noisy aggressive neighbours

ray266

Hi this is my first time doing anything like this but I am at my wits end.

I live in a 1 bed apartment which is in a house with two shop units downstairs and two one bed apartments up above the shop units.

I have lived here over 5 years and for the last year my life has become more unbearable thanks to the people in the other apartment.

About 15 months ago a <mod snip> couple,aged about 40 moved in, and they are making my life hell.

They constantly scream and shout at each other almost every day and every door in the apartment gets banged and slammed repeatedly while this is going on and for hours after. I have been repeatedly woken up during the night by them slamming doors when one of them uses the bathroom, I think it is to annoy and wake the other person but they are constantly waking me up, I have been sleeping with ear plugs in for weeks now.

I spoke to the landlord in November and told him about the noise and how bad it was and he said he would 'keep an eye on it'.

The girl who works in the shop downstairs complained to him in December and he said the same thing, the front door which leads up to the apartments is in between the two shop units so when they slam the front door the whole house hears it and the girls in the shops keep having to apologise to their customers. The walls are so thin that the people downstairs can hear everything as well.

The landlord seems to not want to know as he does not live there. He knows there is a problem with this couple but does not seem to want to do anything about it.

I know someone is going to suggest that I speak to these people but I have to say that would not be an option as they are two of the most aggressive people I have ever met.

Last week I was coming up the staircase that we share and the husband came charging towards me and as he passed me on the narrow stairs he almost knocked me off my feet, when I said to him 'will you watch were you are going' he came right up in my face and told me to 'shut it'.

The last few weeks I have been staying with a friend about once a week as I suffer with social anxiety and have had increased panic attacks because of this.

I receive a rent allowance payment and I know if I had to leave here I would never find somewhere else and as I have no close family my only option would be to go homeless and this is adding to my stress.

I am afraid if it comes to it the landlord will be happy if I leave as he can get new tenants without rent allowance and can increase the rent, which I have to say he hasn't done since I lost my job 3 years ago.

Any help or advice that anybody could give me on how to deal with this situation I would appreciate it. Thank you all in advance, I would appreciate any help as I am at my wits end at the minute.

Alter_Ego

Maybe complain to the landlord in writing and get the shop to do that too if you can. Also, complain to your local garda station, mentioning the incident on the stairs. No one has the right to intimidate you and as a tenant you should be able to enjoy your tenancy in peace.

Samuel T. Cogley

Do you ever hear anything that could suggest someone is in danger, if so call the guards. You should also look into making a complaint to the RTB either directly or about your neighbours.

hinault

I'd have another word with the landlord and allude to the fact that if this isn't resolved you'll have no option but to bring the matter to the attention of PRTB.

The landlord has a duty of care with regard to the behaviour of his tenants and any guests of those tenants.

Granted it is a delicate situation. You don't want to antagonise the landlord but at the same time, he's earning rent from your tenancy therefore he has a duty of care toward you.

Fian

I would be careful about rocking the boat if you have not had a rent increase in 3 years (in Dublin?)

You have been living there for 5 years so you are in the second Part IV tenancy and cannot be evicted for the next three years, except for limited permitted reasons. However your rent can be increased - limited to a 6% increase on the basis of 3 years from last increase, if you are in a Rent Pressure Zone. If outside a Rent Pressure Zone you could be looking at a much larger increase.

Forgetting about what your legal rights are, the prudent thing to do might well be to keep your head down and hope the landlord doesn't get around to increasing your rent for as long as possible - don't draw too much attention from him/her.


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ray266

Hi thanks for your help and suggestions, after another sleepless night I was outside this morning and the landlord pulled up in his car, he came to talk to another tenant about an unrelated matter.

I called him and told him that I wanted to talk to him but in his car where the neighbors could not hear.

I told him that I had had enough and if something did not happen I would get legal advice and escalate the matter. I told him that i was afraid in my own home and I had had enough.

He said he would talk to the people next door and get his solicitor to draft a letter giving them an official warning, he said he would make an appointment with his solicitor for early next week and would let me know what was happening.

When I got out of his car the girl downstairs was opening the shop and could see I was upset and I told her in front of the landlord that I had told him everything and that I was putting it in his hands now.

She told the landlord that everything I was saying was true and that the day before she herself had words with the male neighbor, he was demanding that she move her car from the front of her business because he was expecting some kind of delivery and when she refused he got abusive with her.

So out of four units in a building three have a problem with this couple and now we have voiced our concerns to the landlord hopefully something will change. If within a month nothing has happened then I will take the advice given and escalate the matter because nobody should live like this.

I still cant believe that I spoke to the landlord the way I did but two hours and two cups of coffee later I am glad I did and that I didnt let him brush the matter away like he did the last time.

I would like to say I was not smart with my landlord, I kept my cool and calmly explained the situation and how it was making me feel and for someone with social anxiety that was a big step for me especially because it took me 3 months to get the courage to approach the landlord about the original complaint. Thank you

pilly

Fian wrote: »

I would be careful about rocking the boat if you have not had a rent increase in 3 years (in Dublin?)

You have been living there for 5 years so you are in the second Part IV tenancy and cannot be evicted for the next three years, except for limited permitted reasons. However your rent can be increased - limited to a 6% increase on the basis of 3 years from last increase, if you are in a Rent Pressure Zone. If outside a Rent Pressure Zone you could be looking at a much larger increase.

Forgetting about what your legal rights are, the prudent thing to do might well be to keep your head down and hope the landlord doesn't get around to increasing your rent for as long as possible - don't draw too much attention from him/her.


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I do not agree that OP should keep their head down. They're paying a rent and are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of their property.

OP, I would put a complaint in writing to the LL and if you don't get any joy with that then report the problems to the RTB.

hinault

<quote snipped>

Thanks for the update and well done to you for speaking up for yourself. And fair dues to the other person for corroborating everything that you had said about the couple.

The landlord cannot now be any doubt as to the truth of your claims, especially as other tenants have told him.

This should persuade your landlord to act. Hopefully.

Parchment

I hope it gets sorted but dont hold your breath. We had a similar situation with an entire floor of people complaining about a particular apartment....nothing was done.

Keep notes of everything and if you dont see any improvement start your own case with the PRTB.

ray266

Parchment wrote: »

I hope it gets sorted but dont hold your breath. We had a similar situation with an entire floor of people complaining about a particular apartment....nothing was done.

Keep notes of everything and if you dont see any improvement start your own case with the PRTB.

Hi thanks for your advice, I have started from today to keep a record of all the banging and shouting and noise from next door. I was speaking to someone earlier and they know my landlord and they basically told me not to expect much support from him.
This has been going on for over six months now and the husband next door does not work so he is there all day so the noise and banging is just constant. <snip> in the 18 months that they are living there I have never seen them have any visitors <snip>
I really just wish they would move out because I honestly can not see their behaviour changing. Even now as I write this there is banging and door slamming and some shouting going on next door at 11pm at night and it doesn't seem to be stopping.
Thanks for your reply.

ray266

Thank to everybody for your help and advice but my neighbors from hell left today. There was another incident and the gardai were called for the second time, so the landlord told them that they had to look for somewhere else or he would start eviction procedings against them. So they gave a weeks notice and left. I am just so relieved that they are gone because the last week that they were there they tried to intimidate me and basically the noise levels were unbelievable.
I am just so happy that they are gone and are someone else's problem now. So thanks again everybody.

pilly

Thank God for that. Well done OP