Dealing With Noise Complaints

Key Takeaways

• Address noise complaints promptly to maintain tenant satisfaction and prevent issues from escalating.
• Distinguish between normal everyday noise and excessive disturbances before taking action.
• Investigate complaints, communication with tenants, document issues, and enforce lease terms when necessary.
• Set clear noise policies, educate tenants, and screen applicants carefully to reduce noise disputes.

As a landlord, one of the things you do when trying to find a tenant for your rental property is check the rental history of potential renters to make sure you don’t lease the property to a problem tenant. This is one of the reasons why landlords do tenant screening.

In an ideal world, this should be enough to help you avoid renters who will constitute a nuisance in your rental property. But unfortunately, life does not always follow a script, and sometimes, despite your best efforts, you will rent to a noisy tenant.

Excessive noise by one tenant can destroy the tranquility of your rental property and violate other residents’ right to quiet enjoyment of their homes.  How do you resolve this situation and ensure a harmonious environment for all the tenants in your property?

Managing noise disputes between your tenants requires prompt and firm action. That’s because problems like this can cost you your best tenants. If a good tenant thinks you are not doing enough to address the noise complaints, they may start planning to move out.

In this article, C&C Property Management will go over how to handle noise compliant with the tenants in your property.

Why You Must Handle Noise Complaints

Problems like noise complaints test your resolve to enforce the lease terms your tenants signed. By paying attention to noise complaints, you demonstrate your commitment to the well-being of your tenants and to maintaining the quality of your rental property.

If handled promptly and effectively, you will preserve the following benefits for your tenants and your rental property:

• 
  Better tenant satisfaction.
• Improved tenant retention.
• A more harmonious relationship between tenants.
• Increased respect for the lease terms.
• Fewer cases of lease violations.
• Overall smoother property operations.
• You enhance the quality of your rental property.

Dealing With Noise Complaints in Your Rental Property

These are the steps for dealing with noise complaints in your rental property.

Differentiate Between Normal and Excessive Noise

To determine whether a noise complaint is justified or not, know the difference between excessive noise and normal noise. Normal noise is the everyday sounds you expect to hear in any environment where people live together, such as an apartment building.

Examples of normal noise include footsteps, conversations between neighbors or with visitors to the premises, the sounds of doors being closed or opened, and pet sounds (barking, meowing, and similar sounds within reasonable limits).

Excessive noise is sound that exceeds the level of what is expected in a residential building. It crosses the tolerance threshold, thereby causing significant discomfort to others. Examples include loud music, loud parties, construction or renovation noise, and rowdy behavior.

Determine if the Complaint is Justified

Legitimate noise complaints involve excessive noise or normal noise beyond reasonable limits. To separate complaints that genuinely affect the living experience of a tenant from those that are due to the oversensitivity of the complainant, look at the following factors:

• 
  Noise complaints that occur infrequently are not a big problem. But if the disturbance happens frequently, it may require a strong response.
• If the noisy tenant has a history of causing noise disturbances, the complaint should be taken seriously. This is also true of tenants who make baseless noise complaints against others.
• Consider the possibility that the tenant may have a legitimate reason for the noise, such as a medical emergency or construction.

Taking Action Against Noise Disturbances

If you determine that the noise complaint is valid, take the following steps to handle the problem:

1. 
   Ask the complainant to provide additional info, such as the time and date of the noise, supporting evidence, or any witnesses to support their complaint. You may also ask the affected person to keep a noise log.
2. This may involve using tools like decibel meters, a mobile app, sound recorders, and video cameras to capture the noise and measure its volume.
3. Your tenants may not be aware of the problem, so approach them tactfully and with respect. Inform the tenant of the complaint against them and discuss ways to minimize noise levels. If possible, have them limit the noise to certain hours or find an alternative solution.
4. If nothing changes, write a warning letter to the tenant. Include an outline of the nature of the problem with dates and times of the noise disturbance, as well as the steps you expect them to take.
5. If the problem persists after the previous steps, consider arranging a meeting between the two tenants, with a third party acting as a mediator. Through constructive dialogue, the two tenants may find a mutually acceptable solution.
6. If the above steps fail, enforce noise policies as contained in the lease agreement. Depending on what your lease says, you may fine the noisy tenants or issue them a formal 3-day to 30-day "cure or quit" notice.
7. If your location has rules governing acceptable noise levels during certain hours, consult with the local authorities. If the tenant’s behavior still doesn’t change, you may initiate eviction proceedings against them as a last resort.

Preventing Noise Disturbances in Your Rental Property

To minimize the risk of future noise disturbances in your property, follow these steps:

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  Include an explicit noise nuisance clause in your lease agreement and ensure that prospective tenants understand it. If necessary, enforce strict quiet hours in the property (example, between 10 pm and 7 am).
• When checking a potential tenant’s rental history, look for signs of unruliness. Ask previous landlords if they ever violated the lease terms. If a tenant has violated a lease agreement in the past, they will probably do it again in the future.
• Educate new tenants on the rules of your rental property. Sometimes tenants read and sign the lease agreement only to promptly forget the lease terms. On move-in day, reiterate the conditions for living in the property.

Conclusion

You should address noise disturbance complaints promptly. The longer you allow these types of issues to continue, the more it feels like acceptable behavior to the noisy tenant. Do not wait and hope that a noisy tenant will adjust their behavior; address the problem at once.

If you want more advice regarding tenant screening and communication, contact C&C Property Management today and see how we give you peace of mind while settling all your property management needs.