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noisy neighbor

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cogitoergodoleo

Junior Member
I'm at my wit's end. My husband and I bought a house in a small town about two and a half years ago. About 4 months after we moved in, our next door neighbor started waking us almost every night by turning up his stereo so loud it made us think we had moved next to a night club. We tried to talk to him, and he promised to keep it down - only to turn it up again 20 minutes later. So we started calling the police. We live at the edge of the county, so it usually takes them about 30-40 minutes to get here. The first year they caught him several times when it was really loud, but kept telling us that they had to warn him first before they could do anything else. Then he got a scanner (we didn't know at the time) and they couldn't catch him any more. They started implying that we were making this up. (There are other neighbors, and they do hear the noise, but we are by far the closest to him (only about 10 feet between our houses) and some of them are his drinking buddies, so they won't help or call the police even though they claim the noise annoys them, too.
But it gets worse: I live in a township that does not have a noise ordinance. One would think that playing loud music in the middle of the night would be considered disturbance of the peace but our county sheriff doesn't seem to think so. We tried to sell our house last year, but we weren't able to because we can't go really low with the price (because we can't afford to lose more than a couple thousand dollars on it). We also contacted a lawyer who said he needed 2500$ to file a lawsuit and who was honest enough to tell us that it was really hard to prove a nuisance and that there was a good chance our money would be wasted.
Meanwhile I've been going to work with little or no sleep for over 2 years. I cannot afford to rent an apartment on the side just to sleep, and I can't think of anything else to do. The only time I feel safe from disturbance in my own home is when my neighbor is in jail for one of his numerous dui offenses ... (about 2 months out of the last year). Is there ANYTHING I can do? Please help!
 


S

seniorjudge

Guest
cogitoergodoleo said:
I'm at my wit's end. My husband and I bought a house in a small town about two and a half years ago. About 4 months after we moved in, our next door neighbor started waking us almost every night by turning up his stereo so loud it made us think we had moved next to a night club. We tried to talk to him, and he promised to keep it down - only to turn it up again 20 minutes later. So we started calling the police. We live at the edge of the county, so it usually takes them about 30-40 minutes to get here. The first year they caught him several times when it was really loud, but kept telling us that they had to warn him first before they could do anything else. Then he got a scanner (we didn't know at the time) and they couldn't catch him any more. They started implying that we were making this up. (There are other neighbors, and they do hear the noise, but we are by far the closest to him (only about 10 feet between our houses) and some of them are his drinking buddies, so they won't help or call the police even though they claim the noise annoys them, too.
But it gets worse: I live in a township that does not have a noise ordinance. One would think that playing loud music in the middle of the night would be considered disturbance of the peace but our county sheriff doesn't seem to think so. We tried to sell our house last year, but we weren't able to because we can't go really low with the price (because we can't afford to lose more than a couple thousand dollars on it). We also contacted a lawyer who said he needed 2500$ to file a lawsuit and who was honest enough to tell us that it was really hard to prove a nuisance and that there was a good chance our money would be wasted.
Meanwhile I've been going to work with little or no sleep for over 2 years. I cannot afford to rent an apartment on the side just to sleep, and I can't think of anything else to do. The only time I feel safe from disturbance in my own home is when my neighbor is in jail for one of his numerous dui offenses ... (about 2 months out of the last year). Is there ANYTHING I can do? Please help!
Click to expand...

Things you can do:

Get earplugs.

Make recordings of the noise for the cops. Use a video cam that has a date stamp on it.

Keep calling the cops.
 
C

cogitoergodoleo

Junior Member
I already have earplugs, but the music is so loud it still wakes me up. We've called the cops more than a hundred times over the last two years, but they don't care at all. We're not going to stop, though. Last night they finally said they would cite him, but I don't think they will. They've lied to us before.
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
cogitoergodoleo said:
I already have earplugs, but the music is so loud it still wakes me up. We've called the cops more than a hundred times over the last two years, but they don't care at all. We're not going to stop, though. Last night they finally said they would cite him, but I don't think they will. They've lied to us before.
Click to expand...
Noisy neighbors are a real pain...that's why I moved way out in the hills far away from anyone.

Make those recordings.
 
Y

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
You don't need a lawyer, you just need to be creative. Your neighbor has to sleep sometime, himself, right? Figure out when, then figure out the easiet method to ensure that he doesn't actually get any sleep. A dual 18" subwoofer and 500watt amp in your window is a possibility, or if you prefer, perhaps letting a few horny cats do their thing under his windows would work better. The possibilities are unlimited, just be creative!
 
C

chrisdizz22

Member
You Are Guilty said:
You don't need a lawyer, you just need to be creative. Your neighbor has to sleep sometime, himself, right? Figure out when, then figure out the easiet method to ensure that he doesn't actually get any sleep. A dual 18" subwoofer and 500watt amp in your window is a possibility, or if you prefer, perhaps letting a few horny cats do their thing under his windows would work better. The possibilities are unlimited, just be creative!
Click to expand...
exactly what i was thinking--play the most annoying music you can find as loud as you can--give him a taste of his own medicine
 
E

ENASNI

Senior Member
yeah

Charge admission... make some cashola... get some adult beverages out there. put some patio tables and umbrellas...

Make it a night club atmosphere with some lights..

Come up with a creative name... Outside Mr Nice Guys...
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
chrisdizz22 said:
exactly what i was thinking--play the most annoying music you can find as loud as you can--give him a taste of his own medicine
Click to expand...
Or record what bad neighbor was doing, then play it back during the day (or whenever it is bad neighbor is sleeping).
 
W

Warped

Member
Do what I threatened a noisy neighbor with. Get a CD of Hank Williams Sr's greatest hits. Point your speakers at his house while he's asleep. Put the CD into your CD player and choose the track "There's a tear in my beer". Hit the repeat key (hopefully your CD player has that nice feature), set the volume knob to full volume and then leave for the day. :D
 
H

HomeGuru

Senior Member
Warped said:
Do what I threatened a noisy neighbor with. Get a CD of Hank Williams Sr's greatest hits. Point your speakers at his house while he's asleep. Put the CD into your CD player and choose the track "There's a tear in my beer". Hit the repeat key (hopefully your CD player has that nice feature), set the volume knob to full volume and then leave for the day. :D
Click to expand...

**A: William Shatner's CD's are better.
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
veronicalouise said:
Hank might grow on him, I like the Judge's idea.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Hank Williams, Jr. sounds like blood kin to bad neighbor. Bad neighbor may start calling with requests.
 
C

CuckoosNest

Member
I have to agree with some of the posts above... fight fire with fire. If there's no noise ordinance and your other neighbors don't care, then start blasting something really unpleasant while your a-hole neighbor is trying to sleep. Suggestion for that unpleasantness would be:

1. Play the exact opposite of whatever music he plays. If he's a rocker, play some really bad rap. If he's a rapper, play opera.

2. Find a recording of Arabic chants and blast that. Not only will it annoy the socks off of him, but, if he's the redneck I think he is, he'll assume you're a terrorist.

3. Search the net for some sound effects. Fingernails on a chalkboard, fire alarms, babies crying. No one said it has to be music being blasted. However, burn a disc with various really bad music and intersperse the sound effects in the middle of said songs. Create something with absolutely no logic, rhythm or pattern. Jump from Brittney Spears to the sound of a jackhammer to Tiny Tim to a recording of jungle birds. The guy will have a nervous tic in a matter of days.

4. If you're concerned about the police showing up on his behalf while you're out, put your stereo system on a timer so it shuts off automatically after an hour or so. Vary the start time of the cacaphony so it begins at different points in his sleep cycle.

If things have gotten as bad as you say, then don't get mad... get even.
 
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V

veronicalouise

Member
Wonderful idea. I was an In-School Suspension teacher at a high school for three years. I taught convicts, literally. They threatened me, annoyed me, etc., so I started playing Barbara Streisand, Harry Connick Jr., Barry Manilow, etc.. They were begging me to turn it off, they would behave, they even offered me money to stop playing it.
I thought playing his own nonsense back to him might annoy him as the Judge said. But if he is a fruitcake, he might think he's cute and funny and like it. Cuckoos probably right, pick the opposite of what he likes. Good luck.
 
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