Tenant Below Built-In AC Torture - Help Please

[Nickm11]

What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? Calif Los Angles Rent Control.

Hi

I hope someone can help me with my AC torture problem

I live above an apartment with a built-in wall bedroom AC. The couple below are from Iceland and run the AC all night long most of the year.

My problem isn't the noise though the air, but the vibrations caused by the AC unit going though the wall, my floor, my bed and into my head.

It's the same kind of sound you get when you put your ear to a railroad rail to hear a train coming from miles away. My bed vibrates and the bones in my head vibrate.

Management has tried to fix the problem, but I don't think they are willing to spend the time or the money to do it right.

If I were in a war it would be considered torture under the Geneva Convention, but in Los Angeles, even though I'm in a rent controlled building, I have little or no remedy for the problem.

Any ideas?

 

[Just Blue]

Move?

 

[FlyingRon]

Ear plugs.

 

[TimStudiesLaw]

Use rubber feet of some sort to isolate your bed from the floor. And really, torture? I've literally told you people a million times - no exaggerating.

 

[Zigner]

Rubber feet under the bed...
Move the bed...

 

[Just Blue]

Use rubber feet of some sort to isolate your bed from the floor. And really, torture? I've literally told you people a million times - no exaggerating.

Not only torture but GC grade torture. Hopefully Isis doesn't read this thread...or woe to our troupes.

 

[Nickm11]

I have sound proofing padding under my bed, but the weight of the bad counters some of the padding. It helps a bit, but vibrations are vibrations.
Ear plugs only helps with sound through the air not bone contact, but thanx for thinking.

Moving costs a lot of money and I live in a rent controlled building. My same place would cost at least $500/month more. LA rents are out of sight.

I'd sure love a legal way of solving my problem. Any good lawyers with an idea?

 

[LdiJ]

I have sound proofing padding under my bed, but the weight of the bad counters some of the padding. It helps a bit, but vibrations are vibrations.
Ear plugs only helps with sound through the air not bone contact, but thanx for thinking.

Moving costs a lot of money and I live in a rent controlled building. My same place would cost at least $500/month more. LA rents are out of sight.

I'd sure love a legal way of solving my problem. Any good lawyers with an idea?

You will never get a judge to order that your neighbors must stop using their AC. You will never get a judge to order that the landlord has to replace a noisy AC.

You need to find practical ways to deal with the problem. If you already have soundproof padding under the bed then perhaps you need to try using the rubber feet as well.

 

[Nickm11]

My mattress is memory foam. I don't know how much more rubber I can use.

Can management require a tenant to limit use of a builtin appliance?

Is management responsible for the sanctity of a tenant whose sanctity is violated by another tenant?

 

[LdiJ]

My mattress is memory foam. I don't know how much more rubber I can use.

Can management require a tenant to limit use of a builtin appliance?

Is management responsible for the sanctity of a tenant whose sanctity is violated by another tenant?

The tenant is not violating your sanctity. The tenant is using the AC as the AC is supposed to be used. The fact that it is causing you distress is not the other tenants fault. That tenant does not have to live uncomfortably in order to make you comfortable.

Is your mattress sitting on the floor? If so, then perhaps you need a metal or wooden bedframe.

 

[Whoops2u]

My mattress is memory foam. I don't know how much more rubber I can use.

Can management require a tenant to limit use of a builtin appliance?

Of course. If an inspection indicates a built-in appliance is a hazard, they can tell the tenant to not use it until it is repaired. Management may be in violation of their lease if corrections are not performed in a reasonable time or manner.

Is management responsible for the sanctity of a tenant whose sanctity is violated by another tenant?

Yes and no. Management could not allow another tenant's actions rise to the level of a nuisance or a problem with habitability without a potential breach to its tenants. If your neighbor were to get a commercial smoker and decided to open a home ribs shop and your apartment was filled with smoke all day, that would be a substantial interference with the use and enjoyment of your property that you could demand management's help on.

The problem in both cases is that what you are complaining of is so subjective and a part of everyday living that most are not seeing the torture you feel. We are not promised isolation tanks where all interference with our desires is eliminated when we rent, we are promised a place to stay that is habitable. Just like every jostle is not a battery, every interference is not something management is required to remove. If you can't get any satisfaction by talking, I don't think you will get any more by threatening or actually filing legal actions on this. Part of the problem in rent control is that any effort beyond assuring habitability is an expense that is hard to cover. (I use habitability, but could use the covenant of quiet enjoyment as well.) The usual test people will use is if the noise/vibration/sound/smell would prevent the average resident from using and enjoying the property--not the most sensitive residents. Your job is to convince that everyone would be annoyed by the vibrations.

 

[Nickm11]

The tenant is not violating your sanctity. The tenant is using the AC as the AC is supposed to be used. The fact that it is causing you distress is not the other tenants fault. That tenant does not have to live uncomfortably in order to make you comfortable.

Is your mattress sitting on the floor? If so, then perhaps you need a metal or wooden bedframe.

Whose fault is it? Certainly not mine. Am I not entitled to a peaceful home?

My mattress in on a metal frame and I've put small wooden pieces between the mattress and the frame, so that most of my bed doesnt even touch the frame.

Would the fact that the AC passes vibrations to me be considered substandard housing?

 

[Nickm11]

Of course. If an inspection indicates a built-in appliance is a hazard, they can tell the tenant to not use it until it is repaired. Management may be in violation of their lease if corrections are not performed in a reasonable time or manner.

Yes and no. Management could not allow another tenant's actions rise to the level of a nuisance or a problem with habitability without a potential breach to its tenants. If your neighbor were to get a commercial smoker and decided to open a home ribs shop and your apartment was filled with smoke all day, that would be a substantial interference with the use and enjoyment of your property that you could demand management's help on.

The problem in both cases is that what you are complaining of is so subjective and a part of everyday living that most are not seeing the torture you feel. We are not promised isolation tanks where all interference with our desires is eliminated when we rent, we are promised a place to stay that is habitable. Just like every jostle is not a battery, every interference is not something management is required to remove. If you can't get any satisfaction by talking, I don't think you will get any more by threatening or actually filing legal actions on this. Part of the problem in rent control is that any effort beyond assuring habitability is an expense that is hard to cover. (I use habitability, but could use the covenant of quiet enjoyment as well.) The usual test people will use is if the noise/vibration/sound/smell would prevent the average resident from using and enjoying the property--not the most sensitive residents. Your job is to convince that everyone would be annoyed by the vibrations.

I agree that I need to convince that the vibrations are an annoyance, but remember the managers code: See nothing, Hear nothing, Smell nothing. The previous building owner's manager accepted and heard my sound problem.

 

[Whoops2u]

I agree that I need to convince that the vibrations are an annoyance, but remember the managers code: See nothing, Hear nothing, Smell nothing. The previous building owner's manager accepted and heard my sound problem.

It is good you recognize you are asking for help and not demanding it because of some imagined legal requirements on the part of management.

 

[HRZ]

Have you spoken to your neighbors from Iceland.....perhaps the high vibration level annoys them too?

Some older or poorly installed HVAC equipment just seems to vibrate a lot ....details of mounting isolation vary a lot but the use of vibration abating mounts has been around for decades ..and some isolation mounts simply wear out ...bearings wear and fan blades get imbalanced ......perhaps there are simple solutions at the source .