My tenants have loud sex every day, what can I do?
Q : My basement tenants have incredibly loud sex at least once daily. It lasts between 20 minutes and an hour (they met in a tantric sex class).
Yesterday I even checked outside whether a dog was being injured, due to their unusual noises.
My partner and I live upstairs. We also have regular sex, and louder when the house is empty.
We don’t want our tenants to be party to our intimacy.
I’ve tried to be good-humoured about it, but after six months, I feel violated by it.
I’m being unwillingly placed in a sexual situation — like being flashed, just auditory instead of visual.
I know it doesn’t seem like it should be a big deal.
But there’s something so brazen about the volume and frequency, with complete indifference to what my partner and I might feel.
When they begin, I feel genuine distress. It’s taking an emotional toll.
Am I unreasonable? What’s the most balanced and mature way to handle this situation?
A: You certainly have a problem, but you’re likely not the only people who’ve found themselves unwillingly aware of another couple’s sexual behaviour due to proximity and sound levels.
Though the situation seems awkward to discuss, there may be some logical responses:
1. Check your municipality’s noise bylaws. They won’t specify sexual shouting, but will mention decibel levels that are over the top. If this case qualifies, take it to your local official in charge.
When he/she stops smirking, there may be some answers that apply.
2. The Landlord-Tenant Act for your jurisdiction may also cover how to handle excessive noise from a tenant, and what you can and cannot do about it.
Tantric sex is an ancient Hindu practice, which involves breathing techniques to provide more energy to the act, including panting (perhaps why you thought you heard a dog).
There are “balanced and mature” things to say to the couple, again dealing mainly with noise factors. However, because your emotional reaction is so strong now, it could lead to an unpleasant exchange.
If there’s nothing you can legally do about this, nor nothing you can say without embarrassing yourself and insulting them, try the following:
Wear earplugs or play loud music you like when you’re in the house in the day. Keep a white-noise emitter in the bedroom for when you sleep.
I’m hoping some readers have suggestions, too.
I want contact with my kids
Q: A gold-digging liar, who had me jailed on false assault charges, leaving me homeless and unemployed, divorced me.
She got my house, half my assets and pension, and custody of my children, now seven and nine. I pay child support but can’t afford a place to visit with them.
Despite having a visitation schedule settled in the separation agreement, she refuses to let me see the children. I was forced to move 100 km away from her jurisdiction to avoid harassment charges.
How can I get her to allow them to Skype, or Face Time, or phone me once a month?
I send cards and letters to them for all occasions but am unsure she lets them see them. I never hear back.
A: Keep sending cards and letters. They may get read.
Check with a legal aid or family court clinic whether visitation can be reordered and include a mediator present to allay the old harassment issue.
Do not express insulting descriptions of your ex when trying to get access. It can’t help your case, though your sincere parental yearning, can.