Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to my last post, particularly Malixe and B. I really appreciate all the advice and support. As a result, I did write a letter.

To the Director and Members of the Council of Unit Owners of The Beverly Condominium:

In the past five weeks there have been complaints of excessive noise directed toward myself and my unit by one of the Members of the Council. In the past two weeks, these complaints have been addressed to several other Members, as well as to building management. It is my hope to have this situation resolved as quickly as possible, with as little detriment as possible to any of the involved parties. As such, I was invited to your meeting tonight by another of your Members, so that I could hear the complaints made against me, provide my side of the story in my defense, and then hopefully, to have this matter finally settled after mediation from the full Council and building management. However, I was informed by management that I am not able to attend your Council meetings, as they are for owners, only.

When I mentioned this decision to several of the other Members, they seemed surprised. I understand that without the required financial contributions to the association, I must be excluded from all matters regarding decision-making and finances, but it was my hope – and the hope of at least one other Council Member – that my presence at this meeting for this issue alone would allow a fair and just resolution to be found. Instead, I have found that though I am a resident in the building like the other Members, I am in no way considered an equal; my value as a renter leaves my voice – even in matters directly concerning me – worthless, and relatively unheard. Instead of coming to a democratic solution by having all related parties involved in this dispute, I find that I feel as though my fundamental rights are being violated – the right to fair and equal treatment before the law which would allow due process. However, it is apparent that the Bylaws of the Council are written to allow equal representation for those with the means to own, and zero representation for those who must rent. As such, at tonight\’s meeting the issue of noise coming from my Unit will be addressed with the occupant of the Unit in question in absentia. I am therefore writing this letter for tonight\’s meeting in the hope that my side of the story will be known.

I have lived in this building since April 10, and yet have not seen the resident of Unit #1 myself except a few times through the front windows of the building. Over the summer, my boyfriend met her while he was out front and she was on her way inside; he told me that she was very nice, and worked long hours. Indeed, I tried a few times in late August or so to meet her by knocking on her door, but she appeared to have not been home on those occasions. The only hours I heard her at home were in the later evening and very early in the morning, so I gave up attempting to meet her. As far as I am aware, she has made no attempt to meet me or discuss anything with me directly. After six months of living here, I had grown accustomed to having a neighbor I never saw, nor knew.

The situation changed on the evening of Thursday, October 5, when I first became aware that the resident of Unit #1 had an issue with the noise coming from my Unit. A friend of mine was visiting with his dog. While we were in my Unit, the resident of Unit #1 came upstairs and knocked on my door. As he was closest to the door, my friend answered. The resident told my friend that we were making too much noise, and to please keep it down. This was around approximately eight that evening. We had the dog get onto her bed, and did not hear from the resident of Unit #1 again until Saturday afternoon. This time, it was my boyfriend who answered the door; I believe I was in the bathroom, as I was unable to come to the door myself. She said again that we were making far too much noise by walking around. In an attempt to muffle the sound, my boyfriend and I covered the foyer, dining room, and living room with all my towels and several layers of sheets. On late Monday afternoon, October 9, around 5-6pm, the resident of Unit #1 again came upstairs to make a comment about the noise. She did so just as my friend and I had finished packing up and had put the leash on his dog. He was headed out the door when she confronted him and said “If the noise does not stop, there will be trouble.” My friend and his dog left after that, and have not been back since. That is also the extent of my communication, though indirect, with the resident in Unit #1. She has not spoken to me since, nor had I received any complaints from her prior to that weekend.

Since that weekend has past, however, there have continued to be complaints from the resident of Unit #1 about the noise coming from my Unit. For the most part, I cannot find reasonable basis for these further complaints.

On Saturday, October 28, at 5:15 in the evening, I ran my vacuum. A few minutes after I had finished, a resident of Unit #102 knocked on my door. He came to tell me that while I had been running my vacuum, the resident of Unit #1 had visited him at his Unit. He said that for fifteen minutes, she complained to him about the excessive noise coming into her apartment from above. My understanding of what he told me, is that it had taken him a few minutes to narrow down her complaints to my vacuuming in the five-o\’clock hour, the noise the dog had made three weeks prior, and the continuing noise made by myself and my newly adopted cat. As of that date, I did not yet have a full area rug in my Unit, as I had been saving up in order to purchase one; the cost is well beyond my means and it had taken me several months to have enough money. I promised the resident of Unit #102 that I would have the rug at the start of November, and that I would attempt to be more quiet. I apologized to him for his having been brought into the situation by the resident of Unit #1.

That week, October 30-November 3, I received a telephone call from the building\’s manager, *********. She told me that the resident in Unit #1 had called to complain about the noise coming from my unit, and to inquire about the situation. I told her that I did not yet have an area rug, but that I would by the end of the week. On Friday, November 3, I added two runners and a thick area rug to the floor of my apartment. The next week, I again heard from *****; she said that the resident in Unit #1 had called to complain again about the excessive noise I made over the weekend. I was astonished; I do not know what this noise could have been. I did not have friends over, I was not coming and going at night, I did not run the vacuum that weekend, and I do not play music or my television loudly, especially late at night. I also now have the required rugs on my floors to muffle noise. The source of the noise that was being complained about that weekend is not likely to have originated from my apartment.

Indeed, additional instances this past week have confirmed my theory of displaced and traveling noise within the building. Last weekend, November 3-4, the residents of Unit #201, above me, sounded as though they may have been constructing furniture. During the afternoon and early evening, I heard some banging and thudding above me that indicated such. It was not at an unreasonable hour, nor was it not understandable, as those residents had just moved in the weekend before. The noise above me was acceptable to me and easy to dismiss. I believe that through vibrations in the thin walls and floors, and through the air vents, the noise traveled down to Unit #1. Two other instances further corroborate this theory.

On this past Thursday night (November 9) at 10:10, the residents of Unit #102 came home. They were not excessively loud. My boyfriend and myself were sitting on the sofa in my living room, talking. We did not have the television on, so I clearly heard when the residents came through the building door, went up the steps, and entered their Unit above me. As they began to walk across their foyer, directly under my foyer came the sound of loud banging. My boyfriend and I felt the vibrations of the banging from below while we were sitting. It does not seem unreasonable to surmise that the resident of Unit #1 was expressing her displeasure at the noise from above by banging on her ceiling where she inferred the noise to be coming from.

The second instance of this was on Friday night, at 9:35. The residents of Unit #102 were having a small party, of perhaps 15 people total. During the week prior, I had queried via e-mail the residents of Unit #2, Unit #102, Unit #201, and Unit #202, to check and make sure that the resident of Unit #1 will be informed of \’large\’ social gatherings that may be held in other Units. I was told by a resident that he would tell her about the party planned for the night of November 10. It was my hope that with forewarning, the resident of Unit #1 would not feel as strongly about noise in the building. This appeared to have not been the case, as when I came home that night at 9:35 and walked across my foyer to my linen closet, I once again experienced the banging directly under my feet. This greatly upset me, as there was a party going on above my head, and yet I was being rudely rebuked for walking across my floor. I went upstairs to the party, informed the residents of the Unit of the situation, and left the building. I came home for five minutes on Saturday to feed my cat, and on Sunday did not return until late evening.

I have spoken with at least one resident from every other Unit in this building about this issue. All have told me that they do not find that I make any excessive noise, nor have they found my Unit to be disruptive. One other resident told me that she never hears loud music coming from any of the other Units in the building; I concur with that. While I often hear footsteps, phones ringing, conversations in the Common hallway, the occasional murmur from a television unit or stereo, and usually muffled voices through the floors and walls, I have not found anything in this building to be excessively loud since the former occupants of Unit #201 moved out. Until the past few weeks, I have found this building, despite its thin walls, to be a joy to live in: a comfortable home with friendly neighbors. Now, however, I feel that my very presence is under attack by one of the residents.

In the past few weeks, I have become extremely uncomfortable in my own home, to the point where I am even avoiding being there. I have resorted to trying to speak only in a whisper while at home, and to removing my shoes outside of the building before walking across my Unit\’s floor. The stress from feeling under attack in my own home has begun to affect my life; as I am a full time student who studies at home through the internet, I have found it increasingly difficult in the past two weeks to relax enough at home to focus on my work. I have done all that is within my means to be accommodating, and as far as I am aware, have not broken any rules.

In no way do I wish to upset the resident of Unit #1, but I feel like her complaints have gone beyond reason and have entered the realm of impersonal harassment. I do not know, nor do I understand, the basis for these complaints. I would, however, like to understand, just as I would like to amicably resolve this situation. It had been my hope to address this in a mediated atmosphere with all the Council Members present, as they are all aware of the situation, and several have been on the receiving end of the resident of Unit #1\’s grievances against me. As this will not be allowed, I hope that this letter stating my version of events will provide adequate representation in my absence.

Thank you for your time,

As a result, I think I \”won,\” at least for now. I received the below in my e-mail this morning:

Hi Cassandra-
Unfortunately, I left work last night 5 minutes before you sent this e-mail. We had a pretty brief discussion last night about the letter– the [building management] had a copy but didn\’t read it aloud. Basically, everyone in the meeting (except [resident in Unit #1] who wasn\’t saying anything at this point) said that they never hear noise from your apartment. We brought up how noise travels throughout the building and I reiterated the story about [residents of Unit #201] getting home and [resident in Unit #1] banging on your ceiling. [Resident of Unit #201] brought up the point that regardless who lives in the apartment there will be noise, as there is in everyone else\’s. [Resident in Unit #1] did say that most of the noise comes from [my boyfriend] walking with shoes on. I felt like [my landlord] got a look on her face like she realized that [resident in Unit #1] was just complaining about nothing.
If you want to call me later or stop by tonight feel free. I probably could have explained this better but have to do some work today. 🙂 My phone number at work is ************.
You may want to forward your letter to all of us on the e-mail list.