In today’s world, many people rent their place of residence instead of owning. While apartment living has its advantages, it also comes with its drawbacks. One thing many renters deal with is noisy neighbors. You can’t live attached to someone else’s home and expect to never hear them after all. One woman asks the internet, is she the a**hole for reporting her neighbor’s baby to their landlord for crying?
The Complaint
First, the OP gives some background information. She explains that she lives in the upstairs apartment of a duplex and has lived there for the past five years with her two dogs and a boyfriend who recently moved out due to their splitting up.
“Last year, my neighbors moved in downstairs after the unit had been empty for a while. They were good neighbors until this year when they had a baby,” remarks the OP.
The OP continues, stating, “Since she’s had the baby, I’ve had to deal with the crying from downstairs. It’s not as bad as I expected, but it still is really annoying.” Wanting peace and quiet, the OP asked her neighbors to try and quiet down.
“I’ve gone down and knocked on their door a couple of times to tell them to keep the noise down. Every time they apologize and blame their baby, but nothing has changed,” stated the OP.
When no changes occur after her multiple conversations with her neighbors, the OP moves on to a more formal complaint. The OP shares, “I got fed up and reported them to our landlord for making too much noise. The landlord talked to my neighbors, who are now turning it around on me, saying my dogs are too loud, and I play music at night that wakes their baby up.”
The OP is not happy with her neighbor shifting the blame onto her. “My dogs aren’t that loud and hardly ever bark when I’m home. I got annoyed and went down to talk to my neighbor about it, and she got really nasty with me and blamed my dogs and me for “always” waking up her baby,” says the OP.
The OP explains that her neighbor told her how noisy the dogs’ footsteps are and that they bark incessantly when the OP isn’t home. The neighbor also says the OP plays music too loud and late at night.
In response, the OP says, “I told her I couldn’t make my dogs not bark when I’m out, and that they’re dogs on hardwood floors, and that I didn’t know what she expected living in a downstairs unit. I also told her I could have people over and my music on whenever I wanted in my home. I don’t think it’s fair to ask me to change my life when I’m not the one who had a baby.”
The situation only escalates as the OP continues, “My neighbor got an attitude and told me she was only asking for me to be “respectful of our shared space” and brought up hearing an argument I had with my ex a few weeks ago. I admit it was a little loud, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
The OP continues, “She shut the door in my face. I reported the whole conversation to my landlord, so there’s a record of my complaints because I want them and that baby out of here! When I was telling a friend about what was happening, she told me I was being a major a**hole to “struggling new parents,” but I think that’s their problem and not mine.”
Not Supportive
The comments were flooded with people’s opinions on the matter. And the majority votes YTA (you’re the a**hole). One statement reads, “YTA. You’re complaining about a newborn when you have two large dogs thumping around above the baby, play loud music, AND have loud fights.”
“You think people should put up with your noise but expect silence from your neighbors?” a second person asks.
“YTA. OP just has to understand that babies will cry. All the time. At very inconvenient times, like when people are sleeping or trying to do something that requires focus,” a comment third states.
While the vast majority of comments echoed similar thoughts as the ones above, there were still a few more neutral voices amongst the crowd. One person pointed out apartments are loud for everyone.
“If you live in a place with shared walls, noise comes with the territory. I’ll tell my neighbors politely to turn their music down from time to time if it’s getting really ridiculous, but babies cry, and dogs bark and that’s just a part of apartment life,” states the user.
A select few were in agreement with OP, and one person added, “NTA (not the a**hole) for reporting a sincere noise complaint. After all, noise is noise.”
This article was inspired by this thread and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Cents + Purpose.
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