Asked almost 3 years ago - Shelby Township, MI
FlagCan you break a lease because of noise? Our neighbors stomp around all hours of the day and night, and after reporting them twice to management they said that they can not make them understand, so the problem may. (They are foreign and do not speak English) We have not had a good night's sleep in the three months that we have lived here and now we are getting sleep deprivation headaches. (Mine goes away when I nap at my parents home- an hour away.) I've documented the times they keep us up (at night until 2AM, and in the morning anywhere from 5AM to 9AM), and I have copies of the complaint letters to management. Do you think we could break our 14 month lease without having to pay the rent while it's unoccupied? (I wouldn't wish anyone to live in this apartment with these people above them.
You leasehold interest includes an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment. That covenant means that neither the landlord nor anyone acting under his authority will substantially interfere with your quiet enjoyment of the property. Simply put, you are entitled to the beneficial enjoyment of the property for the purposes for which the property was leased to you, at least to the extent the landlord disclosed to you at the time the lease was made. Your landlord needs to be made to understand that by allowing the other tenants (a party over whom the landlord is responsible) to breach your covenant of quiet enjoyment, it is the same as though your landlord was doing so.
Please review the contents of your lease regarding your notice requirements for notifiying your landlord.
NOTE: If you find this response helpful, please click on the “thumbs up” button at the bottom.
*This response does not constitute legal advice. You are advised to seek personal legal counsel prior to taking any action. Nothing in this response should be construed to constitute the establishment of an attorney-client relationship.*
Tape record the noise and call the police to complain about the nuisance. Have you tried talking to the neighbors yourself? Maybe they do not realize what it sounds like in your apartment.
The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change. Attorney is licensed to practice law only in the State of California. Responses are based solely on California law unless stated otherwise.
Don't speak legalese? We define thousands of terms in plain English.
Browse our legal dictionary