Keeping your tenants well behaved is one of your top responsibilities as a landlord. If you own a multifamily apartment building, all tenants have next door neighbors and they can easily be disturbed with noises emanating from adjacent homes. Sometimes, noises coming from the upper or lower floor can also cause problems for you as some tenants start to complain about these noises. You need to enforce the house rules and treat your tenants in a fair manner to make sure they behave properly. Here are some ways in which you can deal with noise complaints made by your tenants.
Lease agreement should contain noise limits for tenants
It is difficult to explain to your tenants how much of noise they can create without annoying their neighbors. But you can make them understand what they can do and what is off limits by setting noise limits in your lease agreement. The trick here lies in making them know what action you can take in case they make noise above the limits set in the lease agreement. Without these limits, it is impossible for you to stop your tenants from creating lots of noise in your property. Also, this limit will solve the dispute because of noise between two neighbors.
Set limits during certain time periods of the day
There are times during a day when some tenants are sleeping or taking rest after work. You can impose a curfew on noise during these times and see to it that your tenants do not flout this rule. For example, you can make it clear that no tenant can listen to music or watch movies at a high volume after 10 PM in the evening or before 7 AM in the morning. This will help in keeping noise complaints down and also resolve conflicts between neighbors. There will always be tenants who do not agree with your point of view, especially those who like to throw parties for their friends, but you can tell them that this is what you want in your property.
Make rules about noise clear at the time of singing of lease
Many tenants in their excitement of moving in forget to read all the terms of their lease agreement. As a landlord, it is your duty to stress on all the terms of the lease so that your tenants sign only after reading and agreeing with these terms. It becomes easier for you to enforce rules regarding noise when you have your tenants know and understand noise rules.
Allow tenants to talk to resolve disputes
As a landlord, you find yourself in an unenviable position to act against a tenant who is being accused of creating noise by another tenant. It can create unnecessary ill will among tenants as well as against you, the landlord. A better approach is to encourage your tenants to sit down and resolve their disputes about noise among themselves. A dialogue is often the easiest way to overcome these small issues in a property.
Be stern against repeat offenders
You have the authority to act against erring tenants. Be responsive and talk to a tenant who you believe is creating lots of noise in his home. You can ask him to lower the sound levels to not disturb his neighbors. However, you must act against a tenant when he pays no heed to your request. This will set an example and stop other tenants from creating noise problems for other tenants in your rental property. However, you need to be fair even when acting against tenants violating noise terms of their lease agreements.
If you’d like to talk more about property management, or you need help with Everest Property Management, please contact us at Everest Realty.
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As a top producing Realtor and Property Manager; Terry specializes in sales, extensive construction homes, rentals, REO’s, short sales, and all aspects of Real Estate. After graduating the University of Michigan with a master in MBA, Terry continued his endeavor and now has over 15+ years of experience in the Real Estate world. If there is anything that has to do with Real Estate and sales, you can always be sure of Terry to provide important, specialized knowledge.
