Imagine living in a condo with great neighbors, but then the neighbors who live below you decide to sell their condo and move. What would you do if the new neighbors were insanely loud and inconsiderate?

In this story, one condo owner is in this situation, and she thought the HOA would help. After all, HOAs are known for being sticklers for rules, right?

It didn’t go as expected, and the drama is to the point where she really can’t take it anymore.

Keep reading to learn more about her new plan to get the neighbors to keep it down.

HOA board from hell

I’ve lived in a condo for 17 years that has very little noise insulation between floors.

I’ve always had a good relationship with the various people who have lived below me until last summer when a new couple moved in.

The new owners play their music and tv loudly on a regular basis, often late at night and have midweek parties.

They wake me up regularly and I often can’t fall back asleep . Even while wearing noise cancelling earbuds, I can still hear their noise.

It gets worse.

And to make things worse, they have had 2-3 additional adults living with them for 10 weeks over the last 4 months = more noise.

I’ve had migraines from lack of sleep and loud noise. My nerves are shot. And I have tinnitus from wearing noise cancelling earbuds so often.

And throughout all of their crap, I have continued to stay quiet.

I live above them and could make their lives miserable, but I don’t.

Being nice about it isn’t working, but matching their energy isn’t working either.

I tried talking to them (they didn’t answer the door) and wrote them a friendly note asking them to please be careful about the noise and to please give me notice if they’re having a party so I can make other arrangements.

No response and no notice ever.

I’ve had to resort to banging on the floor, yelling, and literally pleading with them to stop.

Their response is often to yell at me to F off.

You’d think the HOA would help.

My HOA has strict rules about noise (no loud noise and strictly quiet between 10pm and 9am) and about extra people living in a unit (overnight guests only allowed 30 days a year), so in December I reached out the property manager/HOA and thought, “They’ll help me.”

Well, turns out I’m an idiot.

I kept sending them emails, recordings, a log of all of the noise, official complaints, etc.

They kept saying, “thank you,” and then did nothing.

The HOA did something but not enough.

My neighbors received 1 call in December, and then 1 noise violation at the beginning of March (after I threatened to get an attorney involved).

Still no change.

The HOA asked me to attend a meeting this past Thursday so we could find a “neighborly resolution” to the problem.

Neighborly resolution, like this is an issue where there is mutual fault? No, they need to stop violating the noise rule.

OP lawyered up.

I’m truly baffled that my HOA is not enforcing the rules.

I now have an attorney, and he is giving me wise counsel.

As I type, the neighbors sound like they’re getting ready for a party, so I will call the police if it happens (which I hate to do, but it has been 11 months of hell). And then my attorney will start sending letters to the HOA and neighbors.

And if none of that works…lawsuit.

It’s going to cost money that I really can’t afford right now, but I’m not sacrificing my physical and mental health for neighbors from hell and an HOA board that doesn’t do what they’re legally supposed to do – enforce the rules.

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Would calling the police help? I’ve called the non-emergency line for the police before about excessive noise.

Let’s see what Reddit suggests.

This is an interesting idea.

Here’s another good suggestion.

This person would do a home renovation project.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about neighbors who have to set a firm boundary with neighbors who ask too many child-related favors.

Another person offers several suggestions.

Hiring a lawyer isn’t the only option, but it is an option, a rather expensive option unless they go to court, win, and the neighbors end up having to pay the legal fees.

I like the idea of suing the HOA. I also like the idea of installing new floors.

Personally, I’d start by calling the police. Or get petty and take up tap dancing. Two can play that game.

But it’s too bad to fuel the fire of a war with the neighbors.

If only the neighbors could be considerate!