Noisy tenants

[Mike Palmer]

Hey all:

I found out that my downstairs tenants have been having noise issues from the people upstairs. They mentioned this casually once before and I talked to them and hadn't heard anything since, so I assumed it was taken care of. Apparently the kids upstairs like to run around, yell, jump off the bed, etc., and it makes a good deal of noise. To top it off, they say it happens a few times a week as late as midnight, even on school nights (these kids are about 2-7 in age)! 

Question is, what do you do to incentivize them to keep the noise down, and what do you do to penalize them if it continues? I am going to talk to them again and have them sign a noise rule to be quiet after 10. Is that sufficient? How do enforce it? Can/should I charge them a fee if it happens again? Should I not renew their lease (I think they really like the place and want to stay)?

The downstairs tenants are moving out at the end of their lease. Mostly due to a change in commute and wanting to move closer to work, but he said the noise was a factor. He thought anyone new moving in would certainly complain, but didn't think it was necessarily a deal breaker. I typically try to stay out of tenant to tenant issues, but how should I handle this? Any ideas (preferably not involving them calling the police to come talk to them)? I don't think this would be loud enough for neighbors to complain, but being in a bedroom right below I can relate to it being fairly loud and definitely hard to sleep through. 

Thoughts?

[Curtis Bidwell]

You will need to be gracious but shrewd. Definitely talk to them about the "quiet enjoyment" clause. However, you don't want to be accused of discriminating against children and violating the Fair Housing Act.  If the parents are jumping and yelling you have a straight forward case ... not so much the kids.  I generally talk in generic terms, "there are complaints about noise late at night." Just don't mention the kids directly.  I agree with @Philip Williams about offering them the downstairs unit -and offering the assistance necessary to transport their items to the new unit.