What to do about noisy neighbors

Single-family homeowners sometimes complain about noise — leaf blowers at dawn, a backyard party next door, a neighbor’s truck that could use a new muffler.

For apartment residents, though, this challenge can be amplified. You don’t just share a property line and a fence with our neighbors. You share a sheetrock wall that is just a few inches thick.

I don’t know how many Houstonians are into practicing the standing high jump in combat boots, but I’m pretty sure they’ve all lived upstairs from me at some point.

So, what are residents’ responsibilities to keep quiet, and what are your rights to expect neighbors to “keep it down?”

The lease

Every apartment lease should have some general provisions about noise. The standard lease prepared by the Texas Apartment Association prohibits “behaving in a loud or obnoxious manner” or “disturbing or threatening the rights, comfort, health, safety or convenience of others.” This isn’t just a restriction aimed at you, it’s a protection giving the manager the ability to hold your neighbors to the same standard.

The law

Within the city limits of Houston, it’s against the law “…to make, assist in making, permit, continue, cause to be made or continued, or permit the continuance of any loud, unnecessary, or unusual sound or noise that disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others.”

It’s also a specific violation of city ordinance to keep “any animal or bird that causes or makes frequent or long and continued sound that unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of ordinary, reasonable persons of normal sensibilities and ordinary tastes, habits, and modes of living who reside in the vicinity….”

The ordinance goes on to set specific decibel limits for residential property — 65 dB(A) during daytime hours, 58 dB(A) during nighttime hours.

This ordinance is enforced by the Houston Police Department. HPD has decibel meters, but not in most patrol cars. A responding officer generally has to summon a sergeant to bring a decibel meter, which is then used to measure sound “… from the property line … where the sound is received toward the source of the sound.”

What to do

If you have noisy neighbors, don’t confront them yourselves. Notify the property manager, preferably in writing, with as much specific information as you can give. Which unit? What exact date and time? What sort of noise? How long did it last? Notify them separately every time it happens, and keep a copy of what you sent.

If you think the noise warrants police intervention, use HPD’s non-emergency number: 713-884-3131. This is generally useful for sustained noise only, such as ongoing really loud music, but much less useful for a neighbor stomping around upstairs. It might be helpful to know that the “property line” in an apartment is considered to be inside your apartment next to the wall that faces the source of the noise.

One exception — if you hear something that sounds like someone may be in danger, call 911 immediately and make sure the dispatcher knows where you are and where the officer needs to respond with an exact street address and unit number. Be prepared to stay on the line as long as the dispatcher needs you.