Noise complaints are among the most common issues landlords face, especially if they own a multifamily rental. When tenants fail to handle the problem by themselves, they approach landlords to complain about noise nuisances caused by neighbors.

Landlords need to intervene if the situation gets out of hand and there is a severe violation of the other tenants’ right to quiet enjoyment.

Here are a few tips which can help Merced landlords in handling noise complaints.

Understand What Qualifies As Noise

It is necessary to understand what qualifies as noise to deal with noise complaints effectively. Noise can be an unwanted and unpleasant sound that can cause serious disturbance to the property residents and lead them to file a noise complaint. For example, loud quarrels, the barking of dogs, loud parties, and music played at an excessively high volume qualify as noise.

Noise complaints generally come from tenants living in shared properties but may also occur in the case of single-family homes.

Landlords can check the local Merced noise ordinances to know the accepted noise level, reasonable types of noise, and what constitutes a noise nuisance. With this information, you can speak with the noisy neighbors in question and ask them to keep it down.

Investigate the Complaint

The first step after receiving a noise complaint is to investigate the cause of the complaint. It will help you determine the seriousness of the problem, whether the complaint is authentic, and understand details such as the type of sound, the date and time of the nuisance, and if it has been occurring repeatedly. You can also ask other residents of the property if they have heard such loud disturbances as well. Finally, discuss the issue with your tenants and reassure them that you will take care of the problem.

Communicate With The Neighbors In Question

After investigating and validating all the necessary details, you can communicate with the noisy neighbors and understand their side of the story. Sometimes, individuals may not even realize that their behavior might be causing inconvenience to others. In such conditions, you can give them a warning and inform them of the consequences if they fail to improve. Follow up at regular intervals and check if there’s any progress in the situation. If there isn’t, you may need to take serious action against them. If there are multiple noise complaints about the same offender, you may have to consider evicting the noisy tenant.

Include A Noise Clause in Your Merced Rental Lease Agreement

Outlining noise policies and the tenants’ right to quiet enjoyment in a lease agreement can prevent noise complaints to a great extent. You should also state the consequences of disregarding or violating noise clauses mentioned in the lease. Include the local laws and statutes in Merced on noise issues in the lease or display them on the board in your rental as a preventive measure.

It is necessary to be responsive to noise complaints of your renters and solve them as quickly as possible to establish a healthy landlord-tenant relationship. At River Drive Properties, we can assist you in dealing with noise complaints and solve the issues systematically. Contact us at River Drive Properties for more information.