3 Steps for community peace; we’ll tackle world peace next time.
Noisy neighbors… Almost everyone will have to deal with them at some point in their adult life, whether they live in a single family home, condo, or apartment. It can be anything from the early bird next door who starts the lawnmower at 5 a.m. or the band member downstairs who practices into the wee hours of the night.
Related: How to Read and Understand HOA Documents
These types of neighbors are a nuisance for the residents themselves, but can also be a headache for HOA boards that certainly have more important things to worry about than getting involved with neighborly feuds. But unfortunately, sometimes the situation can escalate to that point. Here are a few things to remember and some tips you can follow to make noise issues easier to deal with in your community.
1. Set Specific Rules
Have you ever been in the room with someone watching TV at a volume you thought was ear-piercing, but for them it seemed completely normal? Most noise problems between neighbors are similar. One neighbor thinks their noise is perfectly acceptable, while to everyone else it’s a total nuisance.
Most cities have specific rules and noise ordinances that residents should follow. However, not all city ordinances are specific or necessarily written in favor of residents in your particular community setup. If you’re finding that the city ordinances aren’t enough to keep noise problems at a minimum in your community, your HOA board has the right to create specific rules in the bylaws that members in the community need to abide by. These rules can be much more specific than city ordinances, which makes it easier to determine when someone isn’t following them. You can also associate fines with these rules if residents continue to violate them.
2. Educate Members About Guidelines
Some noisy neighbors might not even be aware that they’re breaking the rules of “quiet time” at night or in the morning if they’re not aware of when those hours are. Even though you might think it should be common sense, make sure that members in your community are informed about noise guidelines. Also, it’s important that they’re informed about what to do when they encounter a noisy neighbor.
Members of your community should know that even if they are frustrated with the noise, the first step shouldn’t be to get law enforcement involved. Rather, share with them a few tips like:
- First, approach the neighbor politely and simply ask them to stop the noise during the times it’s both inconvenient for you and against city or HOA policies. Usually, cordial conversations can help resolve the issue before it escalates any further.
- If the neighbor is uncooperative with the verbal request, follow up with a written request in the form of a letter that states the grievances and on which date and/or time they occurred, an additional request to change the behavior, and a copy of the HOA or city ordinances that prohibit the stated grievances.
- If possible, document persistent noise issues on paper with times and dates of the grievances, or better yet, audio or video recordings of the grievances as they happen.
- If the verbal and written requests are still ignored, residents should contact the HOA and/or local law enforcement who can attempt to contact the noisy neighbor about the issue and move forward with fines for the violations, if needed.
3. Provide a Forum for Mediation
If the noise issue escalates to a heated situation, some neighbors may want to file a civil lawsuit in hopes of getting rid of the problem for good. Unfortunately, these types of lawsuits usually just end in frustration. Often, these cases lack provable evidence and rarely work out in favor of the plaintiff. Before members of your community jump to filing a lawsuit, HOA boards can help by providing a forum for mediation. In fact, in most states, this type of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is required before disagreeing parties can launch full legal action. This generally just involves bringing the two disagreeing parties together with an impartial third party (like a representative from the HOA) to help each member explore options for resolution.
With the right steps, noise problems don’t have to plague your community for good. We hope these tips will help you and your HOA board deal with noise problems a bit easier when they arise.
For help with a specific issue or challenge that your board is facing, contact Spectrum Association Management today!
Are there laws regarding noise when it comes from a toddler? Do noise rules apply when it’s due to tantrums and children playing in ways that are normal and healthy?
If a toddler is throwing enough tantrums for someone to complain, it is not normal and healthy behavior.
We have neighbors who have the worse barking dogs! We have a dog who does not bark unless there is another animal in our back yard (hardly ever because it is fenced). When he barks we take him inside. Our neighbors will occasionally leave with their windows open resulting in 80% barking to disturb everyone. They also will leave for long periods of time leaving their dogs outside to bark at almost anything. Additionally their 3 dogs if outside will bark like crazy no matter if one of us walks out our back door, opens the garage door, walks down our driveway or makes any movement on our property. I have tried to talk to them by ringing their doorbell / electronic ring, however they do not or will not answer. Sometimes they will let their dogs inside, but most of the time they let them bark like crazy. We are dog lovers but this has become outright torture. The HOA rules state “no animals or fowl may be kept on the property which result in any annoyance or are obnoxious in the vicinity.” How do we get this to stop ASAP – it has been going on for over a year and the neighbors don’t seem to care at all! We don’t want to proceed with all the expense of legal proceedings but is no longer bearable. Any suggestions?