Once an isdue is resolved, another one ruses…it seems a landlord’s job is never done. Haha.
Good morning and here’s my situation. I own a multifamily and my tenants on the bottom floor are complaining about footsteps in the apartment above them. They say that their children are constantly running around and hearing the constant little feet is irritating.
Is there anything I can do? I mentioned it to the people above, but they said they’re not running around like the person below is describing. I can’t tell the tenants above to keep their kids in a stroller indoors. I considered sound proofing the ceiling of the unit below but I’m reading articles saying that it can be very pricey and it won’t make a major difference. I’m even considering buying thick rugs to give the tenants above but even that sucks to have to tell tenants what they need in their home.
I really love the community on this site. The support given is amazing. All advice and tips are appecriated, thank you
Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes
1y
Your lease probably specifies the residents must comply with "quiet enjoyment" of the property. What does this mean? It's open for interpretation, but if it went in front of a judge, they would look at the reasonableness of the situation. Are they doing jumping jacks with music blaring? Unreasonable. Are the kids walking around the living room? That's just life.
We had a situation where one tenant had been living at our property for years with several other tenants below them over that time period. There was never a complaint. A new person moves in and she says the upstairs neighbors are creating a ton of noise. Immediately after one complaint our staff runs over there and they did not hear anything but normal family sounds. Sadly, both of them escalated this conflict and started creating domestic disturbances so we had to move both of them out.
Assuming the upstairs family is being reasonable, I suspect no matter what you do, the people downstairs will never be happy. You can offer to buy the upstairs residents an area rug, but I wouldn't force it on them.
Real Estate Broker · Hyde Park Tampa, FL · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
1y
Please extend an invitation to your tenants to visit me in my home (1925 block/stucco construction - a dang bunker for all practical purposes)...footsteps bother them? Really? Urban living is a jungle and if I only heard footsteps, I would suspect the world had come to an end.
I would recommend that they invest in an inexpensive 'white noise' machine to help muffle the sound but that no property is completely sound proof and the upstairs tenants are well-aware of their concerns and are respectful.
Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
1y
@Ryan Brown I've been a LL for a long time. In my experience apt. conversions from single family are more prone to noise transmission. Building built as multifamily tend to have more sound damping, particularily the newer the construction. You could put wall to wall carpet on the second floor with a thick pad, or you could put a suspended ceiling on the first floor and put in rock wool above the suspended ceiling. Just lay the rock wool on top of the suspended ceiling. For walls in common areas like halls and stairs, there are rigid products that can absorb some sound.