Noisy Neighbours

[magnets]

How do we deal with students who are renting the Apartment next to us, they are noisy and anti social, we approached them twice, but still continued as before, so we gave a letter listing all the problems to their Manager, then in the early hours of Saturday 3.15am they were banging on doors, climbing over the balcony with girlfriends then partying, very loud, impossible to sleep, my husband had to go round to tell them to be quiet and respect their neighbours at 5.00am.......We are at our wits end.
What can we do now? Should we inform the owners (Spanish) about their Tenants, they have sublet the Apartment to the Academy who we addressed the first letter to.
Some good advice would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou.

[julian]

call the local police when the partying is going on.

your problems reminded me of my college days(and nights!!), you could alway go next door and join in..be careful climbing over the balcony though !!

[princess peach]

Hello,im sorry you have problems with neighbours,inconsiderate devils eh!
First of all do you have a guard that patrols round the urb?If so that would be my first port of call.Next would be the policia.So annoying for you.Hope you get it sorted.

[magnets]

Thanks for your kind replies, unfortunately we do not have guards on our Urb, and also we are a little over "21" to join in the fun!!!!
We are considering sending a letter to the Spanish owners hoping for some sympathy, and another letter to the Academy about the party night.
Such a shame we cannot live in harmony like our neighbours of 4 years on the other side. Such is life, yea.

[JAWG]

Or show them the gun you just bought!!!!

[Paula]

Are you living in a community with a President? If so report verbally and in writing to the President and Administrators, they should write to the owner and send a letter to the tenants, would help if they state in the letter that if it does not cease then the police will be called to deal with it.

[magnets]

Nice one ha! ha! Kitchen knife went through my mind at 5.0 am......

[magnets]

Good advice on writing to our President and Administrator, thanks.

[julian]

phone the local police


they are hardly likely to take any more notice of the president than they have of your complaints

[Paula]

Of course they can call the police, though if I were renting my property to problem tenants and it escalated to having the police called, first thing I would ask is why hadn't anyone informed me about the problem. If things are not easily resolved it does sometimes help to have what seems to be a fair and reasonable procedure followed on record.

[julian]

the police will come out to talk to the tenants, they do not have to talk to the owner, it´s the tenants who are making noise, not the owner.
calling the local police to report noise at night is no big deal...the concept of calling the police in the UK and calling the local police here is quite different,don´t be afraid to call.

[Paula]

Whatever Julian.

[spanish_lad]

i would imagine that first port of call would be to call the local police and complain. second, would be to go and make a denuncia against them, which the police will serve, and inspect their musical equipment, which, if deemed to be too loud for personal use, will be confiscated.

my girlfriend in frigiliana had a denuncia served on her, because she had music on during siesta. when the police came in to her house, put the stereo on full, then went upstairs to the complaining neibour and measured the sound level. it was deemed appropriate, she was asked to keep it down during siesta time, but could play it at constant full volume from 10am-10pm, not including 2pm-4pm (siesta) if she wanted to.

of course, none of that is in writing and is only what the local police told her.

[Retro P]

Or, put up with it for a few more days whilst you monitor their activities, once you know their sleeping patterns you can then place your stereo speakers about a foot away from the adjoining wall and give them a couple of hours of early led Zep, Black sabbath or even better Motorhead, or if you want to be a real *beep* you could give them some Klamydia (give them a listen on youtube and you'll see what I mean) a couple of sessions of this kind of treatment will do the job

[jhonie99]

On a point of law, the police can only enter your private residence if they have a court order or you have given them permission and of course if in flagrante delicto.

IMO, entering and turning the volume fully up, would be completely illegal and an abuse of power.
If that happened in my home, the speakers would be blown to bits. Imagine turning a subwoofer on max., the whole house would shake and the sound level meter would go off scale.

Although I have to say that the police will do what they want anyway. Just useful to know your rights. I can't imagine being able to stop them unless I had a lawyer present.

[Jool]

Retro P´s idea is probably the most effective, put it on as well when their music is playing, the 1812 overture with the cannons blaring is a good one as it booms thought - warn the other neighbours you will be doing this so they don´t think you are joining them............ I have had success with the 1812 when in the UK for the same problem.....

[fljordan]

Section 7 (2) of the HPA provides:

The owner and the occupant of the flat or premises shall not carry out in such flat or premises, or in the rest of the building, any activities which are not permitted by the Articles , or which may cause damage to the estate or contravene the general regulations concerning nuisance, unhealthy, noxious, hazardous or unlawful activities.

The president of the commonhold association, on his own initiative or at the request of any owner or occupant shall request the immediate ceasing of any of the activities banned by this section under warning of appropriate court action.

If the offender persists in his/her conduct, the president, subject to the authority of the Owner’s Committee, duly convened for this purpose, may undertake a court injunction procedure, which, insofar as not expressly provided for in this section, shall be handled by ordinary procedure.
Once the action is brought, along with the accreditation of formal notification to the offender and the certification of the resolution adopted by the Owners’ Committee, the court may order as a precautionary measure the immediate cessation of the prohibited activity, under admonition of incurring an offence of contempt.
Furthermore, the judge may adopt any provisional measures necessary to ensure the cessation order. The action must be brought against the proprietor and, if fitting, against the occupant.

If the judgement were for the claimant, it may decree, besides definitive cessation of the prohibited activity and the awarding of damages as may correspond, the forfeiting of the defendant’s right to use the flat or premises for no more than three years, depending on the seriousness of the infringement and mischief caused to the commonhold. If the infringer were not the owner, the judgement may definitely terminate the offender’s rights to the flat or premises and order his immediate eviction.

One of the most common complaints about neighbours is that they make too much noise. It may be possible to take legal action against them, but it is highly desirable in practice for the parties to try to resolve disputes of this nature amicably. In particular, the need to compromise is important, for what is an acceptable noise level to one person may be unacceptable to another and it is difficult for a Court to set down specific rules on an issue such as this.
Section 3 (d) of the Noise Act 37/2003 defines noise pollution as ‘presence in the ambient of noise or vibrations, whichever the acoustic source comes from, which entail nuisance, risk or harm to individual and their activities or to goods of any nature, or affects significantly to the environment.
The chief problem is that this Noise Act in sections 2 (2) and 28 (5) refers to council regulations in order to govern vicinity noises. Only noises caused by bars, industries etc shall be under the Noise Act.
Similarly, s. 4 (a) of Land Act 2/2008 provides that citizens are entitled to enjoy a decent housing, suitable and accessible and protected against noise. In regard to building standards, Royal Decree 1371/2007 provides the requirements in construction in order to insulate housing.
Some regional bodies also have their own rules regarding noise pollution

i. Baleares 1/2007 Act
ii. Murcia 48/1998 Decree
iii. Valencia 7/2002 Act and 2/2006 Act
iv. Andalucía 7/2007 Act

These regional rules usually refer to council regulations in order to delimit the vicinity noises. In general, most of these rules consider that more than 40db inside the property during the day time shall be deemed as noise.
Courts are very sympathetic with individuals affected by acoustic pollution and tend to compensate them even when pollution does not reach limits laid down in regulations. These regulations are barely enforced by Town Halls, which are rather passive, and as a result are often condemned to indemnify due to their passiveness Regardless the compliance of the council regulations against noise where harm is probed the courts are claiming the accountability of those who are causing unhealthy effects to individuals . The Legislator is aware of the failure in this fight against noise in Spain, and for this reason it has been included as an offence in s. 325 of the Criminal Code by the 15/2003 Act.

The forfeiting of the defendant’s right to use the property is the last resource to prevent nuisance and could only be imposed for those situations which are especially serious for a maximum of 3 years.
The CA ruling in Asturias 12-06-2006 deprived the use of a flat because the commonholder was throwing excrements, urines and oil through the window. The CA ruling in Madrid 20-05-2003 deprived the use of a flat during 2 years because of noise and other nuisances. The same approach was taken by the CA ruling in Pontevedra 27-07-2004 and the CA ruling in Badajoz 07-05-2007, in the latter case three months because of music on full volume.

The extinction of lease agreements is indicated only in the case of when a non-owner is causing the nuisance. That non-owner could be a tenant or usufructuary amongst others.
The judgement shall declare the agreement terminated and subsequently eviction.
For instance, the CA ruling in Valladolid 12-09-2005 extinguished a lease agreement of a mentally ill person because of disruptions caused to commonholders.

[spanish_lad]

On a point of law, the police can only enter your private residence if they have a court order or you have given them permission and of course if in flagrante delicto.

IMO, entering and turning the volume fully up, would be completely illegal and an abuse of power.
If that happened in my home, the speakers would be blown to bits. Imagine turning a subwoofer on max., the whole house would shake and the sound level meter would go off scale.

Although I have to say that the police will do what they want anyway. Just useful to know your rights. I can't imagine being able to stop them unless I had a lawyer present.

they presented the denuncia at the door and asked if they might enter for the purpose of testing. she agreed, and let them in.

as an aside, ive got a 5:1 dolby surround sound, hooked to my tv, xbox and cd player. when on HALF volume it makes pens etc jump accross the desk. on full, you can hear it hundreds of meters away. the street is only 6m wide, it echoes. i dont run it on full for very long, maybe once a month on a specific song i like.

mind you, by me, people have cars with "better" stereos -

nobody ever complains about them or mine.

maybe its an .. underlying complaint.. that makes people complain.

[Mowser]

Find out the owner's telephone number & inform him/her about the problem. I would also suggest you telephone him each & every time you are disturbed.

After a few 3:00am calls he/she may get the message.

[hillybilly]

I like!