Jersey Shore condo owners sue to stop beach bar concerts that run until 3 a.m. (NJ)

A years-long feud between a luxury high-rise at the Jersey Shore and a nearby beach bar is intensifying again about a month after residents publicly opposed the business’s plans to add a built-in swimming pool. Residents of the Ocean Club Condominiums in Atlantic City have long quarreled with the Chelsea Beach Bar, now called Cocorico.  […]

Major NY concert venue may be forced to shut down amid dispute with neighbors

NYPD Inspector William Gallagher told the West Side Tennis Club, which operates the stadium, and its concert partner, Tiebreaker Productions, that the local homeowners association is refusing to allow police to close private streets around the venue due to complaints about noise, disruptions and safety concerns.   Read the article…………………………….

Residents demand action after explosion shakes Downriver community (MI)

Residents of the Dupage Green Condominiums in Taylor were rattled by another nearby explosion Friday morning (March 14).  Dewey Allen, the head of maintenance for the condos, was in the community building when it happened. “This one shook the walls. It was severe,” he said. Carol Thompson, a resident, expressed the community’s frustration. “You don’t […]

Illinois Court Orders Condo Owner to Install Carpeting Due to Noise Complaints

A condominium association’s governing documents contain restrictive covenants that can help preserve property values, protect shared resources, and ensure a harmonious living environment. A condominium association should enforce these restrictive covenants uniformly to ensure there is no disparate treatment of unit owners. Board of Directors of Plum Creek Condominium Ass’n v. Oleg Lorman, 2013 IL […]

A happy holiday season: Guidelines for parking, noise, guests, and packages

Community associations across the country are coming alive with festive lights and holiday decorations. As residents gather to celebrate the season, it also means an influx of cars, guests, noise, and packages. To ensure a cheerful and festive holiday season, communities should plan, adopt, and communicate reasonable guidelines.   Read the article…………………………….

Another Pickleball Dispute Arises Between Downtown SF Condo Owners and Fitness Club

Around 150 condo owners at the Golden Gateway Commons development (550 Davis Street) have had it with the incessant pok-pokking of pickleball paddles hitting balls at the next door Bay Club, and they’ve filed suit. As the Chronicle reports, the homeowners association is demanding that the private fitness club “immediately cease the offensive noise pollution […]

Maintaining Quiet Hours During Thanksgiving: A Friendly Reminder From Your HOA

When celebrating Turkey Day this year, it’s important for you to remember quiet hours during Thanksgiving. If you live in a homeowners association community, there’s a good chance that you have certain rules to follow, including noise rules. Violating these rules can lead to several consequences, such as notices, fines, and suspension of privileges.    Read […]

How to Handle Noise Complaints as an HOA Board Member

As an HOA board member, you’ll find yourself needing to deal with some issues–and one of those issues may be noise complaints. Neighbors who believe that they’re in the right will quickly bring their complaints before the board, leaving you scrambling to decide how to handle these common issues appropriately. From music played too loud […]

Reasonable Noise in Shared Living Environments (ON)

In Farinha v. White, the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) addressed a common issue in condominiums: noise complaints between neighbours. This decision highlights the importance of objective evidence in assessing noise complaints and the principles of living harmoniously in shared spaces.    Read the article…………………………….

Managing Noise Complaints in Condominiums: Legal Perspectives

Living in a condominium offers many benefits, but it also comes with the challenge of shared walls and close proximity to neighbors. Noise complaints are a common issue in condo communities, and if not handled effectively, they can lead to disputes, legal action, and a breakdown of community harmony.    Read the article…………………………….

What Amounts to an Unreasonable Noise Disturbance?

Your condominium’s governing documents likely contain clauses that give the owners the right to enjoy their units with limited noise disturbances. But what can count as an unreasonable noise disturbance?  Three recent Condominium Authority Tribunal decisions, Peel Condominium Corporation No. 112 v. Uthayachandran et al, Kimel v. Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 2026 and Park […]

Noise Complaints – What Are a Condominium Corporation’s Obligations? (ON)

In the case of Mermut v. York Region Standard Condominium Corporation No. 1381, the Applicant complained about noise coming from the unit above. The alleged noise consisted of “banging, knocking, dropping, bouncing, rolling, hitting, striking, ‘thunking’, throwing of heavy objects onto the hard floors, dragging of furniture and motorized sounds” “at all hours of the […]

Australia: Noisy Strata Neighbours – The Top Noise Complaints

Strata apartments come with many perks for owners and tenants but of course, there’s also a downside with one of the biggest complaints being noise. As more and more people enjoy apartment living noise complaints have increased in recent times by 33%* and they continue to rise.   Read the article………………………..

St. Petersburg condo association sued for noise silences bell (FL)

For years, a warning bell sounded an alarm every time a car exited the parking garage at the swanky Ovation condo tower in downtown St. Petersburg.  Pedestrians heard it, but so did some annoyed downtown residents and workers.  Read the article………………………..

‘It’s Been Awkward.’ Pickleball Is Pitting Neighbor Against Neighbor in Noise-Conscious Communities

It was fun and games at first. But when pickleballers took over the tennis court at River Canyon Estates in Bend, Ore., for hours on end, bringing boom boxes, hurling profanities and letting dogs run loose—not to mention the constant pok-pok-pok of balls hitting paddles—the neighbors said enough is enough.   Read the article………………………..

Issues In Apartment Buildings When There is No Mending Wall (NY)

……case law around a myriad of noise complaints in apartment buildings and how and how boards and cooperative owners can make sense of a 2022 Ruling in O’Hara v. Board of Directors of the Park Avenue and Seventy-Seventh Street Corp., 206 A.D.3d 476 (1st Dep’t 2022).     Read the article………………………..

Tips from an HOA Board: Are You Unknowingly a Noisy Neighbor?

Does your HOA board deal with noise disturbance complaints from members? Noise is an inevitable reality in a condominium homeowners association. Condominium dwellers live in such close proximity, it’s essential that all residents consider the effect that noise will have on their neighbors – especially when it comes to long-term considerations, such as deciding on […]

HOA won’t do anything about ‘Adams Family’ house (NV)

Q: I live across the street from people who live in chaos. The children have been removed by Child Protective Services for neglect and drug (use), and parental rights have been terminated. The police have been there at least 50 times in 10 years. The house hasn’t been painted since it was new 20 years […]

Noise in Your HOA

The homeowners in your community will often live and work on different schedules: an ER nurse may sleep during the day and work night shifts, while a school teacher will need to get up far before the sun to arrive on campus before the students. This also means that lawns could be mown, dogs could […]

Easy Ways to Soundproof Your Condo

If you live in an apartment or condo, you most likely share a few walls with your neighbors. Condo walls are generally not made of particularly thick materials, which might not necessarily be a problem; however, many things can happen in life that result in some extra noise, such as having a baby, adopting a […]

Twice-daily siren frustrating condo owners 500 feet away (MI)

But Hill’s troubles aren’t limited to his symptoms. Another problem was right behind him, several dozen feet in the air: a siren that, since early August, has sounded every day at 12 p.m. and 10 p.m.  The siren’s blares last for about 50 seconds. It reaches its peak volume after about five seconds, stays there […]

Problem Solved: Noise From the Upstairs Neighbor (NY)

Perhaps the No. 1 complaint in co-op and condo living is noise. Complaints between neighbors are often difficult to resolve ­– a problem you recently dealt with at a pre-war co-op on Park Avenue.  Read the entire article……………………………….

Upstairs/Downstairs: Living Floor-To-Ceiling in Community Associations

Hard flooring can be beautiful and easier to maintain than carpet. However, the impact on downstairs neighbors must be recognized. There are Association and legal requirements to address when considering hard flooring installation and addressing existing hard flooring.    Read the entire article……………………………….

Soundproofing tips for condo flooring

When wall-to-wall broadloom flourished in the 1970s and ‘80s, high-rise residential properties experienced little to no impact noise complaints resulting from flooring.  But as hardwood flooring emerged in the marketplace, so did the increase in calls to property managers about noisy neighbours upstairs—walking around, dropping items and moving furniture.     Read the entire article……………………………….

Barking issues can result in fines for owner (IL)

Q: Like so many people, I have been working from my condominium unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have noticed a lot of owners in our association have dogs. During the workday, any number of different dogs may start barking for a few minutes. The barking of the dogs can be very distracting. I have […]

Loud guests? Condo rules may be enforced several ways (FL)

Q:  Our governing documents clearly state that there are to be no visitors for more than 30 days per year. We have one condominium owner who has his girlfriend living with him, without board approval, for well over 30 days.  They scream, yell and use foul language on a regular basis, disturbing everyone in the […]

Condo World: Best to stay out of neighbor noise disputes (NH)

“Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!”  I don’t hate Christmas. Far from it. But the Grinch’s comments would be applicable in almost all condominium associations. Someone, somewhere, at some time, in some condominium unit WILL contact its Board of Directors to complain about noise from a neighbor.    Read the article……………………………….

Condo living: What can we do about noisy neighbors upstairs? (FL)

Q: We are having a very difficult problem with noise created by the condo unit located directly above us. We have proof that the above unit has not been outfitted with a sound-barrier layer beneath the tiled floor. This situation has already caused us two years of awful stress. The occupant is unfriendly and the […]

Residents’ generator may disturb neighbors (IL)

Q: A resident in our detached single-family home homeowners’ association submitted a request to install a natural gas-powered generator on his lot. It would supply power to his home in the event of a power failure. The board is concerned about the loud noise it would generate during weekly, 10-minute or so automatic testing of […]

How to deal with noisy neighbours in your HOA or condo

Late-night gatherings, music that shakes the walls, lawnmowers powered on as soon as the sun rises. Condos and HOAs can be noisy, and unfortunately, residents will have to tolerate a bit of excessive noise every now and again. It’s part of living in a community. But, if a noise disturbance becomes a regular occurrence, then […]

West Ashley neighborhood association stops musician from performing porch concerts (SC)

Local musician Eric Vaughn has been serenading his neighbors at The Commons in Grand Oaks Plantation in West Ashley on Friday afternoons since the coronavirus upended his traditional bar gigs and prompted social distancing requirements.  He’s been playing concerts from his porch, and neighbors have gathered in chairs along the streets and in their yards […]