Flat Chat Strata Forum Neighbour noise Current Page

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  • #8444

    My tenant lives next door to me with  her husband and 2 year old.  My tenant and her young family are a delight and the most thoughtful and reliable tenants I have ever had – she has lived next door for 3 years now.  Therefore, I was surprised to be confronted on our common property by a neighbour (tenant who lives directly opposite me in the neighbouring strata plan).  This neighbouring tenant aggressively ordered me to “do something about that child” squealing and screaming.  I told her I live next door and while I hear the child on occassion, it is nothing out of the ordinary.  She told me it occurs during the day when I am at work.  I did not understand as I have worked from home on many occassions and I know the child wakes at 9:00 am & the then attends day care from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (except for Mondays).  I told the neighbour I would address it and asked for specifics as I was not clear on exactly when this was happening.  She said to me “I am not answering any questions, I am not giving you details, you just say to me that you are sorry and you will fix it.”  I repeated to her that I would speak to my tenant however, my tenant is likely to have questions also.  She then told me I should evict my tenant and that she had put up with this for 1.5 years and had felt like calling DOCS as it sounded as if the child was being hurt and she also mentioned that if this took place at night and her sleep was affected, she would have called the Comancheros (she was referring to a bikie gang).  She ranted and raved for quite a while and I told her that this was the first time I had heard of this and she should not have let this build up.  I spoke with my tenant and she felt terrible about it and is going to do everything she can to minimise the noise but she is confused about when this is supposed to be at an unacceptable level.  At the time of the aggressive confrontation, I was shocked and just kept my cool but now I feel angry & a anxious about this, especially as my tenant told me about the noise & smoke coming from the complaining tenant/neighbour being smoke from her deck (deck not approved by Council) wafting into our properties, electric amphlified guitar playing, washing machine that is located in a shed approximately 2 metres from the boundary fence and a total of 6 metres from our front doors, teenage son and his mates gathering on this illegal deck to hang out – the deck is approx 10 metres from our front doors and is elevated – all petty things we overlooked – until now – doesn’t seem right/fair that she is outraged by a child’s noise yet creates plenty of her own noise – I’m curious about others’ opinions and suggestions on what to say to her if/when she confronts me again.

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  • #16726

    I would tell this individual of the neighboring strata plan that the issue has been sorted out to YOUR satisfaction and leave it at that. Based on the limited useful info she gave you when making the complaint, she deserves no more. You are certainly under no further obligation, as you are there as a witness to the supposed ‘noise’ of the two year old as well.

    #16796

    Dear Mttb … thank you very much for your reply … I just wanted to check from a third party’s perspective … makes sense & I will follow it … cheers.

    #16879

    Me again about this issue that is annoying me.

    I’ve tried to let go of this however, the complainant (neigbour opposite in another strata plan) has neighbours of her own, in her own strata plan & they are now telling me that she is a bit mad & has made numerous complaints against them & is bascially a trouble maker & an extreme bossy boots.

    If/when she approaches me again, I want to say the following, what do you think?

     

    “I have sorted the situation to my satisfaction” – thanks mattb

    & if she comes back at me (which is likely)

    I’d like to say “Get your owner to contact me”

    & then, practice the broken record technique as I don’t want to get into anything with this woman due to the unneccessary over the top aggression etc & I reckon that if she does get her owner involved, she will be forced to produce details & also, it protects me from her madness & also provides an avenue to produce new information regarding her own noise etc.

     

    Good idea or not/

    #16882
    Jimmy-T
    Keymaster

      Kerry Packer used to say “Never apologise, never explain”  … or was it Sir Frank?

      Anyway, I’m going to give you a magic phrase to use but you have to promise to use it wisely because it has almost magical powers.  You say these words and only these words.  You never explain or qualify them.

      You siimply say: “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

      Trust me – it stops people in their tracks.  They may ask why or how or who says and all you do is shrug, as if this is an immutable law of the universe.  Sigh, smile sympathetically, then walk away.  If necessary, repeat them.  But say nothing else.  “It’s not possible …”

      It will get you out of most situations. And, by the way, I’m deadly serious. I use it judiciously but it never lets me down.

      By the way, it works particularly well with nutters as it seems to cut through their scrambled logic the way nothing else does.

      The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
      #16883

      JimmyT

      I love it!  That’s what I’ve been after.  I usually use the power phrase/question “That’s interesting, tell me more” but I used that with her but she surprisinglly replied with “I’m not answering any questions, I’m not giving you details, you just say you are sorry & fix it!”  I wish I had’ve said “So, does refusing to communicate, being bossy & making demands usually work for you?”

      Anyway, I’m going to follow your instructions to the letter.

      For the meantime, my tenant has made a concerted effort to keep the toddler as quiet as possible, hubby & I have tried to be at home during the day more (not always possible but luckily we’ve been able to swing it a bit lately) – just in case there is any substance to her complaint & we now know what we are dealing with.

      Thank you, thank you, thank you!  The quote from Packer or Sir Frank gives me comfort as well – I so have to get out of the need to justify mentality – what’s he point with crazies?  There’s no way they will ‘get it’ no matter what you say/do.

      Your assistance has made the subscription price to this site worth it – oops, wait a minute, it’s free – bargain!

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