Whether renting an apartment, staying in a hotel, or just living in a house with other people, we have all at one time or another experienced the “Noisy Neighbors’. So, what are your rights when your peace and sanctity are being infringed upon? Can you leave your apartment complex?
You can break your lease only if your landlord has failed to provide you with ‘Quiet Enjoyment’ in your apartment.
What does this mean? Whose definition of ‘Quiet Enjoyment’ do you have to use? And what actions can you take to pressure your landlord in taking action?
We are going to go through what the landlord has promised you when you signed your lease and what to do about it if you have some neighbors that just can’t keep it under control.
Moving Soon? Get quality cardboard moving boxes for less! – Click Here – Fast and Free Shipping!What Does Quiet Enjoyment Mean In A Lease?
Legal Dictionary defines Quiet Enjoyment as “A Covenant that promises that the grantee or tenant of an estate in real property will be able to prosses the premises in peace, without disturbance by hostile claimants.”
To put this in simpler terms, this essentially means that if you are renting an apartment, you have the right to enjoy your space without interference from other people around you.
This includes the right to not let other people in your apartment you don’t want in there, the Right to Peace and Quiet, the right to a clean, livable apartment, and the right to access basic services such as heat and hot water.
What Constitutes A Breach Of Quiet Enjoyment?
As a tenant, you should be able to live in and enjoy your apartment without undue noise and distraction from other tenants that live in your building.
Where the line is for this is going to end up being a subjective determination by a combination of you, the landlord, and other tenants if it comes to that.
If you have one neighbor that is constantly loud, playing music, partying, and not obeying the rules of “Quiet Time” as laid out in the lease, that would qualify as breaching the quiet enjoyment that you deserve and are paying for.
The best thing to do is to make sure and contact your landlord about the problem when it happens so they can address it. Your landlord should also document the noise violations because if they become chronic, they will have grounds to evict them from the property as well.
Additionally, talk to other neighbors around you. Are they experiencing the same issues with the neighbors as you are? Is their quiet enjoyment being violated as well? If so, this can help solve the problem. If you have more than one tenant complains about the same problem, that is going to help your landlord address and solve the problem quicker.
What Time Do My Neighbors Have To Be Quiet?
Your lease should outline what times during the day and night are designated as “Quiet Times”. These are usually common-sense hours, typically between 10 PM at night and 7 AM in the morning when the majority of people are trying to sleep.
If you are experiencing disruption during these hours on a regular basis, then you have the right to complain to your landlord about it. They have the obligation to address the problem.
Is The Landlord Responsible For Noisy Neighbors?
Your landlord isn’t “Responsible” for your neighbors. What they ARE responsible for is providing you with a Habitable Apartment. In the lease agreement, it is usually IMPLIED, that “Quiet Enjoyment” is a part of the things that they are going to provide to you in exchange for you paying the rent.
So, while there might not be explicit words in the lease that go over “Quiet Enjoyment”, that is because it is an implied condition of the contract that you signed. Kind of like it is implied that you are not robbed or physically assaulted in your apartment as well. While these words may not be written out in the lease, it is one of those things that is just a given.
Your landlord is responsible for providing you with these conditions. If there are tenants that are causing you to not have that part of the implied contract, then it is the landlord’s responsibility to address the problem. While they can never control or be responsible for someone else’s actions, they DO have the responsibility, and the authority, to address and rectify the problem as quickly as possible.
If they refuse to handle the problem effectively or drag their feet in handling the noisy tenants, you can absolutely request that you be given a discount on your rent, or not pay the full amount until the problem is rectified. This is because you aren’t paying for the disturbance and lowered quality of life, but they are responsible for at least providing you with the opportunity to have it.
Also, if it comes down to those noisy, disruptive neighbors being evicted, it could take several weeks before it is all said and done. I have had tenants that have fallen into this category. They also knew how to work the system and drug out the process for as long as they possibly could, until the very moment the Sheriff came over to change the locks on the door.
This process took almost a full month, during which time, the two units that were around this noisy tenant were not only miserable, they were scared for their own safety. I knew that these two tenants didn’t deserve the hell they were going through, and yet I was working as fast as I could through the legal system to get the bad tenants out.
So, what I ended up doing was giving both tenants 50% off their rent for the month that they had to struggle through the eviction process with the bad neighbors. This made them happy, knowing I was doing everything I could to get them out, as well as keep the two good tenants as cherished renters.
Showing you are working on the problem went a long way in retaining two tenants who were ready to move out then and there because of the problem neighbors.
Can I Withhold Rent Because Of My Noisy Neighbors?
While I can’t speak for the specifics of any case, the rule of thumb is that most courts are going to view you withholding rent as a violation of your lease agreement UNLESS the situation is posing a legitimate threat to your health and safety.
If you decide not to pay your rent to your landlord because you are upset about your neighbors, this is going to be in violation of the lease agreement.
Now, if you are to the point where withholding rent seems like a legitimate option, you should probably just ask your landlord to let you out of the lease so you can move on. If that still doesn’t work, then you should contact an attorney or some legal resource to see what you should do.
But keep in mind that landlords are all about keeping things stable and quiet in their complex because that is how they are keeping their business running. More than likely, if you are to this point, they are either working hard to get your noisy neighbors evicted (which takes some time), or they are going to be willing to just let you out of your lease.
It isn’t going to be worth it to them to fight both a noisy tenant AND a disgruntled tenant in court. So, keep that in mind when you approach them with your complaints or request to leave.
In the end, I would suggest to keep paying your monthly rent. If you don’t, this is only going to make you look like the bad guy in court, and the focus is going to revolve around you not paying your rent, rather than the actual situation with your peace and quiet being constantly disturbed. You can always ask the court to hear your case for rent you don’t think you should have been paying.
What To Do If My Neighbors Are Still Noisy?
What actions SHOULD you take if the problem just can’t seem to be resolved?
- Document The Violations and the contact you have with your landlord
- Read Your Lease
- Give Your Landlord Notice In Writing
- Call An Attorney
In the end, you CAN break your lease if your “Quiet Enjoyment” of the apartment is chronically being disturbed AND your landlord is not handling the situation in an appropriate manner. However, most times, with a little bit of communication with the landlord and your other neighbors, you can usually get the situation rectified before it gets to that point.
