One of the downsides of apartment living is having nosy neighbors.
Even if you have a nice apartment, the experience of relaxing in your home can be ruined by bad neighbors. Whether it’s a neighbor who tries to get you to move out or one who simply doesn’t know how to control their volume, an annoying neighbor is simply the worst. Not helping matters is the fact that there’s often not much you can do about it except complain to your landlord.
Furthermore, some neighbors will use these “emails to the landlord” as a weapon against other renters. One woman said that a neighbor recently attempted to perform such an action, claiming that she was being too loud in the apartment. There’s just one problem.
Why Did This Woman Get A Noise Complaint On Vacation?
In a video with over 590,000 views, TikTok user @expiredglutenfreebread explains that she just received a noise complaint.
“Your neighbors reached out this morning because of another noise complaint from your apartment at 3:45 this morning,” the email reads. “We kindly request that you take immediate steps to address this issue by keeping noise levels at a reasonable volume, especially during late hours. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding this matter.”
As the TikToker notes, this isn’t the first time that her neighbor has made dubious noise complaints about her apartment. However, this time, she has surefire proof that it wasn’t her causing the ruckus.
“The fact of the matter is, I’m in f—— Cancun,” she states, showing the beach. “I’m not there. Neither is my cat.”
“Unless someone has broken in or I have a ghost, this man is making s— up,” she concludes.
What Can You Do About A Fake Noise Complaint?
Depending on the severity of the complaints, responses to these false accusations can vary considerably.
For example, if this is common behavior but solely results in warning emails from your landlord, you might want to try to explain the situation to your landlord and let them know about what’s going on. In the TikToker’s case, she can explain that she was verifiably not at home when the complaint was made. This informs the landlord that the sound was either coming from elsewhere or that claims made by the neighbor should be treated with a little more suspicion.
If there are so many of these complaints that one believes it could constitute harassment, legal experts advise documenting as many of these complaints as possible. This can include written communications and statements from witnesses corroborating the harassment.
Should these issues continue, one can consider writing their neighbor a cease and desist. They can also file a civil harassment restraining order. Both of these options instruct the neighbor to cease the harassing conduct.
@expiredglutenfreebread Here we go again #downstairsneighbor #upstairsneighbors #noisecomplaint #cancun #allinclusive
Commenters Want Revenge
In the comments section, users encouraged the TikToker to take retaliatory action against her neighbor.
“Email them back and say clearly they are confused because i was not even in the country last night, so maybe he needs a wellness check,” wrote a user. In response, the TikToker noted that she “let them know I wasn’t home and to please make sure my place wasn’t broken into.”
“Sound travels different in apartments. I can hear the ppl diagonally below me clear as day, but not the ppl beside me. Let them building know you weren’t home so they can let your neighbor know it’s clearly not you,” added another.
Others simply shared their own, similar stories.
“My late husband was questioned about a robbery (in Unionville Missouri) . They had two witnesses that recognized him, identified him, and gave details about the break-in. He was in Germany at the time of the robbery,” said a commenter. “He just handed them his passport.”
“I had a neighbour complain about my dog barking who had been passed away for a couple months,” offered a second. “Boy did they feel bad lol.”
BroBible reached out to @expiredglutenfreebread via TikTok direct message and comment.