Downstairs Tenant Complaining

[John Sanderson]

Hi Everyone,

I've got a tenant in an apartment building who has recently started complaining that the tenant above him is being extremely loud at all hours of the night (1, 2, 3 AM). He complained the upstairs tenant is stomping around, moving furniture, and having yelling matches with his girlfriend. I called the upstairs tenant to inform him that he needs to be quiet after 11 PM, and if he does get into an argument with his girlfriend, they need to take it outside or somewhere else.

After doing this twice, I asked the downstairs tenant to record the upstairs tenant's stomping and yelling, as the next step is to give him notice to comply with the rules of the building. The downstairs tenant told me he didn't want any legal trouble, just to have the upstairs tenant be quiet. I told him I'm not going to put up with someone breaking the rules, so if I'm going to serve a notice, I need some type of evidence, rather than just "he said, she said".

Fast forward to 2 nights ago, the upstairs tenant was apparently being loud, the downstairs tenant went up and they argued for a time and I received texts from both tenants, with the door frame eventually being damaged. I called both tenants to get their sides of the story, both telling me opposite stories. The downstairs tenant then told me that he couldn't record the upstairs tenant being loud, as his phone wouldn't be able to pick it up.

My thinking here is that the downstairs tenant just doesn't like the upstairs tenant and wants him out, as any cell-phone today would be able to pick up loud stomping or a screaming match if it's keeping my downstairs tenants awake.

So, short story long, I examined the damage to the door frame and concluded it was caused by the downstairs tenant pounding on the door and am planning on sending him a bill for the damage. Are there any other suggestions as to what I should do in this situation? I think it's reasonable to require evidence if I'm planning on possibly kicking someone out for non-compliance. If I rambled a bit or you need more information, let me know and I'll provide it ASAP.

Thanks Everyone