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The family upstairs turns
out to be particularly noisy. The T.V. is always blaring
away and only gets turned off when the teenagers decide that it
is time to turn
the stereo set on full blast to listen to the latest disco hits
until midnight or one
o'clock in the morning.
The younger children race
up and down the hallway making the ceiling shake.
The parents are not without fault either; when they come home
in the evening
you would think that a squad of foot soldiers is parading overhead.
That's what it feels like
to you. However, as a tenant yourself, you try to be
understanding and rationalize the situation by telling yourself
that, after all, it's
perfectly normal for a family -- two grown-ups and a few children,
including
teenagers -- to make more noise than a single person or a childless
couple. You
are ready to tolerate a certain amount of noise from your neighbours,
but
somehow, you feel that these are just a little too boisterous.
You decide to go over and
speak to them. You tell them as diplomatically as
possible, that you would really appreciate their turning the volume
of the music
down, especially late at night.
You return to your apartment
and wait some time to see if your little intervention
will have positive results. Meanwhile, you decide to do a little
in-house investigating
and discover that the other tenants are also quite disturbed by
the noise but don't
dare do anything. Nevertheless, they congratulate you for your
initiative and offer
you their support, should you need it.
Over the next few days
or evenings, there is indeed less noise but slowly the noise
level goes back to being what it was before your intervention.
You find it unbearable
and complain to the landlord. You remind him that it is his legal
responsibility to make
sure the racket stops. You give him, let's say 8 days in which
to act and you wait for
the results. During this period you keep an accurate daily and
hourly account of the
noises and their source.
Both the landlord occupying
a dwelling in his own building and the tenant are
entitled to what is called peaceable enjoyment of the premises.
Therefore it is in
everyone's interest to behave in a good neighbourly fashion.
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