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01-27-2013 at 9:12 PM
taumax
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Joined on 01-30-2009
48 Points
taumax is not online. Last active: 02-03-2013, 1:55 AMNewbie

Stuck in a lease, but want to buy a home

My DH and I just rented our dream condo in June, unfortunately our dream condo did not come with dream neighbors. The neighbor below us severely dislikes us and is filing formal complaints against us and our dog for noise violations. We have gotten 4 violations in 5 months and they are becoming more and more frequent. There are also no details and our neighbor has no proof that our dog is even making noise. We are so stressed about our neighbor and filing more complaints that we are walking on egg shells in our home, turning off/down all electronics at 9pm, putting the dog in the kennel at 9pm, and as a result we really aren't sleeping at night because we are listening for the dog so that the neighbor doesn't complain. We have been trying to talk to the neighbor since we got the first violation, but he won't answer his door or respond to any of our attempts to contact him.

 

We found a great home in our price range that we love, BUT we need to get out of our lease. Any ideas/advise?

 
01-27-2013 at 10:08 PM
atlcatlove...
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Joined on 06-17-2008
Atlanta, GA
1,716 Points
atlcatlover is not online. Last active: 05-22-2013, 10:27 AMSilver

Does your landlord know about these violations?  Who administers them?  What is the consequence?  Are you sure it is the neighbor below?


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01-28-2013 at 1:53 PM
emily1004
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Joined on 02-01-2008
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
1,281 Points
emily1004 is online. Last active: 05-23-2013, 9:39 PMNewbie

My suggestion would be to talk to your landlord and see if you can sublet it. Or find out what the penalties are for getting out of the lease early.

On a side note, I'm sorry you're going through that with your neighbors. When you share walls with people you would think they would expect a little noise. It's not like you're throwing huge parties everyday into the wee hours of the night. They sound like jerks and if the noise bothers them that much they should get some earplugs. 


01-28-2013 at 2:44 PM
gymbugmj2k
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Joined on 05-14-2009
3,850 Points
gymbugmj2k is not online. Last active: 05-22-2013, 12:06 PMNewbie

First,speak with your landlord about your concerns with these violations.  let them know that you're worried and would like to comply, and list the steps you're taking to be better neighbors.  if they see you're being proactive about the situation and being overly-responsible, then the violations that keep coming in will be looked at with a more critical eye.

(aka if they KNOW the dog is in a crate by 9pm, and they get a complaint about barking outside at 10pm, then clearly the landlord knows its not your dog)

 

...as far as the house --- if you're in a good financial situation - go for it!  it typically takes a few weeks to close even in the best situations, so at most you'd be paying about 3 months for BOTH places.  that might be good for you if you need to take your time cleaning/repairing/moving items.

 like others have said. talk with the landlord about subletting, or penalties for leaving your lease a couple months early.

01-29-2013 at 11:59 AM
prettywitt...
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Joined on 12-18-2012
540 Points
prettywittyandi is not online. Last active: 05-04-2013, 12:05 PMNewbie

I'm in property management and though laws do vary from state to state, sending you violation after violation without any proof is poor management.  Like other posters have stated, you need to speak to your landlord.  Some will just send notices like these in an attempt to start a dialogue with you.  If you don't defend yourself (or your pet in this case) you're considered guilty.

 That being said, most landlord's do permit lease buyouts or have similar policies for allowing you to break your lease early. At some properties where I've worked we will allow people to move if we are able to re-lease their unit with NO penalty!

 Finally, stop trying to get in touch with your neighbor.  That's your landlord's job and is probably only making matters worse. 

 
02-02-2013 at 1:46 PM
JoanE2012
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Joined on 05-19-2012
291 Points
JoanE2012 is not online. Last active: 05-22-2013, 11:45 AMNewbie
I recently sold a condo and it took 2.5 months from offer accepted to closing.  I would go for the house now!  June isn't that far off.
 
02-02-2013 at 11:46 PM
taumax
Not Ranked
Joined on 01-30-2009
48 Points
taumax is not online. Last active: 02-03-2013, 1:55 AMNewbie

Thanks all for the advice!

 

We called our landlords and they were just as frustrated by the violation letters as we are. We are all in agreement that the management company needs to re-evalute their violation procedure, but at this point they are letting us out of our lease. They don't want us to be in this uncomfortable situation any longer than necessary.

 We began the house searching process today and are well on our way to becoming homeowners! 

 
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