Neighbors Complain A Couple Is Too Loud, But They’re Just Cooking And Cleaning
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Imagine living in an apartment where you can hear a lot of noise from the apartments around you. Would this cause you to be particularly considerate of your neighbors and go out of your way to be extra quiet, or would you keep living your life?
In this story, one couple is in this situation, but it’s trickier because they both work at night. That means they are awake when everyone else in the building is trying to sleep.
The landlord is pretty strict about quiet hours starting at 10pm, but the couple thinks she’s being too extreme. She doesn’t even want them to talk after this time!
Keep reading to see if you think this couple is being inconsiderate of their neighbors or if the landlord is being completely unreasonable.
AITA for continuing to talk normally in my apartment after 10pm despite my landlord telling me not to?
I (22F) live in an apartment with my partner.
I work night shifts in customer service, so my schedule is nocturnal, and sometimes talking at night is literally part of my job.
My partner is also nocturnal.
Noise is an issue in this apartment.
Our apartment has very poor sound insulation.
We regularly hear our neighbors’ TVs, conversations, music, etc and there have even been times when their noise affected my partner while he was working.
We’ve never complained because we understand that apartment living comes with some unavoidable noise.
Apparently, some neighbors have complained.
Recently, my landlord contacted me about noise at night. She said we were being extremely loud and that neighbors were complaining.
I understand the concern.
I’m not expecting people to tolerate us intentionally making excessive noise late at night.
However, the activities that apparently counted as “extremely loud” were me taking a shower and my partner washing dishes.
The landlord sounds pretty demanding.
She sent messages saying things like, “There’s a time for everything and there is no reason for you to be awake right now, stop whatever you’re doing and JUST GO TO SLEEP”
She also said we were “talking extremely loud” that we “should not be talking at this time” and that she didn’t understand why we were awake at 11 PM, despite knowing that I work nights.
She also mentioned calling the police and said that “NO NOISE MUST BE HEARD AFTER 10 PM”
She explained her perspective to her landlord.
I told her I completely understand that people need to rest and that I’m willing to lower my voice and avoid unnecessary noise. However, I don’t think normal activities like showering, washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, or having a conversation are things we should have to stop doing simply because it’s after 10 PM.
I also explained that my schedule is nocturnal and that I can’t always control the fact that neighbors may hear me talking when talking is part of my job. I pointed out that we regularly hear our own neighbors too, which suggests the issue is partly the building’s poor sound insulation.
I specifically told her that I understand being considerate, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to have to whisper or walk on eggshells inside our own home just to make sure absolutely nothing can be heard.
OP explains what bothered her the most.
My biggest issue wasn’t even being asked to reduce noise. It was the way she spoke to us.
There’s a difference between saying, “We received a noise complaint, please try to keep it down” and telling us there is “no reason for us to be awake” that we should “JUST GO TO SLEEP” that “NO NOISE MUST BE HEARD AFTER 10 PM” and that we may need to find somewhere else to live if it happens again.
She became more upset and kept repeating the same points.
She’s wondering if she’s being unreasonable.
That’s when I started wondering if i’m the one being unreasonable
I’m willing to make reasonable compromises and avoid unnecessary noise. But I don’t think two adults should be expected to stop doing normal things in their own apartment after 10 PM.
So, AITA for thinking my landlord is being unreasonable and for continuing to talk normally in my own apartment after 10 PM?
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It’s hard to know how loud the noise is in other apartments. If there are neighbors with kids who are trying to sleep or who have to get up early for work, I can understand being annoyed by excess noise. But that’s part of apartment living.
It doesn’t sound like they are doing anything particularly loud.
Let’s see whose side Reddit is on.
This person thinks it really depends.
I completely agree with this comment.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a renter who receives a text saying his landlord has passed and asking for checks to go to a different account, but he’s not sure it’s real.
Here’s a suggestion to drown out the noise.
Another person suggests revenge.
They work at night, and it sounds like she works from home. It’s impossible for her to stop talking at 10pm. That’s a completely unreasonable demand. It’s too bad the apartment walls are so thin that talking at a normal volume disturbs the neighbors, but the landlord is being completely unreasonable. She’s not their mom!
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