What to do about loud tenants

Question

I just had a new tenant move into my 3rd floor and recently got a text from the 1st floor tenant complaing about them constantly being loud and slamming the door into the house (the first floor bedroom is right next to the entry door to the house) at all hours into the night. As a landlord I dont really feel like this is my responsibility to address. As a tenant, whenever another person in a different unit was being loud, I would simply ask them to stop and that usually worked. Shouldn't my tenants do the same, and then if it persists with out change is when I could step in and remind the 3rd floor of the lease terms about being quiet?

Cody Benedetto · Answer

Might be worth seeing if you can add some weather stripping and foam stripping to the door frame to help reduce some noise and also make the unit for air tight. This would give you a good reason to have a chat with the tenant to be mindful given the location.

Marc Winter · Answer

You can also install a 'self-closer' that makes it impossible to slam the door.

For noise--it should be in your lease or agreement that you follow local codes about noise--keep it quiet between 10 pm and 7 am.  When we get a noise complaint, we send an email/text to all tenants reminding them of the noise restrictions.

We also tell the complainer to keep a log of the date and time of the loud noises in case you need it later.  If the noise keeps up, we send a violation of lease, and it that doesn't do the job, we post NTQ.

All of the above is conditioned on the complainer being truthful and the loud noises are really loud.  You never know if someone is being overly sensitive to noises.  And ask the tenant on the 2nd floor what they think.

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

Padding the door with weatherstripping or foam cushioning at the door frame has worked well for me.

Christen G. · Answer

One of the biggest shocks early in my landlording endeavors is just how much my tenants contacted me - about things they clearly could/should handle on their own. In all my years of renting, I barely knew the owner or PM's name - let alone called them about a neighbor making noise. How silly. I'm not sure if it's generational and these folks are too timid to have a conversation with a neighbor, (in Seattle they'd just leave a really passive aggressive note!) or if it's just easier to fire off a text/email to a landlord - but I wouldn't involve yourself in this. I actually do not allow my tenants to text me - it's in the lease/welcome paperwork. So if they do, I don't respond. It's amazing. It's far too easy to fire off an "I'm annoyed" text but for whatever reason picking up the phone (M-F 9am-5pm) isn't something they'll do either - so my line stays quiet. None of that is helpful, I'm sorry. My 2 cents? If the downstairs tenant keeps contacting you about this, encourage them to engage with their neighbor in a friendly way and ask that they be more mindful.

Brian Hughes · Answer

Sounds like you may be renting a house by the room?   Or the home wasn't originally built as a multifamily?   Screening is absolutely necessary to reduce risks, but "door slammer" isn't something tracked by experian or transunion, nor is something the prior landlord may know anything about depending on the configuration of their last accomodation.

Designing or updating the accomodation to reduce these sorts of conflicts is your best bet.   There are some people out there that while overall responsible people can't be bothered to consider other people all the time.   I've had a few roommates in college that were that way,   including one who was among other things...  A door slammer.   And I've had similar situations involving graffiti (modifying the fence that was being tagged by removing every other slat stopped it cold) and so on.

In addition to prior suggestions about improving weatherstripping and (especially) the door closer you might consider if the door to the downstairs bedroom is a single panel or hollow core type - if so consider replacing it (maybe all bedroom doors) with a heavier solid core or foam core door which will block sound a lot better.   If you have hard surface flooring, consider installing floor surfaces in high traffic areas which are cork backed or (cheapest, but not longest lived) wall to wall carpet or something which will deaden noise from people tromping through the halls (just expect carpet may only last a few years and plan for frequent cleaning of it)    More invasive but you could also look at having insulation added to the interior bedroom walls to block noise as well.   It can be blown in through small drill holes between the studs,    so minimal patchup work after which the contractor would do probably everything of except the paint touchup.

Theresa Harris · Answer

Ideally they would talk to each other.  Let the tenant know that the front door is next to the bedroom and if they are coming in late, to please be quiet.

Dennis Wayne · Answer

I have found tenant selecting goes along way on multis . Especially where the units are stacked on top of each other . You have to have harmony in the building  or it’s gonna be a nightmare with high turnovers . You’ll get more calls about drama and other tenants than you will leaks and loose boards !

What to do about loud tenants

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