(WSVN) - Her neighbor on the floor above her is loud. The constant noise at night is blocking her from sleeping. What can you do about a noisy neighbor? Here’s Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
If there is one place you should be happy, it’s your home.
Anita Patterson: “I am a plant lover. I want plant in my house.”
Plants make her smile. So does Oliver.
Anita Patterson: “You know how much I love you, right?”
For 18 years, Anita enjoyed her first floor condo.
Not anymore.
Anita Patterson: “This is no more comfort place. This is a nightmare place right now.”
Her nightmare began when a woman and her son moved into the second floor unit above Anita at Village Townhouse.
Anita Patterson: “You hear the washing machine loud. She has an air purifier, running the whole night. It is ‘zzzzzzz.’ You hear the vacuum cleaner loud as well.”
Anita says it’s quiet in the daytime, but not at night.
Anita Patterson: “There were 10 boys upstairs making noise until 5 o’clock in the morning. At least three, four, five times a week.”
Anita hears everything because her neighbor took out her carpet and replaced it with this vinyl flooring.
Anita Patterson: “In the bylaw, it [says] all units upstairs have to have wall-to-wall carpeting, plus padding.”
Anita spoke to her neighbor.
Anita Patterson: “‘I am begging you.’ four to five times, ‘I am begging you, do the right thing, put carpeting in.'”
The woman refused. The association did nothing.
The police couldn’t help, and the noise continued.
Anita Patterson (in video): “Two-thirty in the morning.”
Anita Patterson: “I am never sleeping. I am a zombie every single day. I never sleep. I sleep maybe an hour.”
No sleep day after day has brought on medical problems.
Anita Patterson: “The doctor prescribes me pills. I never took medicine in my life.”
All because this and this, and this, and this, night after night.
Anita Patterson: “I wanna be healthy again, I wanna be happy again. I am not happy.”
Well, Howard, what can Anita do?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “The condo documents say a unit owner cannot create a noise nuisance for another unit. But the board believes they cannot do anything because the condo documents were written incorrectly, saying carpeting only had to be in the kitchen and bathroom instead of saying carpeting everywhere except kitchen and bathroom. The remedy? The board would have to amend their documents.”
We tried to contact the owner of the condo above Anita to reason with her. She wouldn’t return phone calls or emails.
Pompano Beach did inspect the flooring on the unit above Anita.
The owner was cited for installing the floor without a permit, but the city concluded it had the proper insulation, according to city standards.
The board has drafted changes to their documents that might help avoid what is happening to Anita, but the changes have not been voted on yet, leaving Anita right now out of luck.
Anita Patterson: “This is ridiculous.”
Anita is miserable. She bought her home to enjoy the rest of her life, not listen to this.
Anita Patterson: “I want to live here in peace, but this is impossible with this woman, because she is doing everything that she can to make my life a living hell.”
We really would have been able to help Anita until we saw those mistakes in the condo documents that tied everyone’s hands.
Now, if you have a noisy neighbor, talk to them. Some are nice and will quiet down.
If that doesn’t work, contact your property manager and code enforcement, and make sure you read your association documents to see what power the board has.
A deafening problem silencing you? Make an earth-shattering choice and shout out to us. It would be a blast for us to quiet things down for you.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
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