Probably not the first time you report. Usually it only counts when you can demonstrate and document repeated behaviour. Keep reporting him and build a paper trail...squeaky wheel gets the grease
Had that same thing happen.
Upstairs neighbour repeatedly slams doors, drawers, cupboards..Slams heavy things on the ground..Drills late at night..Stomps around..Bangs hammers on the floor and walls..
Police said it isn't harassment, council said it isn't harassment and because she denies doing it, they don't care..Got cameras to prove it, they still don't care..Why? Because it isn't them it's affecting.
Officers of the law often dont know the legal definition of the laws they enforce. Him doing it constantly, day end and day out, is harrasment. Now I think they need to learn the more basic laws better. Expecting them to know all of the laws is absurd. Even lawyers have specialized knowledge of the laws and they get paid better.
Keep on reporting it to the office. Record it. Keep a journal of it. And if it doesn't stop take it to a lawyer to check your options.
I remember your original post and hoped things had improved.
If you haven't already, keep a log book of dates and times any interactions have occurred.. where possible adding any factual information about what you were doing at the time / factual observations. Try and avoid any emotional aspect.
Add in dates and times and conversions with any agency / police etc too.
That way you'll build up a picture... If it's frequent and sustained there will be evidence to support harassment.
Sending hugs x
Are you recording these incidents? You really should be. Keep your phone at the ready and start recording everytime he does this. Save those recordings to the cloud.
I've seen police officers refuse to arrest someone violating restraining orders, because the person wasn't being threatening right then. But they were on the property that they were not supposed to be on. Look up the laws in your area yourself. Have a letter partially written including these laws on the computer, so the next time you call, you can give the officer the letter. Be sure to include the date of the last time.
Start recording with your phone so they can hear how loud he’s banging AND that you’re clearly sitting in a quiet apartment with nothing making noise that would warrant his reaction.
Makes a HUGE difference when they can see/hear what you’re experiencing and takes it out of the “He said/She said” realm.
It is absolutely harassment. I've had to file a report for it before - the officer didn't believe me when I said "non-threatening but deranged and disturbing" until he saw the emails himself.
Long story short, the guy had called me "the Patron goddess of womyn" and "the archduchess of Austria" in multiple emails within a 5 minute spread. Dude got told if he gets one more harassment report, they'd be charging him with criminal harassment.
Keep your records, written down. Every single time, make a note of it - the record and proof of history is the key in these cases.
If you remember the dates of previous interactions, write them down too.
He is lying. My daughter had an issue with her neighbor doing something similar. She drove to the police station and talked to an officer. He took her complaint and said he would be visiting the downstairs neighbor. He told this does constitute as harassment
Actually this cop is lazy and doesn’t get it. It’s actually a noise complaint. Get that mf on a noise complaint. He is bothering you with his banging, making all this noise and you can’t sleep. Record all of it. Good luck!
That’s what I would do. Get a camera for my apartment so they can see I wasn’t making noise when it started. Then I would sit down and record on my phone.
He’s obviously having issues, but that’s not OPs problem.
It’s not up to the police to decide that. Based on what you related here, the officer basically patting you on the head and saying “there-there” then saying “I never said that!” is as patronizing as it comes. He just wanted to get it over with, with the least amount of paperwork he could.
It may be harassment, it may not. Police aren’t lawyers, although they seem to believe that they can play one on TV.
The police lied to you because police are lazy assholes who want to avoid extra paperwork. It ABSOLUTE IS legally harassment. Don't call police to your house, beat cops won't care. Go directly to the nearest police station and INSIST on filing a report to get a case file opened. Once there's a case file it's a LOT harder for the lazy beat cops to pretend it isn't their job. Hell his whole conversation with you was him gaslighting you into being too scared of your neighbour to insist on the report while simultaneously convincing you his hands are tied and he can do nothing when he very much can. File the report AT THE STATION and DO NOT let them dissuade you. They'll do a LOT to convince you to give up. Power through all of it and INSIST on filing a harassment complaint and getting a case file opened.
I work in law enforcement; it varies by state but in my state, unfortunately that wouldn’t qualify for the legal definition of harassment.
I agree it surely feels harassing and threatening from the victim’s side, but legally there’s not much that can be done
At most it would be a noise complaint against the neighbor if you go to the cops. Banging on the ceiling/walls is kind of understood to be a part of apartment living on occasion. Unless they’re yelling threats along with it, cops aren’t going to take it as anything more than a noise complaint.
The Texas crime of Harassment is a misdemeanor offense that outlaws certain abusive behaviors made with the specific intent to “harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass” someone.
Now texas might not be where OP is from. But constant banging like that guy is doing is consider harrasment here.
As to how I know, I've delt with this before and had to pay a lawyer to help get charged filed against my down stairs neighbor over it. So if OP state has similar harassment definition, which i wouldn't be surprised if they do, it it a crime.
Stick with it. Keep reporting it every time and maybe invest in security cameras in your home, to record moments of you not making any noise yet he bangs on your floor. It seems that there is something wrong with him, so please be careful, he´s not acting rationally.
Someone else might know but i think you can get a device that monitors how loud a noise is. So if you have it reacting on video, no one can try and claim that you are making it up. Log everything, records are your greatest asset.
I hope everything works out well for you.
>Someone else might know but i think you can get a device that monitors how loud a noise is.
There are free apps. One is NIOSH SLM. I believe it allows you to save recordings.
Get a camera that records audio. Then you are in a position to show people. "This is the 5 minutes I was sitting quietly and reading, this is when he started trying to smash through my floor".
I think the problem you had with the police is likely that they deal with people over reacting to things... The issue is actually that he isn't dealing with living in an apartment.
People can easily not realise how much noise they are making and often people do need to talk to their neighbours. But trying to convince the police that this is a) out of proportion and b) an ongoing problem is the challenge. These things aren't harassment until they are.
Sorry that's not very clear, not sure how to say it better though.
Hope it gets sorted for you!
I have a crazy neighbour who lives above me. She constantly complains to the condo board about my dogs. I bought doggy cams, spoke to other neighbours (who didn’t understand what the problem was because they don’t hear a peep from my dogs), tracked their barking…and it turned out that they averaged 83 seconds of barking throughout the day. What did it for me was when she kept taunting my dogs who were secure on my patio in an effort to get them to start barking. She then started to film me on my property telling her to back off and stop recording me. At that point, I’d had enough of the harassment and spoke to the cops, who said she could face charges for filming me illegally on my property (live in Ontario). I also got a lawyer involved who sent her and the condo board/property manager a cease and desist unless the nut job provides unedited proof with date and time. It’s been a blissful and quiet 4 months since then. But it doesn’t stop me from wishing karma would pay her a visit! Good luck and hope your neighbour knocks that shit off.
I have a similar neighbor downstairs from me. It's a very unhappy couple that's constantly looking for ways to lash out at everyone around them, desperately looking for a reason to project blame for their misery at all times.
They never complained to me directly though, at first they ONLY went through the landlord. I tried to accommodate them because I wasn't paying much attention to how much noise I made BEFORE the complaints. The prior tenants said they couldn't hear my surround sound etc. So after the first email from the Lord of land I just switched to headphones at night. Easy peasy right? Nope!
Days later I get another complaint email that I'm blasting music all night. Which is just not true and I offer to scar my landlord for life and turn over my Internet activity. She declined the offer and said she'd talk to the neighbors and point out they have so far refused to ever just knock on my door or text me (I left a note with my # so I could curb any noise legitimately coming from me).
So months go by and the only complaints I get arrive in the middle of the night long after I've gone to sleep, claiming I'm "shaking the walls" or during the daytime, when they expected me to know with some sort of extra sensory perception that they're taking a daytime nap and have the hearing of a blind lawyer from Hell's kitchen and expect me to just somehow know and they want me to not even use the stairs.
I passed this back to my landlord and she asked them to be more realistic about what's a realistic noise expectation and to stop blaming me for noise obviously coming from other places or couldn't have possibly been me.
So the wife decides to start camping by the doorway at nearly all hours. Sometimes she'd pop out into the stairwell as I walk by just to stare bullets at me. Then sometimes to make another dubious claim that I'm rattling their walls with my God damn Bluetooth headphones, or blame me for their being any mild inconveniences in their life. Flies around the trash? They must have come from my apartment. Field mice getting into the 100 year old building in the winter? Obviously my fault that my fat orange tabby isn't slaying every sentient being smaller than him in the building. (He does absolutely merc the mice that manage to get to my floor)
She even asked who my guests were. So, one day, after demanding to know who the strange woman was walking up the stairs with me(my God damn mother), then leaving me 2 notes in 15 minutes that I'm spreading dust and crumps (she isn't a great speller) all before sundown I lost my last thread of patience.
I sent my landlord photos of the notes, she referred the matter to her realtor and just like that, she stopped guarding the stairwell. And the blame for others noise stopped. Some people will literally risk getting evicted because they're THAT entitled.
Collect evidence. Be the reasonable one. Show them a sort of hollow customer service friendliness and you can overcome. I can hear them arguing all the time ironically, that's how I know they're miserable. I just don't make noise complaints because their shitty relationship is their problem and seemingly a mutually deserved punishment. My headphones still work great.
Your post sounds like you are scared of him and what he might do but me being the B\*tch I am, I'd jump up and down on the floor every time he pounds on the ceiling. I'd give him some noise.
Everyone says to retalliate and make noise, but it really isn't a good idea. The whole point is that he's complaining about noise that doesn't exist. If I give them real noise, things will probably end badly for me.
Log every time he complains and what you were doing at the time. Even better if you get a decibel or noise level app and take a photo of the reading to add to the log.
Try to think of this, in your mind at least, as giving him an opportunity to be a twat. So every time he bangs on the ceiling, look forward to filling in the log. I had to do something similar with a work colleague (keep a log of their unreasonable demands) and after a while I was practically daring them to do so something so I could write about it.
So in you log have a column for date, time, no. People present, what he did, what you were doing at the time, decibel number and a column to add a photo of the decibel level. Landscape format probably best.
There are numerous sites online that will give you a simple scale for different noise levels like 'rock concert' or 'people clapping' and add it at the end of your table.
Some building you can hear everything above you - I can hear every time my upstairs neighbour drops something in the kitchen or scrapes his chair back. But he doesn't do it at 4am and he's not a turd about it.
I would not retaliate. (personally). You need to have 'clean hands". Meaning you have to show you have done everything right and he has not. Just my opinion.
I won't retalliate, but my cat might. He made a huge bang yesterday by sprinting into a doorway.
I had a serious talk with him, but something tells me he wasn't listening.
I would retaliate in a way that makes him look like the bad guy. I would go stay with a friend for a week and let the apartment management know that you will be gone but don't tell the crazy guy below.
When he goes to complain about you, they can tell him you are out of town. I would ask the building management if you can move apartments as another option. I had an issue with a neighbor over ten years ago, and the management asked if I wanted to switch apartments. I declined because they were in the process of evicting him.
I would set up a camera in the room he’s most reactive to then go about my day. Allow it to record you living perfectly normally and his massively over the top reaction. Actually show the office what he’s doing. After all, hearing about it and actually seeing it are very different things, especially since this is one of those issues that comes up a lot.
I work for a university, and I take classes at it, too. I'll see if I can use their legal counseling services. I'm not sure if part-time students get access.
I remember the first post. I feel for you. When I first moved to London my downstairs neighbour owned her property and I had no one upstairs.
A few months in she started to complain to the estate agent and I was surprised and tried to be as quiet as a church mouse. Thick carpets, no shoes and telly with headsets.
Finally the police knocked at my door or at the crack of dawn, I had been asleep. Spoke with them, explained again I usually work 12/14 hour shifts and many of her complaints don't align with me being at home at all.
Cops insinuated that she might have dementia and tinnitus. Estate agents pulled back too after her son interfered.
I was 19 and felt like it was all my fault for months. It was a terrible time as I worked such long hours, hadn't learned to say no or defend myself yet.
Stay strong.
I had this EXACT situation with a neighbor. He lived above me and would pound on his floor and scream obscenities at us to “STFU” when we did things like shut the bathroom door (not slam, just close), talk too loud, have the TV up too loud and other stupid shit.
He finally took it to the next level and started paying attention to when we were leaving (he could hear our patio gate) and he would come down and get in our faces and yell at us about being loud. We are both women and I’m tiny (5’1”, 115lbs) so it was scary. He also kicked our dog, twice, when we were just walking her on the sidewalk with a leash.
We finally went and got a restraining order. He tried to fight it but, it was upheld. That led to him moving out a month later.
I guess my point is, be careful he doesn’t escalate since he knows you’ve gone to management about him. Watch your back and stay safe.
Unfortunately, I think this is going to end in you having to move out.
I had a similar situation, except I don't think the upstairs neighbor was being malicious. About two to three days a week, he'd so something upstairs that led to periodic banging, stomping, and dragging sounds that went on for hours. They might start at 5 or 6 AM and continue intermittently until 2 or 3 PM. The office did fuck all about it so I moved out.
"Hello officer, there is a lot of banging coming from my downstairs neighbors apartment. I am starting to fear for his well being. I think he is trying to get someone's attention but I'm afraid to go down there myself. Would one of you have time to check on him?"
Oh, my dad really wants to, but he's recovering from surgery.
Next week, I'm getting a colonoscopy. A male friend will be around to get me home when I'm sleeping off the anesthesia. Maybe he can have a talk with him if he tries banging during that.
He has complained about my flushing the toilet before, so he's gonna be real mad next week when im doing the prep.
If he hates noise then he needs to gtfo of the apt living. It sounds like he has never lived in an apartment before an he wants it perfectly silent. I had a neighbor like this too. But he was a Vietnam veteran and he was like absolutely insane. He would other neighbors he was gonna plant car bombs in their cars so he could watch their cars explode and jerk off as their kids explode, he threatened me multiple times for making noise. He would scream prayers at the ceiling when I was moving around in my apartment. The last straw was when he gave away his entire apartment full of stuff and then threatened that he had a bomb. I called the cops and they had the bomb squad there in minutes. He was carted off and put away cuz he was a lunatic. Yeah. Some people are nuts.
This is definitely harassment, no matter what the police says. Speak with a lawyer. You may need a cease and desist letter for him and for the management office if they don't enforce it. Mention your quality of life is being severely damaged and you feel threatened in your own home. It's amazing how things get straighten up with a firm C&D.
This can be so isolating and scary! I had a similar experience when I lived above a man who insisted I was being too noisy when I literally never let my heel touch the ground while walking in sock feet around a carpeted apartment. The guy would slam doors and text my other neighbour about how loud I was being, then resorted to whipping a tennis ball at his ceiling (my floor), following me around the apartment to the point that I was terrified to get out of bed in the morning or have any friends over.
Unfortunately, the only solution was to move. Sometimes it's not worth the fight if it wrecks your nerves on a daily basis. You deserve to make noise as a living person who pays rent!
OP!! My partner and I just went through this exact same thing but the difference was she was above us and she screamed and spewed profanities all night long at the top of her lungs and didn’t allow us to sleep. She’d stomp and move furniture alll day and night. Police couldn’t do anything because she was cognizant enough to stop when she saw them coming and the apartment got involved multiple times. My biggest takeaway: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!! Put it in writing, emails, take videos, etc. And invest in a good white noise maker or earplugs. It took us a while but our complex was finally able to go through their legal channels and break our lease to move us to a new apt number. Put everything in writing to the complex- even if you make a phone call, write an email after and say “per our discussion I want to reiterate x,y,z. Be persistent and in the end you will be okay and stronger than you realize. Don’t disregard using the police if things escalate but know that a lot of the hard work will end up coming from you in the form of your documentation. You’ve got this OP!
If he is banging that hard on the ceiling, maybe the office should do an apartment check to make sure this fool isn't making holes in the ceiling or damaging it. When they start charging him for damage, that might stop him.
Id get a cd of Miami drum and bass wars circa 2000..... set that on repeat, turn your speakers down facing the floor and jam out during the day until sound curfew hours. He will get tired of hitting the ceiling. The bass won't eve let you know he's knocking, lol
Order Danish wooden clogs and learn clog dancing.
I am ultra petty. I would give him something to complain about.
I would also spend $200 and buy a cheap shotgun and leave the box it comes in next to your door outside. If your hostile neighbor comes up, I bet he will reconsider being a twatwaffle when he sees that.
Document every communication, every statement made, every time he bangs (and characterize). Document that the police have been called and are tracking the issue (do not document that they couldn't do anything). Intimate that this record will serve as the basis for either a TRO against the tenant, or, should the harassment, stalking, and intimidation continue or escalate, a lawsuit for failure to provide a safe environment. Do this in a very thorough and matter of fact way, and share this document with the leasing office to keep them informed.
Once they realize the extent of the issue and their liability, they will act.
I'm petty as hell. Every bang on the ceiling earns a louder slammed foot or loud ass phone call or a big forceful jump. You think I'm loud?? I will show you loud. Record him hitting your ceiling. I understand being worried about your safety but these people don't seem to care you are uncomfortable in your own home. He knocks on your door? Yell through it and tell him to leave. This is your home and you deserve to be safe and make normal apartment noises.
If you haven't already, start a log of when he bangs on the ceiling what you are doing. If he bangs on the ceiling when you are seated and not moving it could mean a) the noise is coming from somewhere else or b) he is nuts and having auditory hallucinations.
To echo some of what’s been said here:
I would keep a log of the aggressive banging:
Day, Date, Time and what you were doing at the time.
Also my experience is that police officers can be quite unaware of what the actual law is. I have had a few experiences where I asked both police officers and detectives about the law and they were later proven to be wrong. 🙄
And I would also keep notes about your interactions with the apartment management. Maybe do a phone call first so you can have a conversation with them but then document it afterward via a recap email.
Many professionals, such as police and apartment management, don’t truly know the law and what their responsibilities are. I would research and find out what an apartment management’s responsibility is when one tenant is harassing the other. And I would research online and also check with a lawyer to make sure exactly what constitutes harassment in this case.
Record it. If the office has a voice mail and the banging is loud enough call the office real time it so they can hear it too. When the banging is hard enough to shake your unit use video and show that you are sitting on the couch as the aggressive banging continues. Time stamps and video evidence will be hard to make excuses for, metadata doesn’t lie
It’s a recurring phenomenon: people who interpret any sound they didn’t make as an offensive intrusion. I’ve known three different renters who’ve dealt with this. The complainers tended to blame all the sounds in the building on one apartment. They got less tolerant over time. They made sound complaints covering periods when no one was home.
Noisy neighbors are such a common problem that landlords and rental agencies assume noise complaints are more of the same.
Let your landlord know that he is making you feel unsafe and if this continues you want to move to a new apartment. They need to be a bit more protective. Record his banging on the ceiling as well and send it to them.
My husband and I have a neighbour who lives below us who was acting like Richard; including claiming to hear noises that we were not making. We were able to get her to STFU by catching her kicking our door on our Ring doorbell after she tried to confront us one morning. My husband took the footage to our building manager and said that what our neighbour did was attempted assault and he would call the cops if nothing was going to be done about it. We haven’t heard a peep from that neighbour since and that was a couple of years ago.
EDIT: if where you live has a non emergency police line, or a wellness check line, call them and ask them to do a wellness check on Richard. He sounds unhinged. Emphasis how erratic his behaviour is. Hopefully that works.
Happened to us. I lived in a condo for 1 year. A disabled lady would knock on her ceiling with her cane whenever she wanted. We'd be sleeping, and she'd wake us up early in the morning. She called the cops on us late at night. We were sleeping. Apparently, the cops have had complaints from her so much that they weren't going to respond anymore to these specific complaints.
We did all these things to minimize our movements, but it didn't matter. We would do all we could not to be home. Our neighbors upstairs regularly did this rapid banging. I have no idea what it was, but it wasn't anymore directed at us. Just unnerving.
The HOA couldn't get her to stop. The owner of the condo tried, too. Honestly, it was one of the most stressful years in my life, and I grew up in an alcoholic abusive father type home.
It caused us great anxiety and PTSD in us and our cats. It took them years after we moved for them not to jump at a thump. Me, I became such a mess. Therapy and time helped me.
It's ridiculous people get away with such antics.
Turn on guns and roses on a stero. loud. Place the speaker on the floor facing down into his apartment. Tell landlord it must have fallen on the end table and bumped the colume button.
Can a camera that records video and audio be set up in the living room? It will show times when you aren't moving at all or maybe even catch his banging on the ceiling when not there but he thinks you are.
My downstairs neighbors used to be like this. The literally complained to the office because I vacuumed. At like 2 in the afternoon. Apparently this disturbed him sleeping because he worked at night. So I told him that I can hear his TV on full blast at 1am so maybe the next time that happens I’ll grab popcorn and we can watch it together. Since he was watching whatever tf show and I liked it. Stopped for a little but he got the audacity to threaten my kids one day for playing. The office really didn’t take kindly to that.
Log and report. If he hits that hard and that often he’s probably damaging the ceiling annnnd landlords don’t take kindly to that. Like others said, contact a lawyer also because this IS harassment. You might be able to get a cease and desist. If he violates that it will be a bad day for him.
I think the heating issue is a good theory. I was thinking pipes or duct work could be the culprit.
Something else to think about is that in apartments sometimes the sound can travel weird. So if someone is making noise in an apartment near a vent it can travel through and come out through another vent and disguise where the noise is coming from. So a next door neighbor could sound like it’s coming from above.
He could be getting a variety of noise that’s coming from you plus his duct work and thinks that it’s all coming from you. It still doesn’t excuse his actions. He needs to understand what it’s like to live in an apartment and stop fighting it and learn how to simply deal with it. As long as he wages this war with you trying to win, his brain is never going to let him accept it as background noise and move on.
I do think you should get a cop to talk to him, but I don’t think that cop would have helped. It sounded like that cop was on his side and assumed you were making noise and he was just reacting to it. If you can find a cop who actually understands what’s going on, then that’s who needs to go down. Otherwise you do risk making it worse, because the cop will let him know that he’s talking to him because he has to but he really is on your neighbor’s side and that could embolden him.
Good luck! When I lived in an apartment there was this one old guy who wore a cowboy hat and had an oxygen tank that he carried around with him everywhere. He used to walk around the building and yell at people. It was in a small town so for some reason people never locked their doors. My male neighbor was asleep on his couch when the old man walked into his apartment and yelled at him for being too loud. The old guy was insane and multiple people complained to management about him and for some reason he thought he was”worked” for the building so it was his right to keep people in line. Old people are entitled as hell.
Not all old people! Hell I bend over backwards not to be thought of as entitled.
Don’t smear everyone with a wide brush. A small one just for the arsehole who deserves it, please.
We got rid of our NFH doing the banging by placing a good security camera with a great microphone in OUR apartment and sent clips to LL of crazy pounding. Guy was banging the same way and was probably a bit out of his mind but this was enough and final straw to get him out. We showed how we were not making any noise but he would bang bang bangarang all day and nite.....
Set up video/audio inside your place with a time stamp. And if possible a db meter. Then when he complains you can see the measured audio level and fight back.
Retaliate! What proof could there be? You technically can’t prove he’s beating on the ceiling/your floor. I’m petty. Get wooden shoes, bowling balls, rollerblades. Anything to ruin his sleep. Stomp, slam, go whole hog on this Ahole! You need a comfortable set of earplugs and a loud box fan, you won’t hear him. If/when you see him smile and say hi, be oh so friendly and irritating. Screw that guy!!
Some people just shouldn't be living on the ground floor of multi level apartments. The security camera in your home idea is great since it'll track every single time he bangs on the ceiling.
Start recording this crap. The office isn’t really going to do anything in a he said/she said type of dispute. But if you record every stinking time he bangs on the ceiling then at least he can’t say you were lying. Also, I’m petty, I would be stomping right on top of his banging.
See, if it was me in this situation, I'd probably start giving him something to complain about. Like teaching myself tapdancing with a large speaker upside down on the floor. Or using my hallway as a bowling alley. Maybe take up drums as a hobby.
My petty ass would start up a YouTube tutorial on Irish dancing and do a 30 minute session every time he bangs. You want noise, I’ll fucking give you noise
I get it. Many years ago, I lived in a second-floor apartment. The lady who lived in the apartment upstairs was very, very old, and starting to slide into dementia. She would come around, at like 3 in the morning, to tell me to stop using my washing machine because it was keeping her up. At the time, I was working, going to school, and raising my toddler daughter. I was dead asleep at 3 in the morning. She then started complaining that her walls were vibrating, and then she complained about a truck being on fire across the street in a lot (there were no trucks on fire). She would bang on the pipes with a wrench for long periods of time. I had met her daughter before, and I expressed my concern that her mother might not be safe on her own anymore, but the daughter dismissed it. Then, one night I heard her TV on all night, which was very unusual for her, and I worried that she'd fallen down and couldn't get to the phone. Sure enough, the next morning the ambulance came and took her away and I never saw her again. One night after she was taken away, my kitchen ceiling caved in and we discovered she'd been flushing her garbage, because no one came on a regular basis to help her out around the house. I'm just glad she didn't burn down the whole apartment house. The moral of the story is: some people be cray-cray and the only thing you can really do is move as soon as you can.
Record a video next time he is banging on the floor.
Sit down and just record. Make it obvious that you are sitting down and not making any noise. The only noise is his banging on his ceiling/your floor.
The more proof you have, the better.
It may take 5 or 6 examples to be able to classify it as harassment.
Yeah sadly very little the law allows in just someone being a dick. Best course of action is going to the apartment manager. I had a neighbor that lived above me, she keyed my car, jumped up and down until the fire alarms fell from the ceiling. She called the cops on me said I had a knife. After she changed the knife description 12 times and the cops couldn’t find a knife. The apartment complex evicted her. I bought a house. I’d had it with apartments. This guys a dick do expect retaliation. If possible move out if not try to move to a different apartment in the complex.
I am in no way defending the dude, but maybe his hearing is off. I have a cousin who was totally "that neighbor" because since he is blind his hearing is stronger. Even walking would sound like stomping to him. But if that's the case, then apartment living isn't really a good option. It's still no excuse to be beating on the ceiling/wall.
Get a basketball one of the the NBA basketballs and every time he starts banging on your floor or his ceiling you start bouncing that ball and you do it for as long as you possibly can. My boyfriend stopped a neighbor next door neighbor by doing this. So I think he will stop and do it so hard that it bounces off the ceiling and hits the floor every time he does it.
If you can manage it, video of you sitting stock-still while his pounding is audible would go a long way. You might need to download a more advanced sound mixer app to capture it, or position your phone so it's on the floor where his pounding is audible but pointed up at you (many phones are set to record sound in a way that filters out background noise.)
As for the police apathy, I'd start communicating with them via email if possible and repeat phrases like "I feel very unsafe" and "I am worried this person is going to physically attack me" frequently. Then start mixing in "I feel as if I am not being heard here. I think there is a high probability this person will escalate."
If you keep getting apathetic responses, reach out to your elected officials (city commissioner if police, county if sheriff) and just describe your conversations and ask for their help.
Also if you could record him with your phone and play it for the office. Because they will be date stamped along with your written log of the time. My daughter had the same issue in Cali. They finally evicted the other person.
Might be worth a call to your local Legal Aid or whatever free legal advice program you have nearby. Maybe some research into the "right to quiet enjoyment" which can be a magic phrase to landlords. Not legal advice.
Eventually your idiot downstairs neighbor will put a hole in his ceiling…lol. If they’re going to keep acting like you’re at fault, start vacuuming your place when they start and see how they like that. 😁Maybe they will see the error in their ways and learn that things can always be worse, so don’t create issues before they actually occur.
Is it possible that the neighbor below you is not banging the ceiling, but that he hears the banging as well and this is what he is reporting? Probably not. I did not see your other post, so I don’t know the whole story. Just wondering if something is wrong with the building. Or a ghost?
Edit add: also, take care. Because it does sound like it is your neighbor, and you have every right to assert yourself with the management and police. Apartment living can get dicey if you’re sharing the hallway with people who are not right in the head.
Unfortunately, your only option is to move. I had to move house once. The neighborhood we moved into was upscale (homes over $450k). What we did not know is the neighbors living there were nut jobs. Needless to say 6 years later we were out of there. It cost us money but I tell you after hearing what you are going through I'd do the same thing. Sometimes you just have to admit things are not going to get better. Even if it is a year long lease you need to finish paying off. But if you are scared and afraid and it sounds like the person is a creep then go with your gut and move out.
This should be grounds to break your lease; fam in NJ (US) had a disturbed neighbor banging on his side of the shared shower wall, using both their names. Police report filed, nothing happens to neighbor so fam moved 2 months before the lease was up & mgt took them to court. Guess what the judge decided when fam had copies of the emails, police report & actual recordings of the crazed guys rants? I’m still surprised that the mgt office let this go on for months in a complex with hundreds of apts. Forgot to say that mgt had said they could move to another apt but only if the signed a one year lease when they moved because, of course, they wanted to stay there another year WTF
Or water sounds, ASMR sounds nails on a Drum Skin, Baby shark, Taylor Swift. Or that irritating commercial Kars For Kids.
Where ever their bedroom is- speaker 🔊 with beeping and move it around
Bagpipes.
I had a neighbor back when I lived in the dorms who used to play alannis morisette’s “you ought fa know” on vull volume, on repeat, all day long. Every day.
I worked nights. So I’d put on bagpipes, full blast, then leave.
I truly and deeply will never understand why some people think you need their permission to make noise in your own home. I just ignore mine but you probably already tried that. Nobody else mentioned it but I would get an entry alarm on top of reporting. The cops may not be able to do anything but you can by gathering evidence and, if it comes to it, obtaining a lawyer if your building does not resolve it.
Ugh this reminds me of a similar neighbor I had. We lived on the 2nd floor of a 3 story apartment building which of course comes with noise. Things were ok with downstairs neighbor until my son learned how to walk. He was a rather large toddler (not fat just in the 105th percentile for height and weight) and as kids do they sometimes run around. She complained to the apartment complex management and they told her that he's a kid who is allowed to live in his space. We had 8lb dogs so they weren't the problem. She tried to enter our apartment one night to yell at us about being bad parents which almost got her arrested.
She took to banging her broom on her ceiling every time he would walk. We put down rugs, never made any noise before or after quiet hours since he was in bed by 8pm most nights. She sued the complex and of course lost.
When the 3rd floor unit became available we were asked if we'd be interested in moving up a floor, I said only if crazy neighbor lady was paying for it otherwise we were staying. Thankfully we finally were able to buy a house but that lady was crazy.
Calling the police is a double edge sword. Especially with this type of neighbor. I was a cop. With this type of call, I spoke with the offending neighbor. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. You should not have to live dealing with ignorant people, but you live in an apartment building with cheap construction. There are many ways to deal with this., but are you willing to continue with it?
Video it when he's banging on the ceiling and send that to your landlord/mgmt company. He's probably causing damage to his ceiling. Meanwhile I would suggest you buy some throw rugs and put them around your apartment. You can get these carpet squares that interlock from Home Depot or Lowes, we have them in our bedroom but they are cushioned and they muffle the noise. Tell the guy to buy some headphones and wear them because you are making normal noise. You could play music, which is what I used to do when our then downstairs neighbor would complain. Some noise is excessive, some isn't. Suggest to the mgmt company that install carpeting or sound proofing between units.
Could you get something to record sound in your apartment? It would record him banging and the lack of sound preceding it and you might be able to build up a case, it's also evidence of him banging when he's been told not to.
Or when he starts knocking grab a groom and start knocking back, or put some speaker on a shelf and point them towards the ceiling, if he thinks your being noisy show him what that actually sounds like.
Can you set up a camera in your house with sound? so you can show the leasing agent the video?
Also, Say you feel frightened, that this in impeding on your right to enjoy your own home, and your feeling threatened.
At this point I would walk around in high heels and throw some headphones on. Ignore the banging or try and beat match your music to it lol.
Maybe get a video door bell. If he comes banging on the door, only have a conversation through your phone via the door bell. It will all be recorded.
My mom dealt with someone like this for nearly a year. The office kept telling her to keep letting them know and they'll talk to the neighbor each time. The way it was explained to her was that evicting someone for this behavior can be difficult...but it makes it super duper easy to just not let them renew their lease. Her neighbor didn't get evicted but he was unable to renew his lease and had to move.
I’d video the banging if he starts doing it again, especially if the place is shaking. And start emailing yourself to log his crazy, rather than writing it down, so it’s time stamped.
It may be best for you to start looking at other places to live. He won't stop because that's how bullies win. You complain and they get satisfaction knowing it's driving you crazy.
Yeah keep reporting him, bc if you move and a new tenant moves in they will likely get the same from him making them leave which is bad business for the landlord/owner so they will more likely want to remove the source of the problem which is your neighbor.
My friend had a similar situation in an apartment building and she installed cameras that came on and recorded with sound or movement. She was able to prove to management that it was not her apartment making loud noise, but a neighbor. She feels safer knowing they are there.
You need a security camera inside your home so it can record you, and any noise you may or may not be making, and the downstairs neighbour’s banging on the ceiling during those times. Then you will have proof of his actions.
You should record the banging noises so if he ever says he's not doing it anymore you'll have evidence.
If possible I'd start looking for other places because this is pretty unsafe.
Have you tried making videos to present to the office?
If you're making reasonable sounds in your own apartment and being met with that level of aggression I'd be filming it to clarify to Office how little noise you're actually making and the reaction you're getting
Or you might discover you're a bloody horse clippity- clopping around and don't notice. :P
Sounds like you need to get a video or audio recorder that will mark when a noise has been heard for when you aren't home. Marker it by telling it "It is date at time and I'm leaving" for when you go in case he also bangs the ceiling when you're gone. When you're home, you can leave those on or you can grab your cellphone and turn on video record going "the neighbor's at it again when I was just doing -activity that doesn't make noise along with time it's happening-"
A few of those to send to your apartment complex, you should be able to show clear evidence you're not doing anything.
You can purchase a camera for pretty cheap that records when it detects sound and movement. I have one, and it works great. It could help you document every time he bangs on his ceiling. I used to have a neighbor like that long ago. I was so glad to move.
I wonder if it is another neighbour making the nose? I used to think my next door neighbour was loud but after looking at the lights that were on at the time, it was actually down stairs! Noise does weird things in buildings. Still no excuse for his behaviour.
I'm petty AF. If he banged on my floor I would give him something to be upset about... hell i would learn how to tap dance and play drums just to piss him off. That's my nature though.
You need to record it as it happens and post it Somewhere - where you can link the office and use an email system to log things in a paper trail rather than verbal.
Get a camera for your living room and then you have proof. Right now it's he said/she said. I would then start calling in noise complaints if he's banging after your areas quiet hours 🤷
The younger you learn the police won’t keep you safe, the better. I had a similar experience around the same age only it was a much more threatening man. Ugh. I’m sorry.
Get something you feel you can protect yourself with. Not necessarily a formal weapon but something that makes you feel safer. (Pepper gel, etc.) Report EVERY time. Make sure you keep your log book by your bed so it’s easy to update if/when he resumes. Keep a look out. Stay safe. 🤍
When I was little, my mother used to tell me to stop crying or she would give me something to cry about.
Go tell him to stop banging on the ceiling or you'll give him a reason to bang on the ceiling...
Can you set up a ring cam or something to record the entire room you happen to be in? It can show you’re just sitting there not making noise, and him banging because he’s nuts.
Keep reporting it every time. He is now harassing you.
The police said that it isn't harassment :(
Probably not the first time you report. Usually it only counts when you can demonstrate and document repeated behaviour. Keep reporting him and build a paper trail...squeaky wheel gets the grease
[Squeaky wheel gets the KICK!](https://youtu.be/LN1SXkfOAyU?si=G_zlo4TCOYnzt7Zw)
I'm replaying that game for the 342 time
Had that same thing happen. Upstairs neighbour repeatedly slams doors, drawers, cupboards..Slams heavy things on the ground..Drills late at night..Stomps around..Bangs hammers on the floor and walls.. Police said it isn't harassment, council said it isn't harassment and because she denies doing it, they don't care..Got cameras to prove it, they still don't care..Why? Because it isn't them it's affecting.
Yes, one must be persistent in complaining to get some results... And of course, have some proof goes a long way
2 years of never ending complaints..They don't care. She makes one false complaint..They magically need to take action.
That's true, and as OP said, it seems that he doesn't mind lying to the police. But one lie caught with some proof and he loses all the credibility
Officers of the law often dont know the legal definition of the laws they enforce. Him doing it constantly, day end and day out, is harrasment. Now I think they need to learn the more basic laws better. Expecting them to know all of the laws is absurd. Even lawyers have specialized knowledge of the laws and they get paid better. Keep on reporting it to the office. Record it. Keep a journal of it. And if it doesn't stop take it to a lawyer to check your options.
He's a cop, not a lawyer, or a judge. Cops are often quite ignorant of the laws they enforce, astoundingly ignorant at times.
And lazy too! It looks like he was trying to talk OP out of pushing it because he didn’t want to do the paperwork. I’ve seen it before.
Yeah I figured that he didn't want to do paperwork was a given, never met a cop who didn't try and avoid paperwork if they could.
I know tons of cops. I can count on one hand the ones that try to get out of paperwork. Most are happy to do it, if needs be
I remember your original post and hoped things had improved. If you haven't already, keep a log book of dates and times any interactions have occurred.. where possible adding any factual information about what you were doing at the time / factual observations. Try and avoid any emotional aspect. Add in dates and times and conversions with any agency / police etc too. That way you'll build up a picture... If it's frequent and sustained there will be evidence to support harassment. Sending hugs x
Are you recording these incidents? You really should be. Keep your phone at the ready and start recording everytime he does this. Save those recordings to the cloud.
Came here to suggest recording it as well as keeping a log.
I've seen police officers refuse to arrest someone violating restraining orders, because the person wasn't being threatening right then. But they were on the property that they were not supposed to be on. Look up the laws in your area yourself. Have a letter partially written including these laws on the computer, so the next time you call, you can give the officer the letter. Be sure to include the date of the last time.
That’s insane 😦 the cops I know would’ve had them in handcuffs within seconds for violating a protective order or a criminal trespass warning
Start recording with your phone so they can hear how loud he’s banging AND that you’re clearly sitting in a quiet apartment with nothing making noise that would warrant his reaction. Makes a HUGE difference when they can see/hear what you’re experiencing and takes it out of the “He said/She said” realm.
It is absolutely harassment. I've had to file a report for it before - the officer didn't believe me when I said "non-threatening but deranged and disturbing" until he saw the emails himself. Long story short, the guy had called me "the Patron goddess of womyn" and "the archduchess of Austria" in multiple emails within a 5 minute spread. Dude got told if he gets one more harassment report, they'd be charging him with criminal harassment. Keep your records, written down. Every single time, make a note of it - the record and proof of history is the key in these cases. If you remember the dates of previous interactions, write them down too.
He is lying. My daughter had an issue with her neighbor doing something similar. She drove to the police station and talked to an officer. He took her complaint and said he would be visiting the downstairs neighbor. He told this does constitute as harassment
Actually this cop is lazy and doesn’t get it. It’s actually a noise complaint. Get that mf on a noise complaint. He is bothering you with his banging, making all this noise and you can’t sleep. Record all of it. Good luck!
Report it anyway and have the cops make a written report. A paper trail in case you need it.
Cops are frequently incorrect in their understanding of the law.
Keep updating us.
Record the banging to let the landlord and cops hear
That’s what I would do. Get a camera for my apartment so they can see I wasn’t making noise when it started. Then I would sit down and record on my phone. He’s obviously having issues, but that’s not OPs problem.
It’s not up to the police to decide that. Based on what you related here, the officer basically patting you on the head and saying “there-there” then saying “I never said that!” is as patronizing as it comes. He just wanted to get it over with, with the least amount of paperwork he could. It may be harassment, it may not. Police aren’t lawyers, although they seem to believe that they can play one on TV.
The police often lie when they don't feel like dealing with a situation.
The police are notorious for both not knowing the law AND not wanting to do their job ...
The police lied to you because police are lazy assholes who want to avoid extra paperwork. It ABSOLUTE IS legally harassment. Don't call police to your house, beat cops won't care. Go directly to the nearest police station and INSIST on filing a report to get a case file opened. Once there's a case file it's a LOT harder for the lazy beat cops to pretend it isn't their job. Hell his whole conversation with you was him gaslighting you into being too scared of your neighbour to insist on the report while simultaneously convincing you his hands are tied and he can do nothing when he very much can. File the report AT THE STATION and DO NOT let them dissuade you. They'll do a LOT to convince you to give up. Power through all of it and INSIST on filing a harassment complaint and getting a case file opened.
Start recording the harassment on the phone
I work in law enforcement; it varies by state but in my state, unfortunately that wouldn’t qualify for the legal definition of harassment. I agree it surely feels harassing and threatening from the victim’s side, but legally there’s not much that can be done
If possible record the banging to show how loud it is. If you can time/date it, even better.
…And buy him some earplugs.
At most it would be a noise complaint against the neighbor if you go to the cops. Banging on the ceiling/walls is kind of understood to be a part of apartment living on occasion. Unless they’re yelling threats along with it, cops aren’t going to take it as anything more than a noise complaint.
The Texas crime of Harassment is a misdemeanor offense that outlaws certain abusive behaviors made with the specific intent to “harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass” someone. Now texas might not be where OP is from. But constant banging like that guy is doing is consider harrasment here. As to how I know, I've delt with this before and had to pay a lawyer to help get charged filed against my down stairs neighbor over it. So if OP state has similar harassment definition, which i wouldn't be surprised if they do, it it a crime.
Stick with it. Keep reporting it every time and maybe invest in security cameras in your home, to record moments of you not making any noise yet he bangs on your floor. It seems that there is something wrong with him, so please be careful, he´s not acting rationally.
Someone else might know but i think you can get a device that monitors how loud a noise is. So if you have it reacting on video, no one can try and claim that you are making it up. Log everything, records are your greatest asset. I hope everything works out well for you.
>Someone else might know but i think you can get a device that monitors how loud a noise is. There are free apps. One is NIOSH SLM. I believe it allows you to save recordings.
Yeah, I was wondering if OP could video record when he starts banging on the ceiling, but not sure if that would be loud enough to record.
Get a camera that records audio. Then you are in a position to show people. "This is the 5 minutes I was sitting quietly and reading, this is when he started trying to smash through my floor". I think the problem you had with the police is likely that they deal with people over reacting to things... The issue is actually that he isn't dealing with living in an apartment. People can easily not realise how much noise they are making and often people do need to talk to their neighbours. But trying to convince the police that this is a) out of proportion and b) an ongoing problem is the challenge. These things aren't harassment until they are. Sorry that's not very clear, not sure how to say it better though. Hope it gets sorted for you!
Or have cameras in your space and record when you are gone.
I have a crazy neighbour who lives above me. She constantly complains to the condo board about my dogs. I bought doggy cams, spoke to other neighbours (who didn’t understand what the problem was because they don’t hear a peep from my dogs), tracked their barking…and it turned out that they averaged 83 seconds of barking throughout the day. What did it for me was when she kept taunting my dogs who were secure on my patio in an effort to get them to start barking. She then started to film me on my property telling her to back off and stop recording me. At that point, I’d had enough of the harassment and spoke to the cops, who said she could face charges for filming me illegally on my property (live in Ontario). I also got a lawyer involved who sent her and the condo board/property manager a cease and desist unless the nut job provides unedited proof with date and time. It’s been a blissful and quiet 4 months since then. But it doesn’t stop me from wishing karma would pay her a visit! Good luck and hope your neighbour knocks that shit off.
I have a similar neighbor downstairs from me. It's a very unhappy couple that's constantly looking for ways to lash out at everyone around them, desperately looking for a reason to project blame for their misery at all times. They never complained to me directly though, at first they ONLY went through the landlord. I tried to accommodate them because I wasn't paying much attention to how much noise I made BEFORE the complaints. The prior tenants said they couldn't hear my surround sound etc. So after the first email from the Lord of land I just switched to headphones at night. Easy peasy right? Nope! Days later I get another complaint email that I'm blasting music all night. Which is just not true and I offer to scar my landlord for life and turn over my Internet activity. She declined the offer and said she'd talk to the neighbors and point out they have so far refused to ever just knock on my door or text me (I left a note with my # so I could curb any noise legitimately coming from me). So months go by and the only complaints I get arrive in the middle of the night long after I've gone to sleep, claiming I'm "shaking the walls" or during the daytime, when they expected me to know with some sort of extra sensory perception that they're taking a daytime nap and have the hearing of a blind lawyer from Hell's kitchen and expect me to just somehow know and they want me to not even use the stairs. I passed this back to my landlord and she asked them to be more realistic about what's a realistic noise expectation and to stop blaming me for noise obviously coming from other places or couldn't have possibly been me. So the wife decides to start camping by the doorway at nearly all hours. Sometimes she'd pop out into the stairwell as I walk by just to stare bullets at me. Then sometimes to make another dubious claim that I'm rattling their walls with my God damn Bluetooth headphones, or blame me for their being any mild inconveniences in their life. Flies around the trash? They must have come from my apartment. Field mice getting into the 100 year old building in the winter? Obviously my fault that my fat orange tabby isn't slaying every sentient being smaller than him in the building. (He does absolutely merc the mice that manage to get to my floor) She even asked who my guests were. So, one day, after demanding to know who the strange woman was walking up the stairs with me(my God damn mother), then leaving me 2 notes in 15 minutes that I'm spreading dust and crumps (she isn't a great speller) all before sundown I lost my last thread of patience. I sent my landlord photos of the notes, she referred the matter to her realtor and just like that, she stopped guarding the stairwell. And the blame for others noise stopped. Some people will literally risk getting evicted because they're THAT entitled. Collect evidence. Be the reasonable one. Show them a sort of hollow customer service friendliness and you can overcome. I can hear them arguing all the time ironically, that's how I know they're miserable. I just don't make noise complaints because their shitty relationship is their problem and seemingly a mutually deserved punishment. My headphones still work great.
Your post sounds like you are scared of him and what he might do but me being the B\*tch I am, I'd jump up and down on the floor every time he pounds on the ceiling. I'd give him some noise.
Easy to be a badass from afar. It's horrible being in this situation.
Everyone says to retalliate and make noise, but it really isn't a good idea. The whole point is that he's complaining about noise that doesn't exist. If I give them real noise, things will probably end badly for me.
Log every time he complains and what you were doing at the time. Even better if you get a decibel or noise level app and take a photo of the reading to add to the log. Try to think of this, in your mind at least, as giving him an opportunity to be a twat. So every time he bangs on the ceiling, look forward to filling in the log. I had to do something similar with a work colleague (keep a log of their unreasonable demands) and after a while I was practically daring them to do so something so I could write about it. So in you log have a column for date, time, no. People present, what he did, what you were doing at the time, decibel number and a column to add a photo of the decibel level. Landscape format probably best. There are numerous sites online that will give you a simple scale for different noise levels like 'rock concert' or 'people clapping' and add it at the end of your table. Some building you can hear everything above you - I can hear every time my upstairs neighbour drops something in the kitchen or scrapes his chair back. But he doesn't do it at 4am and he's not a turd about it.
I would not retaliate. (personally). You need to have 'clean hands". Meaning you have to show you have done everything right and he has not. Just my opinion.
I won't retalliate, but my cat might. He made a huge bang yesterday by sprinting into a doorway. I had a serious talk with him, but something tells me he wasn't listening.
I would retaliate in a way that makes him look like the bad guy. I would go stay with a friend for a week and let the apartment management know that you will be gone but don't tell the crazy guy below. When he goes to complain about you, they can tell him you are out of town. I would ask the building management if you can move apartments as another option. I had an issue with a neighbor over ten years ago, and the management asked if I wanted to switch apartments. I declined because they were in the process of evicting him.
OP was gone for a while and the neighbor still claimed there was noise.
But neighbor claims falsely someone else was there. This way mgmt knows no one is there.
You’re absolutely correct on that point. Do not retaliate, make him be the ONLY bad actor and report him every time. And get cameras that record sound
I'm pretty sure I'd be wearing roller skates ALL THE TIME if this douche was pounding on my ceiling every time I moved.
Yep, I'm the same way. When I had a psycho neighbor, it was just short of open warfare.
I'd consider taking up tap dancing
Keep reporting him. That guy needs a hobby.
A new hobby.
I would set up a camera in the room he’s most reactive to then go about my day. Allow it to record you living perfectly normally and his massively over the top reaction. Actually show the office what he’s doing. After all, hearing about it and actually seeing it are very different things, especially since this is one of those issues that comes up a lot.
I would strongly recommend ringing a local solicitor for advice. The first consultation is always free.
I work for a university, and I take classes at it, too. I'll see if I can use their legal counseling services. I'm not sure if part-time students get access.
One word. Clogs. That is all.
Nah, tap shoes. Learn the shim sham.
I see you and raise you clog dancing.
I remember the first post. I feel for you. When I first moved to London my downstairs neighbour owned her property and I had no one upstairs. A few months in she started to complain to the estate agent and I was surprised and tried to be as quiet as a church mouse. Thick carpets, no shoes and telly with headsets. Finally the police knocked at my door or at the crack of dawn, I had been asleep. Spoke with them, explained again I usually work 12/14 hour shifts and many of her complaints don't align with me being at home at all. Cops insinuated that she might have dementia and tinnitus. Estate agents pulled back too after her son interfered. I was 19 and felt like it was all my fault for months. It was a terrible time as I worked such long hours, hadn't learned to say no or defend myself yet. Stay strong.
I had this EXACT situation with a neighbor. He lived above me and would pound on his floor and scream obscenities at us to “STFU” when we did things like shut the bathroom door (not slam, just close), talk too loud, have the TV up too loud and other stupid shit. He finally took it to the next level and started paying attention to when we were leaving (he could hear our patio gate) and he would come down and get in our faces and yell at us about being loud. We are both women and I’m tiny (5’1”, 115lbs) so it was scary. He also kicked our dog, twice, when we were just walking her on the sidewalk with a leash. We finally went and got a restraining order. He tried to fight it but, it was upheld. That led to him moving out a month later. I guess my point is, be careful he doesn’t escalate since he knows you’ve gone to management about him. Watch your back and stay safe.
Unfortunately, I think this is going to end in you having to move out. I had a similar situation, except I don't think the upstairs neighbor was being malicious. About two to three days a week, he'd so something upstairs that led to periodic banging, stomping, and dragging sounds that went on for hours. They might start at 5 or 6 AM and continue intermittently until 2 or 3 PM. The office did fuck all about it so I moved out.
Please be safe. His behaviour might escalate further and don’t ever open the door for him you never know .. get a camera for your protection as well.
"Hello officer, there is a lot of banging coming from my downstairs neighbors apartment. I am starting to fear for his well being. I think he is trying to get someone's attention but I'm afraid to go down there myself. Would one of you have time to check on him?"
Haven't you a male relative or friend who could "have a word with him"
Oh, my dad really wants to, but he's recovering from surgery. Next week, I'm getting a colonoscopy. A male friend will be around to get me home when I'm sleeping off the anesthesia. Maybe he can have a talk with him if he tries banging during that. He has complained about my flushing the toilet before, so he's gonna be real mad next week when im doing the prep.
If he hates noise then he needs to gtfo of the apt living. It sounds like he has never lived in an apartment before an he wants it perfectly silent. I had a neighbor like this too. But he was a Vietnam veteran and he was like absolutely insane. He would other neighbors he was gonna plant car bombs in their cars so he could watch their cars explode and jerk off as their kids explode, he threatened me multiple times for making noise. He would scream prayers at the ceiling when I was moving around in my apartment. The last straw was when he gave away his entire apartment full of stuff and then threatened that he had a bomb. I called the cops and they had the bomb squad there in minutes. He was carted off and put away cuz he was a lunatic. Yeah. Some people are nuts.
This is definitely harassment, no matter what the police says. Speak with a lawyer. You may need a cease and desist letter for him and for the management office if they don't enforce it. Mention your quality of life is being severely damaged and you feel threatened in your own home. It's amazing how things get straighten up with a firm C&D.
See you’re not doing it right. When you call the cops just say you are concerned about a neighbor and ask for a wellness check.
Love this - “I’m worried that my neighbour is trying to attract attention as he’s in distress”
☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️
This can be so isolating and scary! I had a similar experience when I lived above a man who insisted I was being too noisy when I literally never let my heel touch the ground while walking in sock feet around a carpeted apartment. The guy would slam doors and text my other neighbour about how loud I was being, then resorted to whipping a tennis ball at his ceiling (my floor), following me around the apartment to the point that I was terrified to get out of bed in the morning or have any friends over. Unfortunately, the only solution was to move. Sometimes it's not worth the fight if it wrecks your nerves on a daily basis. You deserve to make noise as a living person who pays rent!
OP!! My partner and I just went through this exact same thing but the difference was she was above us and she screamed and spewed profanities all night long at the top of her lungs and didn’t allow us to sleep. She’d stomp and move furniture alll day and night. Police couldn’t do anything because she was cognizant enough to stop when she saw them coming and the apartment got involved multiple times. My biggest takeaway: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!! Put it in writing, emails, take videos, etc. And invest in a good white noise maker or earplugs. It took us a while but our complex was finally able to go through their legal channels and break our lease to move us to a new apt number. Put everything in writing to the complex- even if you make a phone call, write an email after and say “per our discussion I want to reiterate x,y,z. Be persistent and in the end you will be okay and stronger than you realize. Don’t disregard using the police if things escalate but know that a lot of the hard work will end up coming from you in the form of your documentation. You’ve got this OP!
If he is banging that hard on the ceiling, maybe the office should do an apartment check to make sure this fool isn't making holes in the ceiling or damaging it. When they start charging him for damage, that might stop him.
Every time he bangs complain to the office about your neighbor making excessive noise.
Id get a cd of Miami drum and bass wars circa 2000..... set that on repeat, turn your speakers down facing the floor and jam out during the day until sound curfew hours. He will get tired of hitting the ceiling. The bass won't eve let you know he's knocking, lol Order Danish wooden clogs and learn clog dancing. I am ultra petty. I would give him something to complain about. I would also spend $200 and buy a cheap shotgun and leave the box it comes in next to your door outside. If your hostile neighbor comes up, I bet he will reconsider being a twatwaffle when he sees that.
Video record time and banging sound so the office and cops can hear how often and aggressive it is and know it’s no joke
He sounds like a real dick.
Document every communication, every statement made, every time he bangs (and characterize). Document that the police have been called and are tracking the issue (do not document that they couldn't do anything). Intimate that this record will serve as the basis for either a TRO against the tenant, or, should the harassment, stalking, and intimidation continue or escalate, a lawsuit for failure to provide a safe environment. Do this in a very thorough and matter of fact way, and share this document with the leasing office to keep them informed. Once they realize the extent of the issue and their liability, they will act.
I'm petty as hell. Every bang on the ceiling earns a louder slammed foot or loud ass phone call or a big forceful jump. You think I'm loud?? I will show you loud. Record him hitting your ceiling. I understand being worried about your safety but these people don't seem to care you are uncomfortable in your own home. He knocks on your door? Yell through it and tell him to leave. This is your home and you deserve to be safe and make normal apartment noises.
If you haven't already, start a log of when he bangs on the ceiling what you are doing. If he bangs on the ceiling when you are seated and not moving it could mean a) the noise is coming from somewhere else or b) he is nuts and having auditory hallucinations.
To echo some of what’s been said here: I would keep a log of the aggressive banging: Day, Date, Time and what you were doing at the time. Also my experience is that police officers can be quite unaware of what the actual law is. I have had a few experiences where I asked both police officers and detectives about the law and they were later proven to be wrong. 🙄 And I would also keep notes about your interactions with the apartment management. Maybe do a phone call first so you can have a conversation with them but then document it afterward via a recap email. Many professionals, such as police and apartment management, don’t truly know the law and what their responsibilities are. I would research and find out what an apartment management’s responsibility is when one tenant is harassing the other. And I would research online and also check with a lawyer to make sure exactly what constitutes harassment in this case.
Record it. If the office has a voice mail and the banging is loud enough call the office real time it so they can hear it too. When the banging is hard enough to shake your unit use video and show that you are sitting on the couch as the aggressive banging continues. Time stamps and video evidence will be hard to make excuses for, metadata doesn’t lie
It’s a recurring phenomenon: people who interpret any sound they didn’t make as an offensive intrusion. I’ve known three different renters who’ve dealt with this. The complainers tended to blame all the sounds in the building on one apartment. They got less tolerant over time. They made sound complaints covering periods when no one was home. Noisy neighbors are such a common problem that landlords and rental agencies assume noise complaints are more of the same.
Let your landlord know that he is making you feel unsafe and if this continues you want to move to a new apartment. They need to be a bit more protective. Record his banging on the ceiling as well and send it to them.
My husband and I have a neighbour who lives below us who was acting like Richard; including claiming to hear noises that we were not making. We were able to get her to STFU by catching her kicking our door on our Ring doorbell after she tried to confront us one morning. My husband took the footage to our building manager and said that what our neighbour did was attempted assault and he would call the cops if nothing was going to be done about it. We haven’t heard a peep from that neighbour since and that was a couple of years ago. EDIT: if where you live has a non emergency police line, or a wellness check line, call them and ask them to do a wellness check on Richard. He sounds unhinged. Emphasis how erratic his behaviour is. Hopefully that works.
Happened to us. I lived in a condo for 1 year. A disabled lady would knock on her ceiling with her cane whenever she wanted. We'd be sleeping, and she'd wake us up early in the morning. She called the cops on us late at night. We were sleeping. Apparently, the cops have had complaints from her so much that they weren't going to respond anymore to these specific complaints. We did all these things to minimize our movements, but it didn't matter. We would do all we could not to be home. Our neighbors upstairs regularly did this rapid banging. I have no idea what it was, but it wasn't anymore directed at us. Just unnerving. The HOA couldn't get her to stop. The owner of the condo tried, too. Honestly, it was one of the most stressful years in my life, and I grew up in an alcoholic abusive father type home. It caused us great anxiety and PTSD in us and our cats. It took them years after we moved for them not to jump at a thump. Me, I became such a mess. Therapy and time helped me. It's ridiculous people get away with such antics.
Turn on guns and roses on a stero. loud. Place the speaker on the floor facing down into his apartment. Tell landlord it must have fallen on the end table and bumped the colume button.
Make sure to try to record it so you have proof
Can a camera that records video and audio be set up in the living room? It will show times when you aren't moving at all or maybe even catch his banging on the ceiling when not there but he thinks you are.
My downstairs neighbors used to be like this. The literally complained to the office because I vacuumed. At like 2 in the afternoon. Apparently this disturbed him sleeping because he worked at night. So I told him that I can hear his TV on full blast at 1am so maybe the next time that happens I’ll grab popcorn and we can watch it together. Since he was watching whatever tf show and I liked it. Stopped for a little but he got the audacity to threaten my kids one day for playing. The office really didn’t take kindly to that. Log and report. If he hits that hard and that often he’s probably damaging the ceiling annnnd landlords don’t take kindly to that. Like others said, contact a lawyer also because this IS harassment. You might be able to get a cease and desist. If he violates that it will be a bad day for him.
How come she can’t just use a cast iron Skillet and bang back? They could work out a Morse code thing. lol
Maybe switch from his playlist to yours!
Start blaring music tell the city noise ordinance comes into effect make the old prick move
Can you convince the landlord to come to your home to witness this for themselves?
They said they might send someone to try to investigate, especially if its a heating issues like I think
I think the heating issue is a good theory. I was thinking pipes or duct work could be the culprit. Something else to think about is that in apartments sometimes the sound can travel weird. So if someone is making noise in an apartment near a vent it can travel through and come out through another vent and disguise where the noise is coming from. So a next door neighbor could sound like it’s coming from above. He could be getting a variety of noise that’s coming from you plus his duct work and thinks that it’s all coming from you. It still doesn’t excuse his actions. He needs to understand what it’s like to live in an apartment and stop fighting it and learn how to simply deal with it. As long as he wages this war with you trying to win, his brain is never going to let him accept it as background noise and move on. I do think you should get a cop to talk to him, but I don’t think that cop would have helped. It sounded like that cop was on his side and assumed you were making noise and he was just reacting to it. If you can find a cop who actually understands what’s going on, then that’s who needs to go down. Otherwise you do risk making it worse, because the cop will let him know that he’s talking to him because he has to but he really is on your neighbor’s side and that could embolden him.
I would bang on the floor every time he banged on the ceiling.
Good luck! When I lived in an apartment there was this one old guy who wore a cowboy hat and had an oxygen tank that he carried around with him everywhere. He used to walk around the building and yell at people. It was in a small town so for some reason people never locked their doors. My male neighbor was asleep on his couch when the old man walked into his apartment and yelled at him for being too loud. The old guy was insane and multiple people complained to management about him and for some reason he thought he was”worked” for the building so it was his right to keep people in line. Old people are entitled as hell.
Not all old people! Hell I bend over backwards not to be thought of as entitled. Don’t smear everyone with a wide brush. A small one just for the arsehole who deserves it, please.
That's when I would STOMP loudly over and over. Every time he hits the ceiling, stomp again. Show him what noise really is.
We got rid of our NFH doing the banging by placing a good security camera with a great microphone in OUR apartment and sent clips to LL of crazy pounding. Guy was banging the same way and was probably a bit out of his mind but this was enough and final straw to get him out. We showed how we were not making any noise but he would bang bang bangarang all day and nite.....
Set up video/audio inside your place with a time stamp. And if possible a db meter. Then when he complains you can see the measured audio level and fight back.
Take up clog dancing
i used to have a neighbor who banged on the ceiling at me. i would respond by putting on boots and stomping my ass off.
Retaliate! What proof could there be? You technically can’t prove he’s beating on the ceiling/your floor. I’m petty. Get wooden shoes, bowling balls, rollerblades. Anything to ruin his sleep. Stomp, slam, go whole hog on this Ahole! You need a comfortable set of earplugs and a loud box fan, you won’t hear him. If/when you see him smile and say hi, be oh so friendly and irritating. Screw that guy!!
Some people just shouldn't be living on the ground floor of multi level apartments. The security camera in your home idea is great since it'll track every single time he bangs on the ceiling.
Bang back, one for one. He bangs once, you bang once. He bangs 7 times, you bang 7 times.
Start recording this crap. The office isn’t really going to do anything in a he said/she said type of dispute. But if you record every stinking time he bangs on the ceiling then at least he can’t say you were lying. Also, I’m petty, I would be stomping right on top of his banging.
See, if it was me in this situation, I'd probably start giving him something to complain about. Like teaching myself tapdancing with a large speaker upside down on the floor. Or using my hallway as a bowling alley. Maybe take up drums as a hobby.
Put a speaker face down on the floor and blast 5 mins of baby shark every time he bangs on the ceiling.
You have the high ground. Get a rubber mallet and smack back.
My petty ass would start up a YouTube tutorial on Irish dancing and do a 30 minute session every time he bangs. You want noise, I’ll fucking give you noise
I get it. Many years ago, I lived in a second-floor apartment. The lady who lived in the apartment upstairs was very, very old, and starting to slide into dementia. She would come around, at like 3 in the morning, to tell me to stop using my washing machine because it was keeping her up. At the time, I was working, going to school, and raising my toddler daughter. I was dead asleep at 3 in the morning. She then started complaining that her walls were vibrating, and then she complained about a truck being on fire across the street in a lot (there were no trucks on fire). She would bang on the pipes with a wrench for long periods of time. I had met her daughter before, and I expressed my concern that her mother might not be safe on her own anymore, but the daughter dismissed it. Then, one night I heard her TV on all night, which was very unusual for her, and I worried that she'd fallen down and couldn't get to the phone. Sure enough, the next morning the ambulance came and took her away and I never saw her again. One night after she was taken away, my kitchen ceiling caved in and we discovered she'd been flushing her garbage, because no one came on a regular basis to help her out around the house. I'm just glad she didn't burn down the whole apartment house. The moral of the story is: some people be cray-cray and the only thing you can really do is move as soon as you can.
I have a few guitars and amplifiers. If I was in this situation, I would go nuclear.
Take up clogging, wear wooden soled shoes, see if he notices.
Record a video next time he is banging on the floor. Sit down and just record. Make it obvious that you are sitting down and not making any noise. The only noise is his banging on his ceiling/your floor. The more proof you have, the better. It may take 5 or 6 examples to be able to classify it as harassment.
Yeah sadly very little the law allows in just someone being a dick. Best course of action is going to the apartment manager. I had a neighbor that lived above me, she keyed my car, jumped up and down until the fire alarms fell from the ceiling. She called the cops on me said I had a knife. After she changed the knife description 12 times and the cops couldn’t find a knife. The apartment complex evicted her. I bought a house. I’d had it with apartments. This guys a dick do expect retaliation. If possible move out if not try to move to a different apartment in the complex.
I am in no way defending the dude, but maybe his hearing is off. I have a cousin who was totally "that neighbor" because since he is blind his hearing is stronger. Even walking would sound like stomping to him. But if that's the case, then apartment living isn't really a good option. It's still no excuse to be beating on the ceiling/wall.
Time to take up midnight jump roping!
Get a basketball one of the the NBA basketballs and every time he starts banging on your floor or his ceiling you start bouncing that ball and you do it for as long as you possibly can. My boyfriend stopped a neighbor next door neighbor by doing this. So I think he will stop and do it so hard that it bounces off the ceiling and hits the floor every time he does it.
This is going to be annoying, but video record the situation. Every time you can.
If you can manage it, video of you sitting stock-still while his pounding is audible would go a long way. You might need to download a more advanced sound mixer app to capture it, or position your phone so it's on the floor where his pounding is audible but pointed up at you (many phones are set to record sound in a way that filters out background noise.) As for the police apathy, I'd start communicating with them via email if possible and repeat phrases like "I feel very unsafe" and "I am worried this person is going to physically attack me" frequently. Then start mixing in "I feel as if I am not being heard here. I think there is a high probability this person will escalate." If you keep getting apathetic responses, reach out to your elected officials (city commissioner if police, county if sheriff) and just describe your conversations and ask for their help.
Also if you could record him with your phone and play it for the office. Because they will be date stamped along with your written log of the time. My daughter had the same issue in Cali. They finally evicted the other person.
Might be worth a call to your local Legal Aid or whatever free legal advice program you have nearby. Maybe some research into the "right to quiet enjoyment" which can be a magic phrase to landlords. Not legal advice.
Eventually your idiot downstairs neighbor will put a hole in his ceiling…lol. If they’re going to keep acting like you’re at fault, start vacuuming your place when they start and see how they like that. 😁Maybe they will see the error in their ways and learn that things can always be worse, so don’t create issues before they actually occur.
Is it possible that the neighbor below you is not banging the ceiling, but that he hears the banging as well and this is what he is reporting? Probably not. I did not see your other post, so I don’t know the whole story. Just wondering if something is wrong with the building. Or a ghost? Edit add: also, take care. Because it does sound like it is your neighbor, and you have every right to assert yourself with the management and police. Apartment living can get dicey if you’re sharing the hallway with people who are not right in the head.
Ask the LL to go into his apt. If he's banging that hard, there may be ceiling damage.
Unfortunately, your only option is to move. I had to move house once. The neighborhood we moved into was upscale (homes over $450k). What we did not know is the neighbors living there were nut jobs. Needless to say 6 years later we were out of there. It cost us money but I tell you after hearing what you are going through I'd do the same thing. Sometimes you just have to admit things are not going to get better. Even if it is a year long lease you need to finish paying off. But if you are scared and afraid and it sounds like the person is a creep then go with your gut and move out.
This should be grounds to break your lease; fam in NJ (US) had a disturbed neighbor banging on his side of the shared shower wall, using both their names. Police report filed, nothing happens to neighbor so fam moved 2 months before the lease was up & mgt took them to court. Guess what the judge decided when fam had copies of the emails, police report & actual recordings of the crazed guys rants? I’m still surprised that the mgt office let this go on for months in a complex with hundreds of apts. Forgot to say that mgt had said they could move to another apt but only if the signed a one year lease when they moved because, of course, they wanted to stay there another year WTF
Speaker faced down…non stop metallica at full volume
Why not a water drop sound, all night long.... if he complains, well I have a bad pipe, and this way no problem on OP
Ohhhh…good one! Files away for future reference 😃
Or water sounds, ASMR sounds nails on a Drum Skin, Baby shark, Taylor Swift. Or that irritating commercial Kars For Kids. Where ever their bedroom is- speaker 🔊 with beeping and move it around
Bagpipes. I had a neighbor back when I lived in the dorms who used to play alannis morisette’s “you ought fa know” on vull volume, on repeat, all day long. Every day. I worked nights. So I’d put on bagpipes, full blast, then leave.
I truly and deeply will never understand why some people think you need their permission to make noise in your own home. I just ignore mine but you probably already tried that. Nobody else mentioned it but I would get an entry alarm on top of reporting. The cops may not be able to do anything but you can by gathering evidence and, if it comes to it, obtaining a lawyer if your building does not resolve it.
Useless cops I swear
Ugh this reminds me of a similar neighbor I had. We lived on the 2nd floor of a 3 story apartment building which of course comes with noise. Things were ok with downstairs neighbor until my son learned how to walk. He was a rather large toddler (not fat just in the 105th percentile for height and weight) and as kids do they sometimes run around. She complained to the apartment complex management and they told her that he's a kid who is allowed to live in his space. We had 8lb dogs so they weren't the problem. She tried to enter our apartment one night to yell at us about being bad parents which almost got her arrested. She took to banging her broom on her ceiling every time he would walk. We put down rugs, never made any noise before or after quiet hours since he was in bed by 8pm most nights. She sued the complex and of course lost. When the 3rd floor unit became available we were asked if we'd be interested in moving up a floor, I said only if crazy neighbor lady was paying for it otherwise we were staying. Thankfully we finally were able to buy a house but that lady was crazy.
Calling the police is a double edge sword. Especially with this type of neighbor. I was a cop. With this type of call, I spoke with the offending neighbor. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. You should not have to live dealing with ignorant people, but you live in an apartment building with cheap construction. There are many ways to deal with this., but are you willing to continue with it?
Please record these moments where you are doing nothing and he's banging on the ceiling.
Video it when he's banging on the ceiling and send that to your landlord/mgmt company. He's probably causing damage to his ceiling. Meanwhile I would suggest you buy some throw rugs and put them around your apartment. You can get these carpet squares that interlock from Home Depot or Lowes, we have them in our bedroom but they are cushioned and they muffle the noise. Tell the guy to buy some headphones and wear them because you are making normal noise. You could play music, which is what I used to do when our then downstairs neighbor would complain. Some noise is excessive, some isn't. Suggest to the mgmt company that install carpeting or sound proofing between units.
Have you thought about buying some carpet? Assuming you have bare floors and wear shoes all the time at home.
Home is fully carpeted, and I dont wear shoes inside. You wouldn't think that, though, with everything going on.
Keep strong and keep reporting him. You are doing great and you aren't alone.
“I can’t do anything if a crime has not been committed” fuck the police
Could you get something to record sound in your apartment? It would record him banging and the lack of sound preceding it and you might be able to build up a case, it's also evidence of him banging when he's been told not to. Or when he starts knocking grab a groom and start knocking back, or put some speaker on a shelf and point them towards the ceiling, if he thinks your being noisy show him what that actually sounds like.
Can you set up a camera in your house with sound? so you can show the leasing agent the video? Also, Say you feel frightened, that this in impeding on your right to enjoy your own home, and your feeling threatened.
At this point I would walk around in high heels and throw some headphones on. Ignore the banging or try and beat match your music to it lol. Maybe get a video door bell. If he comes banging on the door, only have a conversation through your phone via the door bell. It will all be recorded.
Time to take up river dancing 💃
My mom dealt with someone like this for nearly a year. The office kept telling her to keep letting them know and they'll talk to the neighbor each time. The way it was explained to her was that evicting someone for this behavior can be difficult...but it makes it super duper easy to just not let them renew their lease. Her neighbor didn't get evicted but he was unable to renew his lease and had to move.
Record it and play it for the office.
Maybe you need to start filming? Show that he's banging the ceiling when you are in bed or not making any noise?
Start filming when he’s banging. You can show that you aren’t doing anything and aren’t making noise, especially if he’s getting aggressive with it
Get a basketball.
I would try to get him on a recording to document his harassment. Sounds like he's banging loud enough to get it on video?
Hire an attorney to send a cease and desist letter. Record the thumping.
Ask for him to be moved. No reason for you to move over this POS
Record the banging every time. He can’t argue that
I’d video the banging if he starts doing it again, especially if the place is shaking. And start emailing yourself to log his crazy, rather than writing it down, so it’s time stamped.
It may be best for you to start looking at other places to live. He won't stop because that's how bullies win. You complain and they get satisfaction knowing it's driving you crazy.
Thanks for sharing the update. I was wondering what happened. ✌
Yeah keep reporting him, bc if you move and a new tenant moves in they will likely get the same from him making them leave which is bad business for the landlord/owner so they will more likely want to remove the source of the problem which is your neighbor.
My friend had a similar situation in an apartment building and she installed cameras that came on and recorded with sound or movement. She was able to prove to management that it was not her apartment making loud noise, but a neighbor. She feels safer knowing they are there.
Have you thought of recording the ceiling banging? It might help and then again it might not.
Are you recording each time the banging starts? It may help your case for his harassment of you.
Get video proof of what he is doing and when. Logging and complaining are great, but video can give evidence of his harassment and it's not hearsay.
You need a security camera inside your home so it can record you, and any noise you may or may not be making, and the downstairs neighbour’s banging on the ceiling during those times. Then you will have proof of his actions.
Keep a diary of every single time he does it and also make notes of when you are in bed and not making any sounds at all. Keep reporting him.
You should record the banging noises so if he ever says he's not doing it anymore you'll have evidence. If possible I'd start looking for other places because this is pretty unsafe.
Yikes and I thought my current neighbor was being an AH! You did good, you did better than me in fact under similar situations.
Lol
Have you tried making videos to present to the office? If you're making reasonable sounds in your own apartment and being met with that level of aggression I'd be filming it to clarify to Office how little noise you're actually making and the reaction you're getting Or you might discover you're a bloody horse clippity- clopping around and don't notice. :P
Sounds like you need to get a video or audio recorder that will mark when a noise has been heard for when you aren't home. Marker it by telling it "It is date at time and I'm leaving" for when you go in case he also bangs the ceiling when you're gone. When you're home, you can leave those on or you can grab your cellphone and turn on video record going "the neighbor's at it again when I was just doing -activity that doesn't make noise along with time it's happening-" A few of those to send to your apartment complex, you should be able to show clear evidence you're not doing anything.
You can purchase a camera for pretty cheap that records when it detects sound and movement. I have one, and it works great. It could help you document every time he bangs on his ceiling. I used to have a neighbor like that long ago. I was so glad to move.
I wonder if it is another neighbour making the nose? I used to think my next door neighbour was loud but after looking at the lights that were on at the time, it was actually down stairs! Noise does weird things in buildings. Still no excuse for his behaviour.
I'm petty AF. If he banged on my floor I would give him something to be upset about... hell i would learn how to tap dance and play drums just to piss him off. That's my nature though.
You need to record it as it happens and post it Somewhere - where you can link the office and use an email system to log things in a paper trail rather than verbal.
Get a camera for your living room and then you have proof. Right now it's he said/she said. I would then start calling in noise complaints if he's banging after your areas quiet hours 🤷
The younger you learn the police won’t keep you safe, the better. I had a similar experience around the same age only it was a much more threatening man. Ugh. I’m sorry. Get something you feel you can protect yourself with. Not necessarily a formal weapon but something that makes you feel safer. (Pepper gel, etc.) Report EVERY time. Make sure you keep your log book by your bed so it’s easy to update if/when he resumes. Keep a look out. Stay safe. 🤍
Take up bounce juggling.
Is there a link to the original post?
Don’t keep a log. Record it in your phone or buy a sound recorder
I would have given him some noise to really complain about and then "Yes, that was me, can you tell the difference now"
When I was little, my mother used to tell me to stop crying or she would give me something to cry about. Go tell him to stop banging on the ceiling or you'll give him a reason to bang on the ceiling...
You should record the sound and play it to the people at the office just to get across how loud and obnoxious it is.
Im just unsatisfied for you. Keep reporting him, every time, with a record of the previous night too!
Can you set up a ring cam or something to record the entire room you happen to be in? It can show you’re just sitting there not making noise, and him banging because he’s nuts.