Tips for Dealing with Noisy Neighbors

Dealing with noisy neighbors can be very frustrating. Living in a college town for the past six years, I have had to deal with a lot of obnoxious and rowdy neighbors. I have, however, found that many can be quite easily reasoned with. Often times, your neighbors may not realize that they are being disruptive. Calmly and politely asking them to tone it down may be all it takes to remedy the situation. I have, in fact, been asked myself to keep it down on more than one occasion and in both instances I was not aware of the disturbance I was creating until my neighbors kindly let me know.

Of course, not everyone will respond so congenially to your request. If your neighbor refuses to respond promptly to your request, verbally abuses or threatens you in any way, you should call your local police immediately and let them handle the situation from that point on. If you suspect that the noise is the result of domestic violence or a party where alcohol or other drugs might be involved, you should, for your own safety, skip the personal request and go straight to the cops. They will be much better equipped to handle the situation if it gets out of hand. However, if other instances, it is typically in your best interest to first try to resolve the situation on your own. Neighbors who are unaware of the noise pollution they are creating may become hostile if you send the cops to their house rather than addressing them personally.

There is also the chance that you will have conflict with your neighbors due to different work or social schedules. People who work a night shift will sometimes complain if their neighbor decides to vacuum at three in the afternoon. However, well it is unfortunate for them, the rest of the world is on an entirely different schedule and they can't expect their neighbors to adjust their lives to fit their individual needs.

The best policy when it comes to noisy neighbors is to first rely on open and honest communication. If you are very angry at the disturbance, you may want to send a calmer member of the household to speak with your neighbors if at all possible. Conflict with your neighbors will most likely only lead to more problems for you as your paths are bound to cross at least once in awhile. Try to keep the police out of it if possible, but do not hesitate to call for backup if the situation escalates or if your neighbors continually create disturbances.

Sadly, there are some situations where all of your efforts will go unrewarded. In such cases, you simply must have patience, invest in a good pair of ear plugs, and start searching the real estate section of your local newspaper!