pesky neighbours

[nonu]

we just moved to an apartment in a tower on the 5th floor. the lady in the flat below has come twice complaining of us making noise at midnight saying it is that of a small child running around. But all we have is a 13 yr old dd who is very quite.

one day she came just as we were opening the door as we had come back from an outing,saying that we were making noise when we were not home....how can that be possible?????

she complained in the office and we have also spoken to them saying it is not us.i dont understand that even after proving ourselves she has gone and made a formal complaint. any suggestions on what to do are welcome as we live abroad and this is so insulting to be blamed for something we didnt do....dh leaves for work early so we are early sleepers.thanx for reading this rant

its a ghost

and as you said Pesky i suspect its something to do with Scooby Doo and the Caretaker

'tis a spooky ghost child. Tell her you're getting the Excorcist in and not to worry about any screaming over the next few days.

can YOU hear the noises at all in your apartment?

could be pipes or an echo from elsewhere? someones TV/stereo?

the previous people may have moved out because of her being a bit odd! In which case the office will know its not you, so dont worry too much.

Write to the housing office just for the record, but having done that don't worry about it. Sometimes in those flats you can misjudge where the noise is coming from.

Be really calm about it so that it's clear that you are the reasonable one.

no we cant hear the noises in our apartment and i just went to speak to her and she reckons its quiet since morning told her maybe its from the flat below and both of us went but no one was home so maybe its them will chk in eve again....its a bit insulting to be blamed for something you didnt do and do you think we should go and talk to the cops about the complaint she has made

Mice?

cant be mice she says its a child running about and parents scolding and washing of clothes.......its very annoying

Is your flat definitely directly above hers or is there another flat she could be hearing the noises from? In some blocks the flats aren't directly above one another?

Talk to the cops?

Are you serious?

bcoz she has made a formal complaint at the local police station to come and investigate from where the noise is coming as she is getting disturbed,it doesnt link anyone directly but should we go and clear our names

I was driven CRAZY by noisy neighbours at my last flat, but also knew a friend driven berserk by noise like a motorbike revving which turned out to be the filter on a fish tank 3 floors down. once the tank was moved from the wall- no more racket. Good luck!

I would find out about your rights under the law wherever you are. Reasonable noise (especially with kids) is normally allowable and if she makes complaints (to the POLICE no less) she could actually be harassing you and therefore breaking the terms of her tenancy.

Err, the police are not going to be interested in her complaint! She may have said she had reported it to them, but if she did, I expect they sent her away with a flea in her ear.

She says she hears a small child running about, parents scolding, and clothes being washed. If you are not doing any of those things, you have nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario, the police and/or the building management show up at your door to find you and your quiet 13 year old not engaged in washing, scolding or holding the toddler grand national and instead doing yoga, Buddhist meditation, reading or [insert silent pursuit of your choice here]. They'll apologise and write her off as either mistaken or having mental health issues.

I think you should just ignore the whole thing, but if you feel you must do something I agree with needafootmassage, invite her to come over whenever she hears the noises and she'll soon realise she's got the wrong end of the stick. Going to the police will make you seem just as unreasonable as she was to make a formal complaint to the police after only 2 "incidents".

Good point mablemurple - more than likely the police won't take it seriously, if she even did report it to the police at all.

have already invited her over whenever there is a disturbance and told her she free to check anytime, but does seem the noise might me just from the some other flat on our floor as they do have small children,from outside the tower looks in perfect symmetry so still don't know if we are exactly above her or no.... thanks for all your replies and will keep u updated and any more suggestions are welcome

Might seem a daft suggestion but if you're not sure if you're directly above her, can't you dangle a bit of string out of a window so she can see it from HER window? That would tell you (and her) which rooms were above her.

hurray!!!!she came today and apologised, apparently it was coming from the flat on her floor only which she thought was impossible as there was a lift in between but seems that the lift occupies little place and their bedrooms have a common wall.......thanks for all your support...