Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Let me guess; it's a man whose footsteps you hear and a woman's you don't.

I was such a man once, living above the landlady. My wife agreed with the landlady that I walk heavy and they asked me to walk more lightly. I hadn't a clue how to change my walk and believe to this day that it has more to do with one's weight than anything else. So after a while, I decided it was time to put my foot down and belly up to the bar -- bad jokes, I'm afraid. Anyway, it occured to me later that I should just have offered to buy her a radio for quietly playing music as background, but she was 89 years old and would not appreciate it.

Ask Mr. Heavy to take his shoes off in the house, maybe? Then test it out. Get the landlord to help you get them to cooperate.

Yes, you can continue to harangue the neighbors and the landlord about it. In Mass., where I practice, you can even bring a suit on it against the landlord, if you like. You could break your lease or ask for money damages for the bad months you've had. Maybe you could get the landlord (with his money or with your money) to put some (additional) rug with undercushion in the apartment upstairs.But my guess is that you want to get Mr. Heavy to move out and there's no guarantee of that outcome if you go against the landlord. So you could also go against the neighbor directly, but the case is fairly weak.

You could involve the local inspector -- what town or city do you live in? -- and that adds weight (sorry!) to your evidence if you go against either party legally.

Probably, though, your best options are non-legal. If you like, and especially if you live in the Boston area, I could call them both for you but I'd want to know what suggestions you propose for remedying the situation before I make the call. Keep in mind that other neighbors could be worse for other reasons. I've had tenants who would have drunk young men over, and they would be very loud and would blare music each weekend night, often until the police came and even then the police might have to come back a second time in the same night. These cases are called "private nuisance" cases. Yours seems a little milder.

Covenant of quiet enjoyment and the heavy walker

The landlord provides a covenant of quiet enjoyment. This does warrant to the tenantthat there will not be unreasonable noise or other annoyance with the tenancy. Inyour case, the "noise" is walking. I don't think that a judge will find that another tenantwho is a "heavy walker" amounts to a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment.