question - neighbors upstairs and lots of traffic in and out after 10pm

[2Design]

The floors here are like paper - I can hear every step. The neighbors upstairs have people coming and going many nights a week and lots after 10 pm

sometimes early in the evening

when they move a chair it sounds like hammers dropping. So you have 6 - 8 people sometimes walking back and forth for periods of time.

During the day, I believe someone comes and crashes for the day

There are suppose to be two guys. I hear three to four showers or baths a day.

I suspect they are doing or dealing drugs too

I have reported them on multiple occassions to landlord/maintanence mgmt

the mgmt says call the police. With pass tenants I called police when they had tv up or radio up but if you call because there are too many people they won't do anything. They always ask what have you done with landlord - I have to tell them the landlord doesn't really care - he only cares that he gets the rent.

So this bunch seems to do drugs and play cards. I have gone out in the back where I can see up into the apartment and see them all sitting around the table and looking like they are dealing cards. But many people come and go. You can't play cards in that amount of time.

So do I call police - my fear is they can wreck my car or me or the noise level can increase -

Why do I always get the late nighters who have to bring in bunches of people or who turn it into a flop house? It just becomes so annoying and of course there is no sense in going to sleep only to be woken up.

what would you do?

[democracyindanger]

1. Check tenant laws first

If the landlord just shrugs and says to call the police, it'd be good to know what responsibilities they're abandoning.

Then I'd try to talk to the tenants. Make it a "I don't care what you do, I just don't want the noise" thing.

[Character Assassin]

2. I am a cop.

If you call the police, insist on speaking to, or getting in touch with, a narcotics detective. They may well already know about other complaints from that address.

However, depending on what kind of neighborhood you live in, and I can't tell from your post, your landlord may or may not be a lost cause.

If you really want to talk to the local LEA, go to the front desk in person and ask for a detective, and that a report be taken. Don't use your own phone or a payphone in your area.

But remember: there is a universe of difference between 'doing' drugs and 'seeming' like doing drugs.

[2Design]

10. a few questions more

If you really want to talk to the local LEA, go to the front desk in person and ask for a detective, and that a report be taken. Don't use your own phone or a payphone in your area

Why wouldn't I use my own phone?

I did call the crime stopper line about a week ago and reported the coming and going and the fact that the maintanence assistant told me there were papers and bowls upstairs when they went in - in search of fixing a water leak to my apartment - they had to go in the morning after one of these parties.

They had another party (cards I am told by others) until 4:30 am last night. People start coming and going at 10pm. Then chairs are being brought in off the porch. The constant movement is like being inside a tin tunnel.

When they "finished", the chairs are all moved and sliding glass door opening and shutting woke me up at 4 am. I have not been able to get back to sleep again - It is 7:30am and I am tired but can't sleep.

Landlord is a lost cause. He doesn't do anything about neighbor problems. This is not first middle of night neighbor I have had
The last ones had six people living up there. I called code enforcement - There were two families in two apartments - they continued to tell landlord they only had 2 people. They would go back and forth between apartments all day and night and have a midnight dinner in the one above me - Code enforcement guy said it is hard to prove extra people. These tenants would keep mattresses in storage and had lots of couches. They blatantly had extra people and once caught by the maintance guy they said they were leaving like a month later.

The moving issue - right now I pay less than I can anywhere else in the city - prices on apartments have gone from gone up 40 to 50% while home prices have risen about the same.

Isn't there anyway to enforce livable situations

What does LEA stand for?

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Papers and bowls??

So you're upset about them smoking weed? I thought they were running a meth lab, or something actually harmful. Heh...lighten up man, life's too short.

[2Design]

13. I am upset about having 6 - 12 people upstairs at midnight and

1 am and 4 am keeping me awake or waking me up

I am upset about the noise of chairs and people walking/sounds like stomping. And multiple people coming and going day and night.

I am upset that it is never quiet with so many people coming and going

IF they want to have that much traffic in and out they need to be in a home or downstairs apartment not above someone and living very ACTIVE between 10pm and 5am while others are trying to sleep

[disenfranchised]

3. Can you move?

If I were you, I'd move. Try to find a place where either you're on the top floor or there is not so much noise between apartments. I used to live below some loud people and it made my life miserable.

[Spangle]

4. Night people

Are just like day people. Only they live at night. If you live/work at night, you tend to find others that do as well.

The real problem is that they are upstairs and the building construction is making ti difficult for them to even move without you knowing it. Night time is quieter in your apartment, your going to hear everything. This means they are not doing it to annoy you. If it was during your waking hours, your tv/radio/ talking would cover most of the noise.

It's easy to find a problem. The hard part is finding a workable solution. You might talk to the landlord about moving the them to a lower floor. Or you might switch with them. Them on bottem, you on top.

But then, they would have the same problem during the day, when they are trying to sleep and your up walking around, watching tv/radio, etc.

We use to work nightshift. It was hard for people to understand. If your home sleeping during the day, your considered a "bum." And since your home.. they think your "free" to do things for them or "vist." People knocking on the door, calling on the phone.. it would all drive you nuts. When your off work, who do you hang with?

We had a neighbor who's ride would blow their horn every day at 10am instead of getting out and ringing the door bell. It was rather a RUDE awakin in the "middle of the night" for me. When i complained to my neighbor, he told me to call the cops and compalain. I told hiim THAT was crazy. We are neighbors and have to deal together. We have a choice, either we work together or we don't. Another words, if he didn't, he was going to get some 2am honks every night. I've got friends too. <grin>

[2Design]

11. doesn't this mean night time people who live upstairs need to

be more considerate.
I am quiet. I don't have loud music waking them up at 9am but I am tempted to change that. But they have the advantage of being able to make it even worse than it is

why do night time people who live upstairs think it is great to have a group of people over for all night when in fact they have been spoken to and asked about additional people and noise already - they ignore it

I want to go up this morning and knock on the door and ring the door bell and wake him up - he doesn't get up until noon - leaves and some one else comes in - they get to sleep

I don't

[politicat]

5. Have you smelled anything strange?

Chemical odors you can't identify, pot smoke, lots of incense, air freshener, or similar? Ether, acetone, benzine, toulene and lye are common components in meth labs so if you've smelled any of these, there's a good chance that's what's going on and then they're a danger to you!

You can also watch the trash for blister packs from cold medication or matchbooks with the striker strip missing. These are also indications of labs.

Dealing points will often have the smell of the cooking drug - a sweet, chemical smell like hot Diet Pepsi for crack, urine or cat urine for meth, a sweet, heavy odor for opiates.

Meth labs and meth users stink - they smell like cat urine, stale fear sweat and rotting teeth. If your neighbors are stinky, it's a good indicator.

If any of this is reasonable, call the police during daily business hours and ask for a narcotics officer. Explain what's going on and let zer know that there's a lot of traffic in and out of the apartment (true?) and strange hours and excessive water consumption. Tell them you also want your name kept out of it and that they're not to talk to you on premises; if they want a statement, they need to do it off site for your own protection.

If you haven't smelled anything... watch the number of women versus men going in and the dress of the women. It may be a collection point for prostitution and their (lying, thieving, slimy-ass, sack of shit, only good one is a dead one) pimps. (sorry, I have no problems with self-selected prostitution, but pimping makes me a little nuts.)

Pcat

(This information gained by several hundred hours of interviews with clients, many of whom have drug and alcohol convictions and were in my office for those problems.)

[Pithlet]

6. I don't miss apartment life one bit

I don't know if there is much that you can do. The last apartment I lived in, the neighbor's telephone was right on the other side of my bedroom wall that my bed was against. Their phone was constantly ringing at all hours of the night. And when they weren't home the phone would ring twenty times, stop, and then start right back up again. I had to buy a white noise machine to drown it out, or I couldn't sleep.

If you can move, it might not be a bad idea. Make sure to get a top floor apartment. They are almost always quieter.

[allalone]

7. I feel so bad for you

there's no hell worse than bad neighbors

[RebelOne]

9. You are right about that.

I have the neighbors from hell next door to me.

[Still_Notafraid]

8. Call the owners of the complex

A lot of times in apartment complexes the people running them are the middle man a cooperation hired to get tenants,do land scaping and maintenance call there bosses at the corporation tell them they are not handling the problem.they will put pressure on them if that doesn't work find out who really owns the place then talk to them

That many people are not supposed to be living in a small apartment call the housing authority and ask what you can do.then make a complaint.tell everyone about the suspected drug problem.

with all of that what about the next people that move in what if they have a 4 year old its still gonna be hell even if they follow all the rules,Move!! town houses are good for noise reduction no apartment is going to be totally noise free but when you have no one above or below you it makes a huge difference.next time you move before you sign that lease make sure you talk to at least 5 residents that live there about noise before you make your decision

[sniffa]

14. mind your own buisiness

if it's that much of a hassLe, move.

i Lived in a crackhouse for 6 months, and it was very bad (many great stories though). the LandLord was your run of the miLL sLum Lord. we finaLLy moved 6 months Later (and funniLy enough, not because of the crackheads and deaLers).

[2Design]

15. not sure of your answer - why do I have to incur costs because of

someone else's behavior

you said mind my own business - if someone esle's behavior is keeping me awake or causing me harm - isn't that my business -

not sure why you would say "mind your own business" - when they are causing the problem

[sniffa]

16. you asked for advice

that's my advice - mind your own biz, or move. i deaLt with this probLem - the onLy thing i couLd do (beLieve me, i went to the LandLord, poLice, and the board of heaLth) was move.

but hey, you do what you want to do. if you get kiLLed, you won't have to worry about being kept awake anymore.