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Drumming noise from apartment above

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cityred

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey

I live in a condo in an apartment building. The apartment above us has a full size drum kit. They practice almost every day normally stopping at 8 PM but sometimes going on til 10 PM. Occasionally the drumming is accompanied by a piano and bass. The noise that can he heard from inside our apartment from this is quite considerable and vibrations from the bass drum so bad that a sprinkler housing fell off in the room below the drums once. I complained and the person playing the drums said I was the only person to complain in the 9 years they have been at the apartment but they said they would sound proof the room. There was a building meeting on another topic a few months back and I saw that the drum kit was placed on a mat but no other sound proofing was visible. The apartment above has hard wood floors. I am not sure if the person rents or owns the apartment. Recently I had a meeting from home at 8 PM and the drumming was very loud so I asked the person to stop they said that they had the legal right to play until 10 PM and that there was nothing I could do and that I should consider myself fortunate that they normally stop at 8 PM. I would like to know if this is really the case , my wife and I have taken the decision to move as the drum noise has negatively impacted our lives and we feel we cannot relax at home when our neighbor plays the drums. If there is something that we can do and if there is an attorney that could help us please let me know.
 


festival

Member
It is a good idea to do all you can before taking legal action.

Make a written complaint to your board of directors. Try to get a board member to come to your unit to hear the noise. Ask the board to enforce the condo documents to stop the noise.

Ask the board about dispute resolution (if any) as outlined in your condo documents.

Call the police about the noise and see what they will and will not do to enforce local noise laws, and at what times of the day.

You need to sit down and thoroughly read your condo documents. Most condo documents (and state laws in some cases) have provisions against noise and nuisance and peaceful enjoyment of your unit. Also dispute resolution, powers of the board to make rules, settle disputes and enforce the documents. You really need to be familiar with your own documents, and generally speaking the remedies are there.

You should also negotiate with the neighbors, along the lines that if they don't cut it out, you will have no choice but to seek legal action against them to stop all drum playing at any time. If they don't play nice they could lose everything.

Find out from the board and/or online records of your local tax assessor (or go the county courthouse) who owns the condo unit. You have to deal with the owner for a lot of this, and the owner may have a lease that prohibits noise.
 

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