Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Noise Neighbors

I have obnoxiously noisy neighbors. They are a family of 5 with 3 10-15 year old children living in a very small apartment. Although some of the noise is not their fault because the walls are thin, the children are especially loud and obnoxious and I have repeatedly tried to nicely speak with them about it and I get yelled at as a reponse "Move, then!" Am I COMPLETELY Powerless? I would even accept moving if I could break my lease without losing a ton of money. I just don't really know what to do.


Asked on 3/21/98, 1:28 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

What part of Mass. are you in?

There are a few ways to proceed. One is against the landlord, assuming that YOUR landlord is THEIR landlord. (I assume you're in the same apartment building.) Landlord can either control the noise or kick out the other tenants or move the other tenants further away or offer to move you away from them or release you from your lease. You will need to document the noise problem and your complaints about it to the landlord in order to get a court to recognize the problem you have if you need to break the lease for this reason.

You can also proceed against the neighbors directly under nuisance law or under certain ordinances. This may be a harder case to win.

Call me for a) more advice, gratis, or b) to make a call for you to the landlord.

Are you in the Boston area? Landlord / Tenant law is one of my top two fields of practice!

Call me for more advice.

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Answered on 3/31/98, 10:04 am
Alan Pransky Law Office of Alan J. Pransky

Tell the landlord about the problem

The landlord owes each and every tenant a covenant of quiet enjoyment. It is possible thatthe landlord has the responsibility to control other tenants. Therefore, your remedy is tocomplain to the landlord. If the landlord will not do anything about the problem then youshould talk to the landlord about leaving early and not losing any money.

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Answered on 3/31/98, 10:14 pm


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