What You Can Do About Noise in Your Memphis Apartment
Aug 29th, 2007 by Memphis Apartments
People who live in Memphis apartments should expect to have problems with noise from neighbors at some point. It is, to some extent, a fact of life in a congregate living setting. This does not mean that it cannot be addressed. If noise from a neighbor or within the Memphis apartment itself is a consistent problem, there are ways for you to manage the situation.
Let’s say you have a noisy neighbor. His television is too loud, and he is always arguing with his wife. Your first approach should be to talk directly with him about the noise issue. He may not be aware you can hear him. Politely inform him that you can hear his arguments with his wife, and the television volume needs to be turned down.
If the noise continues, quietly but firmly inform him that he is violating the agreement in the lease to maintain noise control. He is likely to take that into consideration and change his behavior. He does not want to be reported to the landlord as this may jeopardize his living in the Memphis apartment.
However, if he persists in making excessive noise, you have no option but to report him to the landlord. Your landlord may want this writing as a formal complaint before he will address the issue with your neighbor. You will need to do this or tolerate the noise. If the noise persists, continue to file written complaints with the landlord. If it becomes too much, you may decide to break your lease and you have documentation for the reason.
Follow this same approach if it involves the running of children in the unit above you or a neighbor who hosts a party every Friday evening. Communicate directly with them in a respectful manner. If the noise persists, remind your neighbor of the lease agreement, and then take the complaint to your landlord. Be prepared to file the complaint in writing with your landlord.
If the noise that bothers you is not a person, but rather a thing, such as your air conditioning unit, you can submit a work order request to your landlord to have maintenance repair your air conditioning unit. Let’s say maintenance repairs the unit and then it starts make noise again. Request your landlord to replace the unit with either a quieter unit or a new unit.
If the noise is not a neighbor and not something in your unit, you may or may not be able to address the situation. Let us assume the noise is traffic from the street right outside your Memphis apartment. You cannot make this stop. Your landlord cannot make traffic noise disappear. However, your landlord may be willing to give you another unit further away from the street. All you can do is request for your landlord to help you in that situation. Again, he may request information in writing in order to move you within the Memphis apartment building.
If the noise is within the Memphis apartment building, but not in your unit, your landlord may be able to eliminate the noise. Assume the noise is the elevator squealing every time it moves. You can inform your landlord about the noise the elevator makes. Your landlord will schedule the elevator for repair which is likely to fix the noise problem.
You will never be completely free of noises while living in a Memphis apartment. You may have street noise, a noisy elevator, or just the noise of children living next door. All of these potential noise problems can be addressed by you and your landlord. How you handle the situation determines your Memphis apartment living experience.