Knowing how to solve common issues is crucial when you own rental properties. Whether you’re handling late payments, maintenance issues, or experiencing high turnover rates, you’ll want to have an action plan. Today, we discuss how to handle noise complaints in apartments. As one of the most frequent issues in rental housing, it’s essential to know how to navigate your tenant’s noise complaints. Read along to learn more.
Contents of This Article:
- Examples of Common Noise Complaints
- What Can Tenants Do to Handle Noise Complaints?
- How Landlords Can Handle Noise Complaints in Apartments
- What NOT to Do While Dealing With Noise Complaints
- Lessen Complaints With Property Management
Examples of Common Noise Complaints
If you’re a landlord or a property management company in Philadelphia, you know that noise complaints are frequent, especially in apartment buildings. After all, sounds travel quite easily when you have several units next to one another. So, when someone’s playing loud music or a neighbor’s dog keeps barking, you might have a few complaints from surrounding tenants.
However, tenants and rental owners must understand the differences between reasonable noise complaints and normal apartment building noise. While all tenants have the right to quiet enjoyment, it’s nearly impossible to live in complete silence all the time. That said, here’s a list of some common noise complaints in apartment buildings. 
- Loud music or television
- Pet noises, like barking dogs
- Yelling, shouting, or loud singing
- Children crying or playing loudly
- Loud parties late at night
- Outdoor gatherings near apartment windows
- Jumping, running, or stomping from above
Some noises in apartments are unavoidable. For instance, walking, talking, and closing doors are all normal, everyday activities that everyone does. However, if you have tenants complaining about excessive noise, you’ll want to try and put a stop to it. Next, we’ll discuss how tenants and landlords can handle noise complaints in apartments.
What Can Tenants Do to Handle Noise Complaints?
If there’s excessive noise in a rental and a tenant feels that they don’t have the right to quiet enjoyment, it’s usually up to them to take the first action step. Here’s what tenants can do to handle noise complaints in apartment buildings.
- Document the Noise- It’s important to document the excessive noise when you experience it. Note when the noise happens, what it sounds like, and how often it occurs.
- Talk to Your Neighbor- Your landlord may ask that you talk to your neighbor about the noise issue. Sometimes, your neighbor may not realize that they’re causing excessive noise, and they stop immediately.
- Bring It up to Your Landlord- If the noise issues don’t get resolved or you don’t feel comfortable talking to your neighbor, bring it up to your landlord. Request that they address the problem (in writing) and remind them of any noise clauses in the lease to help your case.
- Move Out- If you’re continuously dealing with excessive noise and your landlord won’t help you fix it, it can be incredibly frustrating. Worst-case scenario, you break your lease, move out, and consult a legal expert about your efforts to address the noise issue.
How Landlords Can Handle Noise Complaints in Apartments
As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to handle your tenant’s noise complaints. All tenants have a right to quiet enjoyment, and landlords may face financial repercussions for neglecting to address excessive noise in rentals. That said, here’s what to do if you get a noise complaint from one tenant about another.
- Identify the Noise- First and foremost, after evaluating your tenant’s complaint, identify the noise and where it’s coming from. Sometimes, tenants may be overly sensitive to noise, even if it’s everyday noise from neighbors.
- Inform the Tenant- If a tenant comes to you with a noise complaint, you’ll want to inform the tenant who’s causing the noise. Remember, it’s crucial to have written documentation of recurring noise issues and proof of notifying the tenant of noise complaints.
- Incorporate a Lease Clause- There aren’t necessarily laws surrounding noise violations. However, landlords can enforce regulations by clearly stating them in the lease agreement. So, consider outlining “quiet hours” or limiting the number of overnight guests allowed in a unit to help reduce unnecessary noise in apartments.
- Take Action- Even if you don’t think the noise violates the right to quiet enjoyment, you still have to take action. Inform your tenant of what you’ll do to handle the noise complaint and follow up with them to see if it’s been resolved.
What NOT to Do While Dealing With Noise Complaints
Ultimately, landlords need to act quickly to handle noise complaints in apartments. You don’t want to ignore tenant complaints or falsely assure them you’ll take care of a complaint.
For instance, if a tenant comes to you complaining about their upstairs neighbor constantly having people over for parties, and you don’t do anything to resolve the issues, your downstairs neighbor may end up moving out. This is an issue for several reasons–you lose some of your monthly income, and you may end up with bad reviews from that tenant.
Everyone deserves to live in peace. As such, even if you receive an invalid noise complaint, you’ll still want to investigate the issue. Talk with your tenant, inform them of the noise complaint, hear their side, and determine what you can do about it.
If you find that the tenant didn’t actually violate any noise policies, inform the complaining party that you’ve investigated the issue and found that the tenant didn’t violate the noise policy. Then, see what you can do to make them more comfortable and encourage them to bring any complaints to your attention.
Lessen Complaints With Property Management
Tenant complaints can happen for a number of reasons, and knowing how to handle noise complaints in apartments is crucial for property owners. After all, your reputation as a landlord is on the line, along with your rental income. So if you’re experiencing high tenant turnover due to noise complaints, it’s time to take immediate action.
However, if you live far from your rentals or you don’t have time to manage all the inquiries, complaints, or requests you have coming in, you’ll want to outsource some management tasks. At the end of the day, you don’t want any complaints to go ignored or unnoticed.
Need More Advice? contact us today!
Luckily, Bay Property Management Group can help with any rental issue you might have. We offer comprehensive rental management services, including rental marketing, tenant screening, maintenance, rent collection, and more. So, contact BMG today to learn more about how we can help your rental business improve, expand, and succeed.