Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey

My husband and I live in an apt complex and our neighbors that just moved in 3 mths ago underneath of us are VERY noisy. Actually, initially there was just a guy that had moved in and he was pretty quiet. However, this past month a woman (his girlfriend?) and 2 small preschool age kids and an older kid (about 12 yrs) have since moved in also. We can hear them VERY clearly UNDERNEATH of us! The kids run back and forth all day, we think that the man and woman physically fight down there because we have heard alot of LOUD noises that sound like fighting (not kids running around), also and most importantly, the woman likes to leave the security door of our shared front entrance propped wide open with a dumbell! This totally defeats the purpose of a security door! She does this so her kids can run in and out and slam the door directly to their apt as they please.(The neighbors also like to slam the door constantly all day and it shakes the whole building!) I guess she does this so that she doesn't have to use her key to unlock the door for kids all the time.Its really getting old and is VERY inconsiderate/ignorant of them since we don't live in a barn and this is not their house! What can we do about this? Mind you, we have children also, its more the security door thing that is an issue. It lets all kinds of mosquitoes and insects into the hallway and when we open our door? Bam! We have a whole new set of friends! This is not acceptable. We have not said anything to the apt manager yet, but plan to tomorrow. Should we speak to the tenants directly first? We're not sure how receptive they are going to be..(They can't be too happy if our domestic violence suspicions are correct..so that may not be a good idea.)Or should we go directly to the apt manager? If we go to the tenant should we record the conversation via audio or maybe even video? What are the legalities of that and should we even bother?


Asked on 9/05/10, 7:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Come on, if you have a complaint about a rental unit, and you are not getting what you signed on for, WHO do you complain to? The LANDLORD, right! Make a written complaint to the LL, otherwise when you complain next month and the month after that, they will think is it a new short term issue. Establish a record NOW, because it si unlikely that the LL will be aggressive with any tenant, not matter how obnoxious, if they are paying the rent, unless they are damaging the property, or you are documenting that the LL was told and did nothing.

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Answered on 9/11/10, 1:07 pm


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