Re: Neighbor fabricating noise complaints

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On 5/20/08, Rep wrote:
> If you have a surround sound stereo system, the bass
> frequencies are reverberating through the building and causing
> major distress to her in her unit. Low frequencies (bass
> frequencies) penetrate through to the cellular level and cause
> great discomfort to people. Health official's rarely have the
> expensive decibel monitors to monitor the low frequencies
> (A-weighting is not sufficient). "Theater systems" were not
> meant for the home which is why everyone used to go to movie
> theaters. Technology has become too good at purifying lower
> frequency sounds. This is torture for your neighbor. I suggest
> you get a more sensible, less powerful, non-surround sound
> stereo system. Disconnecting a subwoofer would not be enough.
> The bass can still transmit through the other speakers. I
> suggest you read this article:
> http://www.ukna.org.uk/index_files/page0012.htm and get a
> normal stereo system or use some wireless headphones. You are
> torturing your neighbor. FYI, noise is used as a weapon by the
> military. Just because you can't see the frequencies doesn't
> mean they don't exist.
>
> On 9/25/07, Mike wrote:
>> Since we have moved in to our condo in New Jersey, we have
>> had the unfortunate experience of dealing with an upstairs
>> neighbor who at first seemed to be ultra-sensitive to
>> noise. Our surround sound speaker system was installed for
>> one day before she came downstairs to complain. We turned
>> the sound down, and yet, she summoned to police at 11:00pm
>> that night to have them tell us to turn it down. When the
>> police arrived they found that our sound level was
>> acceptable (even at the late hours, according to the noise
>> ordinance), and left without even a warning.
>>
>> Our neighbor then complained by banging on her floor/our
>> ceiling loudly when we played music each of the subsequent
>> weekends, both times at a level that the police found to
>> be acceptable. She came up to me at the parking lot, and
>> we had a heated exchange where she said she would report
>> me and fine me. I told her I had done nothing wrong as the
>> police found the levels to be acceptable.
>>
>> Today marks one month to the day of the heated exchange,
>> and since then, she has called the police three additional
>> times (each found no violations on our part). Each time
>> she had refused to let the police officer into her
>> premises to check the noise for themselves.
>>
>> She has also contacted the local health official five
>> times whose responsibility is to enforce noise/nuisance
>> codes. Of the five complaints, I was not home for four of
>> those when everything was off. The one time that I was
>> home, I was asleep with no sound on. I have volunteered
>> with the health official to do a decibel test to test the
>> level, to prove whether we were right or wrong, without a
>> shadow of doubt. As the decibel test would involve the
>> health official to be in her premises, we would require
>> her to be present as well. We have scheduled the test
>> three times, and she has cancelled all three times after
>> conferring with an attorney. The last time (yesterday) she
>> told him that she no longer needs the health official's
>> services. He told me that he thinks she is changing couse
>> as she is getting no results, and that she is preparing a
>> civil suit against me, which I guess would include things
>> like emotional distress (she claims she hasn't been able
>> to sleep) and nuisance.
>>
>> This is of course harassment and intimidation on her part,
>> and we have already filed a complaint with our condo board
>> about this (hearing is next week). However, I have three
>> questions:
>>
>> 1. What would be the implications if we file civil
>> harassment charges against her? I spoke with a police
>> officer about this and he said that it would open us up to
>> lawsuits.
>>
>> 2. While I think her case has no merits as the allegations
>> are completely false, should I "lawyer up" and prepare for
>> this suit? And how should one defend against these false
>> claims? I have documented as much as I can, including
>> receipts for one of the times she alleged I was playing my
>> music too loud.
>>
>> 3. As we are not sure what she is capable of, what else
>> should we brace ourselves for?