Noisy and ignorant neighbors, who almost set the house on fire.

Submitted by virgotendencies88 t3_10dy4gg in newhampshire

We are owners of half a duplex, with inconsiderate neighbors on the other side. With only a thin wall separating our houses, we are often woken up in the middle of the night or early in the morning from what sounds like a 500 pound man sprinting up and down the stairs followed by what sounds like the two kids killing each other, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Over the summer we noticed their dryer vent was dangerously clogged with a birds nest. We had previously warned them when they moved in two years ago about not only the clog, but the fact that their vent system was outdated (old paper like material) and that they should replace it. Fast forward to Christmas Eve, the vent caught fire and my husband had to knock on their door to notify them of the situation. Luckily the fire department got here before severe damage was done.

It was never that big of a deal but with the recent fire incident and the noise ramping up, I’m losing my patience.

I’m currently pregnant with our first baby and all I foresee is the issues continuing. We can’t afford to move and we have tried talking calmly to her over a dozen times but she does not listen nor care.

Anyone have advice or know the NH laws of how I can deal with such a nuisance?

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Comments

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WapsuSisilija t1_j4nvavx wrote

Although a duplex, there are often still condo agreements attached as a rider to the deed. If that document exists, start there.

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MommaGuy t1_j4nw0kp wrote

Check your town’s noise ordinance and see if they are violating it. The only other thing is to sound proof your shared wall.

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woolsocksandsandals t1_j4o1ghq wrote

Sell it.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4o2sxd wrote

Can’t afford to right now, I’m going to have a baby soon and will be out of work for a little while. If we could I would in a heartbeat.

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Maleficent-Guess8632 t1_j4o5h3d wrote

Rent somewhere else and rent this one out. Does your neighbor own or rent?

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4o7vsv wrote

They unfortunately own it. We own the master policy, as we have been here for a while and they’ve also failed to pay their share of property insurance the past 2.5 years.

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surmisez t1_j4onjn7 wrote

Find out who holds their mortgage and inform them of the lack of hazard insurance. The bank will give them forced insurance, which will be very expensive, and will jack up their monthly mortgage payments.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4pw1uj wrote

How do I find that info?!

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surmisez t1_j4pylyn wrote

Go to: https://www.nhdeeds.org/

Click on your county, accept the disclaimer at the bottom of the page, click on AVA search, enter your neighbor's last name and first name, then hit enter or click submit.

Their mortgage company will be listed along with their name(s) as the lien holder. Their mortgage number will probably be listed as well.

Then you can do a search for contact information on that mortgage co/bank and get in touch with them via phone or email. Tell them about the small vent fire and I'll guarantee they'll send out an inspector to conduct a through safety inspection on their half of the property.

If they have a trampoline, above/below ground pool, fireplace, wood burning stove, or other hazzards, they will need to be within safety compliance.

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Maldonian t1_j4qyn35 wrote

I had to look up something completely different from OP’s situation, but I’d never heard of this site. Thanks a lot for your comment and link.

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FairCut7009 t1_j4po7gr wrote

Also put a lien on their property for unpaid balance.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4pw2e7 wrote

Will look into that!

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HikeEveryMountain t1_j4q45it wrote

You probably want a real estate attorney for this one, will involve filing paperwork with the county registry like when you buy or sell a house. For something like this, I expect the attorneys fees will be well below the amount they owe you.

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itsyounotmeithink t1_j4p94id wrote

One of the biggest problems with condos/ townhouses is that they dont insulate the interior walls. I would look into having blown in insulation in every wall facing them. If you wanted to go one step further after you finish with insulation you could put up more sheetrock over the sheetrock thats there if your handy or diy i think you can buy the blown in insulation and rent the machine.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4pw63j wrote

Yeah it’s crazy how thin the wall is. The fire department cut a hole in our wall to gain access to her vent and I never realized that only an inch of plywood separates our two houses.

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itsyounotmeithink t1_j4pz1s9 wrote

Yes thats where you will get most of the noise from. I have seen this in every place i have dealt with and everyone was shocked when i showed them theres no insulation in the interior walls. If you insulate with the blown in insulation it might be enough to solve your problems. This is the cheapest way to solve or minimize your problem hopefully.

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Different_Ad7655 t1_j4w24q0 wrote

None of that it's going to help much. You need a true sound barrier a true sound wall. Actually there are types of sheetrock that you can buy that are expensive but it's perfect I've used it in rentals but nothing will be better than a staggered stud wall with no contact but then you have still noise over the talk and under. I've insulated a lot of apartments in my life. The next best thing of course is the arrangement of the rooms kitchens should be back to kitchens and generally a living room to a living room bedrooms always on the fathests side of the house. The common party wall should ideally just contain the stairs and a hallway

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itsyounotmeithink t1_j4w32yv wrote

Yes all that is true but using blown in insulation is cheap and easy to do. The main problem ive run into is no insulation at all in the adjoining walls between you and the opposite Tennant. Just by doing this first step makes a huge difference then later you can apply a sheet of sound drywall over the existing drywall.

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ForklkftJones t1_j4ouxgy wrote

Definitely get some home cameras.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4pw9bh wrote

We installed those for liability when they first moved in because apparently her kids can’t read a ‘beware of dog’ sign and liked to taunt our not so friendly dog.

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smartest_kobold t1_j4pgm28 wrote

How dare you tell them what to do with their personal property! That fire is theirs and not your business until it starts to burn your half of the house!

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4pwdri wrote

Tell that to the hole in our laundry closet that the fire department had to drill to gain access to her vent!! Live free or die in a fire 🤣🤪

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HikeEveryMountain t1_j4q5opu wrote

You should file a claim with your homeowners insurance, and tell them that your neighbor is at fault here. Provide a statement from the fire department saying that the fire was in the other unit. Also write your own statement that you told them about the fire hazard, that they declined to deal with it for years, and that their negligence lead to damage to your primary home. That they knew this was going to happen and didn't do anything about it.

I know you said they didn't pay for their insurance, but that doesn't absolve them of their liability. You'll get your repairs taken care of, and the insurance company will probably go after them for the repair cost because you are not at fault. The emergency call wasn't even for your unit. Normally your insurance would go after the other person's insurance for damages, but if they didn't pay for insurance, well... they're liable for the damages themselves.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4q7jch wrote

That’s a really good idea! I will contact them today, thank you for this!!

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movdqa t1_j4qamlf wrote

We live in a townhouse and one neighbor is out about 80% of the time (she is a single parent and leaves for work at 6 AM and returns at 7 PM and I think that she stays with her parents on the weekends). The other neighbor is gone about 10 hours during the day. So they are both quiet. We have good sound insulation between units.

We also have very strict rules on parking an noise and they are enforced.

The problem with a Condex is that you have a vote and the other person has a vote. One of the things that I look at in condos is the quality of management. Some places have awful management and some places are great. Of course your opinion of what constitutes quality may vary from mine.

Some people or management boards are aggressive about maintenance and enforcing rules which is what I like while others like to minimize current costs and defer maintenance for as long as possible which I consider short-sighted.

I'd go along with the other recommendation to move somewhere else.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4qdbuq wrote

We unfortunately don’t have any type of HOA or condo association so it’s basically everyone for themselves. However, upon doing some light research I did find that she is getting assistance from the state to fund her mortgage. If she’s not meeting certain criteria such as paying her half of the master policy or taking care of hazardous situations she’s liable and can lose her funding.

If I wasn’t so pregnant right now I would move in a second. We plan to move within the next year but for the time being it’s just not in our cards at the moment, as I cannot take on any added stress and we would end up being in the middle of a move by my due date. I’m hoping that between contacting NH housing and our insurance company they can take the right actions on our behalf. The noise I can deal with but our house catching fire from her negligence shouldn’t be something we should have to worry about!

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movdqa t1_j4qop3l wrote

We have only had bad neighbors once in our 35 years here. They were a young couple and the boyfriend apparently sold performance cars (he'd have exotic cars in the driveway on a regular basis). We only contacted the HOA once as she would let her dog out the front door and he'd run around, poop on our lawn and then run back inside. One email to the HOA took care of the problem.

I hope that you can get your problems resolved. Financial stress often results in family stress and your neighbor might not have had the best examples in growing up and raising kids; nor additional family resources.

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Ok-Cantaloupe7160 t1_j4qrkzo wrote

Noise ordinances vary town to town. There might not even be one in your town. Conway didn’t have one until a year or two ago.

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Veebearz t1_j4tfa9z wrote

I'd sell when you can. We had horrible neighbors with thin walls and 2 young kids. They never left the house and their kids were constantly running around like animals. Not the kid's fault that the parents just didn't give a shit about them or their lives, but still...they also threw shit in the yard constantly, hung shit out their windows, and had a monster AC half hanging out their window ready to take someone else.

Complained about them more times than I can count but nothing ever changed. They were renters that finally moved out but we were close to selling because they were a nightmare to deal with being loud af at all hours.

Good luck hope you can figure something out.

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ekob711 t1_j4o8yua wrote

No imagine a tiny apt in NYC with people arguing above below both sides and kids running up and down the hall 🤣

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4o9h55 wrote

Hell no, that’s why we moved to NH!! 😅

Maybe I will join in on the chaos in the middle of the night between feedings. Is it too early to buy the baby a drum set??

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ekob711 t1_j4oabg0 wrote

Hang in there. You’ll have your revenge your new baby will soon be keeping them up all night! Just kidding but keep it light if you can.

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HikeEveryMountain t1_j4q5z91 wrote

Yeah, insulate the dividing wall between units very well except for the wall between your nursery and their master bedroom. Gotta make sure not to block the baby's cries!

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underratedride t1_j4q2uhj wrote

You should go on reddit and complain.

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virgotendencies88 OP t1_j4q2zcl wrote

I did, and I actually got the answers I was looking for. WoULd yA lOoK aT tHaT

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jcwhorewrath t1_j4nwudo wrote

>500 pound man sprinting up and down the stairs

They need exercise too and the gym isn't friendly to any 500 pound person. Back when I weighed 600 pounds I hated seeing myself in the mirror at the gym. Those mirrors are everywhere.

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