just want to share my experience with living with a swiss neighbor. also, if i can get as much input from readers - what am i to do?
my husband and i live here in vaud canton, mountain side overlooking the magnificent view of lake geneva. it was just recently we came here- to this nice apartment and we are very happy with almost everything until one day our neighbor living below us complained through the agency that we were making noise late in the night. (tv was loud, which of course was an exaggeration) my husband talked to our neighbor (btw, he is the son of the house owner) concerning the complaint and if possible next time he can just knock at our door and tell us of the problem. we didnt justify ourselves any more so not to complicate things and told him that we would really try not to make so much noise. he even admitted to us that the house is not well insulated. like the floors n walls, which makes all sounds be heard from his end. yesterday , again we received another complain, now its the sound we use the stairs.. and still the tv noise. but how can he be so inconsiderate when we rarely use the tv, and if so, its very very lowwww.. as in. if i remember right, only 4 times since his first complaint.
well, i think he just wants us out of the house.
i am wondering is there law that protects tenants on false accusations? on the last letter from the agency, they stated it is the 2nd warning, does the 3rd warning means they would go to the police or cancel our contract? how we defend ourselves from this situation.
its a shock to both of us, as we never had any complains when we were living before. more so , my husband never had any experience of complains from neighbors from his more than 20 years of living here.
could it be that he is a racist and just dont want us as neighbors?
btw, im filipina and my husband is portuguese - and we live a very simple and quiet life.
They cannot do a thing at all if it reasonable living sound...Not a thing.
The one thing to look out for tho is when you move and they ask for a reference from previous tenant. Some times they do....and you have a stack of complaints against you, well it will not work to your advantage. In the meantime id try to live your normal life, no heels, no tv to loud. If the complaints keep coming in say f this and make as much noise as you would in a house without regards to him. I had the same situation where she would bitch and moan all day long.....in the end after several discussions I told her to back off and I made the noise I normally would without regards to anyone.
But it is true that those older places carry noise very very well.
I wouldnt jump on the racist conclusion so early. From the sounds of it - just by hearing your side of the story, you just have a whinger of a neighbour on your hands. A very common occurance.
I reckon you should give the agency a call and speak to the person who've rented you the house. Rather than them keep firing warning letters just hearing one side of the story - explain to them that this is the first time you've experienced such a moaner of a neighbour - quote your husband's exemplary behaviour here for the past 20 years.
I will also look seriously lower the volume of the tv even lower than before. As you said, its an old house and whilst we think it might be an acceptable volume, noise does travel in the quiet of the night. If push comes to shove, go downstairs to his house when your tv is on and see if the noise does travel to see if your neighbour indeed does have a point. If he persists, ask the estate agent if he could come down as well to hear from himself rather than firing letters based on one party's story.
Ignore him about the stairs. There's no rule to say that you cant use the communal stairs, regardless of time, unless you are causing a ruckus isnt it?
Having said all that - make sure you are aware of your communal living rules for quiet time.
Concerning the stairs, it is not a communal stairs. It is our stairs that connects us from the lower part to the upper part of the house where the bedrooms are.
We will do what you have advised. Glad to hear some insights on it.
to copy NotAllTheir - the best thing we ever bought since our arrival apart from GPS is cordless headphones - less than F100 from interdiscount and easy to use...
we also moved our shoes to next to the front door and religiously wear cloth inhouse...
i don't have any experience with this, but should you not initiate urgent conversations with the agency and ask to contact the previous renters to find out what they did differently?
I am assuming that you werent running up and down the stairs at some ungodly hour but just to get to bed? This neighbour of yours sound like a pain in the arse.
A tip - one thing I do in the house is to wear slippers - usually slippers that I bring home from hotels. Literally zero noise when I walk and my neighbour has attested to that.
Wood stairs can be noisy. You might want to consider something we used that is removable carpet for stairs. We had it because of our dogs. When we moved I sold all but 1 package. If this is something that could work for you, send me a PM.
slippers are the swiss way, great idea. also, as much as he does sound like an a*s, if you are planning on staying in your apt for a while i would suggest trying to make nice with your neighbor, esp being that he's the son of the owner. invite him for a drink or something and try to make him feel comfortable enough to come to you. i know, sounds like sleeping with the enemy but it'll make your life easier and hopefully any future problems can be dealt with directly with a bit of an established relationship-
I assume the (son of the) owner is following the procedures to cancel your rental contract.
After the 2nd written warning I would recommend to appeal. You can ask for help at the protection of tenants office in Vaud http://www.asloca.ch/?q=node/52
And I'd mention about the lousy noise insulation in the flat, as by the law the landlord has an obligation to ensure the property is sufficiently isolated.
I've read and heard so many stories about neighbors and problems that I am so thankful to have never experienced any of these issues. I live in a minergie standard house with very thick walls. It is as quiet as a mouse.
However, one of my colleagues from the UK has had similar neighbor issues and approached the situation in an unusual way. His neighbor filed several complaints about him and also came angrily knocking on the door one day. He was confident that he was not making noise out of the ordinary and had a lawyer friend send a "Cease and desist" letter about the neighbor's harassing behavior and invasion of privacy. A copy was sent to the landlord.
The neighbor doesn't bother him anymore and the landlord apologized.