Mother with Disabled Daughter Forced Out by Noisy Neighbors
Desperation drove Maria Nikitina to make her story widely known. Several years ago, the single mother, raising a daughter with a disability, moved into a new two-room apartment. The joy of housewarming lasted until this spring, when the occupants of the apartment directly above changed. In just a few months, the new neighbors literally forced Maria and her daughter out of their own home. To be able to sleep peacefully at night and not traumatize her autistic child, who is frightened by loud noises, the mother had to rent another apartment and move out.
Is there a legal and, most importantly, effective way to quiet noisy neighbors? Our colleagues at 72.RU publish this family«s story and, together with the police and lawyers, examine how to act in such circumstances.
The situation Maria Nikitina found herself in is, of course, not unique. Many residents of apartment buildings can only dream of peace and quiet. But in this case, it is not just about inconvenience. Maria’s daughter has autism and heightened sensitivity to sounds. The girl constantly wears headphones, and home was the only place where, until recently, she could go without them.
«Our tutor at school very quickly noticed that something was wrong with my daughter. By the end of the school year, she could no longer concentrate on her lessons and was more anxious and irritable. All these changes happened because of a lack of normal sleep,» the mother tells 72.RU.
Maria notes that the apartment directly above has been rented out before, but she never had such problems until the current tenants moved in. At first, the single mother endured it and tried to be understanding of the noisy behavior of the young female neighbors. She hoped the girls would finish their housewarming party and settle down, but the nightly gatherings and loud arguments, she says, dragged on for months and robbed her and her daughter of normal sleep.
«Two girls live there, and one of them regularly has her partner over. They live a nocturnal lifestyle. They sleep until noon, and by evening they start making noise, arguing — all this often until morning. My child and I have stopped sleeping up to four nights a week. As soon as I could, I contacted the owner of that apartment. For a whole month I corresponded with her and asked her to influence the situation (screenshots of the correspondence are available to 72.RU. — Editor’s note). During that time, the situation did not change,» Maria shares.
When Maria realized that neither the tenants nor the apartment owner were responding to her requests to observe quiet hours, she began to seek help from the police. The reason for such calls was not only noise after 10 p.m., but also screams from beatings. After visits from law enforcement, the neighbors did not quiet down, and one night they even woke Maria and her daughter by banging on the door.
According to the apartment owner, complaints about the tenants come only from Maria, and the other residents of the building remain silent. Seeking reasons, Maria conducted a small investigation and found out why the neighbors do not support her.
«I went around all the other nearby apartments, but no one opened the door. Then I decided to leave notes asking them to call me back. That way, I found out that directly near the noisy tenants, no one lives except my daughter and me. The other apartments are just empty for now. Neighbors whose homes are one apartment away or one floor away only hear the screams in their bathrooms. They are ready to support me, but the noise doesn«t bother them as much,» the single mother admits.
Looking at her child«s anxious state, Maria Nikitina decided to move out of her own home. Changing the familiar environment is also stressful for her daughter, but in the rented apartment, at least she sleeps through the night:
«I rented a one-room apartment and pay 33,000 rubles (approximately $370 at current rates) for it. For me, this is a huge blow to the budget, but for now I have no other choice. We can only be calmly at home in the first half of the day, when our neighbors are catching up on sleep after another sleepless night.»
What the Owner of the Noisy Apartment Says
The owner of the apartment where the noisy group settled lives in another city. We managed to contact the owner by phone, and she promised to resolve the conflict.
«My distant relatives live in this apartment — two girls. One of them is in a wheelchair. Perhaps that is why there is so much noise from them. Maria did complain to me about them, and honestly, I was already thinking of evicting them, but they promised everything would be fine. The thing is, the girl who uses a wheelchair finds it convenient to live in a new building with a barrier-free environment. They have already adapted and gotten used to it there,» Olga told about her tenants.
She added that due to communication issues, her dialogue with the neighbor was interrupted several months ago. According to Olga, she did not know that the situation had gone so far and that Maria and her daughter had been forced to move out of their own apartment.
«Of course, this is not normal. I recently passed through the city and stopped by my apartment to check on the tenants, but Maria was not home then, so we did not meet. I did not know she had moved. We will figure something out,» the apartment owner stated her position.
Police Comment and Lawyers’ Advice
Maria’s complaints about noise violations were handled by the precinct police officers. They interviewed her and spoke with other residents to determine the details of the conflict.
«Based on the results of the investigation, two administrative reports were drawn up against the resident (the partner of one of the tenants. — Editor’s note) who caused trouble for the complainant. The first was for disturbing the peace and quiet of citizens, the second for petty hooliganism. It should be noted that there was no inaction on the part of the police: all calls were promptly processed, and the neighbor was held accountable as required by law,» the city police commented on the situation.
The first piece of advice lawyers give to people in similar circumstances is to document everything. It is necessary to record the noise on a voice recorder or video and save correspondence with the property owner, so that he or she cannot later claim to have known nothing about the conflict.
«For every night noise — call the police. Not by phone to the dispatch office, but officially, with registration. Always get a notification ticket (KUASP). For each new incident — a separate statement. Record video and audio with date and time. Call an ambulance if health is affected. Medical reports about stress, sleep deprivation, exacerbation of chronic diseases are direct evidence of harm,» outlined the algorithm of actions at a law firm.
In case of police inaction, lawyers advise filing a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. Additionally, one can check the legality of the income from renting out the apartment. Such an issue should be addressed to the tax authorities.
«The main thing is to stop being a «convenient victim» and create a real threat to the owner’s wallet and status. As soon as the damage from the tenants becomes greater than the rental income, the problem will be solved in one day,» the specialists assure.
Maria Nikitina has already appealed to all possible authorities, but so far it has not helped. She states that, if necessary, she is ready to go to court to demand the eviction of the noisy tenants and compensation for moral damages caused over the past months to her and her special child.
