Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
I play the electric guitar and drums and my neighbor seems to pick and choose when she's going to complain about it. My condo association just recently (last year) went under management by a management agency that is nefarious for ripping off their customers, being malicious and trying to fine people illegitimately, and the like. You can see some of the countless complaints against them by Googling them.
She's called the police on me before, and they've said to me flat out that there's nothing that they can do to stop me because I'm within the law. According to both city and county ordinances here, I'm allowed to play in a manner that is not increasing in volume or unnatural/out of time no later than 11:00 PM.
Here's the real kicker: I never play for more than 20 minutes at a time, and I always stop before 7:00 PM. I considered this courteous, but evidently she doesn't. She filed a complaint with the condo management and they sent me a C&D. I responded in a letter saying I had no problems stopping, so long as they could provide documentation that proved that condo bylaw supersedes city/county law. They ignored me.
Well yesterday I received an intent to fine in the mail regarding "continued noise violation" that I now have to contest at our next association meeting. Association bullshit aside, I have no intent of paying their fine. They failed to provide evidence that their bylaw trumps actual law, and they cannot prove that I'm playing with intent to cause disturbance or in a malicious way. I gave them burden of proof, twice now, and they've ignored me both times.
I called the president of the management association, who berated me on the phone. He wound up literally screaming and throwing a tantrum like a child, and threatening legal action, which I invited him to try. At the association meeting I intend on distributing copies of the poor reviews detailing how they've treated customers, and calling for removal of their business as acting management. I also plan to bring copies of the city and county noise ordinances to dispute my "violation."
My question is: from a legal standpoint, is there any way I should prepare that I'm not taking into account? I have copies of both letters giving them burden of proof, my wife's overhearing of him screaming at me on the phone (backed up by user reviews claiming he screams at people regularly), and they lack proof that I'm doing anything disturbing apart from one neighbor's constantly-changing attitude.
What can I do to protect my rights to play in my home?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Potentially not a whole lot. I'm sure there are condo by-laws and rules pertaining to use restrictions, including but not limited to the creation of any "nuisance" or "disturbance", which as a general rule would include unreasonable amounts of noise. And while your musician's skills may be excellent, loudness would fall under the concept of noise. So first check your by-laws and rules. Condo, or any multi-family living situation, is a compromise. And most buildings are not built to deal with noise -- either loudness, or concussion. Frankly, your best bet would be to practice/play your guitar via an amp that has a headphone jack, and you might consider electronic drums that allow similar listening. The former should not be a big deal; the latter could be pricy. You could load your bass with sound-deadening materials, but that might not do the trick either. So if you think you can't even talk to your neighbor at this point, you might ask the management company to mediate between you and your neighbor as to times that would not be disturbing. Short of that, your only argument may be that playing musical instruments are not specifically mentioned as a form of nuisance or disturbance, but every good push deserves a shove and the next thing you know is that the rules will be modified accordingly. In a rental building, you could simply be evicted.
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