What to do About a Noisy Neighbor?

Joan Stevens July 14, 2012 at 12:02 pm

Jeez- I wonder who "nonoise" might be?!
As for electric bass- someone is probably just practicing. If you approach them politely and ask them to turn it down or skip the amplifier or use headphones or something you might solve the problem and maybe make a friend at the same time. Always better than calling the police on someone initially - cowardly and unneighborly!

Christina G. July 14, 2012 at 12:08 pm

I'd say try talking to your neighbor first. If they don't get it, then try the formal complaint route. We'll also just ignore the "fairly upscale" tidbit and remember that we're all neighbors. ;)

Steve Thompson July 14, 2012 at 12:47 pm

You could always learn to play an instrument, maybe the drums. Then you and you neighbor could form a band and turn the noise into beautiful melodies! And then go to an resturant like Colombo's and entertain the upscale and downscale parts of Eagle Rock!

nonoise July 14, 2012 at 01:42 pm

Talking to a neighbor rarely works. And, if you do and the nieghbor gets angry at you, then when you do call the police they know who called.

nonoise July 14, 2012 at 01:46 pm

Cowardly and unneighborly is the person annoying their neighbors with loud noise. That person should sound proof their home so they do not annoy their neighbors or go somewhere on a deserted island. People need to keep their noise to themselves within their 4 walls, and that includes Divine Saviour Catholic Church.
Wish the patch cared about my noise problem.

jason blandford July 14, 2012 at 01:49 pm

we wrote a letter of complaint to the city about a noisy dog and its incessant barking. that was about a year ago or more, and the dog has been much quieter. not sure what happened with the city's follow up. but dog's are a different situation than musicians. i play electric guitar at home and have yet to receive any sort of complaint. i've even asked a neighbor if she can hear it just in case. i'd personally prefer a neighbor knocking on my door to talk to me. then we could talk about times when it would work for me to practice, rather than police telling me to turn it off.

nonoise July 14, 2012 at 01:53 pm

Jason, you are the exception to the rule. You are a considerate neighbor. But most neighbors are NOT considerate like you are. Kudo's to you for being a good neighbor.
If Divine Saviour Catholic Church was a good neighbor they would turn off their amplified sound system. I lived there before they put up their noisy sound system. They are NOT a good neighbor. It is great to hear there are a few good neighbors out there like you.

nonoise July 14, 2012 at 02:03 pm

Justin Bieber is being sued for his loud noisy concert.
http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/12/justin-bieber-lawsuit-hearing-noise-concert-oregon/

Mark July 14, 2012 at 02:47 pm

I live in Eagle Rock and I'm also a musician that practices daily at home. Because I play a brass wind instrument, I don't have the option of using headphones. I try to keep my activity to after 8AM and before 10PM. I close windows in the room I use to minimize the effect of the sound traveling outside the house. If any of my neighbors are bothered by my practicing, I would encourage them to contact me first to work out a solution rather then call the police. Calling LAPD seems like a last resort after other measures have been tried and failed.
As an aside, I understand that it is illegal to interrupt a practicing musician in Austria. I'd guess that this applies to a violinist as well as an electric bass player. One person's noise can be another person's music.

Pree July 14, 2012 at 03:21 pm

We have a neighbor that often (almost on a daily basis) complain about every noise on the block. It could be a bass guitar, a friendly children's pool party or even a television. I do believe everyone has the right to relax and be comfortable in their home and that is exactly why I think this story is biased and should consider what the OTHER party has done to limit the noise. There is only so much a considerate neighbor can do for an irate neighbor. Once you complain one too many times about each neighbor, it is harassment and you can be sued.

Sarah Bucolic July 14, 2012 at 03:32 pm

The police do not help with neighbor situations. We used to live next to two middle aged bullies who actually threatened my husband and would stand outside my bedroom and living room windows. We called the police many times on these creeps and they did absolutely nothing and treated us like we were either imagining things or like we were the bad guys. After that experience we decided to move as the violent threats kept escalating with absolutely no help from LAPD or the landlords. It was not the northeast police station but Hollenbeck which is just awful.
Seeing as it is just music as a problem try asking them politely if they can keep it down for at least a little bit. I personally wouldn't bother as it is during the day and not at night when trying to sleep. But if it is extremely loud every weekend and you're afraid of retaliation ask the police to pay them a visit and stay anonymous. Our former neighbors threatened us because of their vicious dogs who would bark all day and night and tried to bite us. So I can see why you would be afraid over asking the neighbor to turn it down. Good luck!

Tim Ryder July 14, 2012 at 03:36 pm

My neighbors and I get along great because we communicate with each other. When we have an issue (which is rare) we approach each other with respect and are if something is affecting our quality of life, we inform them nicely. Most of the time the neighbor is quite unaware that they are even causing an issue until you contact them about it. Bringing the cops into a petty neighbor-neighbor dispute is a very inefficient use of law enforcement resources when you could have resolved the issue yourself with a little tact and diplomacy. Of course if you do have one of those rude and inconsiderate neighbors (which I've had) who refuse to behave in a mature and civil manner than by all means get their offending behavior on audio or video so that when you do go to the police you will the evidence to support your position instead of just "hearsay" which the cops just hate.

Elijah H July 14, 2012 at 03:50 pm

If approached the way you took on your situation, you are correct, it rarely works.
Here's a better approach: Walk your neighborhood often, get to know your neighbors, before resentments simmer over. Offer help and assistance to neighbors when you can. If you develop a relationship with them and get them to see you as a part of their community, when and if there is a grievance, most reasonable neighbors will have sympathy for your cause. On the rare occasion that they don't, you'll have generated goodwill among other neighbors who might be better placed to reach them. The key is to *not* make yourself out to be their enemy on every issue (as you have).

Nelson R Grande II July 14, 2012 at 04:28 pm

Calling the Police is probably the least productive thing to do. While I understand you may be frustrated, getting a third party involved will just lead to animosity.
If you manage to gather the courage to speak with another human, you may realize that this person is just like you. Who knows? You may even make a friend! Taking an antagonizing position can only lead to an antagonizing situation. Let's go with working together, folks. It solves problems much better than a law or some non-local arbiters with nothing vested in your Community. If things don't work out, at least you have a better idea of who is your neighbor. And isn't that a win in itself?

Frank Mackey July 14, 2012 at 04:32 pm

Let's see we have neighbor who has played loud electric guitar for years, another who plays loud and hideous 80's music, barking dogs and screaming parrots and another neighbor who seems to have loud parties EVERY Friday or Saturday complete with a jumper flinging yelling kids like popcorn. But for the most part are nice neighbors. You just have to learn to phase it out and ignore it. I don't mean you but there are a lot of people who just WANT to be bothered by everything. Thankfully none of them live near me.

Gary van der Steur July 14, 2012 at 04:33 pm

I agree that a neighbor-neighbor approach is the first thing to try, especially if you go with a group. There is power, and safety, in numbers; finding people who will step up and get involved can be hard, though.

Nelson R Grande II July 14, 2012 at 04:33 pm

Let's try encouraging folks to work together, no? Going straight to the Police is hardly neighborly.

Nelson R Grande II July 14, 2012 at 04:40 pm

To the Author: Would you please let us know how "fairly upscale" ties into the story?

Julie Walmsley July 14, 2012 at 05:19 pm

I would approach the neighbor via a polite handwritten note. Preface the complaint with, "I know you may not realize it but..." and see how that goes. If no cooperation, then maybe pursue other avenues (i.e. LAPD).

Tim Ryder July 14, 2012 at 07:39 pm

I agree that the barking dog situation is a special case. The neighbor behind us (on the next block) was an absentee owner and had a dog that barked all day and all night. We couldn't watch TV and endured many sleepless nights. My 80 year old dad tried to contact the owner in person but the owner coldly threatened to shoot my dad if he 'didn't get off his property'. After slogging through two years off 'mediation' meetings with City bureaucrats, the owner was sent a notice ordering him to keep his dog quiet from the hours of 10pm10am. Of course he disregarded the notice and we finally gave up and installed double pane windows at a substantial cost.

jayres July 14, 2012 at 09:59 pm

I can't believe I keep reading this junk about writing letters, or leaving notes, or calling the police. First of all, why do you think your neighbor is inconsiderate of you? Perhaps it is because you don't even know each other, which makes it so much easier to not consider the feelings and concerns of someone you've never met. Secondly, why would you sit there in displeasure while he is playing music in a manner that disrupts your weekend without even alerting the neighbor to this fact. Your stewing in anger and he probably isn't even aware that his music is creating a probem. When I first moved to Eagle Rock, I soon realized that my neighbor's cat was using my yard as a litter box. That day I saw my neighbor outside on his porch and I walked over to his house. I introduced myself, as did he, and I told him that his cat was crapping in my yard, which he was not aware of, and this was a problem because my five year daughter plays(rolls around) in the yard. I said I would appreciate it if he could take whatever steps necessary to correct the situation. He said he would. The problem has mostly stopped, tolerably infrequent now, and furthermore we still get along great as neighbors. I guess its because I respect myself and him enough to approach him like a man and address the issue and try to resolve it. Worst case scenario, he would have told me to f-off and I would go to plan B and dump Cheyenne pepper on the lawn 'til the cat figured out this wasn't a hospitable toilet

Tim Tritch July 14, 2012 at 11:36 pm

I grew up in a house 'above' Hill Dr. It was very nice and our neighbors were, and are great people. So i guess this might be part of the 'upscale' Eagle Rock, which means there must be some 'downscale' ER neighborhoods too.
I kind of like it better when we were all just one Eagle Rock, neighbors, friends and family. So much for progress.

Tim Tritch July 14, 2012 at 11:40 pm

Now if this noisy neghbor were playing guitar all day that might not be so bad. But hours of nothing but a bass guitar, now thats something to complain about. Or go buy a guitar, find another neighbor who plays drums and rock on. If you cant beat 'em join 'em.

nonoise July 15, 2012 at 12:47 am

Noise is noise. Look up the true meaning. Very few will. Northeast is having a meeting at the River Center July 26, 2012 at 6:00 PM. What is the subject? To stop train noise and pollution.
When inconsiderate neighbors refuse to be good neighbors then lawmakers and law enforcement need to take action.

nonoise July 15, 2012 at 12:49 am

Here is the link to the event. You have to scroll down for the full information.
http://evnw.wordpress.com/

Nelson R Grande II July 15, 2012 at 01:49 am

It seems the subject of the article may have not given the neighbor an opportunity to be considerate just yet.
Further, law enforcement doesn't NEED to take action. Gathering more neighbors to speak with said loud neighbor may well do the trick. Again, let's consider working this out as a Community, rather than through cold, black and white regulation.

Nelson R Grande III July 15, 2012 at 02:50 am

If being a good neighbor is being a quiet neighbor, then I must be totally wrong when I say that a neighbor should be neighborly and social. If you have a problem, talk to them about it. They wouldn't get mad at you. People these days are becoming more considerate and social with each other. Once you realize that your neighbors are people just like you, you can talk to them as another individual. Only then will both of you become actual neighborly neighbors.

mj July 15, 2012 at 01:26 pm

To be considerate to your neighbors is not a question if you are from an upscale neighborhood or not. I always tell my kids if you think other people will do the things you are doing, what will you feel? Do to others what others do unto you. But I know there are some unruly people around who are not like this and they really don't care about the people around them or maybe they are not aware of it. We just moved to our house and the first thing we did is to get to know our neighbors and whenever we get some problems we just talk it over and resolved it diplomatically. I am just one of the few lucky people who was able to find a nice neighborhood though it was not from an "UPSCALE" area. Our children play together in our backyard and we often put a schedule on what activities they can enjoy during summer.

nonoise July 15, 2012 at 03:19 pm

I agree that it is much better to work out a noise problem with a neighbor. But often times neighbors are not good neighbors and will not care. There are nasty, mean, selfish neighbors that refuse to turn down or off their noise.
Divine Saviour Catholic church is one of those bad neighbors. I have tried to negotiate with them, even trying to use the city attorney's negotiated service, but they refuse to negotiate or sit down and come to the table. Father Marco Ortiz will not budge. He is set on being selfish and being a bully by doing whatever he wants to do and not caring about being a noisy neighbor. It is great to have good neighbors but some neighbors refuse to be good neighbors, Divine Saviour Catholic church is a bad noisy neighbor.

John Wayne's Honda July 16, 2012 at 04:00 pm

wow when ever i have any issues with my neighbors I go and talk to them, but then again maybe I am not in a very upscale part of Eagle Rock.