Condo Q&A: What Can We Do About Noisy Neighbors Upstairs?

STUART, Fla. – Question: We are acquiring a incredibly tricky issue with noise created by the condo unit found immediately earlier mentioned us. We have evidence that the earlier mentioned unit has not been outfitted with a audio-barrier layer beneath the tiled ground. This condition has by now brought about us two a long time of awful strain. The occupant is unfriendly and the true proprietors are disregarding us. Our administration enterprise has failed to take any action. What can we do? – B.B. Stuart

Answer: The initial factor that you ought to do is to take a glimpse at your condominium’s governing paperwork, which includes the declaration and bylaws. It is possible that the paperwork specially tackle nuisances and offer that proprietors can not generate a nuisance. A nuisance occurs when there is a substantial, unreasonable interference with a different person’s use or pleasure of their residence.

In other terms, 1 residence proprietor only can not use their residence in a way that interferes with a different residence owner’s correct to use their residence. In that regard, noise can undoubtedly be deemed a nuisance. But with a caveat. Florida regulation will guard folks under what is recognised as a affordable individual conventional. In short, would a “reasonable” individual be bothered by the nuisance, in your situation, the noise?

Sounds is a subjective factor – what is unreasonable noise to 1 individual might not be so to a different who is similarly situated. Consequently, the regulation was not developed to necessarily guard an individual who might be “supersensitive” to noise. Some folks tend to be more sensitive or allergic to items such as noise, smoke, mildew, mild, etc. When an individual is hypersensitive, they might assume that the non-sensitive individuals living all-around them have to legally accommodate their sensitivity. This is only not the situation.

That remaining mentioned, condominium associations have to enforce nuisance provisions in their paperwork when an true authorized nuisance arises. If the noise from your upstairs neighbor is demonstrably a nuisance, the residence manager and the board ought to act on it. You have the complete correct to legally complain if the perform of your upstairs neighbor is impacting your use and pleasure of your unit.

I understand from your query that your neighbor is a tricky personal and is disregarding you. But, if you have not accomplished so by now, my information is that your initial move is to place them on detect in composing and to duplicate your residence manager on the letter. Due to the fact they are unfriendly and/or not responsive, maybe they are not informed the extent to which the noise is impacting you. You ought to also talk to your other neighbors to see if they listen to the noise and are unreasonably impacted. Regretably, it can in some cases be tricky to get an affiliation to intervene in this variety of condition, particularly where by there is only 1 neighbor who complains. The more guidance you have for your problems, the better posture you will be if or when you make a official grievance to the residence manager and, in the end the board.

Bear in mind, the operative query is irrespective of whether the audio that other inhabitants are generating is unreasonable? Though the noise might bring about you a disturbance, are your neighbors accomplishing some thing that most folks in your progress would or would not think about to be a issue?

You also talked about the difficulty of soundproofing involving the floors. If that is a issue, your difficulty might not be with the neighbors, but with the stage of audio transmission involving the units. If that is the situation and the setting up was just built in such a way that it enables audio to travel involving the units, you possible never have a assert from the affiliation and you ought to talk to an engineer or a common contractor about getting measures to lower the decibels involving your unit and the unit earlier mentioned. You might be equipped to have some type of audio insulation mounted to lower the audio transmission impression.

Regretably, at the conclude of the working day, there are all varieties of noises that folks have to have to stay with when they stay in a setting up, irrespective of whether it is an condominium setting up or a condominium setting up. As a resident in a setting up, there are just sure items that you have to place up with as typical noises and the regulation is not developed to guard inhabitants from noises that are merely a section of standard setting up living.

Nevertheless, if you genuinely believe that that your difficulty rises to a stage that is not deemed “reasonable” or “normal,” then you might have an actionable authorized assert. There are just so lots of variables that have to have to be deemed ahead of you embark on that highway that you ought to think about talking to a certified attorney if your personal initiatives prove to be unsuccessful.

Harris B. Katz, Esq., is running companion of the Regulation Business Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross, PLLC, in Boca Raton. The information and facts furnished herein is for informational purposes only and ought to not be construed as authorized information. The publication of this posting does not generate an attorney-shopper romance involving the reader and Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross or any of our lawyers. Viewers ought to not act or chorus from acting centered on the information and facts contained in this posting without having initial getting in touch with an attorney, if you have questions about any of the troubles elevated herein. The using the services of of an attorney is a conclusion that ought to not be centered solely on commercials or this column.

© 2020 Journal Media Group, Stuart Information, Harris B. Katz, guest columnist