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I purchased my co-op a little over a year ago and have an ongoing noise problem with the sublet tenants above me. They take care of their grandchild 8-12 hrs. a day, 7 days a week. The child runs & jumps constantly back and forth in the apt. and there is no carpeting in the apt.
I have written the board & mgt. about the problem numerous times; quoting the specific clauses in both the house rules and proprietary lease that apply to this problem.
Since I complained, the grandparents have begun to bang on the walls and purposely drop heavy objects on the floor at all hours...including 1 AM, 2AM and 4AM. To date, nothing has been done.
I was told by both the board & mgt. at our last meeting that it is not a board problem nor a mgt. problem.
I must be misinformed. I thought that part of the duties of both the board & mgt. was to enforce both the house rules & proprietary lease. Am I wrong?
Thank you for all of your helpful responses. I'll continue trying to get this issue resolved. BTW, I did speak to the grandparents and parents about the noise before contacting the rest of the board & mgt. Obviously, it didn't help.
They are sub-tenants in breach of House Rules, BL and PL. You are entitled to appropriate levels of quiet. You can request that the Board file a 'Notice to Cure'/30 day to begin foreclosure proceedings be filed against the shareholder. You can request that the sublease be terminated or not be renewed due to repeated breach of the sublease requirements which should be requiring strict adherence to the Coop's rules. You must start and keep a paper trail of everything, in writing both to the Board, and the shareholder who is accountable for the actions of his sub-tenants, and file complaints with the local police precinct. Yes, if they are foolish they will retaliate, which should provide further evidence of the breach. Good luck, noise is probably the biggest complaint that Boards and Police have to deal with I think. Dogs I think are #2. Document everything, time of day, date and specifics, everything, nothing is too small if you are collecting on a consistent pattern of abuse.
You have an expectation of quite enjoyment and a warranty of habitability. Both should insure your not being continuously bothered by noise. Your board must act strongly at this point and certainly, carpeting, rules and p..l. are a big part of the picture.
Precedent is the famous 1995 case "Nostrand Gardens Co-op vs. Howard." You can read about it at:
http://www.habitatmag.com/Earlier-Issues/2007-October/Featured-Articles-from-Our-Print-Magazine/Noise-Complaints-and-the-New-2007-Law
Let your board know you're aware of this law, and maybe then they'll react properly.
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How is excessive noise not a Board or Management issue, especially if there are house rules and lease clauses against it??? Our MA just sent a letter to one of our shareholders telling them of the noise complaints against them, quoting the proprietary lease clause and also stating that they need to arrange a time for the super to do an inspection to make sure they have the required amount of carpeting. We encourage our residents to speak to their neighbors first but if that does not resolve the problem they eventually turn to us and a letter is sent, which usually does the job.
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