Woman Forced to Leave Home Over Noisy Neighbors
Desperation drove Maria Nikitina to make her story widely known. Several years ago, a single mother raising a disabled daughter moved into a new two-room apartment. The joy of the new home lasted until the spring of this year, when the residents in the apartment directly above changed. In just a few months, the new neighbors essentially drove Maria and her daughter out of their own home. To sleep peacefully at night and not traumatize her autistic child, who is frightened by loud sounds, the mother had to rent another apartment and move out.
Is there a legal — and most importantly, effective — way to calm noisy neighbors? Our colleagues from 72.RU publish the story of this family and, together with the police and lawyers, figure out how to act in such circumstances.
The situation Maria Nikitina found herself in is, of course, not unique. Many residents of high-rise 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 — until recently — was the only place where 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 lessons and was more anxious and irritable. All these changes began to happen due to lack of normal sleep,» — the mother tells 72.RU.
Maria notes that the apartment above has been rented out before, but before the current tenants moved in, she had no such problems. At first, the single mother endured it and tried to be understanding of the young neighbors« noisy behavior. She hoped the girls would celebrate their housewarming and then settle down, but the nightly gatherings and loud arguments, she says, dragged on for months and robbed her and her daughter of normal sleep.
«There are two girls living there, and one of them has her partner constantly coming over. They keep a nocturnal lifestyle. They sleep until noon, and in the evening they start making noise, arguing — often until morning. My child and I 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. — Ed.). During that time, nothing changed,» — Maria shares.
When Maria realized that neither the tenants nor the property owner were responding to her requests to observe quiet hours, she began turning to the police for help. The reason for these calls was not only noise after 10 p.m., but also screams from beatings. After police visits, the neighbors did not quiet down, and one night they even woke Maria and her daughter by banging on the door.
According to the property owner, complaints about the tenants come only from Maria, while other residents of the building remain silent. Seeking reasons, Maria conducted a small investigation and found out why her neighbors were not supporting her.
«I went around to all the other nearby apartments, but no one opened the door. So I decided to leave notes asking them to call me back. That way, I managed to find out that no one lives in close proximity to the noisy tenants except my daughter and me. The other apartments are simply empty for now. Neighbors whose homes are one apartment away or one floor away hear the screams only 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, she at least sleeps at night:
«I rented a one-room apartment and pay 33,000 rubles ($367 at current rates) for it. For me, this is a huge blow to the budget, but there is no other option yet. We can only be calm at home during 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.
«Distant relatives of mine 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 I honestly already wanted to evict them, but they promised everything would be fine. The fact is that the girl who uses a wheelchair finds it convenient to live in a new building with a barrier-free environment. They have adapted and settled in there,» — Olga said about her tenants.
She added that due to communication problems, her dialogue with Maria was interrupted several months ago. According to Olga, she did not know the situation had gone so far and that Maria and her daughter had 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 wasn«t home at the time, so we didn»t meet. I didn«t know she had moved. We will figure something out,» — the rental property owner stated.
Police comment and lawyers« advice
Maria«s complaints about noise disturbances were handled by the local police officers. They interviewed her and spoke with other residents to clarify the details of the conflict.
«As a result of the inspection, two administrative protocols were drawn up against the tenant (the partner of one of the tenants — Ed.) who caused concern to the complainant. The first was for disturbing the peace and quiet of citizens, the second for petty hooliganism. It is worth noting that there was no inaction on the part of the police: all calls were dealt with in a timely manner, and the neighbor was held accountable as provided by law,» — the city police commented.
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 they cannot later claim they knew nothing about the conflict.
«For every night noise, call the police. Not by phone to the duty station, but officially, with registration. Always get a notification slip (KUSP). For each new incident, file a separate statement. Record video and audio with date and time. Call an ambulance if health is affected. Medical reports on 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. In addition, one can check the legality of income from renting out the property. Such a question should be addressed to the tax service.
«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 income from the rent, 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 to her and her special child over the past months.
