Visit from the Police

You’re not going to believe this bullshit.

The music from the neighbors downstairs has been loud every night. Sometimes until 2 in the morning.

I’ve tried knocking on the door and nothing has happened – it’s too loud and they can’t hear me knocking.

So tonight I stomped on the floor. Probably five times. Just once.

20 minutes later there is a knock on my door and two police officers are standing in my doorway. The guys had called 911.

The officer said that she was able to hear the music and had asked them to turn down the bass. We went into the bedroom and I couldn’t hear anything – she said the music was still on but they’d turned the bass down and why hadn’t I called about it before? I said I had called about it – to the building manager. I explained I’m sure they had other more important things to worry about than noise complaints. She explained that yes this was a tenant/landlord dispute but to call 911 if it ever happened again.

I can’t sleep. I don’t know what to do. I’m going to call the landlord tomorrow so she knows what happened. Am I the one being unreasonable and that boys will be boys? Should I just up and move? Is it just asking for trouble to live above this kind of bullshit? My brain hurts.

At least they didn’t have video cameras filming Cops.


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19 responses to “Visit from the Police”

  1. Matthew Avatar

    Damn stud,

    I complain of the crickets being too loud. I guess I should be a bit thankful living here in the quiet country. I used to have a neighbor back in LaGrange, GA knock on the wall when my music was too loud. I would turn it down immediately (at least when I could hear the knock on the wall) and then I would pound back and scream “what the hell ya pounding on my damn wall for? g.d. loud pounding neighbor type folk anyhow, damn ya can’t even listen to some music anymore in this world” Yes, I said all of that and more while I would pound back. But hey, they would party too so it went both ways different days 🙂

  2. sam Avatar

    I dunno about Illinois, but Texas has an apartment association that strikes fear into the hearts of apartment managers everywhere. Maybe Illinois has something like that?

    I documented all my complaints and all the times I left them, informed the association about the problems, and the next thing I knew I was freed from my 1 yr lease (after 2 months) with a complete refund of the deposit.

    But who needs that with the police on your side? My advice: threaten to take legal action. Don’t actually do it, just use your acting skills to come off as serious.

  3. danoin Avatar
    danoin

    THE REAL ANSWER IS TO MOVE.YOU CAN NOT BE LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER EVERY TIME YOU COME IN TO YOUR APARTMENT. THIS GUY IS MEAN AND HAS MORE EVIL TO COME.CALL THE MANAGER AND MOVE, IN CAN BE THERE IN A FEW DAYS..TWO WEEKS FOR YOUR KEY,PLOICE BEING CALLED- NEXT WILL BE BULLET HOLES IN THE FLOOR..TAKE THE EXPERIENCE AND MOVE ON..YOU HAVE TO MUCH TO DEAL WITH…..

  4. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    Yep – I’m going to move out. There is too much bullshit to worry about right now than animosity between me and my neighbors. This escalated very quickly and it’s a complete waste of my time to negotiate and communicate with these assholes.

  5. j.scott barnard Avatar

    Unfortunately, I agree that you should move. But when you do, be sure to take the noise complaints you’ve made to the landlord into account with him over any deposit dispute.

    People who play loud music all the time, are never going to change. I’ve never understood it myself, the need for constant loud sensation. I think some folks are afraid of the silence. They actually might have to start thinking about how miserable their lives were if they didn’t have the constant distraction.

    In the meantime, since you’ve decided to move, I’d only call the landlord, rather than the police, so as not to escalate things unneccesarily.

    But if you really had balls, you could start calling the neighbors and make requests. “Hey, I heard you play such and such the other day and haven’t heard it in a while, think you could add it to your set list today?” –scott

  6. mark Avatar

    I hate to see you have to move, but situations like that can only get worse it seems. It’s sad that nothing can be done. Hope you get things worked out.

  7. JC Avatar

    Holy crap! It seems that you are dealing with a special breed of assholes. Good luck!

  8. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    Got a contact from a lawyer-friend on a ‘tenant’s rights’ lawyer to call to see what my options are.

  9. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    Went by the police station. Since there was no formal police report filed there’s no written record of what happened. All they have is a record of the dispatch call in the database.

    Talking with a tenant’s rights lawyer today before I fax in my intent to terminate lease letter. I am not going to lose the deposit on this stupidity.

  10. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    Lawyer says unless I have police reports I have no case and that I should call 911 if it happens again.

    You may ask yourself – why didn’t I call the police in the first place? Because I thought it was a waste of their time. I didn’t think it would escalate this fast – I had kept a log of the noise the past week and was going to send it to the building management company and take it from there. Then maybe I would have called the cops.

    I’m too tolerant. I’m too nice. I’m too trusting. And again I’m being screwed over because of it.

    Faxed the building manager the narrative thusfar. She basically doesn’t believe me. Like I would make this up? That I think it’s fun to waste everybody’s time on this crap?

    I feel better now that I’m taking decisive action. I do hope I can convince them that I should get my deposit back, given the cirucmstances. They will have the place rented within a day.

  11. Jonny Avatar

    Sorry Andy, this situation really sucks… you have my sympathy.

  12. djhinn Avatar

    We have the same problem with our downstairs neighbor. When he first moved it he would play heavy bass music til 4am on some nights in cluding week nights. We called hte landlord and she sent him a letter regardinghte noise complaints. but it didnt do much til she threatened to kick him out. …she also suggested to call the police and let them fine him. …good luck to you on this man.

  13. sam Avatar

    Oops I meant legal action with the apt. manager. You shouldn’t have to put up with that shit, but you shouldn’t have to move either (especially after having just moved in).

    Let’s hope you don’t have the same problem at the next place!

  14. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    I’d rather move now since I’m not fully settled in than later when the noise has gotten progressively worse and the management company remain a bunch of incompetents. And it’s colder.

    Maybe I’m ‘giving in to intimidation’ that they called the police. I prefer to think of it that I don’t have the time to deal with this over another 2 months where it would get worse, and I get police reports, and then I have to move anyway, and find a place or they evict them and then they have loud music all the time before they move out in protest.

    This may be the easiest way out – but it’s also the most simple.

  15. andrew Avatar

    Sometimes things are just “not meant to be” and it’s best to move on. You could leave a note for the next tenant so they have some “history” to refer to.

  16. RcktMan Rick Avatar

    I can’t believe what bullshit this is. I wish there was a place where one could go to get records about buildings and how they deal with bad tenants. Nobody should have to put up with this kind of crap. Good luck Andy, keep us posted.

  17. Tim Z. Avatar

    Wow, I hadn’t been here for a couple of days and all hell breaks loose. 😮
    You are doing the right thing. You will just continue to have problems if you stay.
    If I hear of any good places in Oak Park, I’ll let you know.

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