Tonight, just like every Saturday night (as well as various other nights), my downstairs neighbors are blasting the same annoying music, over and over. All of my neighbors and I have complained about it to the HOA, and I've asked them to turn their music down (through the door, they're apparently afraid to face me), which they do, for about 5 min.

My question is this: How do I file a complaint with the police and make it stick? The jurisdiction is FFX county, not any particular town (if that makes a difference).

A guy can only put up with 'Jump Around' so many times between the hours of 8pm and midnight every week.

-"The best way to stay in business is to give your competitor all of the risky contracts" Dr. H Randolph Thomas, CE 432 - Construction Project Control, Penn State University

blasting jump around?

kingOFgEEEks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tonight, just like every Saturday night (as well
> as various other nights), my downstairs neighbors
> are blasting the same annoying music, over and
> over. All of my neighbors and I have complained
> about it to the HOA, and I've asked them to turn
> their music down (through the door, they're
> apparently afraid to face me), which they do, for
> about 5 min.
>
> My question is this: How do I file a complaint
> with the police and make it stick? The
> jurisdiction is FFX county, not any particular
> town (if that makes a difference).
>
> A guy can only put up with 'Jump Around' so many
> times between the hours of 8pm and midnight every
> week.
>

The only way I have found around that kind of shit is to move. It sounds like you are either in a condo or an apartment. If you are in an apartment, it isn't such a big deal. If it is a condo, that's a different matter.

Jump Around? Sounds like you have a bunch of "fly" white guys down stairs.

Complain to the cops and let them do their job. Tell them it's an ongoing problem. After there's a history of more than a few incidents and they (the cops) hear it too, they can cite the noisemaker and start hitting him/her in the pocket.

Option #2 = go to landlord (who probably won't do squat) or move, like was suggested earlier.

how loud could it be from downstairs? are your floors paper thick or something?


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Thin floors? Possibly. It is a condominuium, built in 1958, so the property is built to a decent building code, but I'm not too familiar with the particulars of obsolete building codes. All I know is that it was so loud, for a prolonged period of time, that, quite literally, the water in my glass was visibly shaking, and I could FEEL the music through my carpet. It started at 8pm, and ended at 130 am, when one of their guests' car got towed (for being parked without a permit, and over a white line). It resumed at 930 am, and some of our neighbors were there again beating on the door. I've given up on that, because they refuse to open the door and talk to me. (could be intimidation, I am 6-2, over 300 pounds)

Jump Around seems to be the favorite of theirs. I'm not sure why. It could be the husband, the wife, or the two kids (about 4-6 years old), or it could just be a Hispanic thing, I have no idea.

I was not the only neighbor to complain to them last night. I'm thinking about starting a petition and taking it to the HOA meeting, even though I rent.

As far as taking police action, I don't want to just call and say 'my neighbors are too noisy.' I want to know the particulars of what I'm trying to get them cited for. I know there are some people who read this board who have a decent knowledge of the local law, so that's why I'm asking.

-"The best way to stay in business is to give your competitor all of the risky contracts" Dr. H Randolph Thomas, CE 432 - Construction Project Control, Penn State University

kingOFgEEEks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thin floors? Possibly. It is a condominuium, built
> in 1958, so the property is built to a decent
> building code, but I'm not too familiar with the
> particulars of obsolete building codes. All I know
> is that it was so loud, for a prolonged period of
> time, that, quite literally, the water in my glass
> was visibly shaking, and I could FEEL the music
> through my carpet. It started at 8pm, and ended at
> 130 am, when one of their guests' car got towed
> (for being parked without a permit, and over a
> white line). It resumed at 930 am, and some of our
> neighbors were there again beating on the door.
> I've given up on that, because they refuse to open
> the door and talk to me. (could be intimidation, I
> am 6-2, over 300 pounds)
>
> Jump Around seems to be the favorite of theirs.
> I'm not sure why. It could be the husband, the
> wife, or the two kids (about 4-6 years old), or it
> could just be a Hispanic thing, I have no idea.
>
> I was not the only neighbor to complain to them
> last night. I'm thinking about starting a petition
> and taking it to the HOA meeting, even though I
> rent.
>
> As far as taking police action, I don't want to
> just call and say 'my neighbors are too noisy.' I
> want to know the particulars of what I'm trying to
> get them cited for. I know there are some people
> who read this board who have a decent knowledge of
> the local law, so that's why I'm asking.
>
> -"The best way to stay in business is to give your
> competitor all of the risky contracts" Dr. H
> Randolph Thomas, CE 432 - Construction Project
> Control, Penn State University


There are county ordinances regarding noise. Typically anything loud after 10 or 11pm is enforceable. I would call the cops and complain about them disturbing the peace.

The other thing is the HOA. The HOA should cover something like this. Chances are, though, they are renting, too. If you get the HOA involved, the HOA can threaten to fine the landlord, which will get his or her attention. You should also take this up with the person you are subletting from and get them involved with the HOA. Since you are leasing from them, they, as a landlord, have an obligation to deal with this issue.

Other than that, since you are renting, I would seriously consider moving.

you could always break in when they are not home and put gashes in their CDs so that they wont play anymore. just remember to wear gloves... or the thick laytex ones. (thin crappy ones leave fingerprints still!)


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2006 04:34PM by Gravis.

They don't have any respect for you and your neigbhors. Call the police each time it happens and you find how fast it will end!!

Fairfax County Code:


ARTICLE 5. Nuisance Noise.

Section 108-5-1. Loud and unnecessary noise.
It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue to make, or cause to be made or continued, a noise disturbance within the County of Fairfax.
(7-17-68, § 17-4; 24-75-16A; 1961 Code, § 16A.5.1.)

Section 108-5-2. Specific prohibitions.
The following acts, are declared to be noise disturbances in violation of this Chapter, provided that the acts so specified shall not be deemed to be an exclusive enumeration of those acts which may constitute a noise disturbance under Section 108-5-1, and provided that the acts so specified in Subparagraph (a) below may still constitute a noise disturbance under Section 108-5-1 independently of the hours of day said acts take place.
(a) Operating or permitting the use, or operation of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, television, phonograph, or any other device for the production of sound between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day in such a manner as to be plainly audible across property boundaries or through partitions common to two persons within a building or plainly audible at fifty (50) feet from such device when operated within a motor vehicle parked on a public right-of-way or in a public place.
(b) Owning, keeping, possessing, or harboring any animal or animals which frequently or habitually howl, bark, meow, squawk or make such other noise as is plainly audible across property boundaries or through partitions common to two (2) persons within a building.
(24-75-16A; 1961 Code, § 16A.5.2; 34-76-108.)

Call the cops when the violation is occurring so they can come out and observe it. The first time they will give a warning to the violator. If it continues and you have to call them back out and they observe the violation again they will issue a ticket for violating the above code.

I would have to agree on calling the cops option.

The second time they (cops) come they will issue a $150-200 ticket if they noise hasn't stopped. This is what happened to my cousin when the cops came the second time for "exessive noise violation."

OK, so the cops will come out for excessive noise violation from 11pm to 7am, which is great, but does it reset every day, or will a habitual problem get them in trouble as well? Basically, if they turn it down for the evening, and not make noise again until tomorrow, will the cops say that they have to come out twice on the new date, or will they treat it as a second offense?

Really, I have to say that I'm not the square I'm sure I appear to be in this thread, but something has to give eventually.

-"The best way to stay in business is to give your competitor all of the risky contracts" Dr. H Randolph Thomas, CE 432 - Construction Project Control, Penn State University

Call the Cops; It's Easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you want to fix the problem or just bitch about it? Call the cops.

F**K the POLICE. Call Tiny & Rocco instead.

Call the cops and have them come witness the noise. Get a couple of neighbors to do it at the same time if you can. Even if you don't know what to specifically cite them for, if they have three or four calls about the same problem you'll probably get their attention. The cops usually won't do anything about it unless they can hear for themselves.

Go to the landlord too, but don't expect that to work. They've got to deal with leases, fixing shit and stuff like that...it just won't be a priority for them and they'll probably just hope the problem goes away on its own. If you're feeling saucy you could get a couple of neighbors on your side and threaten to withold rent until the problem is rectified, but that might cause more problems than it solves.

If you want to get real nasty, tell them you're calling INS.

put out some beaner traps. Bait them with some tacitos, lace the tacitos with arsenic. Problem solved.

If the cops can hear the noise from outside of the offending apartment, house, condo, etc - they can take action. It doesn't matter what time it is (yes, if you're a real douche, you can call in a noise complaint at 2 in the afternoon).
The first time the cops come out in one night, they will give a warning to whoever lives there, second time, same person gets a ticket, third time, that person goes to jail (no kidding), and if it's a party, everyone has to go home.
Call every night if you have to, and if it doesn't stop after the cops come, call again - that's the only way that they can get that 2nd and 3rd time in one night. Hell, if you really want to, call once from your home phone, then again a few minutes later from a cell phone, pretending to be another neighbor. If cops are getting multiple calls, they'll take it more seirously.
Also, after you get the cops out there enough, if it still dosen't stop, you can go to the police, get a record of when the cops were out there, and take that to your landlord - and hopefully get 'em kicked out!

The Noise Policy is pretty simple. There are several specific laws pertaining to construction, animals ect. But the way the code section reads and is applied is as follows:
Any "noise" which eminates from a person's residence or property and enters the property of another is a violation. Regardless of the time of day. The time factor only applies to hours in which one may begin construction activities that generate signifigant noise.
There is one exception however:
Any citizen can be granted a permit for such noise from their responsible jurisdiction, (very difficult to obtain and usually reserved for large organized events or VDOT night road construction)
So no matter what the time of day, if they are making noise that is coming out of their residence you can call the police. Once the police arrive they have to personally wittness the violation for it to count as an offense. The first time police arrive and wittness a violation its a warning, second time is a tickett and third time the responsible homeowner/resident will be physically arrested for failure to discontinue the unlawful act.
The violations are typically counted and reset in 24 hours. So if your neighbor likes to play his drum set at 130 in the morning every morning, but stops when the cops come out for the first time, He'll keep gettin a warning every day. But if he does it twice or three times in a 24 hour period he'll be charged.
There are some special circumstances to which a person can be arrested on the second or even first violation as well. EXP. if the person is too intoxicated to be released on a summons (tickett), or flat out refuses to discontinue the unlawful act.
You have a right to be respected by your neighbors. Next time it happens just give the police a call and dont be afraid to call back if it keeps on happening. Thats why we're here.

Another good reason to stop it all together. Is this anyway to bring child. Yes if you want to continue to be third world! GEEK you got what you deserved.

Live with it and share a taco!!

Call the police and continue to tell the management of the property. They should send a letter to the apartment as a warning and threaten eviction if it continues to be a problem. Also, if you have enough neighbors who want to do something about it, you along with your neighbors, document when its going on and the times its happening. You and your neighbors can talk to a magistrate and see if he/she will issue a warrant. You will need the name of the person who is renting the apartment or condo, or whatever it is. If you talk to a magistrate, let them know how many times the police have been called. If you know the cop's names, let the magistrate know that also.

hispanicsareus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> put out some beaner traps. Bait them with some
> tacitos, lace the tacitos with arsenic. Problem
> solved.


That won't work!


Try it with Corona.

Flame Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another good reason to stop it all together. Is
> this anyway to bring child. Yes if you want to
> continue to be third world! GEEK you got what you
> deserved.
>
> Live with it and share a taco!!


umm... so what the fuck did you say as it's rather incoherent.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Hey, F U essay! I'll play my beats whenever I fooking please. Complain one more time and I'll cut you, holmes!

well here is the problem with neighbors alot of time. I live in Prince William county and the police are great. If they don't react to the calll like they should, here is a solution.
Either join their party or blast our speakers and jump on the floor. that worked for us

You crying little b*#ches...
Cops are busy people, so don't bother them with trivial things.
Get a job at the power company and cut off the offenders power.

If you are 6-2 300 pounds like you say you could easily break down their door and deliver some good old fashion american justice to these beaners with 12 guage shotgun or .357 magnum. Sure you'll probably go to jail but the enjoyment you will get from it will be well worth. On a serious not I wouldn't move, no matter where you move to there is a good chance some dumbass will blast loud music. Take a stand you shouldn't have to move becuase of someone else's wrong doing.

hmm... moving sounds better than going to jail. calling the cops sounds better than moving. i would like to know if the situation is improving for you, kingOFgEEEks.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I've beaten on the door, and even gotten an answer once. The music plays a little less loud, and less often.

As far as being able to beat the door down, it would be possible, except it's a steel door in a steel jam, mounted in a concrete wall... I doubt I can bust it down without a battering ram.

-"The best way to stay in business is to give your competitor all of the risky contracts" Dr. H Randolph Thomas, CE 432 - Construction Project Control, Penn State University

sounds like you're already in jail.

not a jail, just hell (or seven corners, they're both the same)

Fat F--ker, I mean Wimp, I'm sorry, "Geek", stop whinning, and listening to the other losers on this board, and do something! Oh, I forgot, your last boyfriend's final comment to you, "I am more man than you will ever be and more women then you will ever get."

Take the d--k out of your mouth and call the POLICE!

methinks that isnt tina. however, i agree, just call the fucking cops already.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2006 10:27AM by Gravis.

open

I have you now.

uhhhhh