How do I defend against the neighbors?

[green slime]

Get a copy of the music played during the Shiite "Ashura". Hang black banners around your house. Place the speakers facing the unwanted neighbours. Play at full volume.

"Hassyan Jan, Hassyan Jan, Hassyan Jan,...."

"Dear Hassyan, Dear Hassyan, Dear Hassyan, Dear Hassyan is dead... "

The music could be said to be non-conducive to partying.

 

[Hijinks]

Get a dog Preferably a big one with lots of slobbery jowls and a hefty, deep bark.

 

[Umbran]

That doesn't matter if Mommy and Daddy are paying their rent.

It does, if Junior is over 18 and Mommy and Daddy aren't the ones who signed the lease.

 

[Mycanid]

I feel for you Alzrius -

Must admit though that I do not have much practical advice to give. I live waayyyy in the country and have for over 18 years now. No noise out here - that's sure. For miles and miles.

But ... I can convey something that my mom did once when I was still in high school. A neighbor down the street began to play music REAL loud during the day ... again. (She and others had repeatedly asked them to keep things quiet.) So, she put the HUGE speakers in the window and put on an LP of "Songs of the Humpback Whales", and turned it up full blast.

After five minutes the neighbors turned the music down ... a lot .... We never had another problem afterward.

Not that I am suggesting you do such a thing, of course. But I do like the angle others have suggested above about putting pressure on the landlords. That seems a viable alternative....

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

It does, if Junior is over 18 and Mommy and Daddy aren't the ones who signed the lease.

IME, most places like the one under discussion won't rent to college kids without parents co-signing. If the parents are still claiming Johhny or Peggy Sue as dependents and providing their upkeep, you'd have a good case.

Besides which, this is America. You can sue anybody

 

[LightPhoenix]

See, my experience is just the opposite.

If I'm reading the situation correctly, Alzrius lives in a house/apartment that happens to be near a college, or at least in an area where lots of college students rent apartments. Generally, as long as the landlord, or company managing the property for the landlord, gets paid, they don't care whose name is on the lease. Heck, my old roomie and I didn't even fill out an application, they just handed us the lease.

That's not to say the landlord wouldn't do anything... but honestly, having lived in the college area of SU (Westcott) for two years now and the college area of Binghamton (off Floral Ave.) for three, I'm more than a little doubtful. More often than not, they'll simply refuse to renew the lease at the end of the year.

 

[Mark Chance]

Post signs that read "Trespassers Will Be Shot." Then shoot one.

 

[Chimera]

Ah, how happy I was to learn that my own community (a suburb of Minneapolis) has relatively draconian laws about disturbances coming from rental property.

Three strikes and the LANDLORD loses their license!

Which generally translates as: The Landlord kicks you out after two strikes.

IANAL, but;

Being a college town, you probably don't have the same recourse. However, check your ordinances closely and then enforce them vigorously. If the law says "after 10pm" Sunday to Thursday and "after midnight" on Friday and Saturday (as it does around here), then call the police at 10:05pm, or 12:05am on the weekends. Call every single time.

Every. Time.

Make sure that your neighbors do too, so it isn't just YOU "harassing" someone. Otherwise, at some point the police are likely to start ignoring you.

You might also want to check into "Nuisance" ordinances. You may have some basis to take legal action against the landlord over the actions of their tenants.

 

[Aeolius]

...she put the HUGE speakers in the window and put on an LP of "Songs of the Humpback Whales", and turned it up full blast.

Sonata #2 in B Flat Minor (The Funeral March) also works well.

When I was single and lived in an apartment, I had a neighbor who played LOUD rap music (not my cup of tea) in their bedroom all night. So, first I put a mic against the wall and recorded their noise, to use as evidence. Then, I put my 200 watt Cerwin-Vegas against the wall and let them have it. Within a week, the folks sharing their other wall and I had them evicted.

 

[Tewligan]

May I be the first to suggest that you kill them and take their stuff? Unfortunately in this case, their stuff will probably consist mostly of textbooks and Milwaukee's Best. And maybe a hackysack - do the college kids still kick around hackysacks? Criminy, I'm old...