Ask Me Help Desk - Evicted because of my kids

Hi I'm new here and really need help. I moved into an apartment in memphis tn and I am a single mom with two girls age 13 and 9. my neighbor has complained about noise a few times and now I have a letter saying I'm being evicted for noise! The police have never came and it is during normal hours usually after school and cheerleading. They are just kids being kids. Is this legal? I'm on government assistance and finding another apartment and changing my kids school because a lady next door can hear through thin walls is more than I can take. Do I have to move? I feel bad punishing my kids and telling them they can't laugh loud or run or be loud outside because a neighbor that I do not even know us going to make us leave! Please help me! Thanks in advance... amy

Can I be evicted in tn from an apartment because a neighbor can here my two girls playing and just being kids? They are in school and cheerleading so we are not even home much. I got a letter of eviction for noise from the manager. I can't afford to move I'm a single mom on government assistance and I work. Is this legal? They are just kids! The police have never came and its during normal hours. I feel bad punishing my kids for a neighbor that can hear through thin walls. Do I have to move?

You don't have to punish the girls, just ask them to be quieter. Do they practice cheerleading inside ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by camshaft

hi im new here and really need help. i moved into an apartment in memphis tn and i am a single mom with two girls age 13 and 9. my neighbor has complained about noise a few times and now i have a letter saying im being evicted for noise! the police have never came and it is during normal hours usually after school and cheerleading. they are just kids being kids. is this legal? im on government assistance and finding another apartment and changing my kids school because a lady next door can hear thru thin walls is more than i can take. do i have to move? i feel bad punishing my kids and telling them they can't laugh loud or run or be loud outside because a neighbor that i do not even know us gonna make us leave! please help me! thanks in advance.......amy

Please don't post the same question more than once - should be combined.

Quote:

Originally Posted by camshaft

can i be evicted in tn from an apartment because a neighbor can here my two girls playing and just being kids? they are in school and cheerleading so we are not even home much. i got a letter of eviction for noise from the manager. i can't afford to move im a single mom on government assistance and i work. is this legal? they are just kids! the police have never came and its during normal hours. i feel bad punishing my kids for a neighbor that can hear thru thin walls. do i have to move?

According to your other post the problem is also outside - when they are running, laughing, playing. It would seem it is not just a problem of thin walls and apparently there was more than one complaint.

You stated that the neighbor is forcing you to move. Really, he/she is not. The landlord is.

Have you talked to your girls or approached the neighbor and apologized, asked for the specifics?

But, yes, the landlord can evict you for excessive noise.

I've merged the two threads.

You need to check your lease. It probably has a clause about excessive noise or disturbing others. But yes, it is legal to evict over such a disturbance.

That being said, I think you can fight this. If there was never any police reports of disturbance. If the noise was not during so-called "quiet time" (generally from 10PM to 6AM), then a certain amount of noise is exepcted from kids.

Also, what does this letter say? The first step in the eviction process is a notice to vacate. An actual eviction notice does not come until after a court hearing. So I doubt if this is an actual eviction notice.

I would respond to the letter stating that you do not believe your girls have been excessively noisy. That a certain amount of noise is going to be expected from children. That you don't believe a court will agree they have been excessively noisy. But that you will talk to them about keeping it down.

I have been a landlord for about 15 years and deal with this kind of thing ALL the time.

Short answer, yes, ultimately you can be evicted for this. As Scott pointed out, there's a whole process they have to go through to do it, and you can fight it, but ultimately, yes.

Have you met with the property manager? I would set up an appointment to go meet with him/her in person. Find out all the specifics you can, and then tell them what you're willing to do to stop the problem. Perhaps you can change units within the complex if necessary - now or when one becomes available.

It's probably a combination of your kids being louder than you think when you're not there and the neighbor being overly sensitive to the noise. At the stage this is now, I agree that you'd probably be able to fight an actual eviction in court... who wants to be drug into court and go round and round with this. Let the landlord know that you WANT to stay and are willing to work with them to find the best solution. They may tell you that's to keep their kids quiet.

Also, I'm not trying to dog on your kids, but in my experience I've seen teenaged kids be perfectly civil and well behaved, and then when their parents are out of sight they go nuts. And the parents are left to deal with the fall - out. Typically, there's the neighbor's version of the story and your kids' version and the reality probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockinmommy

I have been a landlord for about 15 years and deal with this kind of thing ALL the time.

Short answer, yes, ultimately you can be evicted for this. As Scott pointed out, there's a whole process they have to go through to do it, and you can fight it, but ultimately, yes.

Have you met with the property manager? I would set up an appointment to go meet with him/her in person. Find out all the specifics you can, and then tell them what you're willing to do to stop the problem. Perhaps you can change units within the complex if necessary - now or when one becomes available.

It's probably a combination of your kids being louder than you think when you're not there and the neighbor being overly sensitive to the noise. At the stage this is now, I agree that you'd probably be able to fight an actual eviction in court......who wants to be drug into court and go round and round with this. Let the landlord know that you WANT to stay and are willing to work with them to find the best solution. They may tell you that's to keep their kids quiet.

Also, I'm not trying to dog on your kids, but in my experience I've seen teenaged kids be perfectly civil and well behaved, and then when their parents are out of sight they go nuts. And the parents are left to deal with the fall - out. Typically, there's the neighbor's version of the story and your kids' version and the reality probably lies somewhere in the middle.

That and the first post indicated that the walls were thin and that was the problem; the second indicated the noise was also going on outside so I'm not really sure what the kids are doing and whether the OP is excusing their behavior or not.

But, yes, noise is a constant problem for landlords - I had one situation where the kids played in the halls every time the mother left or else they were outside, screaming, and she simply couldn't get them under control. I kept hearing that "kids would be kids." Meanwhile I didn't have problems with the other kids in the building.

In this case I agree - it would be most helpful to get the details from the landlord. Just what is going on that's creating all the noise?

In my case I could either lose all the other tenants or the mother and kids.

I chose the mother and kids.

One of the ways that I gauge what's going on is if I'm getting complaints from just one tenant about one other tenant, from just one tenant about multiple other tenants, or from multiple tenants about one tenant.

It's very difficult to know where to draw the line on an acceptable noise level. I have people who live next to NOISY people and never complain, and then tenants who will scream if they hear a pin drop. And for some reason, the noise problems never seem to happen when I'm there to hear them...

Bottom line... when you live in a multi-family situation you have to be more quiet than you would in a house and you have to be more tolerant, as well. Those seem to be two difficult things for people to do.