{"id":9726,"date":"2018-11-27T10:30:58","date_gmt":"2018-11-27T15:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/content-manager\/?p=9726"},"modified":"2018-11-27T10:31:59","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T15:31:59","slug":"i-signed-a-lease-and-i-hate-my-neighbor-what-can-i-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/i-signed-a-lease-and-i-hate-my-neighbor-what-can-i-do\/","title":{"rendered":"I signed a lease and I hate my neighbor \u2013 What can I do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Signing a new lease<\/a> and finally getting all moved into your New York City apartment<\/a> is a great feeling. However, nothing can ruin this feeling quite like loud music, bad smells, loud crashes, or yelling coming from your neighbors. One of the most common hard experiences is that sinking sensation of, “I hate my neighbor.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some neighbors you meet you\u2019ll get along with just fine, but if you ask around, nearly everyone has had at least one \u201cbad neighbor<\/a>\u201d experience, so they are pretty common. Maybe they played music at all hours of the night, maybe they are dirty or maybe they simply just annoy you to no end. Whatever the reason, almost everyone will deal with a bad neighbor at some point.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it can get so bad that it might actually start to make you want to leave the apartment. However, you signed a lease, so what are you to do? Well, this blog post is going to take you through the things you can do if you have signed a lease but hate your neighbor. We will look at things in the order you should do them if you experience this type of situation, so read on and see what you can do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Document Everything<\/h2>\n

The first thing to do is be sure to keep a record of all the things the neighbor is doing that breaks the lease agreement, as long as this isn\u2019t against the rules that your landlord<\/a> has set out. Your lease agreement likely has some rules about either quiet time or the right for tenants to peacefully enjoy the premises. You need to keep notes about how often (and when) they are breaking rules and try to prove it as best you can. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, before going any further, if you just hate your neighbor for a random reason that isn\u2019t breaking any rules or isn\u2019t criminal, there isn\u2019t much you can do. In this case, you should either try and ignore and avoid them or maybe bring up your concerns with them. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to documenting your experiences, you could also potentially reach out to other tenants in your building to see if they have had similar experiences. There is a good chance that if you are experiencing issues, there is a good chance they have as well. If they will be willing to corroborate your story, it could help your case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Directly Contact Neighbor<\/h2>\n

From here, you can do one of two things, either reach out to the neighbor directly or take your findings to the landlord. Generally, it is a good idea to go to the neighbor first to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they didn\u2019t know they were being loud.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, being loud isn\u2019t the only way a neighbor could annoy you. They might have a bad smell coming from their apartment, they might track mud or dirt in front of your unit, might constantly bug or annoy you, take your parking spot or do any number of things. You should try and approach the situation lightly and let the neighbor know what they\u2019re doing is affecting your happiness and might even be breaking the lease agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Escalate if Necessary<\/h3>\n

However, if they disregard you or plead ignorance and then continue the behavior, it\u2019s time to go to the landlord. You should give the landlord all of your evidence and they will do their research and reach out the neighbor themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more:<\/p>\n