Noisy neighbours
Question from Jill updated on 17th December 2018:
My tenants have complained about the new neighbours who moved in a few weeks ago. They are a young couple with a new baby and frequently stand outside on the drive and argue in the middle of the night. The police have been called at least twice. Communication is difficult with the unit owners as English is their second language. My tenants sent the owner an email re the situation but have not had a reply. Can you suggest anything I can do as the owner of a unit in the block of four to help resolve this problem please?
Our expert Bernard Parker responded:
The owner of a property, as landlord, has the power to require tenants to behave in a civil manner. The Residential Tenancies Act requires that the tenant shall not “cause or permit any interference with the reasonable peace, comfort, or privacy ... of any other person residing in the neighbourhood”. However, the landlord can enforce this only because of the landlord/tenant relationship.
As an outsider you do not have access to enforcement of the RTA. You have a couple of options: you can persuade the owners to enforce the tenants’ obligation to have consideration for the neighbours, or you can call your local noise control complaint line. If these don’t work you could continue calling the police. Finally, you could try to talk to the couple themselves. Eventually, it may get through to the couple.
Bernard is principal of Quinovic – Kapiti-Mana. Quinovic's outstanding people and systems provide the most professional, effective and reliable residential property management service in the NZ market for over 30 years.Search the Ask an Expert archive
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