to-outside situation. There was no soundproofing in between apartments.
Nightmare of a Neighbor
When OP’s upstairs neighbor moved in, it was a “godd**n nightmare.” He wrote, “Sounds from 5 AM to past midnight, 5 days in a row, dropping stuff, speaking loudly, yelling or walking in their apartment with shoes on.”
On the fifth day of he and his roommate suffering from all the noise, OP walked upstairs to meet his neighbor at midnight and asked them to “cease their activities for the night.” He had work in the morning and couldn’t be kept up all night because of the noise.
Couldn’t Come to an Understanding
OP understood that they were still moving in and might have a tight schedule, but he believed midnight was too late for them to do all these things.
However, OP’s neighbor didn’t reply and just closed the door on him. When he got back to his unit, the sounds started again.
Landlord, Help!
After this issue, OP reported his neighbor to his landlord, who told him he would handle it. His landlord also apologized for the situation and explained that his neighbor was “just moving,” and he probably didn’t understand what OP was saying because of the “language barrier.”
OP wanted to clarify that he meant it when he said his neighbor was noisy. He shared, “There was no stop to their loud noises. It seemed like they couldn’t be bothered to hold something without dropping it, or jumping up and down on the floor, or purposefully banging the bed frame against the wall when having s*x.”
Gathering Evidence
So, OP recorded every noise by installing microphones in his home and connecting them to his computer. It activates and records every time there is a strong vibration in the house.
In just one day, it recorded over 98 events. OP was livid!
This Can’t Continue
OP marched to the landlord’s office, showed him the evidence, and said this could not continue.
He said, “First, the apartment was poorly soundproofed, which meant we were hearing every d**n sound at all times. Second, we notified the neighbors about the situation, and they ignored it. I have notified the landlord to awaken them to our situation.”
Stop It!
He said he reported the issues he experienced several times and even advised his landlord that “heavy-sounding thuds” were coming from upstairs, but his landlord just told him, “Stop complaining about your neighbors, already! I have other things to do!”
OP calmly replied that he understood and that this would be his last communication and action to help him regarding this issue.
Loud Bangs
Later, OP found out that the loud bangs coming from upstairs resulted from his neighbor doing bench presses and weightlifting in his living room; the heavy thuds he heard were him dropping weights on the ground.
So, he immediately warned his roommate to move anything she didn’t want to get damaged from the living room.
The First Crack
Four days after his conversation with his roommate, the first crack appeared, and it kept coming; the floor was giving up. OP immediately moved the couch out of the way and moved the TV and consoles into the bedroom.
Then, he shared, “Fast forward to three days ago, after another series of loud bangs, I heard a loud crack, followed by an ‘Oh f***,’ followed by very loud noises.”
The Damage Has Been Done
When OP went to the living room, he saw his neighbor on the ground with “several gruesome injuries due to the fact that he just went through the floor,” bringing his bench and weight rack with him. OP called an ambulance as well as the police.
The police then asked him if he had reported the issue to his landlord, which he could confirm since his reports were emailed. He sent them everything and was filing to break his lease due to “uninhabitable dwelling.”
Furious Landlord
The day before this story was posted, OP’s landlord exploded and told him he should have been made aware that his neighbor was doing such dangerous things. However, OP retorted that he had notified him about the “very loud sounds, which he never investigated,” and that his landlord had ordered him to “stop complaining about his neighbors.”
OP said, “It was not my responsibility to go out of my way to protect his assets if he is unwilling to cooperate with me.”
Current Situation
As OP posted this story, he, his roommate, and his neighbors stayed at a hotel until they could all find a new place to live in. He’s also considering whether he should file a case for criminal negligence against his landlord and his neighbor.
OP’s brother was a lawyer and agreed to look at their case to check for their options. However, he shared, “We are not feeling very vindictive, and our insurance is going to cover most of the costs, so we might file for negligence.”
Trying to Make Peace
Since then, OP’s landlord has calmed down and apologized; he also scheduled a visit from an inspector to check the integrity of the building and the cause of the damage.
OP also shared, “In exchange for not pressing charges, he has agreed to reimburse all the money we have invested into the rent, our stay at the hotel and a little extra as an apology, and the guarantee to either repair the apartment and soundproof it properly or, if it is not an option to go back, he will relocate us onto another of his building, reduce our rent quite significantly for as long as we stay, and a full year of free rent.”
Taking Him up on His Offer
OP acknowledged that his landlord’s offer was quite generous. So, after much reflection and discussion with his roommate, they opted to take his landlord’s offer.
They negotiated to apply $300 off the market price to all their leases. He added, “We have also agreed to the reimbursement of six months of rent, which will cover us for the next year and then some, plus the free year. We received about $5,000 each, and the landlord has agreed to cover all the costs of the hotel we and our parents had to pay.”
Redditors’ Opinions on the Matter
Having bad neighbors seemed to be a regular occurrence for many users since many Redditors shared their bad experiences.
One shared, “Reminds me of the last apartment I was ever in. I lived on the ground floor and had new neighbors move in while I was at work one day. Fast forward a week, and I’m being woken up at 2 AM due to the loud music and parties.” He also said, “Some idiots only ever learn the hard way.”
Sometimes, Diplomacy Doesn’t Work
People also noted that going the polite and diplomatic route doesn’t always work when dealing with strangers.
“Fight fire with fire. It’s nice to try the diplomatic thing; everyone says just go talk to the bad neighbor. Sadly, the success rate here is frequently low,” wrote one Redditor.
What do you think of OP’s experience? Is it similar to anything you’ve encountered before?
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This post first appeared as He Reported the Crazy Noise He Heard to His Landlord but Got Ignored. They Got What They Deserved When His Neighbor Went Through the Floor With His Weightlifting Equipment! on Quote Ambition.
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